It's The End Of The World! (part 1)

 Getting There By Bus?

It was this picture from Marc Morgan Huws of First Kernow that set fbb's agile and active brain chuntering away on Easter Bank Holiday Monday. Slightly provocatively, Marc reported that there was a shiny new Transport for Cornwall "flag" which had recently been installed. The twitter implied that Marc (or on of his minions) would soon be out to replace it with a First Kernow "flag" promoting the company's swish new summer timetable.

Whilst putting aside the image of the two opposing forces in pitched battle over stop, flag, frame and bench ...

... fbb downloaded the picture for future blogging purposes. But the problem with an agile and active brain is that often it is neither! fbb cannot remember where the stop in question is located but has a faint glimmer of recollection that Marc said "most southerly stop served by First".

The most northerly point on the UK mainland is not John o' Groats as some suppose but Dunnet Head. It is a wild and windswept place ...

... but catch the Stagecoach route 80 from Thurso to, erm, where ...

... then alight at the village of Brough and enjoy a brisk walk!

The "A99 at Car Park" is Traveline's usual attempt  to confuse users and put them off travelling ...

... because it is actually the terminus at John o' Groats. Here you might be impressed with the bus turning circle at the "End of the World", i.e. the end of the A99 ...

... but, as the sign tells you, you must nip over to the car park nearby for the lavishly equipped terminus.

As usual, please note the luxurious appurtenances and well maintained panels of travel information, all designed to encourage (NOT) bus travel to and from this major tourist attraction a k a wild and wind-swept grockle hole. But, despite the exciting signpost ...

... you are about 3km south of the most northerly latitude. Here is Rapsons service 80, later absorbed by Stagecoach.

The most westerly point is also in Scotland, not Wales or even Cornwall. It is Ardnamurchan Point ...

... a wild and wind-sept place on the west coast ...

The nearest public transport is at Kilchoan ...

... a long walk away! And not much of a bus service either ...

... just a round trip (Monday to Saturday) to Fort William and back. There is also a link from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull; but then you have to get to the Isle of Mull by ferry from Oban and bus it to Tobermory. Needless to say, the ferry at Kilchoan does not dock at the obvious slipway ...

... opposite the eponymous stores.

You will find the terminal a little further east ...

... and, if you time it right, you may even see the ferry.

Ardnamurchan Point may not be the end of the world, but its is very much the back of beyond. 

Most articles do cite Ardnamurchan Point as the most westerly, but it actually it isn't because Corrachadh Mor ...

... a tad further south and sticking out by just a few yards is thus further west!

And so to the most easterly point of the UK mainland. Any guesses?

There it is. on an industrial estate, on Gas Works Road, no less. It has got both of these ...

... and a view over the wide and windswept expanse of the North Sea. Ness Point is in Lowestoft and there are plenty of buses nearby ...

... including the recently re-branded Coastal Clipper.

By far the easiest "end of the world" a k a "end of the UK" to get to is Ness point!

Tomorrow we go south but with an askance glance at another "end of the world" over the seas.

Will fbb find Mark Morgan Huws' twittered bus stop?

And The Puzzle Picture

Farringdon Crossrail station.

Opening soon. Later. Sometime.

 Next "End of The World" blog : Wednesday 7th April 

Fed Up And Going Home

It is the sheer normality of many of the Resurrection appearances which makes them hard to ignore. It seems like NOBODY expected the tomb to be empty and EVEYBODY was distraught with the apparent disrespect by whoever moved the body. Just like an episode of a certain radio "soap"!

"Mrs Cleaopas" was one of the four women who went to the tomb to complete the ritual spicing of the body of Jesus - but all she found was an empty tomb. Mr Cleopas is on his was home to Emmaus.

As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”

They stood still, with sad faces. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”

“What things?” he asked.

"Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, but could not find his body. Some of Jesus disciples went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.

They invited the unrecognised Jesus in for refreshment and it was when he broke and distributed the bread (a customary privilege for an honoured guest) that they twigged!

He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to each other, “Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

No euphoria - no super-spiritual hallelujahs - just a simple progression from dejection via confusion to realisation. Perhaps not "everyday" but very much a simple story of coutryfolk!

Quotes from Luke's Gospel chapter 24

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P.S. Emmaus. The village did not survive the various wars fought over Jerusalem, particularly the seriously misguided Crusades. But a church was built (and rebuilt many times) on the supposed site of the Cleopas family home. Only a guess, but a reasonable one which fits the narrative.