Tinkering Via Tinkers Bridge (4) ... Or

Unstable Stability Out East

Stony Stratford to CMK

Cross city service 5 and 6 (ORANGE), which end up at Lakes Estate in Bletchley are unaltered at the Stony Stratford end of things but, whilst recognising this, our readers may be interested in a bit of Milton Keynes nostalgia. Service 6 leaves Stony Stratford via the old A5 (V4 Watling Street) the turns left to serve Fullers Slade. It turns left onto H1 Ridgeway, the first of the H roads that run roughly from West to East. But H1 Ridgeway  doesn't.

It intersects with V4 at a roundabout (map lower left) but south-west bound just fizzles out.

In the other direction it is blocked by the rerouted A5 super road then gets going again the other side.

At the next roundabout (map, upper right) it stops again; only a local road continues. Indeed for H1 to continue you would have to demolish Wolverton! fbb has never seen a map with H1 going anywhere, but who knows what was in the minds of the Development Corporation when they dreamed all this up?

But one bit of Ridgeway hides a fascinating secret. (?)

We are now looking southwards (ish) and just before H1 fizzles out, obstructed by the A5 (upper left) what do you see?

Yes, avid infrastructure detectives, it is none other than a bus turning circle whereat no buses turn. Indeed they haven't turned since the early 1970s.

One of the first MK numbered routes was our old friend that ran from Stony Stratford via Wolverton to Bradwell. It was jiggled a bit and numbered MK4 and MK5. These routes were extended from Stony Straford bus station (now gone) ...

... along the old A5, left into H1 Ridgeway to serve the very first bit of new-city stuff to be glued onto the venerable market town of Stony Straford. The little estate was called Galley Hill ...

... and it is all still there but, alas, unnamed on the maps.

Service 6 still stops nearby before turning right into Slade Lane ...

... eschewing the turning circle, which must be one of the most short-lived bits of bus facility in Milton Keynes, soon to be reaching its half century of disuse!

Stantonbury

Service 7, formerly electrified, is also unchanged but, as readers will remember, now only runs to CMK, the whole "bottom half" having been withdrawn without replacement.

Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell is not in the "city" of Milton Keynes, but it is in the "Borough" of Milton Keynes (confused.com!) but its two services at not changing significantly on the eastern side of CMK.

This is getting rather boring - but continue we must.

Platinum 300

The 300 was another "good idea at the time" project. It eventually linked Milton Keynes Coachway and Park & Ride ...

... Kingston District Centre ...,

... and Magna Park, a nice place to take the kiddies on a sunny afternoon.

Alas no, all the fun of a field full of "Distribution Centres", next to the M1, of course.

The 300 is renumbered 3 and, joy of all joys, ALL journeys now start from Amazon.

Of course, if you are a keen "DDS" (Distribution Depot Spotter - there will be some around, surety?) you could also go by train to Amazon, alighting at the delightful Ridgmont Station.

Present day traffic does not have to use the level crossing, there is a shiny new bridge just along the line!

Ridgmont is a stop on the Bletchley to Bedford line, currently served by buses ...

... with trains promised in a week's time.

Walnut Tree

Here the timetable and terminal loop, full of glorious wiggles, remain unchanged.  But, in passing, note that three semi-rural services shown on the above extract, 9, 17 and 18 (GREY) are all withdrawn WITHOUT REPLACEMENT.

Kents Hill & Caldecotte

What was a fairly unfathomable and complex mini network of 11, 11A, 12 and 12A is simplified - or so we are told. It is not run by Arriva but Vale Travel of Aylesbury.

There is a web site ...

... which links to a timetable site (one of the regional Travelines) that is ...

... closed; and the only map (shown against service 11) is for ...

... circular services 24 and 25.

Good, innit? 

Sadly these go-everywhere circulars ceased yesterday. What a wonderful way of copping the whole of Milton Keynes in one magnificent ride!

The Milton Keynes Council site does have a new 11 timetable (11A, 12 and 12A are gone) but no up-to-date map.

Timetables are not normally available on the MK site, so once these changes have happened, your only source may well be one of the Travelines still available nationally. Under the governments "open data" plans, there could well be no reliable national source of bus information in a year or so.

But, back to the here and now ...

What about this "replacement" Demand Responsive service which, according to the Council will cover those areas where service has been withdrawn? The phrase used ("where there is no alternative bus service") is ominous. The so-called "alternative" may not go where the customer wants to go even if it does run along some of the roads served by withdrawn routes!

More tomorrow.

 Next Tinkering blog : Friday 2nd April 

3,200 Year Old Memory

Approx 1200 years before Jesus died, the Israelites had a miraculous escape from horrendously painful slavery in Egypt. Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed the historic truth of the events that we now call "The Passover".

After nine disasters brought by God on their enslavers, the tenth would be the clincher. The oldest child and animal in Egypt would die and a distraught King (Pharaoh) would allow the Israelites to leave; although it didn't go quite as smoothly as they would have liked.

The potential escapees were told to eat what might be their last square meal (roast lamb) and bake break without yeast which would last longer as they journeyed. Common sense all round.

But they were to paint the blood of the slain lamb on the doorway so the "Angel of Death" would pass over (there's a clue in the name) their homes. 

It was a green dust in the film "The Ten Commanments".

When you enter the land that the Lord has promised to give you, you must perform this ritual. When your children ask you, "What does this ritual mean?’ you will answer, ‘It is the sacrifice of Passover to honour the Lord, because he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. He killed the Egyptians, but spared us."

So, on the night before he died, Jesus sat down to "perform this ritual", to eat the Passover meal with his disciples.

And you can forget almost all the pictures you may find of The Last Supper. It was just the gang slouching round a low table (The Bible says "reclined"!) to remember how God had saved the people.

While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, my blood which seals God's covenant."

But Jesus made it VERY different.

HE, himself, would be the broken bread; he, himself, would shed the blood painted on the wood of the cross of crucifixion; he, himself, would be the new Lamb of the sacrifice.

Coincidence or what?

That's Easter.

The bible quotes are from Exodus Chapter 12

and Mark's Gospel Chapter 12

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Wot? No April 1st gag? Sorry, didn't feel it was appropriate on Maunday Thursday!