Strange Business (2) ...

... Of The Bus Business

Trent Barton Joins The Club!

fbb has followed with interest and some wide-eyed wonder as the big groups appear to be buying up any small bus or coach company that wants to sell itself. Stagecoach and GoAhead are leaders, but First has trumped the lot by grabbing RATP in London, hardly a small operation!

Now it is Trent's turn. The summary below allocated the purchase to th parent company, Wellglade Ltd.

As the note says, Little only operates one route on tender to Derbyshire. Although the above article refers to to service 14, Derbyshire shows a service 14A in one direction ...

... and a 14B the other way round.

The service runs Monday to Saturday. Here is a map:

Presumably the A and B are to avoid confusion where buses in both directions follow the same route in Sandiacre. An area map shows a bit more ...

... but doen't mention A and B! Try not to confuse Trent's i4 with Little's 14!

Littles also has a private hire business and holds a number of school contracts, hence the line up of single decker buses ...

... and the occasional picture of a coach.

Initially fbb was impressed with Little's livery, smart for dual purpose vehicles ...

... and posh for front line coaches.

Unfortunately for fbb's enthusiasm, it turns out that this particular Little's operates in Ballarat, Australia.

Once there was a Little's in Annan, Scotland ...

... but, from the age of the motors pictured on-line, fbb doubts whether that business still exists.

The New Bus Bill

... which might refer to some very large and expensive vehicles.

In fact it is a Bill that has just begun its passage through the UK Parliament.

fbb has downloaded a summary of the Bill produced by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT).

It was not particularly exciting to read.

After reading the CPT summary and nearly losing the will to live, fbb did consider taking up macrame ...

... i.e. making pretty things with knotted string!

But he decided that (a) the bus industry was less challenging than macrame and (b) he would wait until the festivities were over (sometime in August?) before exploring the bill's excitements.

Essentially it gives ALL local authorities the right to franchise their buses AND, should they so choose, to run an arms length bus company of their own.

For this, of course, they will need £££££MONEY££££. Hands up all the County Councils and Borough Councils that have spare funds to start up a bus company!

As many as that?

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PLEASE NOTE

At this time of year the packed social round enjoyed by the fbbs can be (a) unpredictable and (b) quite intense. Blogs may be curtailed, changed at the last minute or even delayed. 

Something of interest (?) will appear each day.

Normal service will be resumed on Wednesday 7th January.

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"NOT the Advent Calendar", but ...

     The      

  CHRIST -mas 

  Criss-muss  

   Confusion  

 Critique  24 

Ready For Midnight ...

Although the worldly Criss-muss starts sometime in September and usually ends with a sigh of relief on 26th December, the real CHRISTmas doesn't start until midnight on CHRISTmas eve. Celebrations may then continue to twelfth night (midnight on 5th Jan) when the season is officially over.

But scary things were happening on the first ever CHRISTmas eve.

Poet Laureate Nahum Tate  (1652 to 1725) ...

... wrote a poem that was so good it was later set to music and was, for a while, the only hymn allowed in the Church of England; where the Psalms from the Bible were the only songs permitted.

You will surely know Nahum's song. But, whilst tradition is important, certain details can be lost in Tate's ancient language.

While late-shift workers watched the sheep

One dark and chilly night

An angel came from heav'n to earth

And filled the sky with light!

"Fear not", he said, for mighty dread

Had seized their troubled mind

"Great messages of joy I bring

To you and all mankind"

"For you, in David's town today

Is born of David's line

The Saviour who is Christ the Lord

And this shall be your sign"

"The heavenly child you there shall see

To human view displayed

All tightly wrapped in borrowed cloth

And in a manger laid"

Thus spoke the angel, and forthwith

Appeared a shining crowd

Of angels praising God, who then

Sang out with voices loud

"All glory be, and God adored

And on the earth be peace

Goodwill for all who love The Lord

Begin and never cease".

late-shift workers

They were far from "pretty". Shepherds were about the bottom of the pile, the equivalent of today's zero hours contract workers - and often disreputable with it

wrapped in borrowed cloth

It was far from "pretty". On a long 80 mile walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem, it is unlikely that Mary would be carrying "swaddling cloths", strips of linen to bind the baby tightly as was the understanding when the Bible was translated into English.

Goodwill for all who love The Lord

It was certainly not "pretty". The Bible never offers "Peace on earth and goodwill to all men" as part of the angelic message. These positives were only on offer to those who were "serving God"- in today's language, "committed Christians".

It certainly wasn't "pretty". It was just a few blokes going to visit a baby.

It was either too weird to be real OR so weird it had to be real.

Wonder which is more likely?

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  Next Christmas Journey blog : Wednesday 25th Dec