BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News

A police officer only paid the £34 fare between Axminster in Devon and Salisbury in Wiltshire "around half of the time" as ticket barriers were open and staff allowed him to travel for free on production of a warrant card.

Just seen this on Meridian TV news:
Engineers make remarkable discovery at Salisbury railway station during routine upgrade

One tunnel was briefly mentioned in the Salisbury & Avon Gazette in September.

"The government has been urged to introduce presumed liability for civil cases relating to certain road collisions, a move which would see motorists presumed liable when involved in incidents involving cyclists, pedestrians or horse riders."

Road C.C. article

I'm in an interesting situation in that I cycled more than quarter of a million miles and was a strong defender of cyclists. During that time I had a few bad experiences with motorists, usually down to their carelessness, though there were a couple of cases involving young yobs.

But on half-a-dozen occasions in recent years it's only been my alertness that has prevented me driving into an idiot cyclist. Had I done so, I would have had difficulty in proving that I was not at fault. (Some times I'd noticed a cyclist riding on the pavement, only for him to suddenly switch to the road in front of me,as I'd half anticipated.) And as a pedestrian I've had a dozen close encounters with pavement cyclists.

It's reassuring that some of the comments appended to the road.cc article are balanced and recognise that some cyclists are their own worst enemies.

I still regard cycles - and even "illegal" e-scooters - as an ideal way of getting around, provided they're used sensibly.

Years ago on the Tube, I saw a young man starting begging.The third person he approached produced an ID card that had sufficient authority to make the guy throw up his hands in acceptance and leave the train at its next stop.

What is the success rate for such fines being paid?

A friend of mine boarded the 1023 at Paddington which, she texted was "going nowhere" for 12 minutes,eventually she got to Reading and waited for the 1123 to Tilehurst/Didcot, which was progressively "delayed", eventually being announced as running fast to Didcot. By then I was waiting in the car at Tilehurst Station, where the concourse was jammed with vehicles of contractors working on the lists - and an ambulance making a rare appearance in its dedicated parking space; I was half-blocking the entrance and advised my friend to take a taxi and returned home. When I got there, I reflected that she might as well have waited for the next local service and she came to the same decision, opting to walk to my house. BTW^▸ (by the way) nowadays the station car park seems almost as full as it was pre-Lockdown.

Copehill Village sidings

Though the "presenter" is a bit confused about rolling stock!

It's a long time since I visited the village and I can vaguely remember the track, but in those days they were devoid of locomotives and stock.

(And since I'm posting about Salisbury Plain, when I passed through Ludgershall in the summer the new housing estate west of the former station was nearing completion, though the embedded rails and warning signs for the spur that crossed the A3026 remained. An enthusiast for the M &SWJR was in Ludgershall in August, and was surprised to see how many wagons there were in the south yard. I didn't think that the "military line" from Andover was used nowadays, although talk persists of re-opening it to civilian traffic.)

The Reading Chronicle website has excelled itself, with an article about a suicide at a "Berkshire train station" that it doesn't name, with a photograph of a train in New York.

Yesterday I walked alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal east from Theale swing bridge as far as the railway line, where this crossing for pedestrians and cyclists is nearing completion. I guess this must be one of the most popular crossings in the area, giving Calcotians convenient access to the canal.

(For 19 years I did voluntary work at nearby Hosehill Lake and knew there was a WWII^▸ (World War 2 - 1939 to 1945) airfield close by; indeed, I used to cycle past some of the old buildings, now replaced by a modern industrial estate.) But I'd only just become aware that there were more buildings behind the Fox & Hounds pub. Cue for me to look at postwar maps to see their layout before the site was worked for gravel, then becoming a lake used by Burghfield Sailing Club The construction of the airfield was hampered by flooding, which still affects local roads, which occasionally have to be closed.)

The success of the Elizabeth Line has been celebrated in Reading, with a call for quicker train services to be introduced.


Admittedly nowadays I hardly ever travel by train east of Reading, but I would have thought that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) already provide some "quicker" stopping services between Reading and Paddington. I have a friend who opts for these when she visits me in Tilehurst from London on trains that stop at Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford. She prefers these to changing from and to fast trains at Reading.

About 20 years ago, my partner and I were walking alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal at Thatcham. We noticed a middle-aged woman looking sad and Maz, a very sympathetic lady, went up to enquire if she was OK. It  turned out the woman's son had died there, so Maz gave her a big hug. (We were on the Ridgeway above the Vale of Pewsey and noticed a stationary tractor with a man lying on his back about 15 yards away. Maz went over, but as she approached he got up - apparently he'd been having a snooze.)

I've mentioned before that I was waiting for a train in heavy drizzle at Tilehurst Station and noticed a girl sitting on a bench. When the train arrived, I got on, but the girl remained on the bench. Luckily there was a trio of Samaritan-style volunteers who'd got into the same carriage as I, so I pointed the girl out to them, and they scrambled off to offer help.

Grahame, not for a second did I think that your posting the image was any form of endorsement, rather that you did it only because it was a nice illustration - and one I found evocative. I only made my own post because of the coincidence of the company (of which I hadn't heard before) having just  featured in another forum which I frequent.

Reference the idyllic "poster" for Fisher Investments: there are half-a-dozen websites I visit daily, including a financial one where , coincidentally, someone asked about this company three days ago. The replies, one referencing comments elsewhere on the Web, advised caution about becoming a customer.

I guess that the turn-over of staff at pubs and other hospitality venues doesn't help. No doubt newcomers get some sort of induction training, but does it include "Angela"? Apparently not.

I think there's also a scheme whereby people with incontinence problems can produce a card asking to use the staff toilets. I wonder if this arrangement is also generally known to staff?

And I gather there are various ways that women can indicate that they're in an awkward situation. A very quick Google shows there are sites listing three or five ways, including this American one.