When I find out the right way to condense the long-winded Streetview URLs into something neat for a message on this forum, I will post a few examples of what (for me, anyway) makes or breaks a potential destination.

All the suggested place you could walk round on GoogleEarth.

...
Good transport links help all kinds of businesses, those hoping to attract customers to buy their goods and services and those looking to recruit good staff.

Train station returning to village after more than 100 years

Simply shocking

You have to wonder why the more "anti violence" measures and response policing we have, the worse the situation becomes.  Some people's willingness to be violent in an an attempt to get their way is simply startling.

<snip>

We would be grateful if you were able to cascade this to your networks and, if you have any questions, please do get in touch.
 
Best wishes,  Olivia & Heledd

Olivia Willett | Deputy Head of Public Affairs | Great Western Railway
E: olivia.willett@GWR.com

Heledd Iolo | Senior Public Affairs Manager | Network Rail
E: heledd.iolo@networkrail.co.uk

I add to my intelligence on these pages and I am very much real.  (Quiet at the back. )

Train station returning to village after more than 100 years


A computer generated image shows how the new station in the village of Cheadle will look - Image © Pell Frischmann

Work is beginning on bringing a train station back to the heart of a Greater Manchester village more than a century after its original station closed.

Cheadle in Stockport had a station just off the high street up until 1917.

Funding for a new hub, which would be built next to Alexandra Hospital, was given the green light in 2022, with planning permission granted in 2023 but concerns about its effect on the timetabling of trains elsewhere on the network led to delays.

Stockport Council said the issue had now been resolved and council leader Mark Roberts said it was "a hugely significant moment for Cheadle and for Stockport.  For years we've fought for this station because we know the difference it will make to residents, businesses and the future prosperity of the area," he added.

Roberts said he was delighted that the initial highways work could now start on site thanks to the persistence and partnership of all involved.

Services are expected to run from Cheadle into Stockport town, Manchester Piccadilly and Chester, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The project had been held up by an unresolved timetabling issue over concerns the new station could impact trains elsewhere on the network, with a previous proposal made to remove services at Ashley and Plumley.

Stockport Council said the latest assessment by Network Rail and Northern Trains concluded that Cheadle Station could be introduced without removing a significant barrier that had put the project at risk and these plans have now been dropped.


A computer generated image shows the aerial view of the new station - Image © Pell Frischmann

Brian Bradley, chair of the Cheadle Towns Fund Board, said it was "a fantastic milestone for Cheadle and a moment that many people have worked hard to achieve over a number of years".

Cheadle MP Tom Morrison said getting to this point had been a real team effort, adding: "Cheadle has waited more than 100 years for a station, and now it's finally happening.  It will connect our 23,000 residents to jobs, schools and opportunities across Greater Manchester, and take traffic off our busy roads."

Cheadle Hulme North councillor David Meller, who helped kickstart the plans for the new station, said: "To see that we're finally there is incredible."

I planned a day out in Taunton last Wednesday.

Definitely one to add to the "Overrun with cars from the station" list (IMHO, as mentioned). What was planned to be a day out ended up being an hour spent in the excellent (albeit very child-friendly, almost to the exclusion of anyone else) Somerset Museum. What might have become a second hour or so was curtailed by cries of "How much?!?" in the museum cafeteria, leading us to buying sandwiches from a supermarket on the way back to the station. No plans to return to Taunton any time soon.

We're headed out beyond public transport in this discussion - but then this IS `'The West but NOT trains in the West"

Personal thoughts and logic ...
* leaders the world over can gain a domestic "bounce" from an international war. Sometimes one has to wonder if part of the reason for the war being waged in a way and to the degree that it is ... is to get that domestic popularity bounce.
* where a number of countries club / co-operate together in a war, it is only going to be natural for the "enemy" to undertake activities to reduce / harm the effect on the war from / by the stooge countries. Natural but a potentially dangerous escalation. Supply chains have many branches and leaves in the modern world.
* Even at the distance we are from Fairford, we noted a significant increase in heavy aircraft flights going over where we live.  We don't know what they are doing / where they are going and what they are doing when they get there, but we do note that is they are on military missions, they are probably directed by the US Department of War, which is the new name given by the US President to what used to be the Department of Defence.