Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 11:55 29 Mar 2024
* Easter getaway begins with flood alerts in place
* Attempted murder charge after man stabbed on train
* KFC Nigeria sorry after disabled diner refused service
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
29th Mar (1913)
Foundation of National Union or Railwaymen (*)

Train RunningCancelled
09:30 Weymouth to Gloucester
11:57 Bedwyn to Newbury
12:17 Westbury to Swindon
12:22 Newbury to Bedwyn
12:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
12:52 Bedwyn to Newbury
13:15 Swindon to Westbury
13:21 Newbury to Bedwyn
13:48 Bedwyn to Newbury
14:12 Newbury to Bedwyn
14:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
14:19 Westbury to Swindon
14:57 Bedwyn to Newbury
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
15:22 Newbury to Bedwyn
15:28 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
15:50 Bedwyn to Newbury
16:15 Newbury to Bedwyn
16:23 Westbury to Swindon
16:54 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
16:55 Bedwyn to Newbury
17:36 Swindon to Westbury
18:37 Westbury to Swindon
20:13 Swindon to Westbury
21:16 Westbury to Swindon
22:30 Swindon to Westbury
Short Run
08:35 Plymouth to London Paddington
09:37 London Paddington to Paignton
10:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
10:55 Paignton to London Paddington
12:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
13:42 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
13:55 Paignton to London Paddington
14:36 London Paddington to Paignton
15:42 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
16:35 London Paddington to Plymouth
16:50 Plymouth to London Paddington
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
18:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
Delayed
07:10 Penzance to London Paddington
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
08:15 Penzance to London Paddington
09:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
09:10 Penzance to London Paddington
10:00 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
10:20 Penzance to London Paddington
11:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
12:03 London Paddington to Penzance
12:15 Penzance to London Paddington
etc
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 29, 2024, 12:03:45 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[124] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[53] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[49] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[48] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
[43] Return of the BRUTE?
[30] 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: The Unbelievable Truth.  (Read 905 times)
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« on: February 03, 2019, 19:54:31 »

Listening to the Beeb today whilst working a program of the same name as this thread was on. My brain has no search facility but has a LISTEN facility which cuts in whenever I hear any one of a list or words. One of those words is railway and that cropped up in todays lunchtime program. It was about a special excursion, I didn't catch whether it was the first in the UK (United Kingdom), but it was one of the first on 13th April 1840 and it was to Bodmin where the special stopped alongside the prison walls so the rail excursionists could watch a public hanging.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2019, 08:59:56 by martyjon » Logged
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6435


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2019, 23:16:29 »

I listened to the same program, during a rather terrifying drive across mid-Devon. For those unfamiliar with the program, it's a Radio 4 panel game chaired by David Mitchell.  The four contestants take it in turns to tell of unbelievable events from history, some true, some made up.  The other three interrupt when they hear one which they believe to be true, gaining points if they are right, and losing them if they are wrong. The person telling the tales gains extra points for each unbelievable truth he sneaks past the others without challenge, then everybody goes home.

This one, of a rail excursion to watch a double execution at Bodmin prison was true. The practice before 1868, when public executions were outlawed, was to hang prisoners from a gallows above the south wall - it was originally over the main gate facing north-east, but the Inspector of Prisons ruled that site to be insufficiently public. The railway line passed by the south wall, which is where a train - or trains - full of sightseers stopped to enjoy the day's entertainment. On 13 April 1840, the crowd, including the railway passengers with Cheap Day Execution tickets, was estimated at 25,000, and the army had to attend.

The unfortunate subjects of hangman George Mitchell, a respectable Ilchester dairy farmer in the day job, were brothers James and William Lightfoot. On 8 February the same year, they had ambushed, robbed and murdered respected Wadebridge merchant Nevill Norway, riding his horse home from Bodmin Fair. The case was cracked by Detective Charles Jackson, sent from London to investigate. CCTV (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) coverage of the murder scene was poor, and DNA testing had yet to be invented, so he followed a trail of bloodspots and footprints from the stream where Mr Norway's body was found to a nearby blacksmith's cottage. The smith told him that he had seen the brothers out very late, and had heard an argument in the cottage next door, where James Lightfoot lived. He searched James' cottage, finding a pistol - his brother, it transpired, had tried to shoot Mr Norway, but the gun didn't go off, so the brothers bludgeoned him to death. James made a statement implicating William - the brothers were bang to rights, and the jury at their trial  took under 5 minutes to return their verdict.

On the very night of the murder, Captain Edmund Norway, then at sea seven miles off St Helena and with ship's email down, awoke suddenly, telling his second officer that he had dreamt that his brother had been murdered on the road from Bodmin to Wadebridge, a pistol being fired but with no report. His number two told him to go back to sleep - "You Westcountry people are too superstitious." Captain Norway nevertheless recorded the dream, and his conversation with the second officer, in the ship's log the following morning, long before he could have known of the crime.

There are many sources for the story - I looked at True Crimes Library. How true the seaborne part of it was, I couldn't say, but the brothers certainly went to meet their maker with a train-load of passengers in attendance.

For the record, if a road sign says "Unsuitable for motor vehicles" in Devon, it means it.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2019, 23:26:46 by Tony (Ex FT, N!) » Logged

Now, please!
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 18895



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2019, 08:53:11 »

One of my fave Radio 4 comedy programmes. I think I've listened to every episode over the years and I've been to two recordings.

Oddly enough, yesterday I was catching up with the current series on BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) iPlayer Radio app and listened to the self same episode.

The lecture on trains was delivered by Zoƫ Lyons. That episode, along with the preceding four, are currently available to listen to online, via app or website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00026xx

Logged

"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

- Sir Terry Pratchett.
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page