TOWIE Episode 1

TOWIE?

The Only Way Is Essex (often abbreviated as TOWIE) is a reality television series based in Brentwood, Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." The first series consisted of 10 episodes and ran for 30 minutes, with a Christmas special following later in the year. Due to popularity, the runtime was extended to 45-minute episodes and renewed for a year's airing. On 22 May 2011, the series won the Audience Award at the 2011 BAFTA Awards.

fbb has never watched it!

The Only Way IN Essex?

This Easter weekend sees the biggest change in bus services in Basildon, Colchester and Chelmsford since. well, since ever! Published on-line with only eight days notice, the residents of these Essex towns will expect  - and will contribute to - Public Transport chaos as ordinary folk arrive at their normal bus stops and find things are very different, and, in some cases, there is nothing to catch.

If potential passengers DO think of looking on-line, they will find a pretty graphic on the home page ...

... which clicks on to a similar but apparently optimistic graphic in typically trendy style.

Is this First Bus beginning the promised Building Back Better? We are excited ...

Aren't we?

This is First's general blurb:-

From Sunday 17th April we are making changes to your bus networks across the county.

These changes are in response to the change in our travel habits; people are travelling less often and have less certainty about how many times a day or week they require travel.

These changes are designed to deliver sustainable networks, that are easier to use and continue to provide the ability to travel around the towns and villages across the county on our services.

Some buses will run earlier and later in the day, some more often, some less often and there will be new networks in the Basildon, Chelmsford and Colchester areas.

Buses that connect the local suburbs to the centre of Basildon, Chelmsford and Colchester will be replaced by locally focussed services with simple, regular timetables, simple, easy to use fares starting at £2.50 for an adult and with new, newer, or fully refurbished vehicles being introduced over the coming months with a new red based colour scheme.

The services that we provide to connect other towns and cities to these locations and each other will also start to see new, newer, or fully refurbished vehicles being introduced and will become Essex Bus services in our new exciting green based colour scheme.

Nope! Not that green based colour scheme; that is "old hat"! Might it be this green-based colour scheme?

Nope. That's Wessex, not Essex. Maybe this green-based colour scheme?

No sir; that's West of England, not Wessex or Essex! 

This IS the new green based colour scheme.

You can tell it is trendy because the middle stalk of the E is missing, making it Cssex, But, look closely and there are some yellow bits instead.

They are the three County badge simplified scimitars, simplified to remove the holes where the mouse got them.

Definitely trendy!

Is fbb being old, grumpy and cynical? (answer "YES!!") But do some of these eloquent First Bus phrases sound a bit like bus-management-speak for "service reductions"?

We shall see!

For those who struggle with the geography, above is a map showing the three locations where these changes will occur.

Basildon is a "new town" which for many years after its construction languished without a railway station while the busy Southend line ran right past the town centre.

It finally got its station in 1974! The bus station is close by.

Colchester (with its Roman name, although the Romans never originally called it a "Castra"!!) is the most ancient of the three.

Colchester occupies the site of what was Camulodunum, the first major Roman city in, and sometime capital of, Roman Britain. Colchester lays claim to be Britain's oldest recorded town. It has been a military garrison since the Roman era and is currently home to the 16th Air Assault Brigade.

Colchester has what it claims to be a bus station ...

... but what, in fact, looks like a row of bus stops on Osborne Street ... 

... and Stanwell Street.

But; don't expect all buses in Colchester to stop at the bus station. Oh, no siree! It is much more "fun" than that!

fbb will return to Colchester and Basildon later in the week. 

For the time being he will concentrate on Chelmsford where the biggest changes will strike the populace over the Easter weekend.

First's blurb did hint at "simple" networks and below is just one example of the current operation.

Eight First Bus route numbers serve Chelmer Village Way! But there are no route numbers on the stops ...

... and a timetable frame has TEN separate departure lists.

It gets slightly worse the further round the routes you go!

Below is the Chelmer Village "terminus" (???) as shown on the map. It is part of an industrial estate.

So, simplification would be a bonus!

So, be brave, take a deep breath, switch on bus operator brain cells with additional input from bus passenger brain cells, and we will see exactly what First is doing in Chelmsford!

It certainly LOOKS simpler at Chelmer Village!

Essex County Council has a network map and town maps ...

... with ELEVEN route numbers on Chelmer Village Way!

Will the county's maps be updated by the weekend?

Guess!

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After Abraham came Isaac, then Jacob then Joseph and his coat of linen colour with embroidery. Joe invited his family to go and live in Egypt where they settled happily but not ever after. There was a change of government and the new power base wanted rid of the Hebrews so made them slaves and slaughtered all the male children. As you do.

Roll on a few years and the runaway Moses gets the zappo call from God to take the Hebrews out of Egypt, out of Slavery and into A Promised Land. There's lovely.

But the god-king of Egypt, the Pharaoh, doesn't want to lose his cheap zero hours contract labour. Well he wouldn't would he? Nine disasters (plagues) didn't make him change his mind.

But No 10 really hurt.

But for the Hebrews, there was an insurance policy:-

Then, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, the whole community of Israel will kill the lambs. The people are to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses. When I see the blood, I will pass over you and will not harm you when I punish the Egyptians.

The blood of the sacrificed lamb was to save the people from slavery and lead them to a better life.

Another Easter clue?

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 Next TOWIE blog : Wednesday 13th April