St Ives : Parking Perplexity (mini blog)

 A Cornwall Excursion 1

On the Monday of their stay in Penzance, the fbbs decided to take a couple of bus trips. The first was a favourite of fbb, having performed the ritual once before. It was a St Ives circular on which the elderly travellers had the anguish of the change from route 17 to route 16A in St Ives.

But many years ago, the family c/w with three sprogs, had visited St Ives by motor car using the excellent facilities of Lelant Saltings Park and Ride as signposted from the main road leading to the seaside resort.

fbb's memory of the trip is very hazy, so he took to the internet to remind himself. Google has delivered the sign above and a road replete with newish properties.

Eventually civilisation ran out and a car park hoved into view ...

Then he espied a sign ...

... and another car park with "pay" machines - well one pay machine. And there in the corner was the lavish entrance to the station.

All obs are on line, remember.

Way back when, fbb remembers nothing of a car parking charge - it was a field - and some steps up to a wooden platform with either no shelter or very little. Ticket machines were unknown.

And there were trains to match!

It is much the same today.

But we do now have a smoother surface and a yellow line but fbb would not fancy your chances of protection from a good Cornish westerly gale and rain in that shelter!

But was the station open? It looked closed off when StreetView viewed.

Parkopedia suggested that the first two hours of parking was free ...

Then it wasn't!

Nor was it clear whether these rates applied to BOTH car parks at Lelant Saltings station.

But having parked, what service was available to ride?

That is, surely, what a Park and Ride is for?

Great Western Railway (First Rail for a short while, yet) produces a standard leaflet for the branch.

This revealed that, in answer to the question about the hours of the park and ride service ...

... was, fat chance unless you are going to St Ives at 0752 or - prepare for excitement -

... you were going to St Erth at 0912.

This was the service from 1st October, so maybe it was much better in the summer?

No it wasn't!

Clearly the service has been reduced to useless to avoid the legal complexities of actually closing the station!

Anyway, you could go to Lelant station where parking is FREE!! Hooray!

Hmmm? Maybe not!

Tomorrow we look at the current "go to" if you want to park and ride to St Ives.

A Wagon Of Hope

When a baby, No 3 son died! 

Fortunately it was only briefly, but an observant nurse spotted that he had stopped breathing. She rushed him off and resuscitated him.

He had been taken by mum and dad to the Children's Hospital Sheffield as arranged by a very observant GP.

Without going into detail, the lad's life was saved by the amazing doctors, surgeons and nurses at the hospital.

He is now 45!

So Rails of Sheffield's latest promotional model tugs very much at the fbb heart strings.

Rails explains thus:-

A Collection of branded "vent" vans? Maybe not!

 Next Parking and Simplicity blog : Sat 4th Oct