Sunday Variety

CHURCH LINK - HARVEST  

Service starts 1030

Today's "Car Park" service is moved inside.
The fbbs will be attending. It is not possible
to set up an on-screen link before they depart.
A link can be obtained, however,
via the Church YouTube channel
(here) and clicking on the panel for today's date.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A Sad Personal Farewell

fbb is sorry to report that Giles Fearnley's mum passed away on Thursday last after an extended period of illness. She celebrated her 99th Birthday in August and was a great friend of fbb and later his Mrs. Your author's fondest memory is of the superb meat pies supplied to eke out fbb's pre-marital hunger pangs - and the genuine and warm friendship over many years. Here is Helen with grandson Archie at Babbacombe six years ago.

A fine lady who lived a good and long life, but who will still be missed; the end of an era indeed.

A Sad Transport Farewell

Blog readers may not be familiar with Kerrs Miniature Railway, Arbroath. It has provided rides alongside the main line since 1935, all those years in the hands of the same family.

Running parallel to the "big" railway adds to the excitement.

The news breaks that this delight, the oldest miniature railway in Scotland, will close finally at the end of this season. There are hopes that the trains and track can be moved elsewhere, but apparently it is curtains shed doors for this little line.

The reports do not say whether the intriguing Stagecoach single decker will still ply for trade (thankfully NOT in the new livery) ...

... or whether the fire engine will continue to respond to imaginary conflagrations!

In these days of rapid change, fbb presumes you can still get an Arbroath Smokie in Arbroath?

They look awful and taste delicious.

The Arbroath Smokie is said to have originated in the small fishing village of Auchmithie, three miles northeast of Arbroath. Local legend has it a store caught fire one night, destroying barrels of haddock preserved in salt. The following morning, the people found some of the barrels had caught fire, cooking the haddock inside. Inspection revealed the haddock to be quite tasty. It is much more likely the villagers were of Scandinavian descent, as the 'Smokie making' process is similar to smoking methods which are still employed in areas of Scandinavia.

But please, please don't call them "kippers"!!

How Many Colours?

 SAND         lower bodyside

 CREAM        upper bodyside

 LIGHT GREEN  bodyside swirl

 YELLOW       bodyside swirl

 CYAN         rear end

 PALE CYAN    flag

 MID BLUE     fleet name

 WHITE        other lettering

 RED          dot on "i" of Yorkshire

              and tiny wedge which might be pink?

That's a total of NINE (even ten?) colours used to Create Desire, as they say in Battersea. Does the desire increase with the number of colours - or decrease?

Did this "create desire" way back then?

New Buses For Slough - Not Quite!

The first of the former Southampton Euro 6 Volvo B7RLEs have gone into the paint shop and will come out the other side in a brand new livery for Slough service 4.

Five of the Volvos will receive this livery with another five to be repainted into the current Slough service 7 livery and they will complement the existing Volvo Hybrids.

Here is the 4 livery ...

... and, for those like fbb who cannot remember what First runs in Slough (not much these days), here is an extract from the current timetable.

The 4 zips boringly down the A4 from Maidenhead to Heathrow Central.

The 4 used to look like this:-

Bus Eireann Wields The Axe

We recognised last week that action was being taken to "improve" bus services in Dublin where the word "improve" in bus management speak means "cutbacks". Once outside of Dublin, the nationalised bus service is called "Bus Eireann" under the overall management of CIE which also runs the trains.

CIE has been losing money for a good while, so this announcement should not cause any surprise.

The article explains things a bit more:-

Expressway, Bus Éireann’s premium coach service, provides direct and regular services on over 22 routes throughout Ireland. It is the only coach service to present a connected network to passengers across the Island of Ireland, making it the quickest way to reach an unrivalled number of destinations. Our modern fleet of comfortable coaches offers a cost-effective alternative to the hassle and stress of accessing increasingly restricted car parking and busy town centres. 

Our 28 new vehicles feature power sockets, charging points, and ISOFIX attachment points, allowing your children to travel in safety and you to travel with ease of mind. A majority of routes provide hourly services for timely travel to wherever you need to go. And, our routes let you travel to major airports around the country in luxury with our extra comfort leather seats, while you stay connected with on-board Wi-Fi. 

More cuts on the way for the Republic's "National Express"?

Now There's a Thought (From Stonehenge)

 Next Variety blog : Monday 5th October