When I did the original trip this thread was about, I stopped at Cherwell Valley both ways. On the way south I'd never been there before and it seemed a bit busy but there was a free charger so I went for it. It was only as I was connecting that I realised I'd got a 50 kW, whereas the ones further up the row were 350 kW . I couldn't immediately see if there were any 350 kW units free and since the SR is only going to do 88 kW at best I just shrugged and connected. I had a walk round the food court to decide what to eat, ordered something and ate it. Went to the loo and by the time I was done I had plenty to get me to my destination with some spare, so I just packed up and left.
On the way back it was earlier in the day and didn't appear so busy, There were a couple of free 350 kW units so I just bagged one. Again I had a wander round, got something to eat, and went to the loo. Even though the car was charging a bit faster, the experience wasn't much different. I suppose I was probably charging more the second time, but the difference was so marginal I'm not necessarily all that fussed about getting a faster charger. Different if you have the 64 kWh battery I suppose.
Again at Christmas, I got a plug on another one of those old Gridserve installations that happened to be at a tourist attraction. I suppose I was charging for about 35-40 minutes. When I saw 80% I stood up from my table, and by the time I had bussed my dishes and inquired about something at the shop and visited the loo and walked back to the car, it was at 85%.
I did notice a wrinkle, though. I was the only car on my charger, because the other plug was the CHAdeMO and no Leaf was in sight. When I got back to the car a guy on one of the two CCS plugs on the other charger was fiddling around and obviously getting a poor charging rate. He asked me if I'd got a reasonable rate and when I said yes he prepared to move his car to the bay I was vacating. There was another car on that charger at the same time and I think it was sharing charge. Come to think of it, every time I have been on one of these old units, I've had the charger to myself. 50 kW is fine, but if it gets split between two cars that's a lot less fine.
Here's the plan I'll probably go for, in ABRP. I imagine things will change a bit depending on the actual temperature and wind speeds on the day though. (This is 20ºC and no wind.)
It's quite a long charge at Forton, because I want to get to the NEC and that means going to 85%. It will be lunch time though - I intend to get there about 12.30. It's a pity Forton is such a dump, but it will do. If I could charge at Killington Lake, which is not a dump, I'd maybe re-think this and abandon the NEC, but I don't see Killington Lake having usable charging facilities any time soon.
It also seems long at Cobham, but that's only because I set my arrival SoC to 50%, for convenience on the day of the performance. If I'm running late I could probably pick up enough to get to Portslade in ten minutes, and just go out to a nearby rapid charger in the morning to make up the difference.