TWSW - SWT [1]

 Western Greyhound has gone bust - more tomorrow 

Speculation : Revelation : Fascination?

You may never have heard of Chris Loder. He is head of Business Projects at SouthWest Trains and was speaker No 4 at the TravelWatch SouthWest general meeting at Taunton last Saturday. This multi talented lad is also a West Dorset County Councillor ...

... with a purview that includes the village of Ryme Intrinseca!

Ryme Intrinseca** is a village and civil parish in northwest Dorset, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Yeovil and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Yetminster. It is sited on a low ridge of cornbrash limestone on the edge of the Blackmore Vale. The name means the inner, or home, part of the Ryme manor as opposed to the outer parts, once called Ryme Extrinseca. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 115.

So he can't be all that bad!

Again, his remit at Taunton was to look at rail's contribution to the economic development of the South West.

The chat began with a brief overview of SouthWest Trains services in the area ...

... noticeably brief because there only is the Waterloo to Exeter Line and a few trains from Waterloo via Salisbury to Bristol. The latter were introduced as a way of getting folk to Waterloo's Eurostar terminal but they still remain a franchise requirement despite Eurostar's relocation at St Pancakes.

So we had a brief review of the study area which, surprisingly, has some affinity with young Loder's political area of influence and loyal service!

It all looked pretty standard, and frankly tedious stuff. We've heard it all before; we need more investment, more trains, more tea trolleys, more platforms at Waterloo, a double deck Clapham Junction and double deck trains. Not much to ask in an election year!

And if only there were an effective connection between the two lines at Yeovil Junction (main SW line and Great Western bumble train to Weymouth) then many trips would be easier by train than by road.

fbb was just about to have a post prandial snooze when this slide came up:-

fbb came out of his cynical reverie with a start!

Or was it all a dreadful dream brought on by too many deep fried chicken goujons and mysterious balls of sludge labelled "vegetarian"?

Kite flying?

If we get more money?

Or perhaps ...

... sus scrofa domesticus volantus!

fbb suddenly became very attentive.

---------------------------------------------------------

fbb is Guest speaker at an Isle of Wight Men's Supper

tomorrow; and leader of the Sunday Morning Service

at his former Church. The Chris Loder story will return

on Tuesday 17th March. Worth waiting for.

For the weekend, there's a new (sort-of) bus service

starting on the Island and something exciting will occur

in Northampton.

With that bombshell, this blog will be back as usual

tomorrow.

 ---------------------------------------------------------

Ryme Intrinseca** has a bus service (of sorts), namely Damory Coaches 212 Monday to Friday only.

The area is a real joy for village names, by the way, with Melbury Osmond (cousin to Jimmy?), Melbury Sampford, Melbury Bubb, Sydling St Nicholas, Frome St Quentin, Toller Fratrum, Toller Porcorum, Wynford Eagle, Frome Vauchurch and Minterne Magna joining T S Eliot's East Coker; all in the area.

 ---------------------------------------------------------

 Next bus blog : Saturday 14th March