Welsome To The Ort Hub
... a vast (even vaster than that) cloud of stuff from which the planets may have "descended" (or maybe not?) where orbit oodles of comets today. It was named after a Dutch astronomer name Mr Oort, sadly with two "o"s!
Very observant railway enthusiasts may just spot the splendid red brick facade of Hereford railway station.
In addition to the railway station, Hereford has two bus stations. In the centre of the city is what used to be called the "Hopper" bus station, so named after the minibus-ification of Hereford city services way back in Midland Red days.
After First threw in the oily rag (they couldn't afford a towel!) in 2015 ...
... along came local Yeomans who still operate the local services from the same site.
It is round the back of a small Tesco (small by today's standards that is) ...
... but well placed for the city centre. Doubtless Tesco paid for the bus station as part of its planning conditions!
Further from the pulsating hub of central Hereford is the Country bus station round the back of the Odeon Cinema ...
... which is now home to "The Freedom Church", a large and "spirit filled" (Holy not alcoholic) congregation.
The bus station's facilities are, to say the least, basic ...
... and it is called the "Country" bus station, sometimes erroneously called the "County" bus station in the well-informed (NOT) local press.
Further away, and now separated from the town by a new dual carriageway is the railway station.
It was from said new road that Alan (on one of his many excursions from Northampton) photographed the "Ort Hub" sign.
If course, the sign ort to read "Transport Hub" and Google Streetview managed to catch the display before it was vandalised!
The juxtaposition of these various transport locations is shown on a Google Earth piccy of a bit of Hereford.
Does is really make sense to give the people of Hereford an Ort Hub that is even further away from where they want to go? And, more to the point, will bus operators be prepared to use it?
Well, it probably won't happen. It was proposed by the previous city adminstration; but the new lot appears less committed and with very few pennies left anyway.
The Hereford Transport Hub - a major project putting the start and finish for the city's public transport in one place - has barely moved beyond the design stage before running out of money.
And should more land be needed for the Hub, there are still issues over Herefordshire Council's settlement of compulsory purchase sums related to the city link road scheme that puts the Hub in play.
Cllr John Harrington, council cabinet member for transport, says no designs exist for the Hub - a project inherited from the previous administration - and that's where money first needs to be spent.
"We're still committed to the Hub as a concept, but we want a sensible, pragmatic approach - a public transport space that's straight in and out," he said.
Yep - you are right. It probably won't happen!
fbb has a cracker of an idea. Give Tesco a better site near the station, demolish the existing city centre Tesco and use that site for the new Ort Hub. Maybe sub Yeomans to run a couple of local services VIA the station forecourt to provide a link and, Bingo!
Then And Now
Readers may be plagued, as is fbb, by the Pinterest company. For those that don,t experience its delights, it routinely sends you oodles of photographs, largely based on what you have been up to on your laptop. How it knows what you have been up do doesn't really bear thinking about - but it does.
Because fbb has been "doing" London, Pinterest is flooding the aged blogger's in-box with pictures of old London. Most of them are of no interest, but some are of railway and bus topics. Quite a few posts have appeared recently with occasional snaps of stations in the "good old days" - from 1900s to 1930s approx. Here are a few.
North Harrow (Metropolitan)
South Harrow (Piccadilly Line)
The above as probably as built. Imagine the reaction of the public to something so Art Deco stylish. And it is all still there, often hidden behind big red buses ...
... and looking a little tired these days.
Ruislip Gardens (Central Line)
Part of the great expansion of the Underground, interrupted by WW2, the Central line was built alongside the Great Western Line running north west from the capital.
The original was a halt on a timber built platform with no facilities except the pagoda waiting shelter and a few gas lamps. Along comes the Underground, very much above ground here, and adds two tracks which necessitates a long retaining wall and a new bridge at Ruislip Gardens.
Here the E7 bus will pull into the layby ...
... at the "proper" Central Line station.
Some stations have hardly changed at all, however. Look at this old picture of North Wembley ...
... now with Bakerloo Line trains and Overground from Euston.
Take away the large signboards above the gutter and ...
... you have an unchanged station building, almost cute in its simplicity!
Tomorrow Is Palm Sunday
Jesus went on in front of them toward Jerusalem. As he came near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead with these instructions: “Go to the village there ahead of you; as you go in, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If someone asks you why you are untying it, tell him that the Master needs it.”
They went on their way and found everything just as Jesus had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying it?”
“The Master needs it,” they answered, and they took the colt to Jesus.
The meaning is deeper than often portrayed. Yes, Jesus rode into Jerusalem in a donkey and yes, people welcomed him with cheering and palm branches - all very pretty and "nice|".
But who are these clean faced, brightly-dressed caucasian-faced people anyway? And who is Mr Nice Guy dressed in white with well-kempt beard and glam-rock hair-style? They are certainly not the real people, the Jewish people who welcomed the Jewish swarthy skinned Messiah.
Van Dyck's painting is a tad more realistic ...
... certainly typical of the shambles that such an arrival would be.
In most churches, Palm Sunday is the start of Easter, the first step in preparation for the most important Christian Festival ever - far, far more important than Christmas.
But "Easter" began many thousands of years earlier ...
... as we shall see!
Next Variety blog : Sunday 10th April
Yeomans threw in the towel at the New Year for their commercial city services and a new network was established by Sargeants - https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/public-transport-1/bus-travel/3
ReplyDeleteSouth Harrow station is not in fact the original. See here: https://tinyurl.com/3j98kxhs
ReplyDeleteThe Hopper bus station carried that name for only a very short period. It has been known as the "City Bus Station" for at least 20 years!
ReplyDeleteThe provision of a "transport interchange" at the station was originally promised as the first stage of a comprehensive redevelopment of the old cattle market area between the station and the city centre. Needless to say, the shops and houses were built first and the "interchange" never happened.
The geography of Herefordshire is such that most country bus routes come from the north/west/south of the City, and terminate at the Country Bus Station, which is a 5 minute walk from the Railway Station, via two busy roads, so not a good way to connect.
ReplyDeleteTo replace this with a Transport Interchange at the Station, where Sargeant's route 461 and the Stagecoach TrawsCymru route T14 already terminate sounds to me like a sensible idea, and it would release the current site for redevelopment.
My belief is that Hereford CC are great on talk, and poor on action . . . I note their BSIP was for only £18m over 3 years (based on enhancing existing service frequencies . . . quite sensible) . . . and they got nowt. That's the end of the bus there, then . . .