Saturday Variety

 Thanks John : But No Thanks

The Standard (Evening Standard, London Standard) was a big circulation London Daily ...

... which closed its daily print publication in 2024 having declined to the loss-making status of a freebie. 

A weekly 'magazine' edition appears every Thursday.

It does provide an on-line collection of adverts interspersed with odd news items and the above is a YouTube posting.

It is misleading! (There's a surprise!).

The '4 major projects' are not new, they have been grinding on for years. The projects were not 'revealed' in the budget because they are well known amongst weary but ever hopeful London train travellers.

What has changed is the non-bombshell announced by Jolly Johm Heeley on Wednesday, last. He is Chancellor of the Exchequer at the moment.

He did not actually 'give the go-ahead'.

What he did announce was a new and "easier" way in which these projects could be paid for.

In simple terms it allows Local Authorities to spend money they haven't got on big capital projects and pay it back using money from fare payers when they start paying fares. This has always been a possibility but hitherto needed an Act of Parliament.

There is also a scheme for biggie mayor's to get their hands on a slice of national tax revenue. Terms and conditions are not clear at the moment!

Whether London can afford the interest charges on the debt is not a consideration for Jolly John!

Jolly John being jolly

Jolly John digging himself into a bit of a hole!

So don't expect the Bakerloo Extension, The West London Orbital and a rebuild of Stratford to happen yet awhile.

The Highs And Lows Of Sratford

(That's  Stratford International)

Astute readers will, like fbb, remember that South Eastern trains' Javelin services call at Stratford's not-yet-international station. In order for them to do so, Notwork Rail's lads had to construct an extra layer on the platforms built for the lower step height of Eurostar trains.

You can see the original pre-cast concrete platform edge with the extra bodge on top. 

It is all because of well thought out advance planning.

So will there have to be changes to platforms and to the Javelin trains.

Thankfully, no! The station was built with four platforms to cope with all the trains from Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow etc to Paris, which never happened.

It is all because of well thought out advance planning.

We presume, therefore, that Chunel trains will use Platforms 1 and 4. Maybe someone will do a bit of painting before trains start stopping. At the moment it looks like something from a 1960s Communist satellite nation.

At least the platform will be at the right height for the trains!

Bonus!

And even better news!

So that's all right, then!

Talking Of Long Term Plans ...

... VERY long term!

The Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) is a proposed link between Glasgow City Centre and Glasgow Airport. The original plans for an airport rail link were proposed during the 2000s to directly link Glasgow Central station with Glasgow Airport in Scotland. The link was intended for completion by 2013 and would have had a service of four trains per hour via Paisley Gilmour Street railway station.

fbb thinks the above is the most recent effort - he certainly remembers a wide selection of previous proposals!

It is all because of well thought out advance planning.

Not Well Thought Out?

Clearly the Metcalf workers' cottages will not fit on the narrow door frame (see yesterday's blog) The best that can be done is to create a cardboard "painting" which will be far better than any fbb attempt to paint a back scene of housing.

So the big porch has to go ...

... and be split into bits ...

... with these bits repurposed ...

... into a narrower porch-like entrance.

Will it work?

========================

Darwen Developments delayed "a demain!"

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 1st November 

A Visit To The Circus (2)

Round The Corner ...

... from The Circus you will find Darwen's Market Hall and Market Square. In the square was a small bus station, originally with just one posh shelter.

An extra stand was added with inappropriate concrete shelters.

The original quality rain protector peeps in to the above picture on the far right.

And today?

You will find a couple of open shelters and little else, such is progress.

Some buses leave from the nearby street.

Buses to Pothouse ...

... left from the traditional Circus stops.

Pothouse's Past Provision

When fbb first looked at the above picture he suspected that Darwen was the location, but confirmed it by the Lancashire registration.

A further search revealed an eponymous pub ...

... and an eponymous lane ...

... and third eponymousness, (but tatty!) bus stop.

fbb thinks that the Corporation bus would have turned round by the pub.

On the Open Street Map extract, Darwen Circus is bottom left ...

... with Pot House Lane top right.

So now you know!

Fortunately, the Internet has a full copy of a Darwen bus timetable for 1970 ...

... priced in preparation for decimalisation. The index reveals ...

... that the Corporation Transport department saw no need of route numbers although they appeared after the merger with the Blackburn operation.

Readers may be surprised to see the 1970 frequency!

In 1970, most Darwenians travelled by frequent and reliable Corporation bus.

Pathetic Present Provision!

We start with a Rochdale and Darwen route diagram.

It would  appear that three routes provide buses to or near Pot House (Pothouse?). The 33 (BROWN) is the "nearby" route and takes folks to Blackburn via  back road run.

The route does go "near" Pothouse Lane ...

... and offers an hourly frequency ...

... although there us no time point given for Pothouse. The route is operated by "Moving People" aka Travel Assist ....

.... a local Community Interest Company.

Which leaves the TA05 and TA07 circulars.

These do serve the traditional Pothouse stops. The direct (BLUE) TA05 ...

... doesn't quite match the 1970 frequency! The TA07 (PINK - the long way round) is twice as frequent!

It is likely that both of these are minibus routes.

Indeed Travel Assist has posted a sweet little video which, sadly, does not really make things better.

Pretty graphics but it is a drastic reduction!

But next month there is better news for the poor, pushed-away public transport people of Pot House.

All will be revealed, in glorious tecnicolor (?), as part of tomorrow's  "bits and pieces" blog.

===================

Peterville Progress

fbb has bought another Metcalf card kit. This time it is for four "workers' cottages" 

But their "sitz im leben" is going to be a bit of a bodge. They will sit here, on top of the door frame that surrounds the under eaves storage at fbb mansions.

A bit of a challenge!

===================

  Next Variety blog : Saturday 31 Oct 

A Visit To The Circus (1)

 

Maybe not that one above; but, equally, we could go here, especially in view of the recent happening in the area.

But actually it is here ...

... where you might have once found these ...

... better "colourised".

The trams are from Blackburn; but we are not IN Blackburn. This town's trams were red ...

.... but there was a link to Blackburn. The main road route was shared!

The picture with the two older trams was taken in Darwen, Lancashire - and not Darwin Northern Territory ...

... with is NOT in North West England. 

fbb had visited Darwen whist a student at Sheffield University (1963 to 1966). He has no idea WHY he went to Darwenpr hiw he got there, but it was in the company if some Sheffield Transport staff chums.

He remembers little of the trip, except one event. He watched a bus on service set off from near The Circus. It climbed a hill, disappeared behind trees and, after a few brief moments it re-appeared to return to The Circus.

It was one of the shortest bus routes fbb had ever observed. Today's TA6 to Bold Venture ...

... is similar but serves a wider area, so is longer.

Back when fbb visited. the bus, like Darwen's trams, was painted red ...

... and operated by Darwen Corporation Transport.

In 1974 Darwen Borough merged with Blackburn Borough to create the rattily named Blackburn with Darwen Council.

Neat, eh?

So Darwen's shiny red buses were to be merged with Blackburn's shiny green buses ...

... which seemed to change to a lighter green.

Later, the livery had lost its distinguished but expensively complex black and cream lining ...

... and even later had become a plainer green and cream.

Thus it was that, as a sop to the swallowed (absorbed?) Darwen fleet ...

... "Blackburn" buses gained a less than appealing red roof.

From cream and green ...

... Blackburn buses became white (off white?) and green ...

... then with a dash of yellow and the fashionable curved bit!

Apologies if fbb has misunderstood the calendar order of these9 liveries. Blackburn post deregulatoon will be covered in tomorrow's blog.

But what originally provoked today's posting was a Darwen bus to Pothouse!

But, at first, fbb wasn't sure whence it came as no fleet name was visible.

Tomorrow's blog will reveal all!

 Next Pot hole house blog : thu 29 Oct