The plot thickens. Thinking to check Bath Spa - Paddington to compare current costs vs via Salisbury, neither the National Rail site nor GWR will list the super off peak return fare. This might be me: I'll have another look on... another day. (Off peak Bath Spa to Paddington with a railcard comes up at £69.70, the super off peak fare is listed on brfares.com as £50.50).

Mark

A detailed analysis of a full-sized digital scan of the Titanic has revealed new insight into the doomed liner's final hours.

The exact 3D replica shows the violence of how the ship ripped in two as it sank after hitting an iceberg in 1912 - 1,500 people lost their lives in the disaster.

The scan provides a new view of a boiler room, confirming eye-witness accounts that engineers worked right to the end to keep the ship's lights on.

And a computer simulation also suggests that punctures in the hull the size of A4 pieces of paper led to the ship's demise.



"Titanic is the last surviving eyewitness to the disaster, and she still has stories to tell," said Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst.

The scan has been studied for a new documentary by National Geographic and Atlantic Productions called Titanic: The Digital Resurrection.

The wreck, which lies 3,800m down in the icy waters of the Atlantic, was mapped using underwater robots.

More than 700,000 images, taken from every angle, were used to create the "digital twin", which was revealed exclusively to the world by BBC News in 2023. Because the wreck is so large and lies in the gloom of the deep, exploring it with submersibles only shows tantalising snapshots. The scan, however, provides the first full view of the Titanic.

The immense bow lies upright on the seafloor, almost as if the ship were continuing its voyage. But sitting 600m away, the stern is a heap of mangled metal. The damage was caused as it slammed into the sea floor after the ship broke in half.



The new mapping technology is providing a different way to study the ship. "It's like a crime scene: you need to see what the evidence is, in the context of where it is," said Parks Stephenson. "And having a comprehensive view of the entirety of the wreck site is key to understanding what happened here."

The scan shows new close-up details, including a porthole that was most likely smashed by the iceberg. It tallies with the eye-witness reports of survivors that ice came into some people's cabins during the collision.



Experts have been studying one of the Titanic's huge boiler rooms - it's easy to see on the scan because it sits at the rear of the bow section at the point where the ship broke in two.

Passengers said that the lights were still on as the ship plunged beneath the waves.

The digital replica shows that some of the boilers are concave, which suggests they were still operating as they were plunged into the water.  Lying on the deck of the stern, a valve has also been discovered in an open position, indicating that steam was still flowing into the electricity generating system.

This would have been thanks to a team of engineers led by Joseph Bell who stayed behind to shovel coal into the furnaces to keep the lights on. All died in the disaster but their heroic actions saved many lives, said Parks Stephenson. "They kept the lights and the power working to the end, to give the crew time to launch the lifeboats safely with some light instead of in absolute darkness," he told the BBC.  "They held the chaos at bay as long as possible, and all of that was kind of symbolised by this open steam valve just sitting there on the stern."



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There are still two off peak day return fares Bath Spa to London via Salisbury and Warminster there - first class and standard class - according to BRfares. Still there from 2nd January too. Price is £66.20 (adult, no railcard)

If you want something a bit different, try an anytime day return from Portway Park and Ride to London via Warminster and Salisbury at £43.40 - it's restricted in that you may not arrive into Waterloo before 10:00, but there are no restrictions on the return time.

Do you mean Noel Philips?

Check offside mirror, indicate, prepare to pull away, constantly checking traffic for way to filter in, etc.
...
Spare in traffic/someone flashed to let you out (thank you) and away you go.

Agreed, and that's only a part of the story.  bradshaw travelled short to Exeter St Davids on an Exeter St Thomas ticket - perfectly allowed - then on an Exeter St Davis to Truro train that did not stop at St Thomas. I doubt that any split ticket site would offer that.

I note that it was the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and not the Wilthshire and Bath one. Covering for each other?

I am astounded by the "buses are allowed to leave up to one minute early." Is this commonly allowed elsewhere? Is it publicised anywhere visible to the public, such as at a bus stop?

Man airlifted to hospital after Trowbridge railway station incident

South Western Ambulance Service sent two crews to reports of a serious medical emergency at around 7.20am on Sunday (6 April).

Medics provided critical care to a man, who reportedly collapsed at the railway station.

He was stabilised before being put into the air ambulance and flown to Bristol Royal Infirmary for further treatment.

Around a dozen people stopped to watch the helicopter land and take off, many filming the sight on their mobile phones.