If I may perhaps share some of grahame's understandable frustration here: Olivia & Heledd both offer their first names, as a friendly point of contact - but then they both leave the office over the weekend.

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This is what Melksham will look like when it's restored

Going one beyond request stops - flagstops - https://www.facebook.com/reel/1580858166974222

Where a train stops at any appropriate access point in the wilds.  Probably not something for anywhere on the Elizabeth line, but north of Crainlarich, west of Dingwall, or from Castle Cary to Dorchester West?

TravelWatch SouthWests’ General Meeting in Taunton this Friday 9th October

Firepool Centre for Digital Innovation, Trenchard Way Taunton TA1 1FH

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/travelwatch-southwest-autumn-general-meeting-2026-tickets-1999846046359  or contact admin@travelwatchsouthwest.org

Free coaches provided along routes from the SW, S and NE of the region.  See below:

Agenda

10:30                Doors Open     
               A opportunity for networking with alongside hot drinks and snacks
 
11:00                Welcome, Introductions, and Headlines

11:10                Keynote

11:25                What could public transport do for us?
              Ian Piper MBE, Chair of the Interim Growth Board for Marlcombe

11:55                Getting around better:  SWR progress enable since nationalisation
Oliver Richards, Strategy & Business Development Director, SWR
 
12:20                Game-changers in Public Transport network experience
                           Panel Conversation

12:40                Lunch & Networking

13:20                Opportunity Knocks
Could we be tapping-into existing networks better – an opportunity to    raise awareness of sustainable connections which are not being fully used.

13:25                Did you know?  A slot for sharing matters of concern and congratulations

13:35                Crosscountry (XC) and Meeting Passenger Needs
Shiona Rolfe, Managing Director, CrossCountry

14:10                Socially Necessary Local Bus services
Swindon SNLS Working Group
 
14:50                Open-floor discussion

15:15                Close
 
 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/travelwatch-southwest-autumn-general-meeting-2026-tickets-1999846046359

A reminder that there are FREE coach routes for attendees.  Approximate routes are shown on the map below.

If you want to travel on the free coaches, you must let us know which route you need to use. The coaches start from Bournemouth, Swindon and Truro and can pick-up on route.

COACH PLACES CAN BE BOOKED WHEN YOU REGISTER OR BY CONTACTING us at admin@travelwatchsouthwest.org



Food and drink will be provided. Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements.
 
We hope to see you there.

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47 will be started from Westbury.
It will no longer call at Salisbury and Warminster.
This is due to a points failure.

The Air Ministry Loop was a historic World War II railway chord constructed at Thingley Junction (near Corsham and Melksham, Wiltshire) to facilitate military freight movements.
History and Purpose
* Construction: Built in 1942 as a west-to-north curve connecting the line toward the Melksham branch/Lacock sidings, enabling direct rail traffic movements bypassing restricted or congested routes.
* Wartime Function: Handled heavy freight and logistical support linked to the extensive underground shadow factories and storage depots operated around Corsham and the Ministry of Aircraft Production.
* Closure & Removal: Officially taken out of use in February 1955 and fully dismantled by July 1959

Disabled woman had to 'crawl on hands and knees' to get off train


Phoebe Tesoriere has spent almost nine months "fighting to get an answer" from Great Western Railway - Image © Phoebe Tesoriere

A wheelchair user was left in tears as she crawled on her "hands and knees" through a train after being told a ramp could not be used to help her off.

Phoebe Tesoriere, 24, was on a Great Western Railway (GWR) train from London Paddington to Bath Spa with her parents when it happened.

Her family spoke to the assistance desk and was taken to the only designated wheelchair space on the train. Phoebe said she was assured a ramp and assistance would be waiting, but on arrival was told she was in a carriage beyond the platform, leaving her unable to get off.

GWR said it was "really sorry" and admitted "we let her down, both when we helped her board and at several points during her journey".

Phoebe, who has hereditary spastic paraplegia, which causes weakness and stiffness in the leg muscles, said: "My mum specifically asked if a ramp and assistance would be waiting at Bath Spa. We were assured it would be."

While on the train, staff checked which station she would be getting off at numerous times during the incident in December 2025, she added.

Despite this, Phoebe was not told the carriage she was directed to would stop beyond the platform, leaving her unable to use a ramp to get off.

Phoebe and her parents had been returning to Bath, where she now lives, after attending a concert in London the night before, which she bought as a gift for her mum and dad before her diagnosis.

When they got to Bath Spa, she said they were told by staff to stay on the train and get off at Bristol Temple Meads - a 15-20 minute journey - before buying another ticket back to Bath Spa so she could get off.

The family explained this was not possible as Phoebe's grandparents were waiting at the station to pick them up and take her back to Caerphilly, where she was living at the time.

Phoebe said she was told by staff to try and get her wheelchair through the train aisle, but it did not fit so she crawled through three carriages.

"I was crying. People were staring," she said.  "One passenger reached down to stroke my back and apologised to me, telling me what was happening wasn't acceptable.  "She was trying to comfort me, but in that moment I felt like a dog."

Phoebe's mum Kirstin Tesoriere said watching the incident was "traumatic" and left her feeling "helpless".

"When I close my eyes I can still see it, the pity on other passengers' faces. It was humiliating for her."

Phoebe said her parents lifted her back into her wheelchair to get off the train using the ramp, but staff were not waiting to assist her.

Phoebe wants to see a big improvement in accessible transport in the UK. She said: "It's ridiculous that disabled passengers are still expected to go through this."  Due to the nature of Phoebe's diagnosis, her condition is expected to get worse over time.

Kirstin said she wanted to "make lovely memories" with her daughter but that the family had not used public transport since the incident.  "She's just scared now and she's already lost so much to her diagnosis," she said.  "You just want your children to be happy."

Phoebe made a formal complaint to GWR on the day it happened, but the investigation was not completed until May.  In its response, the train company admitted Phoebe's experience was "extremely poor" and took accountability for what went wrong.

It confirmed Phoebe would receive compensation but, despite sending her bank details as requested, she has still not received any money and said GWR had "ignored every email I have sent" since June.  "Nearly nine months after I complained, I am still fighting to get an answer. No disabled passenger should ever have to crawl."

Kirstin said she understood "mistakes were made" but believes her daughter has been treated "inexcusably" since then.  "I can't forgive them for how they've made an awful traumatic experience last for months," she added.

In emails seen by BBC Wales, GWR said it had made changes to "how we manage passenger assist for customers travelling from London Paddington" as a result of Phoebe's complaint.

It said: "There were opportunities for us to recognise that there would be an issue at Bath Spa, and we failed to identify them.  In my view, the situation you were placed in - and your subsequent action to leave the train - was entirely avoidable.  Put simply, this should not have happened. I am truly sorry for the distressing and uncomfortable experience you had when leaving the service."

In response to BBC Wales, GWR said: "We are really sorry. Ms Tesoriere should have been able to travel with confidence and dignity and we let her down, both when we helped her board and at several points during her journey where we had opportunities to put it right.

"We have apologised to her personally and have made improvements to how we support customers boarding at London Paddington, so no-one else goes through this."

Regarding her compensation, a spokesman added that the company was "doing everything we can to complete the final steps as quickly as possible".

Stocking the bunker.
WATER, keep a good stock in 1000L IBCs or similar. Suggest one IBC per person. That is about 30L per person per day.

FOOD, per person, 30 tins of tuna, 30 tins of fruit, 15 packs of sweet biscuits, 30 packs of savoury biscuits 15 L long life fruit juice. Or as preferred

Lighting, a 12 volt deep cycle battery of at least 1,000 AH.
Candles, matches, dry cells, torches oil lanterns.

Other stocks, blankets at least four per head, towels at least two each. Ten changes of underwear per head, and three changes of outer clothing.

Generous stocks of medicines.

hand tools and cordless power tools.

Geiger counters, at least three.

Author and former politician Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86


Image © Getty Images

Bestselling author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86.

Archer sold more than 300 million books in his five-decade writing career, including the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, and has often set the novels in his home town of Wellington, Somerset.

In a statement, Archer's publisher HarperCollins said the author died "suddenly and peacefully at home" on Monday.

The former Conservative MP was jailed for perjury in 2001 after being found guilty of lying and cheating in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star.

Archer was made a life peer in 1992 but his political career was paused in 2001 when he was jailed for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

He was found to have lied in libel action he had brought against The Star newspaper, in which he was awarded £500,000 in damages. He was released in 2003 and returned to the House of Lords until he retired in 2024.

His last book, Adam and Eve, is set to be released this month, HarperCollins added, describing him as a "master storyteller" whose readers "meant everything to him".

"Jeffrey's career is the stuff of publishing legend," the statement continued.  "He spent a total of 14 years and five months on the Sunday Times bestseller lists and 5 ½ years on the New York Times bestseller lists, selling 300 million books in 119 countries in 49 languages.

"He was the master storyteller and an editor's dream - phenomenally hard-working, utterly committed to completing draft after draft to get every word as perfect as possible, and a true champion of the 'team' nature of great publishing."

Stocking the bunker.
WATER, keep a good stock in 1000L IBCs or similar. Suggest one IBC per person. That is about 30L per person per day.

Select a reasonably  flat site, at least 100M by 100 M.

Melksham and Nailsea

This is what Melksham will look like when it's restored

Melksham and Nailsea

Plans for above ground shelter;
Select a reasonably  flat site, at least 100M by 100 M.
Remove lose topsoil and reserve for later use.
Lay a reinforced concrete floor about 30M by 30M. Ensure a SLIGHT slope down towards the door way.
Build internal and external walls out of blockwork. No internal walls to be unsupported for more than 3M. supports may consist of internal walls or small walls to support shelves, batteries and water tanks.
Roof with precast concrete slabs.
Waterproof the roof and walls with thick bitumen, Cover roof and walls with plywood. coated with bitumen.
Wait for concrete to cure.
Bury the entire structure with imported soil, and apply the previously saved top soil atop this. Seed with "pasture mixture"