Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 21:55 28 Mar 2024
* Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
* Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- Where Baltimore bridge investigation goes now
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Family anger at sentence on fatal crash driver, 19
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
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
28th Mar (1917)
Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore closed (link)

Train RunningCancelled
18:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
19:33 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
19:35 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
20:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
21:30 Shalford to Reading
21:53 Newbury to Bedwyn
22:25 Bedwyn to Newbury
22:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
22:47 Newbury to Bedwyn
Short Run
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
22:10 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
23:04 Reading to Bedwyn
23:17 Bedwyn to Reading
Delayed
Additional 17:26 Castle Cary to Penzance
19:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
21:30 Gatwick Airport to Reading
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance
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 28, 2024, 22:13:30 *
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
[104] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[103] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[78] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[56] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[41] Return of the BRUTE?
[25] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 [2]
  Print  
Author Topic: Boundary Commission - review of constituencies for 2023  (Read 15543 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #15 on: June 09, 2021, 12:26:34 »

That reminds me ... My friend Alyson said she'd found a flat just off Ashley Road "but luckily it doesn't say St Paul's on my map, so my mum won't be worried".

[big smile] - brings a memory to me too.   My wife's from the USA - over over in 1998 after several years of long distance courtship. Here  brothers and a sister over there (and her mum was still with us too when she moved to the UK (United Kingdom)) looked up my address online and came up with a map looking something like this - but in those days with the red hatched zone marked "Danger Area".  The asked a few questions!

Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Lee
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7519


GBR - The Emperor's New Rail Network


View Profile WWW
« Reply #16 on: June 09, 2021, 16:36:45 »

My house is in Bristol's gritty inner urban Ashley ward, but cross the road and you're in lovely leafy Redland. It's a funny old game.
That reminds me of a second-year student discussion way back in the 80s, when the grit was grittier. My friend Alyson said she'd found a flat just off Ashley Road "but luckily it doesn't say St Paul's on my map, so my mum won't be worried".

For those who weren't around at the time, here is a taste of the gritty grit on offer:

Logged

Vous devez être impitoyable, parce que ces gens sont des salauds - https://looka.com/s/78722877
didcotdean
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1424


View Profile
« Reply #17 on: June 09, 2021, 18:29:32 »

... As Melksham is central to the constituency, and Devizes right on the edge, and that it also includes Bradford on Avon and Corsham, maybe just calling it Melksham would be more sensible ...

Melksham is also the larger town.  So there is sense in the idea.  However, I suspect that noses would be very much out of joint on that right edge.  It would be akin to a seat that included both Slough and Windsor being called just "Slough".
Similar re-naming has happened in Didcot.

Didcot is currently the largest town in what is currently called the 'Wantage' constituency and under these proposals the ‘new’ constituency is now called 'Didcot and Wantage'.

Although based on the previous logic it should surely just be called 'Didcot' although that would presumably upset some of those who live in and around Wantage.


Both the current and previous MP (Member of Parliament) have often referred to the constituency as "Didcot and Wantage" as have most other parties for 10+ years. This is the BC finally catching up with local usage.
Logged
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #18 on: June 09, 2021, 19:35:49 »

My house is in Bristol's gritty inner urban Ashley ward, but cross the road and you're in lovely leafy Redland. It's a funny old game.
That reminds me of a second-year student discussion way back in the 80s, when the grit was grittier. My friend Alyson said she'd found a flat just off Ashley Road "but luckily it doesn't say St Paul's on my map, so my mum won't be worried".

For those who weren't around at the time, here is a taste of the gritty grit on offer:


As this is a thread on the boundary commission, and part of that is names, there's a possible point in there about "erasure" of names deemed to have negative connections. Not only was St Paul's not marked on that 1980s map, the ward is still called Ashley and even now that the area is distinctly "gentrifying", a lot of its residents prefer to refer to St Agnes and St Werburgh's and other, sometimes hyper-specific, names. I guess that is in itself a feature of this "gentrification" process.

By the same measure, Melksham is clearly a rising star!
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
Surrey 455
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1229


View Profile
« Reply #19 on: June 09, 2021, 19:48:51 »

Looking at London, South East and South West, they all show a potential increase in constituencies. I'm sure the last review proposed an overall decrease.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #20 on: June 09, 2021, 20:07:00 »

Looking at London, South East and South West, they all show a potential increase in constituencies. I'm sure the last review proposed an overall decrease.


Yep, 7 less in Wales, 2 less in Scotland, a couple more in the South West and a whole bunch more in the Home Counties. The number of MPs (Member of Parliament) remains at 650, not cut to 600 as suggested at a previous review.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
paul7575
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5316


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: June 11, 2021, 17:57:13 »

Anyone got a quick explanation as to why Wales has historically had so many of the apparent excess of MPs (Member of Parliament), as compared to say Scotland? 

Is it just about gradual depopulation that no-one had accounted for over a long period?   Roll Eyes

Paul
Logged
jamestheredengine
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 301


View Profile
« Reply #22 on: June 12, 2021, 12:48:24 »

Anyone got a quick explanation as to why Wales has historically had so many of the apparent excess of MPs (Member of Parliament), as compared to say Scotland? 

Is it just about gradual depopulation that no-one had accounted for over a long period?   Roll Eyes

Paul
It's a combination of factors:
  • It's been easier for people to justify grossly undersized constituencies in parts of Scotland (which was mainly sorted in 2001) and Wales than it has been in England, because of a greater concentration of smaller counties (e.g. Powys having two small constituencies being less bad than one large one) and because of the greater ease at which special geographical considerations could be invoked (e.g. how Gwynedd ended up with tiny constituencies)
  • That each of the four Commissions worked out their own quota – the average electorate of a constituency that they would use to work out how many constituencies each county was entitled to – separately. This had two major effects: (1) the "ratchet effect", that undersized constituencies in one of the four constituent countries would drag down that country's average and cause its counties to be awarded extra constituencies at the next review (e.g. how Dyfed went from 4 constituencies to 5); and (2) that England's population growth relative to the rest of the UK (United Kingdom) would allow its constituencies to become generally oversized (and it's worth remembering it's that way round – constituencies started out at around 55,000 electors after the war)
  • The English Commission made a conscious effort to apply the rule that there should be "not substantially more than 523" constituencies in England, becoming extremely reluctant to award counties extra constituencies (e.g. the Isle of Wight)
Logged

REVUpminster
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 533



View Profile Email
« Reply #23 on: July 02, 2021, 06:57:22 »

Totnes constituency by Robert, on Flickr

The MP (Member of Parliament) for Totnes has asked for a name change to South Devon as his constituency covers a vast area either side of the River Dart including Dartmouth, Kingsbridge and Salcombe and confusingly Brixham and South and West Paignton who think that as they come under Torbay Council they come under the Torbay MP.

Torbay constituency should also have it's name changed to Torquay and Central Paignton to reflect the area the MP covers.
Logged
Andy
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 544



View Profile
« Reply #24 on: September 13, 2021, 15:04:56 »

Under the latest proposals, North Cornwall will remain a parliamentary constituency without any Network Rail stations, although Roche & Bodmin Parkway stations are just across the boundary in SE Cornwall and stretches of the Plymouth-Penzance and Par-Newquay lines do run through the constituency. It does have the Bodmin & Wenford railway, though.

I wonder how many other constituencies without a NR» (Network Rail - home page) station there are in GW (Great Western)-land.
 
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #25 on: September 13, 2021, 16:52:56 »

Under the latest proposals, North Cornwall will remain a parliamentary constituency without any Network Rail stations, although Roche & Bodmin Parkway stations are just across the boundary in SE Cornwall and stretches of the Plymouth-Penzance and Par-Newquay lines do run through the constituency. It does have the Bodmin & Wenford railway, though.

I wonder how many other constituencies without a NR» (Network Rail - home page) station there are in GW (Great Western)-land.
 


I wonder about Swindon North.  The boundary between Swindon North and Swindon South seems to run along the railway line, with the main public exit into South and the private exit to the research council into the North.

Similarly, Bristol North East may contain the second entrance only to Stapleton Road, but not the main entrance nor any (other) station.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5190


There are some who call me... Tim


View Profile
« Reply #26 on: September 13, 2021, 18:03:34 »

The nearest entrance to Stapleton Road station would be over 100m outside the boundary of Bristol North East, so that's an urban constituency of 69,793 people with no railway station!

Depending on where they draw the line, Ashley Down station may or may not affect this. This new station will be accessed from Bristol Central (which already has three stations). If the boundary is drawn in the middle of the railway (between the reliefs and the mains) then the new station will be wholly within Bristol Central.

Temple Meads isn't one of the three stations in Bristol Central, of course; it is in Bristol East.
Logged

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #27 on: September 13, 2021, 20:25:11 »

It's addictive ... how about new constituencies without a railway station.
Oxford East
West Isle of Wight

And while we are are it Witney - Only Ascott under Wychwood
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
bobm
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 9810



View Profile
« Reply #28 on: September 13, 2021, 20:41:44 »


I wonder about Swindon North.  The boundary between Swindon North and Swindon South seems to run along the railway line, with the main public exit into South and the private exit to the research council into the North.

Handy though. Means you can legitimately invite both the town’s MPs (Member of Parliament) to an event at the station unless they are going to argue about which platform!
Logged
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 [2]
  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