Yesterday I visited Newquay and Falmouth and ended the day in Penryn, Cornwall. These are places nothing line Melksham, and yet everything like when it comes to needing and having a local economy, and people needing to get around from place to place to support the local economy. I was looking and learning about what they have, what is working, and what was less than ideal for me.

I arrived in Newquay on the train at 1 p.m. with around two dozen other people, after a journey of about an hour from Par which is a small village across the Cornish peninsular and to the east.  Most of the people on the train had arrived from beyond Cornwall - longer distance - and I have some pictures of senior folks struggling up and down the steps of the footbridge with heavy cases.  In the other direction, the train up from the end of Cornwall - Penzance - was pulling in as we left; it runs every 30 minutes, so anyone wanting to connect probably started half an hour earlier but never the less it struck me as an "oops" of a connection.

Newquay was busy - the two dozen off the train realistically not making a dent in the crowds and it was very car-centric.  For sure there is a pedestrianised are and places to walk - but what a lot of car parks and cars.  Are they all needed?

Headed across the peninsular later in the day, I had a choice of a 15:10 or a 17:10 train to Par (Zig) then Zag on the train down to Truro.  It's 12 miles, 23 minutes by car according to Google.  So I decided to the bus and caught the 14:50 from the stop just up the road from the railway station. "Truro Bus Station" it proudly proclaimed.   Now Cornwall has some lovely lanes, communities that need serving, and schools with pupils who need to get home.  And this bus served them all. We went through the school yard and got a dozen or two pupils on, waiting for them all to come out. We went down lanes, turned around in a gateway at the far end of one, went around villages to serve the stop in the middle before coming back out, and we stopped a while at the Cornish Wildlife Trust in case any badgers were just waking up and wanted to get up and catch the bus. And I got off the bus at 16:35 in Truro, guessing which was the stop for the station, which like a number of GWR stations is up the hill out of the town. Really, 105 minutes on a bus for a 12 mile journey, compared to a 25 minute journey by private car - is it any wonder that people who can chose the car option? 

I *am* aware that there are multiple bus routes from Newquay to Truro, and a diagram at the bus stop for those with excellent sight showed where each served, and for the bright people the routes, numbers, and listed times all could be correlated - but nothing to say whether a bus went along the main road to Truro calling quickly at lots of roadside communities, or if it's going down the lane to Holywell and back, and via Cubert, St Newlyn East and Zenah.  Oh - and it would perhaps have been nice to have "School Days" and "School Holidays" defined on the timetable ... I might well have caught the train had I realised the 15 minutes extra that the bus had in its schedule - fulfilling a necessary role for sure, but making it less suitable as it compromised other roles.

Some little informational improvements could be made ... a note on the bus stop of the time that buses arrive at their destination (would I have done better on the Redruth bus, and train from there?  How about St Austell?). QR code to let me explore the services more that printed sheets can do, and a real time display that was functioning.  The words "Local service" on the bus - "Local service to Truro" rather than just "Truro" perhaps? None of these things rocket science.

After my journey - "Plymouth City Bus" and "Go-ahead" made me chuckle - just about as far from a city as it could be - down the lane, "go ahead and then go back the same way" - I looked it up online. Timetable attached and, sure, it was the slowest service of the day ... but why or why does the timetable just include the local stop name and not the township?  The No. 88 runs from "Bus station" via "Post office" to "Bus station" with no immediately obvious note of which bus stations!

I have gone off on something of a tangent on my report. I was previously doubtful about the "Mid Cornwall Metro" plan to double the train service to Newquay and double back at Par to St Austell, Truro and Falmouth. Looking and travelling around yesterday, I am now very much less doubtful.  Through passengers from Newquay to Falmouth Docks will be few and far between, but so much can and should be done to help people get around.  I am minded of what happened when the Cardiff to Portsmouth service stepped up to hourly many years ago - a handful of trains each day is now an hourly service with overcrowding problems and local trains added.  And I note that Melksham, where we have stepped up from a useless service to a two-hourly one, is in many ways oh-so-ripe for a Wiltshire and Bath Metro.

 

No.  Ten working days.  My source is https://www.gov.uk/driving-test/driving-test-faults-result 

 
Older motorists could be required to pass eye tests to keep their driving licence.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the Commons Transport Select Committee that is something she is “open to considering” as part of the Government’s forthcoming road safety strategy.
Earlier this month she received a prevention of future deaths report from HM Senior Coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley, which related to the deaths of four people killed by drivers with failing eyesight
Ms Alexander said: “I know that reading that report will be very distressing for the families of the victims who were killed.
“That, of course, was a situation where the optician had suggested to (four) individuals that they needed to advise the authorities that they had a medical condition which affected their eyesight and where they shouldn’t be driving.
“And of course, that didn’t happen. So I am open to considering the evidence on this issue.”
Dr Adeley described the UK’s licensing system as “the laxest in Europe”.
Drivers are not subjected to mandatory checks of their skills or health once they obtain their licence, no matter how old they become, although they are required to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if they are no longer fit to drive.
Dr Adeley wrote: “Self-reporting of visual conditions permits drivers to lie about their current driving status to those performing an ophthalmic assessment and avoid warnings not to drive.
Would any one who has lived or still living in the European region know how different countries, address older drivers test requirements? 

ALSO
The Government is planning to increase the amount of driving test staff to reduce the backlog of those who wish to take their driving test.
I presume for our younger members of society,a note of caution just because you have been given a test driving date does not mean your going to pass.
Am I correct in saying you then have to wait six months to take your driving test again?

 
Another update from Richard Clinnick. This has been going on so long that he's now on his 3rd job since the start, and is now editor, Modern Railways...

So far treated - 7 5car 800/0s, 3 9car 800/3s, 12 5car 802/0s and 6 802/1s
800013 & 802017 currently at Eastleigh

In total, there are 93 IETs, 57 owned by Agility. Of those, 28 5car 800/0s and 18 9car 800/3s still need to be treated That  leaves 36 IETs owned by Eversholt of which 9 5car 802/0s and 7 9car 802/1s have yet to be treated

[if these figures don't add up, they're Richard's not mine!]

 
Work has recommenced on the lifts, was pax through the station today, lift on down platform open with two orange jackets working therein. In lift lighting on. Same platform on the return lights and workers still active. Good to see action. The South Carpark was pretty busy albeit Wednesday of Easter Week.

 

This is the map from the Rangers and Rovers page on GWR's website https://www.gwr.com/your-tickets/choosing-your-ticket/rangers-and-rovers

 

20 mins late off Evesham

 
Noting the card is dated 2023 so who knows which is correct? 

 
https://railway200.artuk.org/

The deadline for voting is midnight on Sunday 1st June 2025. The winning artwork will be announced on 9th June.

You can view the 20 entries without registering, but in order to vote, you will need to register.

 
Of course the GWR network map will not show Lymington or Chandlers Ford.

Co-incidentally I downloaded the map from the GB Rail Rover Guide website yesterday which shows all the routes one would expect including these two. The National Rail site also lists all the relevant stations including these two. Salisbury/Yeovil/Axminster also included

 
Also on 22nd April 1775, Hatcher & Sons Ltd in Taunton opened. Originally a drapery, now a department store. One of the oldest continuously trading department stores in the UK. Hatchers are currently celebrating 250 years in business. They remain an independent family owned business.

Several generations of my family, myself included, have worked in Hatchers, right back to my great grandfather and great granduncle who worked there after the first world war.

Hatchers was my first proper job. I worked Saturdays initially, starting in December 1988 when I was 15. Earning the grand sum of £1.21 an hour! I started in the video hire department. I also worked in electrical/technology, warehouse, deliveries, restaurant and furniture. All before I was 18 when I started my catering and hospitality qualifications and training.

 
I can't see how you register to vote

 
Graham, If you visit me in my 'box when I am on duty, you will get the most hearty welcome, and I hope to be able to answer all of your questions keenly and enthusiastically. I have been visited by all sorts and often the most interesting and piercing questions come from the most unexpected (and unqualified) sources.

 
Many moons ago I used to do the proof reading for publicity leaflets like the rovers and this quirk raised it's head then. If I remember the answer I got then was that, although the rover is valid on the various operators in the area, as the FOSW was a GWR sponsored item it would only be valid on lines where GWR actually ran a service, although their argument fell down when it came to the SWR line from Axminster to Salisbury!!

It did seem a bit petty to me at the time but, brick walls and head banging.....

As an aside, if you down load the current map from the GWR website you'll see that both the Chandlers Ford line and Lymington Pier branch are not there..

https://www.gwr.com/stations-and-destinations/stations

 

I reckon that's the main one - having to change to get to Bath/Bristol is a PITA. If you want to get to Bath, the direct bus is a much easier option.

I used to work in Swindon, and lived in Chippenham for a bit a couple of years ago after work had moved to Bristol, and only having to take one train made the commute so much easier. Having said that, giving up the unreliable 07:21 Chippenham route to Bristol in favour of the 06:32 Trowbridge option has made the morning leg significantly less stressful, as I mentioned to Graham on said service this morning.

 
From a card picked up at a station where I changed trains this morning



I asked the young ladies in GWR uniform manning a both there if there's an email address these days and one of them told me that GWR isn't contactable by email any more.   Must have changed in the last 24 hours  - I emailed gwr.feedback @ gwr.com first thing yesterday and got an automated response and reference number which suggests the service IS still live.

 
I still have my BR lever cloth.

 

Indeed ... as it happens I'm not headed onto either in my final 2 days (I almost made it through Chandler's Ford) ... from a very wet Melksham I'm now in a sun-kissed train approaching Plymouth.

 
Just looking at the map, Graham, and it does seem very strange the the FOSW is apparently not valid Romsey - Eastleigh via Chandlers Ford or on the Lymington branch.  Both look very deliberate exclusions from the map.

In practical terms, I can't imagine there would be any problem actually travelling on either line with a FOSW rover.  I have done this but a long time ago now.

 
The National Rail page on this now has a bit more detail, identifying the location too (and also has the expected completion as next Sunday).

Mark

A routine inspection of the intersection bridge between Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street at the weekend revealed some structural problems. Extensive repair works have enabled mainline services between Newport and Cardiff to largely reopen.

Work on the bridge will continue this week with service amendments expected until Sunday. Additional train services will be added as phases of the work complete this week.

 

Of course those of a certain vintage will remember the role 'The Jolly Sailor' played in the 80's TV Show 'Howards Way' as well as other locations in the Southampton-Hamble-Bursledon area.

 
Final score from yesterday:

1P04 13:18 Hereford to London Paddington (16:24) : held Hayes & Harlington (+30), arrived +55. Stock forms 1W33.
1P34 15:18 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington (17:29) : held Reading (+55), arrived +54.
1P05 15:18 Hereford to Paddington (18:29) : held Oxford (+40), arrived Reading +41 and cancelled thereafter. Stock ran empty to Paddington.

1P44 19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington (22:24) : started from Shrub Hill.
1P46 20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington (23:34) : cancelled throughout.

2E14 17:04 Didcot Parkway to Evesham (18:23) : held Oxford (+26), arrived +28.
1W33 16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern (19:25) : departed +34 (stock from 1P04) , arrived Shrub Hill +34 and cancelled thereafter.
1W03 17:34 London Paddington to Hereford (20:25) : started from Reading (stock ran empty from Paddington) +41, arrived +30.
1W34 17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street (20:11) : cancelled throughout.

 
I'm off to Google "AWS ramps" - and make a new best friend with a 3D printer

 
You might just be in need of some AWS Ramps Dave.

 

Welcome back, Dave ... enjoy your extra leisure time.   Railway Modelling at 1:76 has a parallel with stuff at 1:1 and a strong crossover in following - we study each other.    I was on the Severn Valley Railway on Monday and nothing the products on sale in so many stalls and kiosks run by various preservation gtoups - and model railway equipment and transport books were dominant.

Between the tracks?   All sorts of things ... ATC and AWS ramps, perhaps?   You could also put in pedestrian crossing - much more acceptable to add on a model than in full scale these days!

 

My answer to the question I have quoted in bold is "I think so" for purely selfish reasons!

In my days of travelling daily on GWR I used to frequent the coffee shop probably daily. Then I moved to the Milton Keynes area where I jumped ship (or should that be TOC?) to Virgin as it was then and now  I am in a job that doesn't need me to travel at all and gives me more leasure time.

So after a break away from model railways I'm back and I'll be honest I came back to here because I knew you guys would know the answer to this question!

"What are the bits of hardware that sit between the rails and look like blocks of metal with champhers at each end" called? If I was going anywhere where I could get you a photo I would

I'm trying to find some of these in OO gauge so I can hide some reed switches.

Many thanks in advance!

Dave

 
We have approx 10 million senior citizens in the U.K.
Don't think it would be a good idea to give all those ten million a free senior rail card,
maybe you would have to apply for them,but not means tested.
If one million applied for a rail card the cost would be 30 million pounds.
If those one million made just one trip costing 30 pounds per year,
the rail industry would get its money back.
   

 
Another update, from the BBC:

 

Well that was predictably quick.  Woolston-Hamble-Bursledon....along Southampton Water.   It didn't disappoint and with several stations along the way you can trim your walk according to time/energy level.  Some decent watering holes too.... particularly impressed by The Jolly Sailor, a few minutes from Bursledon Station and tucked away right by the estuary.