For 26th December 1962, adding OTD for the big freeze of 1962/3 which is within my living memory

From Wikipedia


I remember my mother's school friend Hilda Rowley arriving back from India - via a ship and staying with us in Orpington before she headed back home up north.  We were cold anyway and had a problem sourcing any more coal to keep the house warmer.  The only thing we could obtain was some stuff called "Glowco" and we came to understand why - it glowed rather than burned and we had some of the dreadfully near-useless stuff clogging our bunkers of what felt like years!

OTD log - replaced:1226    2019    ~ Every HST Livery?     https://transportdesigned.com/pictures-every-single-hst-livery-ever/    hstyatt

Storm Ingrid: Trains cancelled in black alert over storm threat

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A new sea wall was built at Dawlish after the track was destroyed in 2014

Rail passengers are facing a service shutdown on the south coast due to heavy rain and strong winds caused by Storm Ingrid.

Network Rail issued a black alert, the highest warning from 20:30 to 22:30 GMT on Friday, with 12ft (4m) waves expected to hit the sea wall at Dawlish and gusts of up to 60mph (96km/h) expected. It is only the second time a black alert has been issued since a storm destroyed sections of the track around Dawlish in February 2014.

Great Western Railway (GWR) said the line between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot would shut between 20:30 on Friday and 14:00 on Saturday, due to "significant risk" of sea water breaching the Dawlish sea wall.

Chris Fuoco, Devon and Cornwall director of Network Rail, said it was "the first time we've had our highest alert" since 2014. He added: "We are just taking every safety precaution we can to make sure everyone is safe. High tide tomorrow is a problem, as well, so we will inspect the line tomorrow before we can reopen it. Mother nature can do some dangerous things to the railway so we have to stay on top of that."

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In Paignton, Torbay, waves crash against the sea wall

A new sea wall was built in Dawlish at a cost of about £80m after the storm in 2014 left the track dangling in the air.

GWR said: "Predicted heavy and persistent rain in the south west, combined with gusts of up to 60mph in coastal areas during high tide, represents a significant risk of sea water breaching the Dawlish sea wall, and debris on the railway."

Train services would run between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids, and Newton Abbot towards Penzance, said GWR. It added replacement coaches were on standby.

(BBC news article continues)

Motion 537 submitted by Councillor Sam Akhtar

‘This Council notes that:

Twyford Station is a vital transport hub serving thousands of residents across Wokingham Borough.
The station provides fast Great Western Railway services to London Paddington and convenient Elizabeth Line connections, making it a key gateway for work, education and leisure.
Station parking provision is limited to approximately 400 spaces, which are typically fully occupied by around 7:15am on weekdays.
As a result, many commuters park in surrounding residential roads, causing significant and ongoing disruption to local residents.
Proposals to introduce additional yellow lines in nearby roads, while addressing some resident concerns, risk displacing parking further into surrounding areas rather than resolving the underlying issue.
 
This Council believes that:

The scale and persistence of parking and access issues at Twyford Station require action in the short term, rather than being deferred to a medium- or long-term aspiration.
A coordinated approach involving the Council, Great Western Railway and other relevant stakeholders is necessary to deliver a sustainable solution.
 
This Council therefore resolves to call on the Executive to:

Work with Great Western Railway to assess current and future parking demand at Twyford Station;
Explore all viable options to expand parking provision in the vicinity of the station, develop business cases for each option, and agree a preferred solution with Great Western Railway by the end of 2026;
Work with Great Western Railway and other relevant stakeholders to deliver the preferred option at pace once agreed.
Improve access to Twyford Station through enhanced bus services and cycling infrastructure, beyond the current provision;
Convene a cross-party working group to support and drive this project through to delivery; and
Provide a report to a meeting of the Executive by May 2026 setting out how resolutions 1–5 will be taken forward and delivered.’
 
Chief Finance Officer comment:

"There are likely to be significant financial implications which will be assessed for consideration by the Executive."

 The Chief Finance Officer comments are solely an assessment of the financial implications associated with the Motion as written and are not an opinion on the policy direction or intention contained within them.

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06

20:06 Westbury to Cheltenham Spa due 22:06 has been cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

At Newton Abbot now. It was lively, but could have been a lot worse!

How about BABCA - Bristol And Bath Combined Authority.

Ignore the indignant squeals from Weston - they've ignored the rest of us in North Somerset for many years now. [Image from here is not available to guests]

Is part of this the fact that most traffic signals and signage has now been outsourced. I notice locally that quite often signage for road works appears possibly days before work start, and maybe after completion.

So GasCo, TeleCo, LeccyCo, WaterCo etc etc etc dig up your road and then add a bit to your bill to cover the cost that the council is imposing on them.  Great idea!

I have noticed around here a tendency for those working on highways to leave traffic light controls on roads out of hours (or even during the day) when no works are in progress or any holes or similar are in the carriageway.

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

https://www.facebook.com/atrebatia.uk/posts/1979636445640158

I still like the name "Atrebatia"

Killer who stabbed grandmother at bus stop detained

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Anita Mukhey died after being stabbed at a north London bus stop

A killer with paranoid schizophrenia who stabbed a woman at a bus stop 18 times before "casually" walking away has been detained indefinitely.

Jala Debella, 24, attacked grandmother Anita Mukhey in front of horrified passers-by in north London in May 2024 with a hunting knife that had been delivered to his home about an hour before.

Addressing his remarks to an empty Old Bailey dock as Debella had been too unwell to stand trial for murder, Judge Philip Katz KC described the 66-year-old victim "as the heart of the family".

Debella was sentenced to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act with an accompanying restriction order - meaning he can be detained for the rest of his life.

During the trial of issue, the court heard Debella was obsessed with gory online videos and had been able to buy the knife over the internet, despite living in a residential home supporting people with mental health problems.

The weapon was delivered to his home in Colindale, north London, before he used it to stab Mukhey to death, an act which mirrored violence he had watched.

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Jala Debella will continue to live at a secure hospital in Merseyside

Mukhey's husband Hari said the grandmother-of-two was the "centre of our home".

"Her absence has left silence that nothing can fill."

He thanked "brave members of the public" who went to his wife's aid, but said the trial had forced him to confront "deeply troubling" facts about the psychological assessments of her killer.

The judge added: "She was a wife, mother and grandmother, stabbed to death by a complete stranger on a busy main road in north London."

In a statement issued after the jury found Debella committed the act of killing Mukhey, her family said: "The court has heard a man with a severe mental illness was known to services and assessed by consultant psychiatrists as psychologically stable and safe for the community.

"At the same time, he was engaging in escalating behaviour outside those assessments, including acquiring weapons and researching extreme violence - behaviour that ultimately mirrored the violence he later carried out. That disconnect is hard to accept. It raises serious questions about how risk is assessed, and about whether current models are equipped to detect danger that develops beyond the spoken words of the consulting room."

The family also questioned why Debella was able to purchase weapons online while living in a staffed and registered mental health rehabilitation home.

An inquest into Mukhey's death has been opened and adjourned.

Judge Katz said he did not express an opinion on the "safety of the regime" at the residential home but added: "No doubt others will consider it, hopefully soon."

Debella's medical consultant confirmed he had been detained under the Mental Health Act on at least three occasions before the attack. Debella will continue to be held at Ashworth High Security Hospital in Merseyside.