I've now expanded this topic's heading, as it has attracted some wider interest.

My personal memories are of Trevose Head in Cornwall, where we heard that foghorn overnight in our holiday caravan.  It never bothered me - it was just a safety feature in the distance, 'for those in peril on the sea'.

 
Thank you, as ever, for your very informed contribution to our discussion here, IndustryInsider. 

 

My comment about the reliability of the class 800 is they are not maintained by the new combined infrastructure / train operator organisation but is reliant on a contract with a supplier.  HST were in their early days had a horrendously bad failure rate, it was just the fact that BR had an over supply of traction and rolling stock it did not show up as bad; the TOC's knew how to deal with HST problems through their life; but as the HST's aged they were becoming very expensive to keep in service 

 

Most of them will depart from Platform 4 as they shunt into Down Carriage Siding 3 at Oxford and you can't come back out into anything other that that from there.  Eventually you will be able to come back out into Platform 5 as well.

Having replayed that on Berth Maps I noted the following issues that caused that 7/8 minute delay on the 11:03 from Oxford you travelled on to Bath Spa (it reached Bristol 4 minutes late):

1)  There is an ongoing signalling issue at Oxford affecting OD2366 on the Up Oxford which means anything departing Platform 4 is now often crossed over at Hinksey South or Kennington Junction rather than at Oxford Station South Junction.  This needs resolving soon as it's been outstanding for over a month and really affects the trains that are booked to depart south from Platform 4.
2)  The train was a few minutes late out of the sidings as the previous service to use Platform 4, 2M24, the 1033 DID-BAN departed 9 minutes late at 11:00.
3)  It arrived from the sidings at 11:03 and waited for the delayed 4M55 to pass through 9 minutes late at 11:05, departing at 11:06.
4)  Though that small hold up didn't really affect it as it was following a minute or so behind a delayed CrossCountry, 1V83, the 06:23 NCL-RDG which was going ahead of it (rightly so) from Hinksey South
5)  This is where the unnecessary delay occured though as rather than immediately following 1V83, the signalling system (ARS presumably) set the road for 2L23, the 11:08 OXF-DID which was in Platform 3.  That route was quickly cancelled (overridden by the signaller presumably), but by the time that route had died out and the route for 1N59 had been set it meant it sat waiting at Hinksey South from 11:09 to 11:13 making it 8 minutes late.  It then had a pretty clear run through to Bristol.
6)  That one small signalling error also delayed 2L23 (11:08 OXF-DID) by 4 minutes and two trains coming the other way 1E36 (10:46 RDG-NCL) by 5 minutes, and 1D20 (10:23 PAD-OXF) by 3 minutes.  Finally 1O10 (08:25 MAN-BMH) caught up with 2L23 at Radley and was delayed by 5 minutes from there to Didcot.

So, minor delays, but just goes to show what one moment of a lack of optimal signalling can cause.

Thought you, and others, might appreciate that level of detail!

 

... so now we're talking.

This 7 minute clip from YouTube is resonant - including, if I'm not mistaken, the growl of a Rolls Royce Merlin engine overhead at the start.

 
And after using the train ...

The incoming train from Bristol - the 09:08 - arrived 4 minutes late having had to wait for the platform and disgorged - at a guess - between 30 and 50 passengers before shunting. The return train also had to await a platform, and left somewhat to my surprise from platform 4, 3 minutes late then had to wait to cross over to the line towards Didcot leaving it 7 or 8 minutes late for the rest of the journey.

39 in standard class from Oxford, and no signs of huge crowds joining 1st class.  Goodly number more by the time we got to Bath Spa.  Train manager checking tickets has a word with a young lady with an expired (well expired, by the sound of things) railcard with an advance ticket. Oops; young lady was shocked at the replacement price, and I don't think the new ticket was actually sold.  She was with others and they appeared to laugh it off when the train manager was into the next carriage.

Traffic from Oxford was what I would describe as "what you might expect on a typical early day". No hoard of rail advocates (in fact I think I was the only one), lots of relatively young leisure traffic, including significant baggage - a bit touristy.  Middle of the day, school term-time, no regular buildup yet.  From Oxford it needs time to build up.  Swindon west (in this direction) it was already providing a useful service; not sure how much that is just abstraction from the services from London.  No catering - and that was announced.

Although I did not use my Interrail pass (home country days are valuable), I did look to plan it out in their app which is generally very good.   However, the train did not appear there and I was recommended a change at Didcot.  I suspect that's because it was announced so late, and it will appear in the planner in a week or two.  Connecting two major overseas tourist cities, I wonder if being missing from Interrail, Eurail and perhaps Britrail may suppress numbers until corrected.

 
Today is a day of celebration - the through train service from Bristol to Oxford is back, six days a week, running every two hours.  Until 2004, this useful service was provided by Thames Trains who were swallowed into First Great(er) Western, as were Wessex Trains and it was "optimised" away.  Twenty years ago, Wessex Trains were swallowed up too and my own local service through Melksham was reduced to unusable.  How times have changed; rail passenger number have  increased, the wider community benefit of a decent rail service is now appreciated, and this is another step towards a network service fit for passenger purpose.

Initially, Bristol to Oxford runs every 2 hours, six days a week.  Proposals are for it to run every hour - that's from May 2027.  A service that only runs every 2 hours is "thin" and will hugely benefit when it's stepped up to every hour, though if "pushed" you can make the journey already at intermediate times doing what we jokingly call the "Didcot Dance" - rushing to make tight connections or doing a slow elegant movement when they don't work.   

This "hourly for regional services" should be a minimum, and it is now commonly appreciated that the Swindon to Westbury service through Melksham should also run hourly. We celebrated a return from 2 to 8 trains each way per day from 2014 - another victory for common passenger sense.  But infrastructure and freight services mean that the service can't simply and reliably be stepped up in the same way as Bristol to Oxford.

Sunday services should - these days - be similar to those of Monday to Saturday.  But yet, GWR's staff arrangements are such that if they were to schedule such a service, it would be beyond the number of staff they have; other services are already reduced at present because of a lack of staff who volunteer to work Sundays.  And the service really should go onwards from Oxford - or at least connect - to Bletchley then Milton Keynes or Bedford.   The railway has been re-instated but it's waiting - and has been waiting far too long - for staffing issues to be resolved.

However, a celebration today of the return of a 6 day per week usable service from Oxford to Bristol.  We have waited - far - too long.  And I look forward to seeing next steps on Westbury - Swindon and Bristol - Oxford.

I live in Melksham.  What does it mean for us?   It means that, once again, sleeping at home and doing a day's work in Oxford would be practical for me; the 07:21 from Melksham connects at Chippenham, and the 17:03 from Oxford connects at Chippenham on the Wayback, with an 18:09 arrival.  On Saturday, the 08:02 connects to Oxford.  Coming back it's the dance, though.   For passengers from Melksham to Bristol the 07:21 now provides a much better connection at Chippenham, and the new 17:12 return is far better connecting back than the 17:00.   Off peak / evening peak / weekend fares are sensible. Morning peak fares are silly for historic reasons, and need sorting out, as (for the new passenger) does the difference between "not via London" and "not via Reading" tickets.  The wording "Any permitted" - itself a tautology and misleading, is not used on any tickets for this journey; there should be an "any reasonable route" standard which lets you get on the train that will get you there fastest, irrespective of where you have to change.

I am not a great one for first or last days - but I am taking the opportunity of catching the 11:03 from Oxford to Bath - a real boon between the two tourist cities (report in follow up this afternoon).  It doesn't connect onwards into Melksham, but as I'm on my way back from mainland Europe with a heavy pack, I'm doubling back at Bath onto the 272 bus that calls opposite my home; later this month, that nearer option will be gone for six months of road works in Bath. Public Transport remains a changing and developing world and it's been good to see, over the last 10 days, the good and the not-so-good elsewhere in Europe too.

While writing, what other service in our area, culled when trains were not as busy, is needed back?  How about the trains that ran until a few years ago from London to Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Bath and Bristol?  This one should be a no brainer for a joined up GBR - there are already Waterloo - Salisbury and separate Salisbury - Bristol trains running, both with class 158/159 class trains and it shouldn't be beyond the wit of the timetabling experts to join them up!

Finally, a "Thank you" to friends in the rail industry and regulation have put the Bristol to Oxford service back.  The community, long asking for this sensible move, really appreciates it.

Of late, the team at GWR have been - it seems - concentrating on the changes that are coming with GBR and - sorry - it feels like the good community relations we've had are somewhat on the back burner.  Natural perhaps as the GWR staff can no longer consult and make changes within the remaining First group term, but unanswered emails and selective data still hurt.  There would be no harm in a polite and explained "sorry - we can't".  We are seeing a greater political interest, with more feedback and follow up via MPs in those constituencies where the MP is engaged - so that helps Melksham, Chippenham, Bradford on Avon and Avoncliff, and the case for Corsham too (which this new service would call at). Across the rest of West Wilts, we feel we are on "ignore" and it is difficult to judge how to best campaign for what, I suggest, everyone wants - an improved (for both passengers and financially) service. It would be so easy, as First staff become civil servants, for them to prioritise looking good for their new bossed and for their own careers over passengers.  If any of you are reading this, we understand your plight; please understand our conundrum and help us work forward to mutual goals.

 
I think we have been here before.


 ...and so on and so on https://road.cc/news/cycling-live-blog-15-may-2026

I know Weymouth is Graham's go to seaside place, but I have been put off by this sort of thing. Anyway keeps rif-raf like me out the place! But you are always welcome to come to Portsmouth and Southsea.

 
I've been subscribed to keeping_a_lighthouse since his second video. Excellent nascent channel.

 

ChrisB, not me.

 

My view would be that the wording should be "please give up this seat to passengers less able to stand" which - after all - is closer to the purpose of having seats available ...

I got a seat - the wheelchair one - at Liverpool Street.  No wheelchairs to be seen on this train.  Chris - you would have had it in proper priority

 
I have a recurring back problem, which means that sometimes I actually prefer to stand rather than take a seat.

 

It is in my view, and if I were still mobile (I'm now a wheelchair user), I would be offering my seat...

 

I felt that way when I got on a full and standing Elizabeth Line service at Stratford this morning an I looked at the priority seats. "Please give up this seat to passengers with reduced mobility".  Does not apply to me - I can no longer stand for more than a few minutes, but that is not a reduced mobility. "Please give up this space if a wheelchair user needs it" - no, I am not.   Hmm ...

Of course, the person occurring the "reduced mobility" seats may have had reduced mobility - hidden diasbilies are just that - but I did feel I spotted a hole in their designation.  Disabled railcard, yes.  Reduced ability to stand, yes.  Able to use a priority seat, no.

 
Narrowboat engines can themselves be heritage features (I do love the sight and sound of a Bolinder!) so I was briefly worried that something of interest had been lost. This page though https://bristolpacket.co.uk/about/redshank/ confirms that while the previous engine could indeed be described as traditional, it wasn't the original from new and was a fairly standard and still commonplace Lister.

I do worry about a segment of rail enthusiasts who delight in diesel engines being as noisy as possible and throwing out a huge plume of dirty fumes, aka "thrash" and "clag". Nothing is more likely to turn public opinion against diesel fuel.

 
Back in 2012, a member of Romania's yachting team insisted that I take his seat on a bus on the outskirts of London  and in the next few years such offers increased; once I was strap-hanging on the Tube and ducked my head to look out of the window, prompting a young lady in the seat below me me to offer it to me.  In those days I could smile "no  thanks" and boast of ten-hour walks and half-days of voluntary environmental work.

Now I think that age and health problems justify me in taking a bus seat designated for less-able people and I usually get one, especially on outward journeys into town. But then the bus starts to fill up, with some passengers obviously more infirm than I.  On my last bus ride, about half of those on board seemed worthy of designated seats, posing the moral dilemma of whether I should offer mine.

 
I have had an ongoing problem now, that appears on both my work laptops and my mobile phone - so different servers and web browsers.

When I open this site, I always click the "Update topics" and "Recent unread topics" hyperlinks to show me the updated posts etc.

But after I open the 4th / 5th page I get a holding warning page telling me I am unable to post or view anymore.
I then get this page on anything I view, and have  to leave the site for about an hour before I can try again.

I wasn't sure if this was something that can be looked into please?
It means that if I find a thread that I want to reply to, I get stopped by this contact page

Grateful for any assistance or advice

 
An adjacent reference, so slightly off topic.
In the same geographic area however,

I was fortunate enough to fly out to the Seven Stones Light many years ago during a routine maintenance visit.
Wasn't there to work, just a quick look around the ship itself.
My Father had designed her and she was built by the yard he worked for (Philip and Son at Dartmouth).
I worked at Landsend Radio, and we used to take several daily weather reports from the Stones to pass on to the Met Office.

The Wolf light must have been automated as I don't recall any communications from her.

Wolf light recently featured in the Saving Lives at Sea (BBC2, Series 10, Episode 10 when the Sennen and Penlee Lifeboats went out to the Wolf as a bulk carrier Mazarine grounded on the light.

 
Reads like an obituary.

 
The people of Chippenham greeting the arrival of the inaugural service to Oxford with wild enthusiasm this morning! (from elsewhere on social media) 

 






Among those at Swindon to join the first Oxford bound train were Swindon South MP and Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander, Mark Hopwood MD of GWR and Will Stone Swindon North MP.

 
I hope there's reason behind it but the apparent lack of connectivity with services on the main GWML at Par appears shocking, Some Newquay services in the mornings departing Par three minutes before the arrival of services from Penzance will appear annoying and thats being kind.

 

Yeah ... no. 2 turned out to be the only "art at station" picture I had for my major Munster post.  Sorry - 3 is not, quite, Hengele but not far from there.  A different international station!