Frustrated At Furzton

 Late Developer

The last major sector of Milton Keynes to be developed was to the west of the old A5 (RED) and to the north of the re-routed A421 (ORANGE). This includes the obligatory District Centre at Westcroft and the usual collection of strangely named estates separated by MK's grid network of main roads. Two areas, Shenley Church End and Shenley Brook End were small villages before the expanding the New City obliterated their traditional identity.

But in 2019 there were plenty of buses serving all parts,

By 2024 little remained!

On the aerial view, the original Bletchley expansion area, called innovatively West Bletchley, was developed in the 1950s and early 1960s and served by a complex network of United Counties Bletchley town services which penetrated deep into the various estates including Old Bletchley and Far Bletchley.

All are gone leaving just one main road service to West Bletchley etc running via Whaddon Way.

But that's another story!

For this blog, fbb will concentrate on Furzton..

If you went to Furzton last year, indeed if you went today, you would find a road, complete with bus shelters, called Dulverton Drive.,

But those sad and lonely shelters, although equipped with bus stop signs ...

... and timetable frames (empty), would never rejoice in the normality of a passing bus. Even the arrival of "Loop" has not changed the lack of a proper bus service to the estate "spine", Dulverton Drive.

"Loop" edges surreptitiously past on the grid road, distant from much of the housing and most of the potential passengers.

But in 2019 it had route 7 ...

... and, once upon a time, it had electric buses. 

But they were not just any electric buses; they were  M & S electric buses. Yes indeed, service 7 was operated for a while by Magnificently Scientific buses getting their juice from Induction Charging.

A sort ot tin tray descended from below the bus and hung above (but not touching) the charging plate in the road. At the cost of an extra bus in the schedule, charging was done at Wolverton and Bletchley.

Back then, the 15 minute frequency applied all the way. (Unreliable fbb memory??)

It didn't work. When fbb travelled, way back, his bus wouldn't charge properly and left 12 min late; and on the way the next scheduled vehicle was lying dead in the gutter.

The 7 soon reverted to normal bus operation and Arriva backed down from their plan to fully electrify the New City.

Service 7 was reduced to running from Wolverton to Central MK only.

But Milton Keynes Council did not leave Furzron totally bereft of a Public Service service. No, Siree!

Deep Joy! MK Connect is an App driven demand responsive  service which covers the whole of MK.

Because, presumably, Milton Keynsians enjoy joy riding on pre-booked minibuses ...

... the publicity gives a list of "popular" destinations".

The Open university is such a fun place to visit!

There is publicity at the Furzton bus stops.

The web site suggests the buses will pick you up promptly, the wait rarely being more than half an hour.

Ah, the wonders of modern demand responsive public transport.

The Council is proud of its "success" and this note appears on-line.

The accompanying article does not explain how many weeks, months or years this 20,000 applies to.

Suppose four of the five vans illustrated are on the road for, say, an average of eight hours each, seven days a week. Let us also suppose that the time span was a year.

20,000 divided by 360 days, divided by 4 vehicles divided by 8 hours.

That is 1.732 passengers an hour!

Sounds about the right numbers for a huge success.

The problem for "Loop" is simply that, after several years of bus banishments from their areas, and several years of the inconvenience of MK Connect, sensible passengers will have found other ways of getting round the city. They may have bought a car, bought a motor bike, bought a pedal bike or even experimented with hang gliding.

They will have long since abandoned the bus.

Can the new commercial service from Arriva be a successful contributor to the company's bottom line.

fbb will give it a year.

Even Arriva says it is experimental. Here is the PR twaddle from Arriva ...

And here is even bigger twaddle from the Council.

Click on the graphics for an enlargement.

What residents want, Councillor Nayee ...

... is a direct bus to the important places whither they wish to travel. And they want the bus to get as close to their pad as feasible. Loop does not do that.

Some might wish to change its name.

fbb will publish a full map of Loop in Sunday's blog

 Next Thrup Knee blog : Saturday 18th Jan 

Thrup Knee Bit (mini blog 1)

1937 Was A Big Year

In May King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later known as The Queen Mother) were crowned.

Also the first three pence pieces were minted intended to supplant the "silver" three pence coin.

The new coin was a regular duodecagon (12 sides) and made of brass, the reverse showed the thrift plant ...

... but this was later changed to a portcullis.

The coin (worth one eightieth of a pound, and thus closest in value to today's 1p) disappeared with decimalisation in 1971 ...

... but was well remembered in the design of the latest version of the pound coin.

One of Two Trains.

The Coronation Scot ran from Euston to Glasgow from 1937 to the outbreak of WW2 in 1939. 

The train was commemorated in music.

The tune was written by Vivien Ellis and he revealed that the idea of using the rhythm oi the railway's wheels came to him on a train from Taunton to Paddingon. But in Coronation year the later name was more appropriate and probably more profitable.

The tune became even more well known as the signature tune of Paul Temple crime stories on the wireless.

The train ran in blue and silver but other streamlined Coronation class locomotives were bedecked in maroon and gold.

It was found that the "streamline" casing did not significantly increase speed or improve coal consumption but but did impede maintenance, so the can was removed.

But, in 1937, we still had something of the competitive desire of the two big operators on the Scotland Run.  The London Midland and Scottish had their Coronation Scot running via the West Coast route whilst the London and North Eastern had their Coronation.

Of which more on  Saturday .

Hornby has recently reintroduced a streamlined Coronation loco ...

... and accompanying coaches, but fbb has had to put up with a cheaper and older coach model for Peterville Quarry Railway.

The newer models are better, but that old version is more than adequate for fbb's lighter attitude to the hobby.

 Next Frustration at Furzton blog : Fri 17 Jan 

Better Buses At Bow Brickhill

Where?

Click on the maps for an enlargement

Nobody had thought of the New City of Milton Keynes (still not a City!) in the early 1960s. The main settlement of Fenny Stratford, a staging post on the A5 ex Roman Road, Watling Street had been eclipsed by upstart Bletchley. There is Bow Brickhill on the B road between Fenny Stratford and Woburn Sands.

Even now Bow Brickhill village is outside the splurge of the new city.

But it is still part of Milton Keynes.

But as a comminuty "on the edge" and on the way to nowhere, it suffered the fate of many fringe MK bus services.

Here is the stuation in 2019 ...

We have our cursive route 17 and 18 which we met on Monday last at Woburn Sands, a version of which is shown below.

But by 2024 nothing.

Caldecotte and Walton Park are bereft of buses as well. Latterly the 11, 11A, 12 and 12A were tendered routes not run by Arriva but sporting an attractive (?) mix of vehicles!

It is probably not surprising that the routes did not survive the cut-backs!

Journey planners suggested that you catch an 8/8A to Downs Wood and walk to Bow brickhill. There is a footpath signed from Downs Wood ... 

... but totally hidden at Bow Brickhill. Even at Downs Wood you would have to know about it as it is some way from the comforting purple line of the 8/8A. There is no lighting on the path which looks as if it might be a bit squidgy!

So the villagers of Bow Brickhill were rejoicing with dancing in the streets from January 6th 2025 as their bus service returned in the form of "Loop".

It is worth just pausmg to wonder whether Bow Brickhill deserves "Loop". 

The main road through the village (Woburn Sands Road) has mainly newer housing dating from the 1930s right through tonthe present day. Some properies are delightfully old.

There is also The Wheatsheaf ...

... c/w with its recently unserved but named bus stop.

But the main part of the old settlement leads down from the Church on the hill ...

... and retains much of its character even today.

Just to the south of the church and at the top of the hill is a gorgeous area of woodland, well worth a wander ...

... and now you can get there, well, to the bottom of the hill ...

... by a much improved replacement bus service.

Generally, there is (there always was!) enough housing there to support some sort of bus service, but whether the luxury of "Loop" is asking too much is surely the big question.

So here is what Bow Brickhill, Woburn Sands and the rest of "Loop" has today.

An hourly service both ways round (once it gets going) ...

... with last circling trips at 1820 (MF) and 1620 (S) on the orange "Loop" and 1830 (MF) and 1630 (S) in the blue "Loop".

Here are the full timetables ...

... should you wish to click and enlarge them.

There is no Sunday service.

On  Friday  we go to Furzton and look at MK Connect that was available (and still is) in the localities where previous services had been withdrawn.

 Next Thrup Knee Bit blog : Thurs 16 Jan