Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: TheStinger on December 29, 2011, 03:45:27 PM
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Hi, I'm originally from Australia but I have been living in Glasgow for a few months now. Been a lifelong Villa fan because of my Great-Grandfather who sat me down when I was a young un and told me all about the history of the club. I was two years old and remember none of it but my dad made sure I followed the family tradition.
Having said that, I have purchased tickets to the Everton game on the 14th of January to see my first game at Villa Park. Have got them in the lower section of the Trinity Road Stand. Hope they are good seats.
My question is, I will be coming from Oxford on the train in the morning to Birmingham main train station. What is the easiest way to get to Villa Park from there on public transport?
Sorry to have my first post to be a question. Many thanks in advance for any help.
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Training it to Aston or Witton station would be my suggestion.
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if your going to New Street Station you can just get a train to Aston Station, takes 5 minutes and then just follow the claret and blue masses to the stadium
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Training it to Aston or Witton station would be my suggestion.
Mine also, if you're getting in to New Street then get the train to Aston, it's only two stops along, then just follow the crowd to Villa Park.
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Awesome, thanks for the advice guys. I was pretty sure that if I got on the right train I would be able to just get off when everyone else with claret and blue on got off and be heading in the right direction.
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if your going to New Street Station you can just get a train to Aston Station, takes 5 minutes and then just follow the claret and blue masses to the stadium
That's your best bet, they are every ten minutes. When you buy your ticket in Glasgow just get it to Aston. Look on the boards trains running to Lichfield or Four Oaks.
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if your going to New Street Station you can just get a train to Aston Station, takes 5 minutes and then just follow the claret and blue masses to the stadium
That's your best bet, they are every ten minutes. When you buy your ticket in Glasgow just get it to Aston. Look on the boards trains running to Lichfield or Four Oaks.
Oxford-Glasgow-Birmingham-Aston seems a bit excessive!
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Hope you enjoy the first of what will hopefully be many visits.
The Lower Trinity which I have sat in for years in my opinion provides an excellent view.
I suggest you arrive early so you can savour the atmosphere as it builds.
Check out the grounds of Aston Hall across from Trinity Road - there is no football stadium in the world with such a fine setting alongside.
Check out the statue of William McGregor - the Villa man responsible in many ways for how we watch football not just in Aston, but throughout Britain and the rest of the world.
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Hope you have a great day.
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if your going to New Street Station you can just get a train to Aston Station, takes 5 minutes and then just follow the claret and blue masses to the stadium
That's your best bet, they are every ten minutes. When you buy your ticket in Glasgow just get it to Aston. Look on the boards trains running to Lichfield or Four Oaks.
Oxford-Glasgow-Birmingham-Aston seems a bit excessive!
Yeah, just to be clear I am staying in Oxford for a couple of weeks with family and will be travelling to the game from there. Not from Glasgow, as that would be a little silly.
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Enjoy your day at VP Stinger. UTV
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if your going to New Street Station you can just get a train to Aston Station, takes 5 minutes and then just follow the claret and blue masses to the stadium
That's your best bet, they are every ten minutes. When you buy your ticket in Glasgow just get it to Aston. Look on the boards trains running to Lichfield or Four Oaks.
Oxford-Glasgow-Birmingham-Aston seems a bit excessive!
Yeah, just to be clear I am staying in Oxford for a couple of weeks with family and will be travelling to the game from there. Not from Glasgow, as that would be a little silly.
Oops.
Same applies though, by a through ticket as it stops you having to mess about at New Street and there are always inspectors at Aston.
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Your best bet is get train to Witton rather than Aston as it is a fair bit closer and impossible to get lost that way.
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Hope you enjoy the first of what will hopefully be many visits.
The Lower Trinity which I have sat in for years in my opinion provides an excellent view.
I suggest you arrive early so you can savour the atmosphere as it builds.
Check out the grounds of Aston Hall across from Trinity Road - there is no football stadium in the world with such a fine setting alongside.
Check out the statue of William McGregor - the Villa man responsible in many ways for how we watch football not just in Aston, but throughout Britain and the rest of the world.
Thanks for all the well wishes guys. I will definitely get there early so I can check out the stadium and the surrounds as well. Sounds like the seat I've got will be pretty good, thanks. Even though we aren't going all that well at the moment, hopefully it will still be a good game and I can see a win.
UTV!
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Your best bet is get train to Witton rather than Aston as it is a fair bit closer and impossible to get lost that way.
You'd be hard pushed to get lost from Aston too! Either is fine but trains are generally more frequent to Aston than Witton, although Witton is the closer station.
The alternative would be to hop in a cab outside New Street Station. It won't cost more than a tenner and if there are 4 or 5 of you it'll make it cheaper than the train.
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Your best bet is get train to Witton rather than Aston as it is a fair bit closer and impossible to get lost that way.
You'd be hard pushed to get lost from Aston too! Either is fine but trains are generally more frequent to Aston than Witton, although Witton is the closer station.
The alternative would be to hop in a cab outside New Street Station. It won't cost more than a tenner and if there are 4 or 5 of you it'll make it cheaper than the train.
Taxi would be my advice too, especially if there are a couple of you.
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http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/OXF/AST/140112/1045/dep/140112/1715/dep
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Your best bet is get train to Witton rather than Aston as it is a fair bit closer and impossible to get lost that way.
Oh no.. it was going fine for Stinger but you have gone nad complicated it!
No 7 bus after you have had a pint in the Joint Stock, a fine buliding in by St Philip's church not to be missed on any visit to Birmingham, will also do.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
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Either station is pretty busy after the game so be prepared!
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Make sure you purchase a copy of the fanzine to complete the experience. Available outside the ground from your usual sellers. Only £2.
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http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/OXF/AST/140112/1045/dep/140112/1715/dep
That's awesome, thanks. Wasn't sure if I could get a direct ticket to Aston from Oxford. This will do nicely.
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Hope you enjoy the game mate! In case you are interested I run the Edinburgh Lions - The Scottish Branch of the official Villa Supporters Clubs network. There are about 30 or so members at the moment and there are usually 4 or 5 of us at each game. We have also started to meet up for televised games too. It's free to join so drop me a line if you are interested.
http://www.avfclionsclubs.co.uk/lions-club-directory/europe/united-kingdom/scotland
There will be a few of us at the Everton game too so would be happy to meet you for a beer before the game.
Vaughan
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Hope you enjoy the game mate! In case you are interested I run the Edinburgh Lions - The Scottish Branch of the official Villa Supporters Clubs network. There are about 30 or so members at the moment and there are usually 4 or 5 of us at each game. We have also started to meet up for televised games too. It's free to join so drop me a line if you are interested.
http://www.avfclionsclubs.co.uk/lions-club-directory/europe/united-kingdom/scotland
There will be a few of us at the Everton game too so would be happy to meet you for a beer before the game.
Vaughan
Thanks mate. That might be cool. Will have to see how I get on with getting train tickets down to the ground first, but I'll let you know.
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Hope you enjoy the game mate! In case you are interested I run the Edinburgh Lions - The Scottish Branch of the official Villa Supporters Clubs network. There are about 30 or so members at the moment and there are usually 4 or 5 of us at each game. We have also started to meet up for televised games too. It's free to join so drop me a line if you are interested.
http://www.avfclionsclubs.co.uk/lions-club-directory/europe/united-kingdom/scotland
There will be a few of us at the Everton game too so would be happy to meet you for a beer before the game.
Vaughan
And you, too, are most welcome to have your £2s ready.
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Make sure you purchase a copy of the fanzine to complete the experience. Available outside the ground from your usual sellers. Only £2.
Complete with directions to The Holtey End.
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65, 67 and 115 buses all stop by Aston station aswell.
Train is better bet though, much cheaper (well if you have a railcard! wink)
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Have a great day Stinger. Your grandfather will be smiling down on you. Keep your wits about you at New Street, there are knuckledraggers everywhere.
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Regular reader Dave don't worry about that!
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I forgot to say Stinger, if you meet an H and V seller the correct form of etiquette when you approach them is to say "is this the official programme?" followed by "do you have change for fifty pound note?". See you in Charlie's chip shop after the game.
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Hi Stinger have a great day UTV
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Wecome TheStinger enjoy your visit
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My suggestion is to go by taxi from New Street station to the magnificent Barton's Arms, one of the most beautiful Victorian pub that I have ever seen in England, where you can enjoy a pre-match couple of pints and a (thai) meal. (http://www.oakagroup.com/bartons/bartonabout.asp).
(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/9718/img7729j.jpg)
(http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7331/img7727p.jpg)
(http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/2687/immagine2wd.png)
After meal, go to VP by walk through Aston Park, it takes about 20 minutes and it's a beautiful and unforgettable scenery.
(http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/3388/img7738fx.jpg)
And, it goes without saying, don't miss a visit to Aston Hall, the most remarkable historical building in Aston (http://www.bmag.org.uk/aston-hall).
(http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/8580/img7740o.jpg)
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Try and get a ticket to "Birmingham Stations" as this will cover Witton and Aston and should cost the same as a ticket to New Street.
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Get a train to Moor Street, and then walk about 1 minute across the road to New Street. From there you can get regular trains to Aston and Witton, each of which take a few minutes, and also are only a few minutes walk away from the ground.
If that doesn't entice you though, the club offers a bus service that shuttles to and from the ground I believe. Here's a link to the info: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/avfc/details/event.aspx?itemref=6830
Hope that helps :)
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if your going to New Street Station you can just get a train to Aston Station, takes 5 minutes and then just follow the claret and blue masses to the stadium
That's your best bet, they are every ten minutes. When you buy your ticket in Glasgow just get it to Aston. Look on the boards trains running to Lichfield or Four Oaks.
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/OXF/AST/140112/1045/dep/140112/1715/dep
why would he do that? it costs more and restricts his journey. all he needs is a ticket from oxford to birmingham new street which will allow him to travel to any birmingham station. hence 'birmingham stations' being printed on the ticket. so if the 17 or 47 to witton fits better with his plans, he can jump on that - all the while saving him a couple of quid.
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A) The 47 doesn't got to Witton, does it?
B) You have to specify Birmingham Stations. New Street will just get you to New Street.
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A) The 47 doesn't got to Witton, does it?
B) You have to specify Birmingham Stations. New Street will just get you to New Street.
The Birmingham stations are classed as New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street...............
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Welcome Stinger, hope you have a good day. (I sell the fanzine opposite the church, incidentally).
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Have a great day Stinger and have a beer for me. We'll be watching live and bleary eyed in the Barossa
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A) The 47 doesn't got to Witton, does it?
B) You have to specify Birmingham Stations. New Street will just get you to New Street.
A) No, but it would be perfect if Warwickshire were at home.
The Witton trains only run every half hour and are likely to be full of Scousers trying to slit your throat and steal your underpants.
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If you were to get the bus from the city centre Stinger you could see the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the creator of Sherlock Holmes. That is where they should have the museum not next to The Volunteer in Baker Street but that is what cockerneys do, they assume everyone who does anything notable is one of their own. If you walk up from Aston Station over to the right lies the Serpentine Grounds where it is now widely believed Charlie Chaplin was born in a caravan of a touring circus, not at the Elephant in London, see above cockneys and famous people.
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If you were to get the bus from the city centre Stinger you could see the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Are you sure about that, Brian?
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Wasn't Arthur Conan Doyle born in Edinburgh?
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Knowing Brummagem they have probably pulled it down Paulie. It was a well known landmark in what I always believed to be Aston High Street. I always used to walk to the ground down from Dale End past Gaskell and Chambers and the Conan Doyle plaque was high on the wall of a red brick parade of shops above an ironmongers shop. It had a great big sweeping broom suspended over the shop and a swinging sign like a pub sign saying "the sign of the big broom".
A propos of totally nothing a while back I was in Pompey doing a survey for the building of a petrol filling station and they were knocking down the birthplace of Charles Dickens in a terrace of back to back houses.
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Knowing Brummagem they have probably pulled it down Paulie. It was a well known landmark in what I always believed to be Aston High Street. I always used to walk to the ground down from Dale End past Gaskell and Chambers and the Conan Doyle plaque was high on the wall of a red brick parade of shops above an ironmongers shop. It had a great big sweeping broom suspended over the shop and a swinging sign like a pub sign saying "the sign of the big broom".
A propos of totally nothing a while back I was in Pompey doing a survey for the building of a petrol filling station and they were knocking down the birthplace of Charles Dickens in a terrace of back to back houses.
Conan Doyle lived in Aston while completing his studies in medicine. He was born in Edinburgh.
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Thank you Mal The plaque must have read "lived here" not "born here". I stand corrected. I always did have crap eyesight.
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From 1876 to 1881 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, including a period working in Aston.
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I was clearly wrong but slightly in defence of myself it is bloody hard to get a plaque put up. The building has to be the birthplace or place where significant work was done. We have been trying for yonks to get a proper plaque for George Orwell in Southwold (there is one by Mark's chip shop but it looks like an afterthought) but in Harborne we could get one put up like a shot for Auden but the owners of the house do not want it. Sorry I am rambling. Have a great day Stinger.
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Knowing Brummagem they have probably pulled it down Paulie. It was a well known landmark in what I always believed to be Aston High Street. I always used to walk to the ground down from Dale End past Gaskell and Chambers and the Conan Doyle plaque was high on the wall of a red brick parade of shops above an ironmongers shop. It had a great big sweeping broom suspended over the shop and a swinging sign like a pub sign saying "the sign of the big broom".
Ah! I know it. Yes, those houses are long gone but the plaque is still there in the wall of an office block. Aston Road North I think it's called.
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From 1876 to 1881 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, including a period working in Aston.
The Birmingham Council site has a piece about Arthur - including a probable visit to Aston Hall grounds. I wonder if he felt the vibes of future passionate fans of the mighty ones?
http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/doyle
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If you were to get the bus from the city centre Stinger you could see the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the creator of Sherlock Holmes. That is where they should have the museum not next to The Volunteer in Baker Street but that is what cockerneys do, they assume everyone who does anything notable is one of their own. If you walk up from Aston Station over to the right lies the Serpentine Grounds where it is now widely believed Charlie Chaplin was born in a caravan of a touring circus, not at the Elephant in London, see above cockneys and famous people.
Au contraire. http://www.thebirminghampress.com/2011/02/22/who-was-smethwicks-greatest-actor/
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Stinger, just to confirm, if you choose the train a 'Birmingham stations' ticket will NOT get you to Aston or Witton. Like someone has already pointed out, 'Birmingham stations' are the City Centre stations only.
If you bought a ticket to Witton though that would cover you to either station.
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That's right. 'Birmingham Stations' means Moor St, New St and Snow Hill only. They tried to fine me for trying that one previously but eventually gave up when I kept sending them long letters.
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Have a great day Stinger and have a beer for me. We'll be watching live and bleary eyed in the Barossa
I'm sure I will have a great time there. Barossa Valley hey. I've got some family that live in Tanunda. I'll definitely have a drink for you....and one for myself probably.
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Stinger, just to confirm, if you choose the train a 'Birmingham stations' ticket will NOT get you to Aston or Witton. Like someone has already pointed out, 'Birmingham stations' are the City Centre stations only.
If you bought a ticket to Witton though that would cover you to either station.
I might just leave Oxford a bit earlier and have a wander around the city centre before heading down to the ground. Will probably be easier anyway.
Thanks everyone again for all your suggestions and helpful hints.
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If you have time, then I highly recommend Archie's suggestions. That way it will be an extended experience. Regardless of how you choose to proceed I hope you have a great day out with a performance and result to match.
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Odds are good on a decent result as it's Everton we're playing.
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Stinger, you seem to have the Birmingham end of your trip wrapped up.
Do you need any advice on how to get to the station in Oxford?
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I haven't been for so long I almost feel like asking for advice before I do the same trip from Oxford to Villa Park on Monday.
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Stinger, you seem to have the Birmingham end of your trip wrapped up.
Do you need any advice on how to get to the station in Oxford?
Nah, I'm good there mate. I'm staying with family there so they will get me where I need to go on time. Thanks anyway.
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This thread confirms once more that AVFC is not only a football team, but a large family where anyone is willing to help the others. Cheers mates!
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This thread confirms once more that AVFC is not only a football team, but a large family where anyone is willing to help the others. Cheers mates!
Hear Hear!
Got my ticket in the mail today and now ready and raring to go. Good to know that I will be surrounded by good people as well. Thanks.
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I haven't been for so long I almost feel like asking for advice before I do the same trip from Oxford to Villa Park on Monday.
How weird. Same trip, same day.
It's like the two of you were destined to be together.
I reckon there's a fair chance it'll be a decent game. I never understand people who do two or three games a season and opt for Man United, Liverpool etc.
I'd go for us versus some pretty shit team every single time. At least then there's a chance of goals and points.
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I haven't been for so long I almost feel like asking for advice before I do the same trip from Oxford to Villa Park on Monday.
How weird. Same trip, same day.
It's like the two of you were destined to be together.
I reckon there's a fair chance it'll be a decent game. I never understand people who do two or three games a season and opt for Man United, Liverpool etc.
I'd go for us versus some pretty shit team every single time. At least then there's a chance of goals and points.
Same trip, different game. Me, Swansea, him, Everton.
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Enjoy the experience Stinger.
Have a great day and bring a tucker bag full of luck with you!
Don't forget to have a Balti pie!
UTV!
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Have a great day Stinger and have a beer for me. We'll be watching live and bleary eyed in the Barossa
I'm sure I will have a great time there. Barossa Valley hey. I've got some family that live in Tanunda. I'll definitely have a drink for you....and one for myself probably.
Cool, that's where I live, I probably know them!
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Hi again. Just wanted to say that I had a great day at the game, even though it was a draw. Had an excellent seat and the people around me were very nice and good to talk to. Got to the ground early and I asked one of the stewards if he could take a photo of me in front of the ground. He did me one better and took me down to the dugout and got a picture of me sitting on the bench, so that was a nice little memento. Also one in front of the pitch.
Thanks guys for all of your hints and tips on getting to the ground and things to see and do. Tried to get to some of them but I was more interested in just wandering around the place and the ground when I got there.
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks again for all your help and I had a brilliant first visit to Villa Park. Cheers guys.
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Yeah yeah but the big question is did you get off the train at Witton or Aston....if you indeed take the train? ;)
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Glad you had a good day Stinger and hope you get along again soon.
Next time hopefully, there is a win with it too.
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Yeah yeah but the big question is did you get off the train at Witton or Aston....if you indeed take the train? ;)
Well, I caught the train from Oxford to New Street and walked around a little bit and then caught the train to.....ASTON! And then took the walk down to the ground. It's really not that far.
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Hey Stinger, PM me the name of your Tanunda people. There is a growing Villa enclave in the valley believe it or not!