CHURCH LINK
SUNDAY SERVICE STARTS AT 1030
Today's service is live and ON-LINE
back in the Church.
back in the Church.
Click on this link (here),
which will take you to the YouTube page.
Then click on the icon for today's date.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
One Of The Knowledgeable Chaps ...
... is Minster Grant Shapps!
A couple of questions for the minister.
Have you tried to travel across London by bus WITHOUT a timetable? Millions have to do it every day and those that travel only occasionally simply do not know how long their journey might take.
When will the bus between Seaton and Axminster be upgraded to, say, a ten minute frequency?
And who is going to pay for these vastly improved services?
The mind boggles.
Fine Dining With Liquor?
Illustrated above is a plate of "liquor", a delectation popular with Londoners and served with pie and mash. It surprised fbb to see that "liquor" was on the menu of a recently launched charter train.
On 29th May (yesterday, no less), the HST, thinly disguised as The Midland Pullman ran a tour from Eastleigh to Cornwall.
At first glance the train didn't ever reach Cornwall and fbb doubted that they would sell many tickets for about 12 hours in Westbury ...
... delightful though it be!
But read further ...
... and we find that the train does go all the way to Penzance. Indeed it is pictured above at Dawlish!
Once upon a time excursions by train were a cheap outing - but, alas, no longer!
Although fbb would love to go Pullman Dining, the price is a bit steep for a day out on a 50 year old diesel train - and anyway fbb is too far from Eastleigh to enjoy the whole ride. But the on-line sample menus (on a web site unsuited to mobile phone) are impressive.
THE GREAT BRITISH BREAKFAST
–
Tricolour Melon Salad
Fresh Blueberries, Minted Syrup
Served with Tiresford Farm Natural Yoghurt,
Honey and Seeded Granola
–
Grilled Back Bacon, Cumberland Sausage,
Stornoway Black Pudding
Griddled Flat Mushroom,
Roasted Tomato and Baked Beans
Freshfield Farm Scrambled Eggs
or
Kiln Smoked Haddock ‘Colbert’
Steamed Spinach,
Freshfield Farm Poached Egg,
Chive Hollandaise, Caviar
–
Morning Bakery Basket
Netherend Farm Salted Butter,
Selection of Preserves and Honey
Dinner was equally superb ...
... BUT!
Liquor really doesn't match the proffered quality!
fbb thinks they might mean Liqueurs!
It would be nice, wouldn't it?
Publicity Matters - Especially With New Services
First's Exeter Tour, right in the heart of Stagecoach territory, is being heavily trailed on Twitter where, as we know, all Exeter visitors have their eyes glued every day to find the best things to do!
The bus is smart, so much so that fbb is considering a nip to the County Town to have a trundle.
The Twitter teases tell him nothing - but thanks to an innate perspicacity and understanding of the foibles of the UK's public transport, fbb knows that it will all be on-line (of course) and the requisite web site is "Adventures by Bus".
And what do we find as of 1900 yesterday.?
What does "Coming Soon" mean? fbb thought the tours were starting this very weekend, today no less, but are they? Clicking on the above panel produces a sparse list of stops ...
... and lots of pretty pictures of Exeter places you might like to hop on and hop off at!
But no times!
You can book on line but only if ...
To use mTickets you will need to have the First Bus App installed on your mobile and have a registered mTickets account. The First Bus App is available on iOS and Android. Buy online and send the tickets to your First Bus App or to someone else's. To send to someone else, the other person must have the First Bus App and an existing mTickets account on their mobile phone at the time of purchase — simply enter the account email address of the person travelling when prompted during checkout.
Can you pay the driver? Dunno.
To use mTickets you will need to have the First Bus App installed on your mobile and have a registered mTickets account. The First Bus App is available on iOS and Android. Buy online and send the tickets to your First Bus App or to someone else's. To send to someone else, the other person must have the First Bus App and an existing mTickets account on their mobile phone at the time of purchase — simply enter the account email address of the person travelling when prompted during checkout.
Can you pay the driver? Dunno.
What is the fare?
One piece of information advises £10 per adventurer then £5 for any accompanying adventurer.
Elsewhere it lists fares at £10 Adult, £5 Child - not the same thing at all.
So:-
NO start date
NO timetable
NO route map
POOR fares information
NO dates or days of operation
NO printed leaflets?
Publicity Matters - Also With Existing ServicesThis is NOT (very very NOT) the way to launch a new bus service.
All we have got is some pictures!
A smart, distinguished bus whose operation is a closely guarded state secret.
A few days back, fbb was bemoaning the stupidity of Stagecoach's one-colour-fits-all livery policy, especially that one of those colours is motorway maintenance yellow.
Service 700 no longer runs all the way between Portsmouth and Brighton in one bum-aching go, but connections are available and all bits of the journey are still possible although taking a little longer if a change of bus is required.
The buses are smart and distinctive ...
... creating desire, you could say. But the new paint job is neither of these.
And look closely at that weak white lettering.
Portsmouth, Chichester, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. WOT no Brighton?
Pathetic!
This One IS Running!
But it takes resilience to find it!
Again we have Twittered Tease ...
... of a bus that has NOT travelled far. It was previously at Bristol and ran topless from Weston super Mud.
And before that it was a real bus!
Publicity? fbb does not know about printed material but on-line, c/o First Cymru, we have ...
... oh dear?
Nothing obvious - but if we persevere, we go to ...
...which leads to ...
... and, at the bottom of the page we find this bright, breezy and attractive note.
A click on the arrow get us to this ...
... and, at last, some timetables.
The Swansea trip to Bracelet Bay ...
And that is all there is. Pathetic.
... much of it along the route of the former Mumbles Railway, is very pleasant.
The Porthcawl route, however, seems rather weedy ...
... with a poor service, obviously tied in with some school work to save operating costs. Trecco Bay is a huge, huge caravan an chalet park ...
... with an activity centre where, we are told ...
... the fun never ends.
Maybe not the most scenic of open top bus tours. fbb will not be rushing!
But even the on-line publicity is appalling.
Generally speaking, do First Bus actually WANT passengers on their tourist routes?
More stuff tomorrow - including
More stuff tomorrow - including
Hornby and The Beatles
Hulleys and Thomas Cook
Coastliner and Skipton
and even more!
Next Variety blog : Monday 31st May
First's paper publicity in Cornwall last week seemed to be non-existent too, though a helpful tourist information centre was willing to print off individual timetables. I didn't recognise the format, but they are First's own PDFs, complete with registration number (PH0004983/170) on the Land's End Coaster issue!
ReplyDeleteOh my, how on earth has an experienced, image-conscious, quality operator managed to turn a premium, high-profile route into something worked by what looks like elderly school buses with half-hearted branding so weak it may as well be non-existant? Totally and utterly gobsmacked.
ReplyDeleteEveryone who sees falcon now asks if its a school coach. One of the best brands ruined along with Coastliner
ReplyDeleteAnd the First Discover Exeter Tour was a closed-top on Saturday morning!
ReplyDelete