From Huss via Fuss to Bus? [1]

Northampton's New Bus Station?

Many many years ago, little fbb, aged about 7, took an occasional trip into town with Grandmother. A particular treat was a visit to Northampton's fish market, which, as its name indicates, also sold fresh meat.

Granny was rather partial to a pint of winkles (a sort of seafood version of nose pickings) and she also occasionally bought whelks (a bit like chewing salty ear lobes) for fbb's dad. She was even even known to buy a nice piece of rock salmon, also known as huss ...

... but, more correctly, a type of dogfish and a very enjoyable substitute for the more expensive cod.

The big excitement was having a meal at the cafe. Fbb remembers a full roast dinner and a cup of tea for about two bob! [two shillings, 10p]. Quality was "basic" but fbb felt so grand having his first ever dinner at a caff. The fishmarket closed in 2006 and was reborn as an "Arts Centre" but, much to fbb's astonishment, the "caff" is still there in the very same location in the building, but, presumably, now serving latte and wraps rather than cheese doorsteps and char.

It's now called "The Nook" and all those years ago fbb and Granny sat at tables in a little alcove to the right where you can just see a doorway today.

Back then, nice red Corporation buses departed from town centre streets ...

... as here at Mercers Row; where, incidentally, fbb bought the engagement ring as he wooed the future Mrs. No, not at H Samuel but at Knights, a local "independent" jeweller. Country buses were United Counties and green and ran from the excellent, fully under cover Derngate bus station ...

... as here. Pedantic purists please note that these photos are dated much later than fbb's fishy excursions.

Then in 1976 the luxurious Greyfriars bus station opened.

Yes, it was luxurious (emphasis on "was") and all the town's bus services were together, under cover, for the first time ever.

So breaking news is that the now-despised Greyfriars bus station is to be replaced by a new facility on the site of the fish market.

So that's the huss and the bus; what's the fuss?

Part 2 (tomorrow) will reveal that all is not hunky-dory with the plan.

Next blog : due Friday November 11th

Stop FS5, The Sequel : Episode 2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

On checking blog stats, fbb is reminded that it is just

12 months since Mrs fbb was beset by a senior moment

in London; but helped magnificently to recover!

For newcomers to this blog, see "A Handbag" (read again).

There is plenty of Good Public Transport News.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

But possibly not quite such good news at Stop FS5 ...

Ridiculous Routeing Revealed : Again!

We have been exploring on-line departure information for this magnificent tribute to modern public transport infrastructure, namely Stop FS5. Yesterday's blog actually congratulated Travel South Yorkshire on getting something right (read again).

Sadly, such plaudits are premature for most information provided. Option Orange service 120 is jointly operated by Stagecoach and First. During the day, Stagecoach journeys all teminate at the busy Royal Hallamshire Hospital, one stop short of the road closure referred to yesterday.

There is a nice little turning circle just behind the trees on the left. So, of course, you would expect departure infromation to highlight this important destination.

But it doesn't! There is no mention of the Hospital. Instead buses are shown as terminating at Broomhill ...

... but they don't!

Broomhill is a significant shopping centre two stops further west, about a quarter of a mile's walk from the Hospital. An extract from google maps shows this bludner clearly.

The Hospital and its turning circle are top right, Broomhill is on Fulwood Road far left. The road collapse is at King Edwards School near the swimming pool.

The problem is that the "the system" seems to spew out unrealistic district names; and it's not just Broomhill ...

... but Hillsborough that is totally misplaced for stop FS5. First service 53 and its competitive Stagecoach 79 run via Owlerton and Wadsley Bridge.

By no stretch of anyone's imagination (except within TSY's "system") do either of them serve Hillsborough. 

Despite what the map says, Hillsborough is nowadays a major shopping centre and transport interchange at the junction of the A6101 and the B6079 (bottom of map extract). This ...

... is Hillsborough; a view from the bus station near to Morrisons and looking northwards to the traditional shopping centre. For more on "The Hillsborough Question" see a previous blog (here).

The 53 and the 79 do not run this way!

And, by the way, service 79 does NOT, even with extreme imagination stretching, serve Neepsend although its companion 53 does. Weird!

The problem seems to be that the uncontrollable computer software is driving the "system" rather than the needs of the public which should provide the prescription for what information is actually needed.

If you want to get to Broomhill, don't think of catching a Stagecoach 120. Catch a First 51, 52 or 120; or a Stagecoach 52.

If you want to get to Hillsborough, ignore First's 53 or Stagecoach's 79. Catch a 14, 17, 57, 58, 66 or a tram.

There's a pretty good chance that very few people ever use these departure screens on-line, so, why bother to provide them?

fbb knows the answer. TSY provides them because the software provides them, and for no other meaningful reason. The technology tail is, yet again, wagging the information dog.

Positive Point : An email from the elysian heights of South Yorkshire PTE informs fbb that the "wormhole" problem identified at Stop FS5 is being investigated with a view to getting it right.  RESULT! 

Next blog : due Thursday November 10th

Stop FS5, The Sequel : Episode 1

Crazily Committed to Computers

fbb has previously blogged about the technological travesty of truth told at Sheffield's stop FS5. See Cosmology Discovery Shock (read again).

Just a reminder that 47s and 48s run frequently northwards to Shiregreen then, apparently, plunge into  a wormhole to reappear south of the City centre at Highfield travelling in the opposite direction towards Herdings.

Nonsense. And as a bonus (?), the 48 does NOT, by any stretch of geographical imagination, serve any part of Norfolk Park!

Stop FS5 is opposite Stand A at the Sheffield Interchange and is the best that SYPTE could offer for prestigious Optio Orange service 120; note, no seats, no shelter, no "real time" information; just a pole with a few bits stuck to it. And, despite getting it wrong in a previous blog, fbb is reminded that this is the closest stop on offer for folk arriving by train and intending to travel westwards.

Just past stop FS5, a little beyond the Stagecoach bus in the top picture, are stops on Flat Street, the oddly named (i.e. not flat!) hill alongside the former red brick Post Office Building on the right in the distance. These stops are designated "Sheffield Centre" on Travel South Yorkshire's delightfully dubious database.

So, let us go on-line and look at the departures from stop FS5.

Stagecoach service 43, 43A, 44 and 44A are arriving from various routes linking Chesterfield and Dronfield with Sheffield. Whilst they DO stop at FS5, their City terminus is Flat Street. Here is one there, looking back towards FS5 a few yards beyond the traffic lights.

Because the computer (or more truthfully, the nerd who writes its program) is mindless, it offers us four pointless journeys an hour from FS5 to take us just one stop beyond.

Even fbb could manage to walk approximately 200 metres between the two! Effectively FS5 is an alighting stop for the Chesterfield routes offering a slightly tidier interchange for passengers with onward journeys from the bus station.

But there is some good news for service 120 passengers braving the blasted heath of stop FS5 (although, as with the 43/44 routes, most sensible travellers would walk up to Flat Street where the 120s "wait time"). The service to Fulwood and Crimicar Lane is diverted via Western Bank  away from a road closure on Glossop Road due to a collapsed wall and pavement.

Amazingly the departure screen shows via "Western Bank" correctly. Well done Travel South Yorkshire, have a jelly bean!

Sadly this congratulatory contribution cannot extend to other services from stop FS5 as we shall see tomorrow.

Next blog : due Wednesday November 9th

For Better or Worse at Chatham

The downstairs but upstairs bus station.

These buses are going up a ramp to use the former "underground" bus station in the Pentagon Centre at Chatham. It was not the most beautiful travel experience imaginable.

So a new facility had been built nearby but in the open air.

But the "Waterfront" bus station has not been a riotous success that the authorities had expected.

This, from the local rag ...

THE new Chatham bus station opened for business on Monday 13th October more than five months behind schedule – and it was still not ready. The controversial £7 million "dynamic bus facility" saw its first passengers off at 5.37am, but as the day went on, criticism of the long-awaited and over-budget station mounted.

Passengers expressed disappointment that certain aspects remained unfinished – including toilet facilities – or appeared to have been overlooked completely – including litter bins and, most worryingly, pedestrian crossings. Others slammed its open design and location in a "wind tunnel", fearing that as winter draws in, passengers will have little protection from the elements.

The development, which is part of the council's aim to open up the waterfront and connect it with Chatham town centre, was expected to open in April, but due to poor weather conditions and design changes, the delay – and the cost – continued to grow.

It replaces the outdated 1970s station inside the Pentagon Centre, branded as "one of the worst in the country" by Medway Council, which believes the new depot's opening marks "a significant step towards transforming and regenerating Medway".

Then Medway Council has been forced to compensate Arriva, the major user of the new station, in order to cancel their lease at the Pentagon. This has not gone down well with some colours of councillor.

A deal said to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds has been agreed between Medway Council and bus operator Arriva, to ensure that there will be buses running from the new Chatham bus station when it opens next month. The agreement was voted through at a special council meeting on Thursday (September 15), where Medway Council will pay Arriva a fee believed to be about £300,000 to cancel their lease of the old bus station, based in the Pentagon Centre.

Labour and Liberal Democrat Councillors have blasted the move as a waste of tax payers money. Deputy leader of the Labour Group, Vince Maple said: “Arriva are part of Deutsche Bahn, a German company that made a profit last year of more than 900 million Euros! 


The conservative response: "The Arriva discussions were long running over several months and we have reached the best agreement possible."


And the LibLab riposte: "The council have agreed to pay Arrive hundreds of thousands to remove them from the lease, and we see that as anti-competition and the other bus operators will resent that as well."

Then the swirly, draughty sluglike bit of the bus station with 13 stands isn't actually big enough ...

... so some departures are from a less spectacular bit just along the road ...

... on Waterfront Way.

But the biggest fun (NOT?) is that the bus station has (will have??) "Dynamic Stand Allocation". As a bus approaches the bus station it will be electronically "scanned" and the computer will decide which stand is will leave from. No, this is NOT an fbb wind-up, honestly.

So Mrs Miggins, encumbered with bags of shopping, a buggy and a screaming child, is poised at Stop1, Stand A, for her bus to Snodland.

Departure time approaches; the computer dynamically re-allocates the bus to Stop 5, also on Stand A; the departure screens change accordingly (will they?) and Mrs M gathers her accoutrements and staggers breathlessly along the walkway. She drops a bag (it's the one with the eggs in and they break), the child vomits spectacularly and a wheel falls off the buggy, turning it into a near-lethal and uncontrollable weapon.

She misses her bus, dynamically.

Of course, it won't REALLY be like that, will it?


Next blog : due Tuesday November 8th

Goodbye Grand Central?

Perhaps not; we shall see ...

This from Grand Central's web site. watch and enjoy

On Friday morning, 4th November, Tom Clift ...

... Managing Director of Grand Central Railway sent an email to his staff informing them that they had been taken over by Arriva, itself owned by Deutsche Bahn. The email also formed the basis of a BBC on-line news report.

The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, adds to Arriva's UK Trains portfolio of the CrossCountry, Arriva Trains Wales and Chiltern Railways franchises, and concessions to operate the Tyne and Wear Metro and (as a joint venture) London Overground operations.

This has to be good news for us in that it will provide us with greater "clout" within the industry. The main strength of the deal is that it will enable the Company to be developed to the next level by having greater resources available to help us in that cause. Arriva believe the open access model has real potential and can complement their franchises and concessions. Their wider operational and marketing expertise can help make this business a great success. Conversely, the Grand Central team brings with it further expertise which can inform Arriva's future open access proposals.

GC will continue to be a self contained Company based in York and will continue to be lead by me as MD. I will report to Bob Holland, MD of Arriva's UK Trains division. It will be very much "Business as usual" going forward.

Business as usual? Hmmmm? Time will tell, indeed.

The under-performing Wrexham and Shropshire Company got the chop under the aegis of Deutsche Bahn, so you have to wonder. "Informed sources" suggest that the Kings Cross to Hartlepool and Sunderland service ...

... is "profitable" but that the Bradford route is "short of expectations".

GC got off to a bad start with appalling unreliability from its second hand bought-in HST trains ...

... on some days being unable to operate any service at all. Those tough times were soon put behind them, however, and a solid reliable service has been operated (mostly) since.

GC never delivered on its high aspirations to emulate the luxury travel of the immediate post war period as typified by its name and the iconic Grand Central station in New York.

The full restaurant service never materialised and fbb failed to meet the Marilyn Monroe look-alike whose voluptuous image graced the end panels of the coaches! Shame!

But the Company has worked hard with special offers and and cut-price fare sales to successfully attract new ridership.

fbb has travelled with GC on several occasions and the outstanding feature of the service has been the service! The staff have shown a commitment, a friendliness and an anxiety to please which simply does not happen with the larger operators. fbb acquaintances have reported particularly helpful levels of support and information when things go wrong, not an unknown occurrence on the frail infastructure of the East Coast main line.

The buffet is stocked almost exclusively with products manufactured in the North ...

... with fbb particularly enjoying the occasional well-filled sandwich.

So the key question is this: will corporate ownership, enforced group targets, ruthless financial control etc. etc. begin to undermine the cosy, almost folksy, family atmosphere generated by the staff?

It would be sad, indeed, to see that dedicated personal commitment evaporate under "big management". Tom Clift suggests that it will remain a Northward looking "family" operation. fbb really hopes so!

P.S. Do the HSTs still set off the fire alarms at Sunderland?

Next blog : due Monday November 7th

A Penny for the Guy

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The UKs last independent rail company

has been taken over. 

Arriva Trains (owned by Deutsche Bahn) has bought

Grand Central - operating from London Kings Cross

to Sunderland and Bradford.

Fond reminiscences from fbb tomorrow (Sunday).

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to today's blog

First, a few demonyms:-

Manchester : Mancunian
Liverpool : Liverpudlian
Glasgow : Glaswegian
Isle of Wight : Vectensian
Sheffield : Sheffielder
Cambridge : Cantabridgian
Newcastle : Novocastrian

But what about Haligonian, Stopfordian or Leodensian? And, of course, Wulfrunian?

Sydney Guy was born in 1885 and lived in the King's Heath area of Birmingham. In 1901, he served his apprenticeship with the Bellis and Morcom Steam Engineering Company in Birmingham. He also attended evening classes at the local Technical School. On finishing his apprenticeship, he joined a local engineering company, working with a Harry Railing who later became one of the founders of the General Electric Company.


His associations with the motor industry began when he moved to Humber in Coventry in 1906 as a Service Manager. In 1909 he joined Sunbeam in Wolverhampton as works manager (the Sunbeam Trolleybus Company later became part of Guy Motors Ltd). In 1913, he resigned from Sunbeam over a pay dispute.


In the same year he set up Guy Motors in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton. He eventually retired as Chairman and Managing Director in 1957, aged 72. He died at his home in Albrighton in 1971, aged 86. Guy Motors eventually became part of British Leyland.

Guy produced some splendid buses as exemplified by this delicious preserved vehicle from Southampton.

But it was the development and production of the ill-fated Wulfrunian between 1958 and 1965 that brought Sydney's company to ultimate collapse. The Wulfrunian engine was at the front, unlike its obvious competitor, the rear engined Leyland Atlantean. The engine was offset to the right ...

... to allow for a font entrance body with a nearside staircase.

The design was developed in conjunction with the West Riding bus company who bought most of the vehicles produced.

West Riding used a red livery for Wakefield "City" buses ...

... and green for "country" services.

 Exceptionally, however, Accrington Corporation ...

... acquired some Wulfrunians with then conventional open rear entrance. Rumours suggest that the design was a step too far and the buses were both expensive to maintain and unreliable in service, although similar engineering principles were later revived for the Volvo Ailsa. Whatever the historical truth, the marque was the downfall of Guy Motors.


As our illogical nation spends much time and money today celebrating a failed terrorist ...

... perhaps we omnibologists could be allowed a happy memory of a Guy with a deep throated engine roar and radiator adorned with an American Indian's head. Well worth celebrating!


No doubt someone will tell fbb why the "Red Indian" device was chosen.

If you are overwhelmed with excitement about the Guy Wulfrunian there is a superb web site documenting many of the vehicles here. Enjoy!

On, and by the way ...


Haligonian : Halifax

Stopfordian : Stockport

Leodensian : Leeds

Wulfrunian : Wolverhampton

... and : a demonym, also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality.

And London Transport guru (and colleague), Barry, would not forgive fbb if he didn't include a picture of the archetypal London Guy single decker.

There would definitely have been fireworks in the office!

Groan!

Next blog : due Sunday November 6th