Perturbed by Park and Ride Provision (1)

On Saturday (13th inst) the fbbs returned to Lyme Regis for a second visit to the chippy. All the cardboard additions for the Mary Anning film "Ammonite" were gone. The steps ...

... leading to her grey and "ancient" fossil shop ...

... were back to normal and the frontage had been un-repainted and the premises returned to their present role as the "Fossils" gift shop.

How quickly the fake world of cinematography returns to normality with the removal of heaps of plywood and some plastic stone facing!

But normality was not quite as normal as fbb expected as, whilst waiting for their 9A back to Seaton, a Jurassic Coaster bus pulled up.

That must be the bus to Axminster, thought your knowledgeable blogger with omnibological confidence. "It's not ours," exclaimed an elderly customer for the 9a, " that's the Park and Ride!"

Uh?

Lyme Regis does really need a Park and Ride service. There is very little parking space in the town centre, with the main sites being some distance away down (to the beach) and up (wearily from); in peak summer all of them can be full and traffic congestion is compounded with frustrated visitors driving to and fro in the hope of finding a space.

For several years a shuttle minibus ran from Charmouth Road car park in the west ...

... down the hill to the town centre; indeed to the site of Mary Anning's filmic fictional gift shop. A second service ran from a dedicated site (a dedicated field!) on Sidmouth Road to the east; but not to the town centre. It ran down Cobb Road ...

... and performed a tight U-turn outside the historic and tasteful Harbour Stores ...

... decorated in such a way to fit in with the far more historic Cobb.

From here it is a flat walk along the "prom" to the town centre; enjoying all the richness and delicacy of seaside paraphernalia that contribute to the quaintness of the town.

You may gather that fbb is not an enthusiast for Lyme Regis. It is a lovely town full of superb architectural variety, but spoiled by descending into seafront grot.

Anyway, back to Sidmouth Road Park and Ride terminal.

It has an identity problem. Although it was used to help visitors to enjoy Lyme Regis in Dorset, the field is in the neighbouring East Devon county; see the black dashed line on this map extract.

The planning application for continued use of land off Sidmouth Road, just outside Lyme Regis, as a park and ride has been rejected by East Devon District Council.

Lyme Regis Town Council submitted the application for temporary use of the site, which lies just across the county border, back in March.

East Devon District Council has now refused the plans, on the basis of lack of evidence submitted with the application to justify the need for the facility, and that as a result it would have a harmful impact upon the surrounding Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Quite how parking a few cars in a field would be harmful to the surrounding area is unclear. They are hardly visible behind a tall  hedge.

Both Uplyme Parish Council and Uplyme’s district councillor Ian Thomas opposed the application, resulting in an acrimonious dispute between Uplyme and Lyme councils.

A statement from the district council said: “East Devon’s planning department had previously granted temporary consents for a park and ride use to support businesses in Lyme Regis and visitors to the town, but despite ample time being given to Lyme Regis Town Council to justify the park and ride’s continued use, the required information has not been received.

“Since 2014, the district’s planning authority has consistently asked Lyme Regis Town Council to gather evidence to justify the need for a park and ride in this location. Despite the town council having four years in which to do this, the work has still not been carried out.

Now some would suggest that all of this was nothing but a spoiler to encourage folk to travel to Seaton rather than join the crowds crossing the border to Lyme Regis. But that could never be true, surely?

Both the "traditional" Park and Ride services were operated by small buses.

Both these were operated by Sovereign (now defunct) from nearby Seaton ...

... but other operators have also held the contract.

One thing is clear, however. The big double decker that fbb saw could never get down Cobb Road and turn at the bottom.

And so began fbb's search for the somewhat elusive Lyme Regis Park and Ride, the execution of which will form the content of tomorrow's post.

Scottish Sleeper Surprise

Train watchers were very surprised when sleeping car services between London and Scottish destinations were hived off from Scotrail intoa separate franchise, later named "Caledonian Sleepers".

Surprise was also expressed when it was revealed that the new franchisee (Serco) had promised completely new trains as part of their bid.

A few days ago, Serco took some of the press people on a sample ride from Inverness to experience the first of the new carriages, the delivery of which is, as usual, running months late!

The pictures look impressive and would appear to offer a substantial upgrade from sleeper services of old.

Poky little cabins are replaced, so the press release shows, with roomy suites, some with "en" facilities meaning that the chilly pad along the draughty corridor to the "facilities" at the coach ends will be a thing of the past. Not all the cabins will be as roomy as this one appears, fbb assumes!

Not photographed, but duly reported, is the availability of showers. We are also promised an upgrade in catering from an airline-style "plastic" meal ...

... to something more luxurious.

Or was that just for the press?

What effect will these improvements have on the prices? Currently two people sharing a cabin will pay £140 in addition to their normal fare, more for single occupancy - and "meals" are extra.

It will be interesting to see how real people react when the coaches are let loose on Joe Publicin a few months time.

An overnight journey to Inverness is a superb experience, particularly as you tend to wake up just as the Highland scenery encompasses your train.

Oh yes; and much to the chagrin of their editor and the annoyance of their readers, Rail magazine was not invited to the launch!

Really?

The competition authorities will have fun if it happens - and the legal profession will make a packet!

 Next Park & Ride blog : Tuesday 16th April 

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Arthur, a miniature Shetland pony, parades in Kilmingon Church after his Palm Sunday walk round the village with members of the congregation. He was unimpressed with the service, but very impressed with the quality of the grass in the graveyard as his minders collected cash for him and his chums.

Munchkins is based at Southleigh near Colyton, Devon. www.mini-munchkins.org

On "Palm Sunday", Jesus, accompanied by disciples, supporters and followers, rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He was deliberately and openly fulfilling an Old Testament Prophesy from Zechariah.

“Behold, your king comes to you, triumphant and victorious. He is humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zechariah 9:9)

Yeshua ben Yusuf, the carpenter's son from Nazareth, was provocatively claiming to be God's chosen Messiah. This was blasphemy according to Jewish Law - unless, of course, it was true.

But it gets worse.

No more Mr Nice Guy!

But the message, however unpalatable to the religious authorities, was crystal clear. The "religion" of the Temple had become moribund, highly ritualistic and utterly meaningless.

Jesus' powerful purpose was to restore the true "Kingdom of God" and to open up a personal relationship between Him and the "man in the street". 

As the final week progressed, the ordinary folk would see this acted out, but not as a play or visual aid, but for real. They would begin to think that the message of Christ was that lives can be changed completely and for ever.

(from the hymn "The head that once was crowned with thorns") But by Friday lunchtime it all seemed to be a failure.

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