Public Transport Christmas (1)

 We're Sending You To Coventry ...

... where we shall make partial acquaintance with this man. We shall also explore this bus route ...

... National Express West Midlands route 8. It is operated by very smart and very expensive electric buses which you and fbb have partially p[aid for. Aren't we generous? 

Here is the route map.

It runs cross city but only a chunk of the northern half concerns us this time.

It starts from the mega Tesco ...

... on Cross Point Business Park but there is no stop where the terminus star appears on the route map. fbb thinks it terminates here ...

... where the usual walk route via the huge car part provides an equally usual disadvantageous trek for the humble pedestrian customer plus hefty shopping bags. Other stops are available.

The traditional terminus pre retail expansion is at Potters Green ...

... where once a service 32 ran.

In inquisitive mode, fbb wondered how frequent this rather splendid looking bus service was in 2025. West Midlands PTE did not want to tell him!

There were lots of 8s. but none for Coventry. Maybe the Sky Blues have declared UDI and there is a secret PTE information casket known only to the residents of Coventry? fbb did not bother to look, but went instead to the National Travel bus site.

Here he found a timetable.

Looks like a twenty minute frequency. But fbb also found an 8B and an 8S. He was confused, until he read that the 8S has been renumbered 8B!

... Cardinal Wiseman's School! Mr Roman Catholic Red-hat is the rather scary bloke in the headline picture above. He was something very important in the Church.  He lived from 1802 to 1865 and one of his jobs was to be big cheese of the 'Central" region of The Church, which included the West Midlands.  

Other Cardinal Wiseman schools are available!

There is the main road stop for the school on route 8 ...

... but in a side road, served only by school buses, where be a diddy little turning circle for the 8B formerly 8S. (Thinks : isn't an 'S' suffix more sensible for Schools services?).

The 8B runs from school to City Centre only; whereas the 8 runs cross city to Allesley.

Here are some of the kiddies enjoying (?) a homily from a Church VIP!

 The Wise Men

We met the Magi with letter "N" for Nazarene Nonentity, a controversial title but one which recognised that Jesus ministry lasted for a paltry three years starting at age 30. The Wise Men did not visit the stable/cattle shed/cave but, as Matthew's Gospel explains ...

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.”

There is no mention of how many there were and no mention of camels. In the picture above we see the Magi on horses with a train of camels and their handlers (on foot) carrying their luggage.

And so they left King Herod, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. They went into the house ...

... and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.

There is no mention that the star or planet or comet or supernova was particularly outstanding; only that it was the light which guided the Magi to the toddler.  They were more like astrologers than astronomers and they would use the stars for all sorts of predictions. This astronomical happening fulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament, whatever it was and however it moved.

Remember that everything in the sky "moves" as the earth turns on its axis. 

We (that is carol writers, nativity play producers, illustrators of kiddies stories and proponents of Artificial Inaccuracy)) have made the whole thing so pretty that it becomes unreal.

Does anyone think that these NOT-three NOT-Kings travelled from Persia on NOT-camels to the NOT-stable with gold crowns on their heads?

But the journey was very real!

Poet T S Eliot seemed to understand the reality (extracts from "The Journey of the Magi") ...

 ... it's that Myrrh for a death again!

Tomorrow we go to Glasgow and London.

 Next Public Transport Christmas blog : Sat 20 Dec 

What's Not In Nottingham (5)

 Happy With Weekday Cross

Just south of the tunnel that led from Nottingham Victoria station is Weekday Cross Junction. Here the Great Northern Railway east to Grantham (etc) forked left via London Road High Level station whilst the Great Central main line ran straight on, across the top of Nottingham Midland station and on via Arkwright Street.

Weekday Cross marked the ancient centre of the town ...

... but it collapsed way back and has recently been replaced with a similar stone pillar, arguably less attractive than the original.

Maybe that is because it needs a few hundred tears of weathering? 

Just across the road from the cross was the brickwork that marked a tunnel portal, the exit from the south end of Victoria station.

But, like fbb, you will find it difficult to identify anything of junction and tunnel today. But it was there once, honest.

In passing, note the footpath on the left.

But, after closure, a lot happened.

The viaduct was demolished and land nearby was shored up with new retaining structures, leaving a gurt big hole. Then there was this tram!

From Midland Station, it began by continuing on the Great Central viaduct northbound.

But the tracks needed to climb up from rail height to make their way at street level into the city centre.  So the tram got a new viaduct initially on the site of its historic progenitor.

It then veers off left to join its street running route on Middle Hill. 

So what do you do with the hole?

You leave the tunnel mouth in place and fill the hole with a building, an Arts Centre to be precise ...

... better viewed from Weekday Cross, showing it supplanting the former brick parapet.

And down the left hand side of the building as pictured above ...

... is a set of steps (Garners Hill) ...

... which directly replaced those in the puzzle picture that provoked this series of blogs.

The actual junction was where the flat bit is in the "now" Picture ...

... from where more steps lead back up to the end of the tram viaduct at he start of its street running.

Down there, on the left, there used to be a railway junction.

You would never know today!

The window above the apex of the signal box roof is the window above the trees in the 'today' view from down below!

 PLEASE NOTE 

From tomorrow we take a break from "normal" blogging (if ever an fbb blog is normal!) and start a short series entitled "Pubic Transport Promotes Christmas". Our alphabetical seasonal series will be concluded from Boxing Day onwards with letters S to Z.

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 R ejection and  R esurrection

Quirky Answer : 36 hours or less! Surprised? Jesus body was parked temporarily in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb at sunset on Friday (1800 in the new money). The tomb was guarded throughout the Sabbath (Saturday). When the women went to the tomb very early on Sunday morning, the guards had fled and the tomb was empty. The Bible tells is that Jesus rose on the third day, not after three days in the tomb.

There was nothing pretty about a crucifixion! 

Most pictures show Jesus as far too healthy, far too clean. He would have been in huge pain, found it difficult to breathe and covered with "stripes" (a polite word to sanitise pictures of the wounds from repeated lashings) and a great deal of dried blood. 

He was there as a result of an illegal trial, inconsistent witnesses, a fake charge and political expediency from the Roman judge (one Pontius Pilate).

But the Magi knew ...

... which is why one of their gifts was embalming fluid (myrrh).

At Jesus' dedication (aged 1 year), Simeon knew ...

... when he thanked God that he had lived to see God's gift of Salvation. He told Mary that her son would pierce her heart.

Bit none of them realised in detail how it would happen, a death and a resurrection to save mankind from the curse of its sin.

There has been a trend to condemn the story of the resurrection, saying that it is 'obviously, impossible'. You author agrees 100% - it is impossible but with one caveat, it is impossible by human standards. But a God who exists outside of our universe, space and time and is not restricted by human science and technology can do anything.

Don't forget - so far, after nearly 2000 years, no one has come up with a better explanation that fits the facts as we have them. Of course, we may have incorrect facts but the opponents of Jesus at the time failed to find an alternative so ...

... why reject the resurrection?

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  Next  Coventry Christmas blog : Fri 19th Dec

What's Not In Nottingham (4)

Another Deleted Station

It was the above picture that provoked this series of intriguing investigative intrusions into the history of railways in central Nottingham. Reference to an old Burrows street map suggests we may be looking at the junction shown on the extract below.

That left hand turn is what carried GNR trains from Victoria station off to the east, notable to Grantham. The chord was almost all on viaduct until the line lowered itself to the complex junctions on the east.

An aerial view shows no sign of the line whatsoever, but the map implies a curve on embankment and bridge over the junction of Radcliffe Street and Canal Street ...

... having also crossed the present site of the Nottingham College. 

At the road junction there is a clutch of older indistrial clutter that may have once been infill under those bridges.

Having crossed the canal (to the right of the newbuild opposite the yard) ...

... roughly on the site of the new footbridge (above), the viaduct would have run alongside the canal ...

... eventually crossing London Road and the canal on a girder bridge.

The island platform appears above the tram.

Once again, there is nothing left but a possible bit of bridge abutment at the dormer canal basin.

The London Road High Level station building was beyond that canal pond.

The station building is at ground level with its small car park showing above and on the right.

The facilities at platform level were quite lavish seen below with canal basin on the left ...

... and then with a DMU for Grantham, canal now on the right.

The warehouses on the left stood an a short canal branch which has now disappeared. See the street map extract above!

Below is the only picture available on line of the High Level station's low level building in use fo passengers.

It became an antique station containing an antiques centre ...

... then also a trendy (?) Caff or bar ...

... complete with small steam loco (not working).

London Road High Level opened in 1899, a few months before Victoria was operational, and closed in 1967. A Google Earth view shows nothing left, not even that station building! 

P

Trains from Grantham then used Nottingham Midland. They still do ...

... but no longer run by Stagecoach as seen above at Aslockton.

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 Q ueries and  Q uibbles

Quirky Answer ; it was the encounter with the rich young ruler.

Once a man came to Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; 19 respect your father and your mother; and love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

“I have obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else do I need to do?”

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.”

We are told that the rich young ruler (the Biblical 'yuppie') went away sad "because he was very rich". We are also told that Jesus looked at him sternly.

Whatever happened to Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild?

He did not exist!

Of course Jesus showed love, care and kindness to those who were in desperate circumstances, but he railed against the hypocrisy and corrupt religion of the Temple Leaders. He warned people of the dire eternal consequences of disobeying God's code of conduct and he promised a fiery judgement for those who refused to repent and saw no need to God's forgiveness.

He violenty turned the money making scam merchants out of the Temple courtyard ...

... and he condemned the rich young ruler because, when push came to shove, his riches were more important than obeying God.

Which is more important, spending lots of money at CHRIST-mas or remembering Jesus on his birthday?

Would Jesus be gentle, meek and mild as he observes what the modern world has done to His-mas, CHRIST-mas?

Quirky Question : how long did Jesus spend in the tomb?

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  Next Nottingham blog : Thurs 18th December