West Wilts Rail User Group - 2023 Program - Provisional

[whole diary]

[grahame]

West Wilts Rail User Group - 2023 Program - as planned at Committee meeting, 6.12.2022, provisional.

* January 2023 - Newsletter
* Wednesday 1st March 2023 - Annual General Meeting and a passenger / rail community speaker
* April 2023 - Newsletter
* Wednesday 31st May 2023 - A rail industry speaker
* Saturday 8th July 2023 - Group trip by train to Weymouth
* August 2023 - Newsletter
* Wednesday 20th September 2023 - A passenger / rail community speaker
* October 2023 - Newsletter
* Wednesday 29th November 2023 - A rail industry speaker

* All public meetings at the Bethesda Church Hall, near Trowbridge station.  It has proven itself excellent postCovid whereas other venues we have used have moved on and are now better suited for other types of events rather than ours.  Timings have (and should continue) to connect with return trains to West Wilts stations; for Melksham we continue to ask for a late train (wouldn't it be good to celebrate that on 31st May?) but in the meantime can arrange alternatives for members.

* Strategy is alternating "industry" and "enthusaist-ish" talks.  Industry are GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) / Network Rail / SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) / DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) types, perhaps CRPs^▸ (Community Rail Partnership). Enthusiastics are are history, preservation, journey type talks.

* And whilst we really hope that industrial action will have ceased before the next public meeting, policy is for meetings to go ahead even if trains are not running.

[grahame]

From the WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) Web Site.   GUESTS WELCOME.  Near Trowbridge Station.   Carriages at 21:15 (don't know if they'll be carriages of type 158, 165 or 166 yet).   To and from Melksham, I can offer lifts.

Our next public meeting, our AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting), will be at 7:00pm on Wednesday 1st March 2023 at the Bethesda Baptist Church Hall in Trowbridge. Formalities will be kept brief and will be followed by a talk entitled "Interrail in Europe - From West Wilts to Sicily and some points between” by Graham Ellis.

Bethesda Baptist Church is situated in Gloucester Road, Newtown, about 5 - 10 minutes walk from the station. If travelling by train, leave the station by the exit on the Bath bound platform and walk up the access ramp towards Holy Trinity church gyratory (the roundabout with big church in the centre). Walk around behind the church along Stallard street away from the railway bridge and then take the first left into Newtown. In 60yds, take the first right by Trowbridge Motor Supplies into Gloucester road. The church is situated 50yds on the left. For anyone not travelling by train or bus, the postcode for SatNav is BA14 0AA. The meeting is in the church hall adjacent to the main church itself. There is limited car parking at the church but be aware of the need to enter vehicle registration number on arrival to prevent getting a parking fine from the sub-contracted parking company (which has occurred before when using this venue!)

[grahame]

New Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wwrug
(please help by joining, sharing, etc)

Meeting:

[dickyc]

Smart flyer.. As Graham says, guests and new members welcome and hopefully trains will be running on time!

[grahame]

Slide set from AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) and my talk at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/wwrug_20230301.pdf

Here's the start of my talk:

[grahame]

For May ... it has been suggested that the unions are targeting all the important events:

Eurovision - Friday 12th and Saturday, 13th May 2023
West Wilts Rail User Group - Wednesday, 31st May 2023
FA Cup Final - Saturday, 3rd June 2023

And the WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) is working back and forth; superb speakers planned but arriving and leaving by train.

[infoman]

Not to mention the aero jumble event taking place at Old Sarum airfield Salisbury on the 13th may

AND

The three big football play off games kicking off at 15:00pm 17:30pm and 19:45pm on the 13th may as well

[grahame]

For May ... it has been suggested that the unions are targeting all the important events:

Eurovision - Friday 12th and Saturday, 13th May 2023
West Wilts Rail User Group - Wednesday, 31st May 2023
FA Cup Final - Saturday, 3rd June 2023

And the WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) is working back and forth; superb speakers planned but arriving and leaving by train.

Our confirmed speaker at the West Wiltshire Rail User Group on 31st May 2023 is Bryony Chetwode (Irwin).

Bryony is the Company Secretary at TravelWatch SouthWest TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website), which is a social enterprise company, acting as an advocate for passengers to lobby for the improvement of public transport in the region and works closely with local authorities, business organisations, partnerships and other stakeholder groups.

Bryony will be looking forward for public transport in the next decade for West Wiltshire and the surrounding area.  There have been so many changes to both train and bus services in the last few years, and there are more changes and rumours too in the pipeline.  What can passengers look forward too, and how can be co-ordinate, campaign and partner with planners, operators and government for the mutual benefit of passengers, operators, treasury and the environment?

See https://www.wwrug.org.uk/flyer.html for details

[grahame]

Our confirmed speaker at the West Wiltshire Rail User Group on 31st May 2023 is Bryony Chetwode (Irwin).

This merits a separate thread in our diary for the event - head for http://www.passenger.chat/27533

[grahame]

Come with us this Saturday (8th July 2023) to Weymouth - members of the West Wiltshire Rail User Group will be joining the Summer Saturday

Advert from Facebook:

Swindon to Weymouth service (08:45 from Swindon, 09:00 from Chippenham, 09:10 from Melksham, 09:20 from Trowbridge and 09:37 from Westbury) to Weymouth at 11:08. We plan to return on the 19:40 Swindon train, though there are earlier options available back to most stations.

This is a public train service - you do not need to be a member of WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) to come along. Tickets on the day - £21.50 return from Swindon, Chippenham or Melksham to Weymouth, or £14.15 each if you're a group of three or more. Children £10.75, under 5s free of charge.

Our WWRUG is organising a guided walk along the old railway line from Weymouth towards Portland when we arrive - the Rodwell Trail which is a refreshing slash of green through the town, out to Sandfoot Castle overlooking Portland Harbour and on to the Ferrybridge, from where there are frequent buses back into town ans onto Portland. If you don't fancy the walk, plenty else to do in Weymouth - beach, country park, harbour, Nothe Fort, Radipole nature reserve, open top bus rides, shopping, eating and drinking.

Picture - along the way, the Weymouth to Westbury train passes the site of Upwey Wishing Well Halt as it climbs to Bincombe tunnels on the way home.