Perhaps an acknowledgement of the 'slave trade' used in building the Severn Tunnel might not go amiss.

Can highly recommend a visit to the west bank of the Severn to view the local history room in the Sudbrook 'non political' club next to the 4 storey red brick pumping station. Excellent little museum with loads of information, toilets and tea/coffee making facilities. The diminutive size of the room is in inverse proportion to the amount of history it contains ! Walk on another 100 yards to the cliff top to be treated to a jaw dropping view of the Second Severn Crossing quite different to that seen from the other side. Well worth the ^6.50 bridge toll!.

To get there, go over the Old Bridge (M48), drive past Chepstow racecourse, and turn first left at the roundabout on to the A48 to Newport. After 2 miles or so, look out for the yellow lime washed walls of Portskewett parish church on your left. Turn sharp left before the church and watch out for the traffic lights as the bridge over the main line is single file. You then pick up a boundary wall with 2 pairs of level crossing gates still in situ. Cross the line  at the first pair of gates(was the stub down to Portskewett pier) and read all about it in the local history room. Plenty of parking space in the club car park. Was a completely unexpected visit and well worth a couple of hours of anyone's time.

Gloucester...where the single sided shelter is only of any use when the rain is falling straight down in dead calm conditions. When it blows at any angle and any strength it's about as much use as a chocolate teapot....

Didn't they use 'nodding donkeys' to carry them to/from Temple Meads/Severn beach ??

Well,it is 8 days since the BEP said the decision about the station was to be made 'within days'......anyone heard/seen anything ?

From the Bristol Post:




Moderator note. This post has been edited to attribute the text to the Bristol Post.

Has anyone noticed how COLD these buses are ....they never appear to have any heating....and how uncomfortable the ride (jerk) quality ( jerkjerk) is (jerk). The automatic gear selector never seems to know how many revs it wants .....worse than the old Bristol RELL's from the 1970's ...and that's saying something !

It can't be a coincidence that there is a FirstBUS online meet the manager running at exactly the same date and the same time. Hosted by James Freeman newly appointed MD of First BSA. Comes to us from Reading buses, where his stellar reputation precedes him. I fear that having inherited the poisoned chalice , his lustre is coming off in large lumps, Also up for interrogation, is Natacha Tagholm Regional Director for Firstbus in S Wales and the West Country. In a local face to face M the M session held in Portishead last year, she told me that the centralisation of First Customer Services in Southampton was her idea.....

Your train delay is delayed due to future delays
By CRAIG BROWN FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 23:45, 11 July 2012 | UPDATED: 23:48, 11 July 2012
   
We apologise for this and for any future apologies. Our onboard dedicated customer service apology team will continue to deliver apologies at frequent intervals throughout the course of your journey with us today.
These apologies are due to circumstances beyond our control. Customers requiring apologies in braille, please apply to your train manager.
Please acquaint yourselves with the safety instructions situated in the head-rest opposite.
Sorry! Our dedicated customer service apology team will continue to deliver apologies throughout the journey

Customers are reminded that the consumption of safety instructions is a health hazard, so please do take care to ensure they are situated at a safe distance from all hot or cold snacks, available from our trolley service.
Customers standing in Coaches A and B are advised that there is still a limited amount of further standing room available in the remaining coaches.
On behalf of our onboard staff, thank you for travelling with us today.
Before embarking on your journey, please ensure you are in current possession of a valid ticket, as a prolonged custodial sentence may offend.

Standing room only! Customers are advised that there is still a limited amount of further standing room available
Customers in possession of Advance SuperSaver or Offpeak Leisurebreak tickets are reminded that they are not permitted for travel on this service, or any other.
Failure to comply with ticket restrictions may result in criminal proceedings.
Please check your ticket before travel, as on closer inspection you will see it is not valid anywhere, at any time.
Discounts do not apply. Tickets are valid only on the date and service shown on your ticket, which is not valid between 00:00 hours and 24:00 hours inclusive.
As part of our ongoing investment programme, we are pleased to announce that this service will be subject to a full range of delays  and cancellations.
All our other lines are operating a good service, so we would respectfully remind customers wishing they had boarded another train that they have only themselves to blame.
We thank you for your customer  co-operation and respectfully remind customers that for your security and comfort a full CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) service is in operation. So whatever it is you are doing, stop it this minute. 
Customers are respectfully reminded that complaining is an offence.


Customers wishing to board or alight should do so only when a train has arrived at its designated station stop. Passengers attempting to board or alight through closed doors and/or when the train is in motion may be subject to injuries.
Our next station stop will be our next station stop. Those wishing to alight at the previous station stop are reminded that they have just missed it and are consequently no longer in possession of a valid ticket.
Customers are reminded that Coach G is a dedicated quiet carriage.

Inspection: Check your ticket before travel, as you will see it is not valid anywhere, at any time
Those travelling in Coach G are requested to listen to the frequent onboard updates reminding them that Coach G is a dedicated quiet carriage.
A full list of station stops past, present and future will be recited into the quiet carriage in a loud voice at regular intervals.
For their added safety, customers in Coach G will be reminded every few minutes that they are not permitted to employ mobile phones, personal stereos, hammers, nails, squeaky toys, fog horns, loud hailers, trombones, dental drills, whoopee cushions, duck calls, party crackers, machine guns and/or bagpipes.

Customers in Coach G who are attempting to read books or go to sleep are reminded that Coach G is a designated Quiet Zone.
This is another reminder for Customers in Coach G that Coach G is a designated Quiet Zone.
Furthermore, customers in Coach G are reminded that Coach G remains a designated Quiet Zone.

We apologise for further delays. These are caused by further delays.
This is Emma, your customer host. A full range of hot and cold coffees and teas, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and a choice of snacks, sandwiches, pasties, biscuits, cakes and light meals are available from the buffet. The buffet closed five minutes ago.
You are reminded that armed robbery is a crime.
Customers planning to use the platform stairs at the next station stop are reminded while ascending or descending to ensure they lift their left and right legs in succession or face serious injury.
We apologise for the late arrival of this train. This is due to the late arrival of this train. Due to an earlier incident, all later incidents have been cancelled.
For those travellers wishing to make their connection, the train standing at Platform 6 has just departed. 
Please ensure that you take your personal belongings, cases and parcels with you. May we remind customers travelling with us today that, due to circumstances beyond our control, they will be subject to persecution

There is a time lapse video of the work done to remove the conveyor belt at Temple Meads over Christmas on the Network Rail website under Greater Bristol. Impressive! A pity that the over running engineering works at Kings X and Paddington couldn't have been done at the same speed !

Barking mad ! Perhaps she should have gone to Wooferton via Leads,or would she have been collared by a Rottweiler/Poodle Inspector ? Perhaps the Pullman Dispatcher for Stranded Animals could have found a Wagging-Lick compartment for her ? With  its special monogrammed 'Labra' door......

A 'heads up' for the newbie moderator FT,N !

From the Network Rail website:

Vegetation clearance is due to start at the beginning of February 2015 (date to be confirmed), to progress with civils enabling and infrastructure work.

I'll 'Forth' that ! Hope ' moderator' duties don't interfere with your always informed and often humorous postings ! , Save the champagne on ice for when the first vegetative  sod is cleared from Filton Bank !

If Swindon just isn't the same without its hooter...think the same could be said for Amsterdam without its , er, hookers !

HOME^NEWS^UK^▸ (United Kingdom) NEWS^TERRORISM IN THE UK
Al Qaed Arr: Bristol bus timetable hacked by terrorists (who thought they would cause travel chaos in 'the West')
Cyber terrorists thought the TravelWest website was for a more influential website promoting travel around the Western world - not the West Country
      
   
The TravelWest website usually provides locals with information about train and bus times in and around Bristol.
Muslim extremists hoping to disrupt international travel across the Western world fell a little short of their goal when they hacked into a Bristol bus timetable instead.
A group calling itself, Darkshadow - an Arab Security Team ^ mistakenly hijacked TravelWest^s journey planner website and replaced it with a sinister Islamic State-style black page.
It is thought the cyberterrorists, who claim to be based in Tunisia and the Ivory Coast, believed that by hacking TravelWest, they were infiltrating a major international travel website for Europe and the United States.
West Country locals, who logged onto the site expecting to find the usual bus and train timetables, cycle routes and traffic updates, were taken aback to discover that all information had been replaced by Arabic text and the stark message: ^Hacked by Darkshadow^.
Backed by Arabic music, the website also carried an advert plugging the extremists^ Facebook page and boasting of other hacks they had carried out.

The group claimed to have successfully infiltrated webpages belonging to Philippine Airlines and the El Salvador government.
But doubts were cast on the authenticity of those behind the hack after they misspelt the word Muslim on their homepage.
And their latest hacking efforts drew derision from many of those logging on to the TravelWest site in the hope of using the journey planner.
One person wrote: "Oh dear, can't tell the difference between a local bus company and travel site. Pathetic. What price education huh?"
Another joked: ^Can you fix this little error on the TravelWest site? Nice music by the way.^
Jake Bradley wrote: ^What time is the number 8 to the town centre?^

The site is jointly run by several councils including Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.
The West of England Partnership (WEP), which looks after the site, said it had alerted its IT department as soon as it was flagged up.
Julia Dean, communication officer for WEP, said: ^Glad to report everything is now back up and working.^
It is unclear at this stage whether the incident will be reported to police.
Cyberterrorism is becoming an increasing concern with extremists able to wreak havoc globally at the press of a button.

Don't forget the organists either.. I did six services between 3pm Christmas Eve and 3pm Christmas Day.. to add to the other 15 playing engagements through December.



Edited to fix quotes. bignosemac