Not necessarily; the attached image is of the only 'footpath' across the railway anywhere near Warleigh Weir - it is towards the end of Ferry Lane - and if it is being subjected to dangerous misuse then the fault lies entirely with the general public and not the railway (unless of course if the crossing has been significantly downgraded since 2012 which is the date on Google Maps).



 

 
Yesterday, I attended Great Western Railway's Community and Stakeholder Conference in Swindon, along with perhaps 200 others.   These are / have been incredibly worthwhile events - to hear an learn what the GWR and Network Rail Western ROute teams are thinking, to be introduced to a number of projects they are highlighting, and to network with long established friends - catching up with a few words in person is so valuable - and making new ones.

By its nature, this is designed as being a positive event to motivate the room full of advocates for rail; very serious issues are raised / commented on / acknowldeged, but that's not the overall gloss of the day.  Unpaid volunteers / advocates do so much for rail - mention was made of £18 of benefit for every £1 spent on us - we are cheap support and marketing for the rail industry.

During the day at these conference, I type notes on my laptop and take photo.  I have published those at https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=32194 which is a "frequent poster" topic on our forum.  Nothing inhetently secret in there (and you may quote bits of it) but roughly written and I may have missed some key points and got soem wrong.

Some big take-aways
* There is a lot to do, and lots of good intent and lots of analysis
* How that good intent will be followed into action is unclear/unknown
* There are massive advocates of rail and passenger transport is still very important
* There are so many really good people trying to do jobs hamstrung byb controls and circumances
* There are many things we in the community may not consider / understand
* We need to look after and adovacate for our own stations, towns, regions
* We can too easily loose the wider plot if we argue over differences of how to achieve results
* We can't do / have done everything we want - lack of resource
* There are quick wins to be had, but sometimes hard to convince people
* I think we have/had excellent leads with some frustations from GWR when part of First
* With short term contract extensitons since 2013 - looking long term has been difficult
* I look forward with some trepidation to the nationalised operator future









I / we are promised a slide set from the day and I will share that for Coffee Shop members as it becomes available.    If you are not a Coffee Shop member,  please note that we are free and independent forum (run as a hobby thing by a fabulous team of moderators, admins and members, and we would welcome you to join and contribute if you wish.  Once you have made a few posts and established that you are legit, you'll automatically become a member of "frequent posters" and able to see and comment on things like my full notes mentioned earlier in this thread.    Register at this link

 

Yes, I do.

That apparent BTP response to the specific issue raised completely misses the point.

Near Nailsea, for example, there is a public footpath / right of way, which crosses the main line from Bristol to Exeter. The line speed here is 100 mph, there is no third rail / electrification and no question of 'trespassing' by those pedestrians using it.

The BTP need to focus more on specific issues, not give a generic answer to any raised concern (if that is what they did).

CfN. 

 
BBC has article saying how popular wild swimming spot Warleigh weir (south of Bathampton) requires footpath crossing railway and it is being misused


Then British Transport Police have a statement (bear in mind this is a non-electrified line operated by noisy diesel 158, 165, 166 units and freight locos, and has relatively low speed limit in area

Whilst I am all for improving safety at rural footpath crossings, I don't think the BTP statement which appears to have been cut and paste from an urban mainline crossing, was most helpful way to remind how to use a foot crossing either.  Does anyone else think BTP issued less than ideal statement here

 

The ownership will depend on who owns the land as it is a heritage railway it is possible the Council are the land owners and lease / licence / wayleave use to the railway.
Another possibility because the road is a by-pass it is the railway that owns the land and the Council has lease / licence / wayleave to cross the railway and maintain the road, this happens with NR the Highway owner pays NR to maintain the crossing surface.

 
4. Netherlands.

The Netherlands has been suggested as a country location before, and discounted, but I'm sure that's the church in Maastricht.

 

Looks like a lovely day and had I not been otherwise engaged, I would have come along.  Yesterday was one of those days with not just a two way but a five way (at least) clash, and I only managed two of the five things ... the outright winner for my attention was the GWR Community and Stakeholder conference in Swindon; the timing was such that I was also able to attend the Melksham Environment Group in the evening.

 
Update: bridge 88 from the water.

Mark

 
1. Luxumbourg - Witham Bobby
3. Switzerland - Chris from Nailsea
5. Germany (Aachen) - ChrisB
6. France (Antibes) - stuving
7. Austria (Bregenz) - stuving
8. Belgium (Leuven) - eightonedee

Not yet identified here

2.


4.

 
3. Is indeed Switzerland. I've looked it up: specifically, it's a village in the Swiss Alps - a World Heritage Site. See https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/destinations/berguen-bravuogn/ 

 
17:12 Bristol - Oxford cancelled because of a shortage of train crew

 

With thanks for your post, JayMac, I have now added BAOR to our 'abbreviations & acronyms' page.

 
For an interesting (and much more positive) piece on how the railways are coping with extreme hot weather and using sound science to devise coping policies, there's an interesting interview at the start of this week's Green Signals ' weekly round-up  - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiUp0JKuArs

Some interesting take-homes include that modern multiple-unit trains cope better with extreme conditions and cause less problems with damage to the track, and modern track-laying methods mitigate the risk of rail buckling.

Something for the "world's going to the dogs, we are all going soft" and "bring back locomotive hauled real trains" groups to contemplate.

 

I thought that looked more Austrian, on stylistic grounds. I still do, though there is a big overlap between them, but as 7 is Austria (Bregenz), 3 must be Swiss.

 

But then if there we no rails there for the trains, there would not be a problem either 

 
I have to agree its a council problem,if cars and lorries were not going over the rails,there would not be a problem.

 
The rearranged drop in sessions are Tuesday 14th July at Pill Community Centre, and Thursday 16th July at Somerset Hall Portishead, 3.30pm to 7.30 pm.

 
Thanks, chaps. I'm now feeling like a really old git.

 
I have a memory of listening to Forces Challenge on BFBS,along with A Jolly Good Show with DLT.

 
Personally I think the House of Commons with a couple of Liver Birds on the top would be quite good.  The Cabinet Office is not too far away, next to the BBC.

 

Depends on where 'The House' is.

  Oh, and wipe your boots on the way in wud yuh ...

 

If it is like the Wallingford bypass, that long post-dates the railway, then it will be a council problem.

 
175005 moved by road, unable to be dragged, to Wolverton reported on another site. Also half of 008 is at Wolverton

Ely :2: 175008 (half), 175104

Wolverton : 9 : 175005.  175102/103/105/106/107/108/109/110

Laira : 14: 175002/007/009, 175114 ex Ely; 175001/003/006/011, 175101/111/112/113/115/116 ex Wolverton

Exeter : 1 : 175004 ex Wolverton

Long Rock : 1 : 175010 ex Ely

as of 1 July 2026

 
The Cotswold Canal Trust are running a very infrequent series of trips from Wallbridge Lock, Stroud, at 10:30am, heading east for a couple of locks before a short trot to Stroud Brewery (opportunity for eats) and return ~3.30pm, £25pp excluding the hit from Stroud Brewery.

The ~three trips later in the year seem to have sold out, tomorrow's (I think the first time they've run this one, so, a shakedown trip) as far as I can see, has spaces.

Mark

https://portal.cotswoldcanals.org/product/perseverance-boat-trip-stroud-brewery/

 
Radio 4 was carried on 1500metres Long wave

 
Yes: I think we were there to remind the Germans of the error of their ways. As well as our Long Wave UK radio transmissions, obviously.

I remember a radio series of 'Forces Challenge', where a quiz pitched teams from different armed forces units against each other.  That may have been on Long Wave - or possibly Radio 4.

CfN. 

 

and earlier 1W29 1453 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street was cancelled due to a points failure (IB).

and from yesterday:

1W15 0750 London Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW);
1P22 1059 Great Malvern to London Paddington cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW);
1W27 1350 London Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW);
1P34 1632 Great Malvern to London Paddington cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW);
2E14 1704 Didcot Parkway to Evesham cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW);
2E16 1851 Evesham to Oxford cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW);
1W41 2052 London Paddington to Great Malvern cancelled due to unknown cause (ZW).

 
I'm assuming from the context that BAOR is British Army of the Rhine?