Bridgwater Carnival 04/11/2011

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

Does anybody have experience of how busy train servicies are after the Bridgwater Carnival (heading West)?



_{Edit note: Topic added to Calendar. CfN.} 

[JayMac]

I'm unaware as yet of specific plans FGW^▸ (First Great Western) may have to strengthen services on Friday 4th November for the Bridgwater Carnival. Heading west there are suitable timetabled services to get you to Taunton and beyond after the procession.

Maybe worth emailing FGW Customer Services to see if they have any plans for additional and/or strengthened services.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ContactUs.aspx

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Flooding in Bridgwater sparks river wall collapse fear

Part of Bridgwater town centre in Somerset has been closed off amid fears a wall could collapse after heavy rain.

Emergency services were called to East Quay, close to the River Parrot, after cracks appeared in a riverside wall. A 50m cordon has been set up.

About eight homes in the West Quay area have also been evacuated as firefighters deal with flooding.

Heavy traffic in the area is reported due to the town's carnival, which is still going ahead.

The River Parrot ?? 

[chuffed]

Enough to make you squawk with irritation at the lack of local knowledge shown by supposedly local BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) journalists.

Anyone know what conclusions were reached and priorities prioritised  at the rail conference in Bristol today?

[noddingdonkey]

I think the confusion here is that there is a well known Macaw who sits on that wall squawking 'Tickets please' and frightening all the locals. He has for many years been known locally as 'The river parrot'. Any confusion with any similar sounding river or tributary is unfortunate and purely coincidental.

[SandTEngineer]

Well I managed to make the carnival (and very good it was as well).  Unfortunately I had to go by road in the end.  Sad to hear it announced at the end (at about 2230) that had been the very serious accident on the M5 (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9687.msg100983#msg100983).  It took me 4 hours to get home instead of just over 1 hour it would normally take (with a small  diversion on the A39 via Williton).

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

Was that the way they were sending people? That roundabout next to spar must have been a huge bottleneck

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Bridgwater river walls repair costs reach ^1.8m


Nineteen properties had to be evacuated after the flash flooding on 5 November

A project to repair a flood-damaged river wall in Somerset is set to cost ^1.8m, the county council has said.

Part of the river wall at West Quay in Bridgwater collapsed after heavy rainfall on 5 November 2011.

Somerset County Council has said the costs have risen due to a 10-week delay in the project caused by the heavy rain in recent months.

Additional repairs have also been made at Town Bridge and East Quay as part of the whole wall repair project.

The county council has said it expects to complete the entire project by the end of May, depending on weather conditions.

Nineteen properties had to be evacuated when the river wall collapsed just over a year ago.

An independent report found a combination of factors led to the collapse but no single agency or event was to blame.

The report also said the wall was "already on the brink of collapse" before the rain.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Just come across this item. I lived most of my first 25 years in Bridgwater but rarely get back there now. However Carnival is so nostalgic to me especially as I haven't seen it for 30 years or so now - an illuminated extravaganza that is little known about outside of the West Country. When I went to see Blackpool illuminations they just did not compare with Bridgwater's carnival, most disappointing, but they get national publicity.
During the 50s and early 60s there were rail excursions from all over the south of England to Bridgwater Carnival. Trains came from Plymouth, Birmingham, London and South Wales. Of course in those days there were sidings at Bridgwater where the trains could be stabled until their return journey but I think that would be impossible now and of course with privatisation the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) do not have spare rolling stock to use and the fares would be prohibitively high.