Odd choice - is the Claydon flight open?


Tardbigge top lock out of service too, I believe ... for different reasons, though it takes a lot of water that one!

 
Lock restrictions in dry summers (and indeed in some places in moderate summers) have been common for a very long time.  When we had a share in a boat, I can recall problems on the Napton flight were almost every year, and we had problems on Hatton at one point too.   The Kennet and Avon had such problems when it re-opened that just one boat - carrying the Queen - was allowed down Caen Hill.   These days it is "back pumped"

There are now more boat passages that there were in commercial days in many places - though you wouldn't think it when you see how many boats are still on their marina moorings even on a typical day in high summer.   But then I suppose that if all the cars in the UK were being driven atound on the road at the same time, we would have gridlock.

 
Cropredy lock on the Oxford Canal is already closed, meaning that this canal is closed south of that lock already.

 
That is exactly how it is, grahame. 

 

May I disagree with my learned friend?

'Regular police patrols' could be, for example, "Once a month, on the first Monday of each month."  That is not a deterrent.

Of far more use would be, 'Frequent, or irregular, police patrols', whereby potential miscreants would have no idea when the next blue uniform might arrive, to interrupt their dastardly acts.

CfN.

 

I'm not sure it was - ever - very much in person.. However, the branch network as I understand it is like little call centres where the volunteers who take some very difficult calls can be mutually supportive.  It takes a special person to man phone lines for calls like this and they need their network.   

 
I presume that more people are seeking telephone help from the Samaritans, rather than visiting in person.

 

A neighbours kids were as surprised to see coal being used for heating in my home. This was during a prolonged power cut  The kids and mother came in to warm up as they had no heating at home.
The cats had already "evacuated" to me in protest at the absence of GCH at home.

 
From the BBC:

 
The route to Keighley would involve the (for the UK) singularly unusual Lees Moor Tunnel - a set of condition reports of that structure are to be found here, if the URL holds together.

Mark


https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lees_moor_keighley_goods_tunnel/response/1145363/attach/2/FoI%20Response%20Letter%20to%20Michael%20Bradley%20Freedom%20of%20Information%20Request%20Lees%20Moor%20and%20Keighley%20Goods%20Tunnel.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1

 
This historic news item is from the Daily Mail, but I have only noted it now, as it was attached to another, more recent, news item.

From the Daily Mail:

 
From the Daily Mail:

 
There are three town centres of which I have very recent experience, including some bus services:

Nailsea.
I needed to travel into Bristol early on Monday morning for a medical appointment at the BRI (yes, bobm, I know that is also the correct station code for Bristol Temple Meads ). The X9 service took me promptly from the centre of Nailsea to Bristol Bus Station in about 40 minutes - no problem. It was then only a brief stroll up to the hospital.  The return journey didn't go quite so smoothly - the X9 service on bay 14 in Marlborough Street bus station was notable for its absence, so I chose to stroll down to BRI (Bristol Temple Meads railway station ), pausing only to refresh myself in a couple of Wetherspoons on route.
The town centre in Nailsea has also seen some decline, over the years. We have lost all of our bank branches and many traditional family shop businesses. The pubs generally remain - including a new Micropub - but it seems that every other shopfront now is either a charity shop or a Turkish barbers.

Melksham.
During my recent visits to Melksham, I twice used the bus to travel from the centre of the town into the centre of Bath - Manvers Street, by the railway station. Excellent scenic (for me, as a visitor) journey on both occasions - and all for £3.
I found the centre of Melksham to be fairly lively - in a good way. Road traffic is quite heavy, but there are plenty of pedestrian crossings. There is a wide variety of shops, including some fascinating antique / collectibles. Also, there is a good selection of pubs, including an excellent Wetherspoons - The Bear.  However, once you go beyond The Bear towards the railway station, the amount of derelict commercial and industrial premises is rather depressing.

Swindon.
I have no experience of the bus services in Swindon - never had occasion to require them.
A few weeks ago, walking from Milford House (the head office of GWR) on Milford Street to the Wetherspoons ('The Sir Daniel') on Fleet Street, I was frankly depressed at the number of boarded up and derelict buildings - contrasting with the almost universal road workings, causing confusion to all pedestrians, as far as I could see. Clearly, money is being spent on public transport (bus lanes, one way systems, etc.) but it was not clear to me quite what facilities would encourage people to actually use them.

That's all from me: I'll hand over now to bobm, a Swindon resident. 

 

More ABBA, then. 

 
The Swedes are generally law-abiding -= they'll ride only where they should, and if you need insurance they'll have it.

The Brits (I hate that word)/British don't do either. Ride wherever they like & provide the shortish route from A to B & try & get away without insurance.

I don't blame the UK Government. I also wish we were more 'Swedish'....

 
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58 has been cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17
18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29
19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

 
Earlier today that quartet were advertised as being three coaches instead of two. Now shrunk to zero.  Underlines the chronic shortage of rolling stock in the central region.  The cascade of more units from the west cannot come soon enough. 

 
This thread might be renamed 'Halifax to Bradford cycle route through tunnel', a great lost opportunity that the entire heavily engineered system wasn't earmarked to become an active travel route at the time it went out of use, but that was a very different world - and different again to the world that the line was built to serve - I'm reminded again that a small slice of that world is captured in this video, which includes a couple of glimpses of those lines. But what is it that is moving on the road at abut 26 seconds in?

Mark

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-tram-ride-into-halifax-1902-1902-online

 

Absolute safety is not achievable, but the risks could be reduced by CCTV monitoring, and by regular police patrols.

 
tl:dr - everything worked out. The outstanding issue: a miscreant bogie (or the track, or something...)

What I thought would happen: £££, 'cos, to London and back on a friday, needed peak time travel as this was to a funeral and I then needed to be back at the end of the afternoon.

How it worked out: £25 advance single on the 06:02 up from Bath. On arrival at Paddington, to the ticket office for a £42 off-peak single for the 16:30, the last train before the evening peak -the person behind the counter, whose customer service skills were beyond  excellent, reserved a seat too. So, a return for £67, with some flexibilty to cater for a less predictable return time, so, could be worse (but this does depend on the availablity of advance fares).

On the day. Not many at all travelling on the 6:02am train from Bath, or from Swindon or from Reading, so even the buffet trolley person was on time. Paddington was quiet at 7:25am, as was the (transformative) Elizabeth line, Farringdon and Thameslink somewhat busier but London Bridge and the surrounding felt quiet even at 8:15. Lovely sunlit morning and what appeared to be a group of Danish people in  touring rowing boats, heading downstream inside of HMS Belfast before disappearing beyond Tower Bridge.

The return journey: the journey back began with some bus confusion, mainly owing to unfamiliarity with the service but also not helped by boarding a bus which had the destination board arse-about. Once onto a service heading slowly towards Thameslink's core things were more relaxed and once again a quick though steppy change at Farringdon onto the Elizabeth line and to Paddington. At the gate line, despite not being damaged my ticket jammed the reader, which resulted in a quick visit from staff to retrieve the situation (and the ticket).

The 16:30 to Taunton surprised me as it was not full and standing, no stampede needed to get aboard, and it ran to time back to Bath. The seating was in good nick and I took a photo to remind me which generation of seating they belonged to (and to admire the idiosyncratic position of the gangway handholds, most people continue to use the tops of the seats which are far better placed).

Running at speed and east of Grove for a few miles, the leading bogie experienced an almighty outbreak of hunting, which went on for a few minutes, not sure what it was there that it didn't like but it got everyone's attention.

Leaving the station and on to the buses, that is where the 'Fun' restarted, but let's draw a veil over that as it would be a shame to include it in what was otherwise a good day's travel. It would be useful if everything heading north stopped at that stop in Manvers Street - currently 50% of its capacity is taken up by the city tour buses.

Incidentally, for good measure there is a 'Bus stop suspended' notice on that stop in Manvers Street, but I didn't get close enough to see the dates, or whether this was connected with the alteration works to the former Debenhams store there.

Anyway, a photo of said seats...

Mark


https://i.postimg.cc/x8DdhsB5/iep-seats-800.jpg

 
In my view, the use of small and lightweight electric vehicles should be encouraged in order to reduce fossil fuel use and local air pollution.
The law should be simplified, AND ENFORCED.

I would suggest that all electrically powered or electrically assisted vehicles, should be placed in one of three categories.

Group one. For vehicles primarily pedal powered, but with limited electric assistance. Maximum speed under electric power or electric assistance 15 MPH. Maximum empty weight 25 kilos.
Treat as cycles, no requirement for any licence, formal training, road tax, or safety hat.

Group two. For vehicles primarily electrically powered, with or without pedals, Maximum speed 30 MPH, maximum empty weight 40 kilos. Requires a basic licence, granted after passing a basic driving test, and a full theory test, third party insurance, number plates, and hard hat required. Road tax exempt. Rider to be at least 14. Brake lights and turn signals required.

Group three. No limit on speed or weight, treat as motorcycles. Full motorcycle licence needed, approved helmet required, road tax charged.

Or something similar, but keeping it simple.

Group one would also include pedestrian operated vehicles with electric assistance, carts for transporting luggage and light freight, or children. Prams and baby buggies.

 
I am aware (you may have guessed) that my original post was a somewhat provocative extreme, but the inaccuracies of the Wiltshire PC really got my goat this morning ... brief follow up here as ... limited battery life and I'm going easy online to leave more power to take photos like have never been on the Coffee Shop before.

 
The decline of larger town centres has been a popular topic in the media recently. Internet shopping, high car-parking charges, rogue cyclists, beggars and shop-lifters have been blamed, the last three contributing, some people think, to a feeling of unease. I now dislike visiting Reading town centre.

A friend of mine (who cycles around London) reports similar discomfort in London, where the travails of Oxford Street have been commented on.

In contrast I've enjoyed visits to Newbury, Thame, Marlborough and several other smaller towns.

Ironically, Reading Borough Council has recently firmed up its guidance on busking, which is one High Street feature that I do appreciate, sometimes donating money.

 
Oh, the irony. I was a very keen cyclist, accumulating 270,000 miles, including some utility journeys, such as in the 1960s  the 15 miles between Sidmouth and Exeter libraries - and back. I thought then that "two wheels" was an excellent way for someone to get around, rather than them occupying a metal box of, say, 75 square feet. Today this is even more my opinion with the advent of SUVs. (A friend of mine recently bought one, and for 95 per cent of her mileage is the sole occupant; she complains of having to squeeze into hedges on country roads and getting her car's bodywork scratched.)

"Small electric assisted transport" has several desirable factors, but its misuse by a significant proportion of people, as mentioned by Taplow Green, brings it into disrepute. Many police forces are making token efforts to control it, seizing the occasional illegal machine and proudly proclaiming the fact. But on any trip to Reading town centre one can see a dozen more of dubious legality. Some people see them as the most popular delivery service for drugs.

 
09:52 Westbury to Swindon due 10:36
09:52 Westbury to Swindon due 10:36 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:48
11:05 Swindon to Westbury due 11:48 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55
13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

 

A three car class 175 is about 71m long, so only just fits in those 72m roads, although not sure if could close door and provide a clear walkway around end.

Pairs of two car units would fit in the 2 longer 112m roads, but wouldn't be able to handle 5car (117m long), or 6car (142m long) without splitting into two trains, which adds time and complexity.  It is of course common practice to run early/late empty trains to/from depot as pairs of units. 

 
The worst I have ever seen, was an old guy on one of those 4 wheel mobility shopping vehicles with clear plastic rain roof.

But wasn't pottering along the pavement, he was driving in middle lane of 3 on A13 dual carriageway near Barking, causing traffic chaos.

If ever there was need for enforcement for safety reasons that was it.

 
Grahame the population of Sweden is smaller than that of London with Sweden is twice the Sq km of the UK the density of population Sweden is 25 people per square km, the UK has a density of 281 per square km. Based on risk of death and injury in a collision involving a small electric assisted transport the risk in Sweden is much lower than the UK.

In the UK we need to have regulation / registration and control, with the requirement for insurance over all powered transport used in public places, that is why in 1977 there restrictions placed on 50cc motorbikes for 16 year olds with L plates; the requirement for crash helmets for motor bike uses and seat belts in cars all driven by the number of deaths and serious injury

 
Wow!

Excellent, thank you.

 
I think "state sponsored vendetta" is overstating it somewhat and a lot of people are heartily sick and tired of having to dive for cover when e-bikes/scooters etc come flying around corners/down the pavement at considerable speed with those on board apparently oblivious to pedestrians.

Also being used on the road by delivery drivers/riders with little or no regard for the law or highway code.

I appreciate that by no means all users are irresponsible, but a balance has to be struck and it's the Police/Ambulance service who end up having to pick up/scrape up the pieces, so they are right to be concerned and enforce where appropriate.

Keeping people safe is the Government's first responsibility.