GWR is now getting more creative that weekend in November, suggesting a routing via Guildford (with change at Guildford)


And for those that want an alternative scenic route via East West Rail, instead of changing at Reading and Guildford


https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/travel-updates/planned-engineering

 
Submission made ... of that blog ... with extra text

 
The new Traffic filter scheme starts next week.

https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-travel/oxford-traffic-filters/about-traffic-filters

Vans are exempt If I was selling vehicles in the Oxford area I would be scouring the country buying up vans.

 

Oxford council have not updated their website for Seacourt park and ride to show Botley road open.
https://www.oxford.gov.uk/directory-record/99/seacourt-park-and-ride
But I note that parking and the bus cost £3

 

One report states it weighs' 250g ! that it very small and is more comparable to a large firework. I think they mean 250 Kg, which is more likely.

 
A diet of pickled eggs is better than starving.
I would prefer a diet that consists largely of tinned tuna, tined fruit, lifeboat rations and chocolate.
"Doomfood" with a 20+ year shelf life another possibility, though it requires extra water, and means of boiling same.
A paraffin primus stove is safer than LPG in a bunker.

 
... or words to that effect. It becomes an issue when bus drivers then use the earlier time as a target, overshoot and depart more than five minutes early, yes? (Stagecoach's four-buses-a-day 620 is rather suffering from this towards the end of its run into Bath and given the state of the city's roadworks I also have sympathy with the bus drivers...)

 

That will be an extension of platform 2 - if it ever materialises.

 
Thanks and that would make sense, although without wishing to go off topic, that would mean that you can't link to Google Photos.

 
With all the activities and blocked roads I am intrigued that Falmouth Docks is still apparently being 'served' by trains despite access routes to the station being closed off.

 
The situation is on going.  There is a 300 metre exclusion zone but police say this is likely to be extended.

Turns out it is an American missile from World War Two.   I wonder if they'd like it back?

 
The link to Google Photos was just that a link - rather than an image file itself (.jpg, .bmp etc). 

I have taken a copy and hosted them and they are now visible.

 
I walked through the Botley Road bridge today and conditions for both pedestrians and cyclists have improved significantly over the old bridge. As a cyclist, however, I'm not sure whether I would remain on the road or use the cycle paths on either side. My choice would likely depend on how easy it is to rejoin into traffic during busy periods.

Traffic passing through the bridge during both the morning peak and around lunchtime today did not appear particularly heavy, although I can't comment on whether there were queues further up Botley Road. I suspect that the fact that there are congestion charge points on the two main routes from the bridge into the city may be impacting traffic levels.

I've included a few photos of the Platform 6 bridge, which is currently a pedestrian footbridge. While there has been discussion about further development, it's difficult to see this happening any time soon, if at all, given the considerable cost and disruption that would be involved in demolishing the existing station entrance.



And I assume this is where the footbridge would go if the above bridge was ever used for a platform 6.


And here is a view of the tracks across the bridge with the proposed platform 5 bridge in the background

 
Thanks II.

It's not just Network Rail who have problems getting everything right! I read this in that article with wry amusement-

 

 
Walked along the floating walkway at midday yesterday and went into the University building. I did a vox pop survey and counted 2 white faces and 44 Asiastic faces...mostly Korean students who all seemed to  understand written and spoken English..perhaps a condition of being accepted for a place ?The upper floor cafe only had  8 Korean type bowl dishes on the menu, which seemed to indicate who they are literally, catering.... for.
The walkway was  being very well used by again Korean students, from the 8 bus stop to the ferry stop, just before the cheesegrater bridge.

 

As predicted: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/26569009.botley-road-drivers-face-queues-day-reopening/

 
I don't always comment on short-forms as the thread would become quite bloated but again today several busy services are short-formed. They're not mentioned on JourneyCheck but Realtime Trains are showing these services as affected:

 
Final part - 4 of 4















And headed home

 
Part 3 of 4

 
Part 2 of 4

 
I was thinking of writing up my travels and experiences of - well - all sorts of things. Then on Saturday I was in The Galleries in Bristol browsing in a secondhand bookshop and musing over shelves of travel books (you know - those things made of sheets of paper before we had the Internet) and I found myself really wondering if I want to add to that river of writing that has become a flood with different media experiences these days. 

How often we overlook the places near us. Last Saturday's plans to go a bit further - to London - have transformed into making London the last stop on our next Interrail trip; I am very familiar with much of it having been brought up there, but there is much of it that's still new as it's so vast, or so changed over 40 or more years. So on Saturday, I took the train from Melksham into BRISTOL - 44 minutes from our train pulling out of Melksham, to arriving into Bristol (Temple Meads).  The story of how "Temple Meads" got than name is another article.   The story of what's going on in Trowbridge where I changed in another.  And the story or musings on the lady who took her enshoed feet off the seat so that I could side, and proceeded to brush her hair, using her phone as a mirror, put stuff on her nails, and put a really strong perfume that stank on her throat ... where was she going? Who did she want to impress? Why did she not get fully ready before she left home? Should such personal things be done on the train?

BRISTOL.  An internet search tells me it's "a historic city in southwest England with roots dating back to the Stone Age, evolving into a major port, industrial hub, and cultural centre over centuries". This week, it's making the news as the most expensive place to rent a home in the UK, and sprawls out into North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.  It's tended to be a place I've passed (and will pass through) many times; on Saturday my loose objective was to see the new, second, back station entrance (£23 million) that was opened a couple of weeks ago and to explore the walkway back from there along the Floating Harbour in-towards the heart of the city. Those are documented in other posts - at https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=10737.msg379744#msg379744 and https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=10737.msg379763#msg379763 - and are somewhat niche records for friends with similar transport interests, and also perhaps for the record in years to come.

And having made my way out of the new back entrance, past the university buildings in final fit out, past the wide new cycle lanes and bus stop available and working but awaiting the flood of passengers, I took a wider look around. The new is plonked onto the old. The old back river was a muddy ditch; it's tidal, and the River Avon has the second greatest tidal range in the world, so it would have looked far prettier a few hours later had I gone back this way, though in practise I did a looped walk in parts of the city and docks, and came back to the front entrance of the station a few hours later.

Pictures.  Hundreds and hundreds of them.  It was a grey day, and most of them are "record shots" rather than anything with any artistic merit.   There is the occasional gem in the mud, and I'll try and pick out some of those gems to share on this post, and also to pick out some of the pictures that share the city and what was there to see. And there you have a conundrum - what audience am I writing for?   Answers on a postcard please - or in modern terms, please follow up.





















Pictures to be continued - total 4 sets of 10

 
New drop dates arranged by Network Rail

New public drop-in session meetings are to be held on:

Wednesday 7 October, 4.30 to 7.30pm, Somerset Hall, Portishead
Wednesday 14 October, 4.30 to 7.30pm, St George's Church Hall, Easton-in-Gordano

There is also a seesion at Portishead Youth and Community Centre this coming Wednesday 24th at 1.30pm