hospitalised Blog No 2

 Cross Channel Competition

The above headline popped into fbb's 'device' yesterday. It heralded a lengthy article about forthcoming competition for Eurostar.

Now Eurostar is part of the Thalys group and the UK has sold it's share out to Europe. And, of course we are all truly thrilled to be part of Europe but not part of Europe. Or we might become more part of Europe but not really part of Europe.

Anyway it is all very clear and straightforward!!!

Then, do we remember when a Deutsch Bahn ICE train arrived majestically at St Pancras ...

... as a harbinger of a new competitive service. The  had been hauled through the Channel by a freight loco and pushed ignominiously into Barlow's train shed by a shunter!

But the promised service did not H

harbinge?

Although the service would remain an 'aspirations', the time was not yet right.

In fact DB decided that the cost of the multi voltage, multi control systems trains was too great.

Next Dickie was pictured in positive pose on the steps leading up to the Eurostar platforms at St P.

But, wisely. Branson the Bearded dis not waste his money propelling a train for a photo shoot.

it was a fake!

It would probAbly take fbb five years to set up his competitive service from London to Paris, assuming he could find idiots investors with astronomically deep pockets to pay the astronomical bills.

So the idea of competition becoming "heated" is mayhap still in la la land!

But, hold fast brave Brits bursting to cross La Manche at cheapo fares in a highly competitive market!

Tricky Dickie has ordered his trains.

Well, perhaps not "ordered" but might be going to order!

Then Italian State railways stands in eager anticipation. The company has aspirations to compete with SNCF and is planning a mega new depot in Paris.

If it happens the Italians would beat blue blood (? perhaps not blue!) Brit Branon to to potentially crowded platforms at St P.

But hasn't Sir Richard said he will be running from Old Oak Common or Stratford or Ealing Broadway? Wherever he terminates he will need to get the Customs people to set up massive security.

Because we are not part of Europe and probably never will be event if we claim we are.

And, anyway. the Italians have already been turned down once by the Office if Rail Regulation!

Quite what the UK ORR's part in this fun and games is unclear as very little of it, if any, will soil the UK's tracks!

But never mind, eh, because ...

... French/Belgian Eurostar is ready to defend this Sceptred Isle against Johnny foreigner; and while they are at it. poke the bearded wonder in the eye at the same time.

"We will fight them on the beaches!" as some grumpy bloke with a big cigar once said!

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

Medical Report

Nothing much happened on Sunday or yesterday. IF the blood dribble has stopped or does stop naturally, there will be no need for further "intervention"; from either end!

GROSS!

Much routine "obs" revealing "stable numbers". Numbers of what is not entirely clear!

But a few more days "inside" seem likely.

Tomorrow a full and frank expose of hospital food in addition to a Public Transport snippet. You may be surprised!! 

Hospitalised Blog No 1

Please Note

Still here at Wonford Hospital receiving the mis byt surrounding care fro  utterly (ludicrously!) dedicated staff.

Progress is slow but progressing.

Until things are fully resolved, medically, fbb will attempt snippet blogs, hopefully daily.

No 1 Son visited oday and pronounced that the NHS internet was 7 up and 5 down. So that's all right then. As he left the ward the internet died yet again!

Aaaaargh!

fbb is not sure which is worse; the anguish of dodgy internet or unresolved internal bleeding in yer gastrics.

But, although they haven't found the bleeding problem (Mind you language, fbb), the numbers have gone up from a low of 90 on Friday to 98 today. So that's good news, innit?

And so to today's blog ...

... which was compiled under difficult circumstances

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

To Hell And Back!

No aspersions are directed at the NHS. Matron would be furious!

So here is the headline.

And a health warning! One of the really weird visions in the Bible book of Bevelation is if the Devil appears as a Beast which is given a Number.

Except that in 2000 years of Christianity nobody has ever worked out "the meaning"! Whatever your personal faith, it always seems crackpot to treat t.he idea of a spiritual force of evil in a jocular manner.

Midland Red had  a route 666 in the Leicester area which seemed to survive!

But the bus runs to a community that has nothing to do with the realm of all evil.

Called "Hel"!

To find out where, you need a map.of Poland.

If we zoom in to Gdansk (once called Danzig in the old money) ...

... there is a strange archipelago or peninsula, at the end of which is Hel.

Lovers of 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy will doubtless recognise this as the work of Slatibartfast, whose specialism was the Fijords.

Being Flixbus, three is no timetable to be found. Using the Flixbus web site is unhelpful as "no journeys are currently operating".

One thing is certain, Hel is a far nicer place than Hell -- which really should be avoided.

Here are some pictures of this unusual land form.

And the lumpy end.

And Hel itself.

And a question...

.,.. how easy would it be to get from Seaton to Hel and back?

 TEMPORARY WITHDRAWAL OF SERVICE

AGAIN!

fbb has enjoyed a further stay in the NHS's finest hotel at Wonford, Exeter.

Endoscope - the pointed end
goes down your throat -
Painlessly!

This was for a second Endoscopy which again appear to show no internal bleeding.

A typical view of your internals.

The prognosis is currently unclear.

wife and No 1 son visited, so a busy busy day. 

Also "obs" every hour overnight Friday to Saturday induced weariness. 

Hopefully a  Monday blog will appear!

Trains, Trams and Buses ....

 .... At Norfolk Bridge

... and on Leaves in Street, the observant pigeon may spot this "stuff" on both sides of the tracks

This is the remnants of Attercliffe Road railway station. It opened in 1870 and hung on with a minimalist peak hour service in 1995.

Facilities were always 'limited' ...

... as above in the 1960s. It was hardly lavish in steam days.

Norfolk Bridge would have been a great place for tram spotters.

FOUR frequent Tram services passed by. Until 1954 (?), when the new road bridge over the River Don opened ...

... through trams ran between Sheffield and Rotherham, jointly operated by the two corporations.

Rotherham trams were notable as being one ended, so the route used a loop of town centre roads at rach end.

After the bridge break in service. trams ran from Sheffield to Tinsley ...

... and from Rotherham to Templeborough.

See. It is a bus on to Sheffield!

Unfortunately the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital does not provide access to a Sheffield and Rotherham tram and bus archive, but fbb's slightly unreliable memory is that trams would have run about every 4 minutes plus huge numbers of works extras.

There were also trams via Norfolk Bridge that veered off the main drag and ran to Sheffield Lane toop, further adding to the frequency.

Replacement buses were

17 to Sheffield Lane Top

24 to Tinsley

69 to Rotherham

In the 1960s the 69 bus ran every FOUR minutes Saturday daytime's, somewhat more frequent than Monday to Friday off peak.

In 2026 there are approx 8 buses an hour all the way from Sheffield to Rotherham but not all via the traditional main road.

Confused.com? Here's the tram map again.

 

 Next come the Trams to Handsworth. 

Again they would have run about every 4 mins during the day.

Replacement buses were

52 Handsworth, Ballfield & Woodhoouse

At its peak the core service ran every 6 minutes.

Running alongside the 52 as fast as Darnall were trams to Prince of Wales Road.

Again these ran at least every 4 minutes with extra works services at shift times.

Replacement buses were

71 Prince of Wales Road

At its peak, buses ran approx every 6 minutes. but there is no direct equivalent. Only service 6 runs almost the length of Prince of Wales Road.

in 2026 route 6 serves just a short part of this once busy tram and bus road with a few evening and Sunday 6a buses all the way.

The 18 is a sort of replacement for Sheffield's much loved and much lamented Outer Circle route. It does get into the city centre but a very long way round.

It is not quite the same as a tram ever 4 or a bus every 6 minutes!

How the mighty are fallen!

But overall with three tram routes at every 4 minutes plus extras you could spot approx 25 trams and hour in each direction!

WOW!

Of course, the whole area has changed out of all recognition; there a few house, fewer employment opportunities and fewer ships.

Here is a 1979s bus map of Norfolk Bridge.

Medical Report 

A bit of a setback yesterday. A repeat of last Wednesday's explosion in the waste disposal department caused by internal bleeding. The endoscopy on Thurs showed the bleeding had stopped! More tests!

Matron (NOT played by the late Hattie Jacques) defined the "event" as a "blip"

Some blip?

Ooooh Matron!

Three Bridges : An Attempt

This blog was 'imagined' whilst sitting, lying, dozing and screaming (silently!) for the rest of the tests. Mrs fbb visited at 1130 so just  few minutes of on screen action.

Then fbb was trundled off for an Endoscopy. He returned later and continued the blog.

The above picture (Google Earth) is looking towards Rotherham along the traditional main road via Attercliffe and Tinsley.

The former Midland Railway main line crosses the road on a bridge which fbb has always called "Norfolk Bridge" It then crosses the River Don on multiple arches which is also called Norfolk Bridge in many articles.

Running parallel to the railway is a road called Leveson Street.

fbb believes that Leveson Street traverses the River Don on the real and genuine Norfolk Bridge. Here are the three bridges plus the main road in geographical context.

And here are the three viewed from the east across Burton Weir.

To be pedantic, the road bridge is off shot to the right but fbb liked the preserved train! Burton Weir did not always look so pretty.

Here we have today's view!

Pity about the graffiti! Broadly the buildings remain much the same. But the pollution has gone.

But here is a teaser. 

What has this former industrial corner of Sheffield got to do with a rather flat county way out east? The answer is him ...

... the 18th (and current) Duke of Norfolk, or even him ...

... the 3rd Duke of Norfolk. 

Duking is a historic, ancestral and mysterious game somewhat lost to the puny minds of snivelling forelock tuggers like us.

Suffice it to say, the Dukehood of Norfolk is very noble, just below the monarchy in status, and hugely rich.

And his dukemess has his ancestral seat, not in Norfolk, but in Sussex at Arundel Castle.

The Duke of Norfolk owns vast chunks of  Sheffield, estates that were managed from a very posh office block in the poshes part of the city centre.

The the hospital internet evaporated.

Then fbb's tabled decided to lock up and become useless.

Then dinner arrived.

Then fbb's phone found the internet but not fbb's stock of pictures, carefully curated and downloaded for these blog posts.

 

FBB FAILED UTTERLY!!

Procedure expected yesterday morning did not

happen until 1500, so a second night stay!

Boy it was HOT!

Back home later today?

fbb

WOT NO BLOG?

 TEMPORARY WITHDRAWAL OF SERVICE

fbb has enjoyed a one night stay in the NHS's finest hotel at Wonford, Exeter.

Mainly for tests and general check.

This is fbb's first overnight hospitalisation since tonsils removed age 8 (?).

Further info in tomorrow's blog.

A Tale Of Three Bridges (2)

 Blame The Midland Railway!

In 1838, the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway opened the first train line into Sheffield from the north east. The terminus was on the fringes of the city just north of the road called Wicker.

A link was engineered with the North Midland Railway at Masborough some distance from Rotherham town centre. The Sheffield line continued to  more central terminus at Rotherham Westgate.

Clearly such a weedy link to what was becoming a major industrial city was soon wholly inadequate. So the Midland Railway built a brand new line north from Chesterfield and through the hugely challenging Bradway tunnel ...

... to serve a brand new Midland Station. The route was challenging but simple in one sense. Just dig a gurt big tube through solid rock then run the tracks alongside a minimalist river.

OK, it got a bit more tricky as the rails approached the city centre and that river had to be buried to make way for the station - but the approach from the north was tricky as well.

The new main line opened in 1870 when Wicker was demoted to being a goods depot. 

We will get to our Three Bridges soon, honest.

So let's let the train take the strain as we chunter cheerfully southbound to Sheffield Midland. In this Google Earth view ...

... we see the main line entering top right and making its exit bottom right. Bottom left is the square block that is Tesco on the site of Wicker station, passenger then goods.

It is just about possible to draw a theoretical straight line frim top right to bottom left, the route taken by goods trains to Wicker until closure in 1965.

Moreover, we can explore the 1870 new line c/o Google Earth as it approaches Midland Station..

So here goes! Here we may spot our three bridges ...

... two rail and one road as the River Don is crossed. Next we cross the Sheffield and Rotherham canal ....

... as seen from the canal towpath.

 Keep an eye on the chimney, far right. 

We burrow under the Sheffield Victoria line.

 Next we are below the Sheffield Parkway A57 ...

... noting one of many disused roads that once crossed the line. There will be many more! Our next bridge is Sheffield's Supertram, namely the route to Meadowhell and Rotherham.

Then cast a bewildered eye on even more bridges and arches where trains from the east join in ...

... and even more ...

... as the tram tracks to Halfway filter in.

The tram then crosses over to the east side of the big train tracks ...

... and we are at the throat of Midland Station.

And we are told that HS2 is "challenging"!

It should be a doddle compared with getting the Midland Main Line through Sheffield! And the railway companies were doing it all over the UK!

Tomorrow, at last, we get to explore the Three Bridges..

  Next Three Bridges blog : Thurs 28 May