What's Not In Nottingham (3)

 Arkwright Street Interchange?

Above is an aerial view of Arkwright Street station, first stop southbound for local trains from Nottingham Victoria. Arkwright Street itself runs of top to bottom of the above photograph. fbb has had a fairly ineffective attempt to boost the picture ...

.. and reveal the station in all its glory. The distinctive feature was the two pagoda like brick structures which were the top of the stairs access from the street.

Top right is the bridge across Arkwright Street itself ...

... whilst upper left on the fuzzy enlargement is the bridge across the side street, then called Westernwray Street West.

A coal train rumbles across. Note the building peeping in from the right which lasted longer than the railway!

Here it all is on a map. In practice, the station platforms stretched south west from the entrance pagodas ...

... with the luxury of covered waiting rooms.

There is better cover on the northbound side where what we now call commuters would wait; with just a hut on the southbound side as he majority of passengers would be going home to their wife and dinner!

The station closed in 1963 with the Nottingham Victoria route in terminal decline. At the end the only service was a sporadic diesel unit from Rugby. But in 1967 Victoria station closed for good and the minimalist diesel services should have closed with it.

But the protests from Rugby, Leicester and Loughborough were loud and vehement. So BR was told by the Inspectors to maintain the service; which they did by re-opening Arkwright Street in 1967 allowing the demolishers to obliterate Victoria.

This is a view from Arkwright Street just after reopening.

Those pagoda stair head buildings are well hidden, but, using the wonders of modern computing technology, we can take the taxi office away just leaving the retaining wall behind it.

Later the bridge over Arkwright Street was removed,

Terminating trains had only used one platform ...

... hence the short section cleared of snow and the railings!

The up side pagoda was left to rot ...

... and latterly one track remained to allow access tor recovery of track and other salvage.  But soon everything was demolished and the area south of the station became the redeveloped Meadows Estate.

Back then ...

... becomes now.

... with all signs of station, bridges, embankments and track expunged from history.

As you descend by tram from the former Victoria route over the bridge at the (Midland) railway station ...

... (seen in the distance on the above picture) you then pass close to the site of Arkwright Street station before turning left to trundle tramwise along the historic Queens Walk en route to the Clifton terminus.

It was quieter back in the day!

In both pictures the railway station (once Midland) can be seen in the distance.

Queens Walk runs parallel to the former Great Central railway line, but it just isn't the same!

SIGH!

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 P urposeful  P arables

Quirky Answer, is here in a parable.

A man has been robbed and left to die. A priest and a Levite (a professor or religious law) passed by, fearful of being made unclean by the blood of the injured man, such were the rules of the day. Then along came a Samaritan. His people had been despised by the Jews since the two kingdoms split apart a millennium earlier. The despised Samaritan stopped to help, took the injured man to an inn and paid for his stay.

The open criticism of the religious leadership in Jerusalem ultimately led to Jesus death sentence.

The "Good Samaritan" is not a pretty story but it does show how doing things God's way is the best way, whatever your status or situation.

So another question. What is Darnel?

It is an inedible weed which, before the time of ripening, looks very much like an ear of corn.

In this Parable, Jesus tells of a farmer who notices that someone has sowed tares/weeds/darnel in amongst his corn. His minions ask, "Shall we go and pull the tapes/weeds/darvel out of the ground?"  

"No," says their boss, "you might pull up some of the wheat with the bad crop. Wait until harvest and we will sort it out".

Helpfully, Jesus explains the meaning!

For many, it is not a pretty story!

The man who sowed the good seed is God; the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to His Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Devil. The harvest is the end of time, and the harvest workers are God's heavenly servants, the angels.

Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age: the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things, and they will throw them into the fiery furnace.

Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom.

It is called "The Day of Judgement" and, for many, it will NOT be pretty!

Maybe best have a good think about this Parable, just in case.

Quirky Question : What was the Biblical yuppie's hang-up?

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  Next Nottingham blog : Weds 17th December 

Beautiful Barton Bus Book

 A Christmas Treat

It definitely is NOT the effect of seasonal over indulgence alcohol-wise, but fbb did not grasp the hilarity of author Keith's jolly jape. The "streetlights" are hospital bedside drip feed things. Hence the phrase 'intensive care'.

Chortle, chortle.

The Book deals very thoroughly with Barton's struggles in the chaotic years following deregulation. The blub on the back of the book gives a good summary of its contents.

So the tale starts with the take-over  by Trent.

Looking back, it does seem that the sale to Trent (Wellglade) saved this historic bus operator from likely extinction.

A short blog cannot do justice to the book which is packed with timetables, vehicle allocation rosters and loads of local maps. The book begins with the network on takeover ...

.. and ends with the consequences of the intensive care under the encouraging heading of ...

You would need to look closely, but the later network is similar but more commercially sustainable.

Well that's what they hoped for.

It is worth, at this stage, reminding ourselves that Barton was still very much a separate operation from that of Trent. Now the companies have become one!

As well as the "inheritance" network, we are reminded that the takeover was a tough time for Barton's loyal staff ...

... but, inevitably, there were redundancies as the new management worked to stabilise their acquisition. An urgent need was to deal with the competition which, as was common in these early years of the new-look bus industry, was a real challenge.

The author gives detailed timetables for the days preceding 'treatment', plus a whole heap of other operational detail. For the student of the bus industry, this information is a real eye-opener. For a Nottingham resident and bus enthusiast, it is  fascinating to look at then and now.

fbb may well do that in a future blog,

Pictures of the competition illustrate the challenge that the 'new' Barton faced.

One of the biggest attackers was Nottingham City Transport, then, as now, a Council owned company

Melton Mowbray, an area somewhat remote from home base, was particularly challenging because town services were not strong enough to sustain two rival operators.

The book has short chapter on what Barton did and didn't.

Then there were the minibuses ...

... and fbb had never thought of the hallowed Nottingham stalwart as lowering itself to run bread vans!

Even as the company returned to stability, there were still outbreaks of competitive incursions and here on route 115 ...

Annison didn't last!

We read of brightening up of the livery with a less fussy logo ...

... printed publicity in colour ...

... and a share in Trent's route branding.

Bus stop poles and frames also got a much needed refresh.

The original "style" appears on the right!

Of course, Keith Shaysutt knows what he is talking about, he was there ...

... which makes the book even more telling.

This book is a MUST for the serious student of the industry but for the bus spotter it is packed with pictures of Barton's fleet during those years - sadly no double decks back then! 

Get someone to buy it as a Christmas present then ...

... settle down with a mug of tea and a couple of mince pies ...

... and enjoy. The log fire is joyous but optional!

It will certainly be better than Christmas telly!

A minor health warning. This book was delivered to fbb mansions on Saturday so this review has been somewhat cursory. But it did seem to sit well with the old man's Nottingham railway investigations, which continue tomorrow.

If fbb has misrepresented Mr Shayshutt's book, he apologises but a short blog can only be a taster.

You know what to do to get it right!

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 O utstanding  O ffer

Quirky Answer, coming up ...

But first, another question. What is Christmas FOR?

Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, the gift of Free Will to humanity has allowed people to make a choice, between good and bad, between right and wrong, between truth and lie. 

Many want God to do something; but it turns out that they want God to do something to change others but what God really wants is for people to do something to change themselves.

That is why Jesus was born; that is what Christmas in FOR!

Quirky Answer coming up!

Nicodemus came by night!

He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin, the leadership of the Jews, which was appalled at Jesus' revolutionary teaching; a group that ultimately condemned him to death.

One night Nicodemus went to Jesus and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent by God. No one could perform the miracles you are doing unless God were with him.”

Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.”

“How can a grown man be born again?” Nicodemus asked. “He certainly cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time!”

The Son of God must be lifted up (on he cross!), so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him  may not die but have eternal life .

That last sentence is what Christmas was for!

Christmas certainly wasn't pretty in the end ...

... as Nicodemus and his friend Joseph (called "of Arimathea" also of the Sanhedrin) took the body and laid it in Joseph's tomb. Quirky Question answered. 

And we know what happened next!

But we are only at the beginning of the story; there is a long three year way to go!

Quirky Question : Which despised man did what a priest and a professor wouldn't?

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  Next Nottingham blog : Tues 16th December