Great Western Coffee Shop

A very brief introduction.....I live a 10 minute walk from Digby & Sowton and, because I choose not to drive a car, use my trusty pedal cycle and/or the Exmouth branch for local journeys and services from Exeter St Davids / Central when travelling further afield.
My opinion of railways in the UK is 'pretty good, but could do so much better', particularly if the politicians & civil servants could be persuaded to take this mode of transport seriously - and just when we get a Secretary of State for Transport who seems to be interested AND knowledgeable, it seems very likely that he will only be in post until next summer.

hello and welcome, its good to see another user of digby on the forum (i live in sidmouth so eather use digby or whimple) i would be interested to hear your views on the lack of live passenger information at this station as now and again i have been stuck on the platform waiting for a very delayed or cancled train has this ever happened to yourself

Welcome to the forum Bob_Blakey

Hello Bob, and welcome!

I share you fears about Andrew Adonis's long term job prospects. At least he doesn't have to be worried about losing a constituency. The Conservatives (if they win...) could do a lot worse in not keeping him on as Secretary of State.

Welcome!!!

Are we related...?!  ??? ;)

I think we should be told.... ;)

In my opinion ALL unstaffed stations should have a reliable source of live service information. I would prefer this to be in the form of the overhead LED/LCD displays, as in the distant past I have found the autodialler system fitted at D&S somewhat inaccurate.However from a personal perspective I guess I can live without this because I am fortunate enough to live so close to the station that the National Rail Live Departures board via the interweb for a short time before leaving home does the job.

I would obviously be concerned about how to prevent the screens being used for target practice by the local scrotes!

In the 11+ years at this location I have only ever had one major problem-a 20 minute delay leaving D&S for Exeter because the 'doors closed' sensor on a 150 unit was playing silly b*ggers (the service had arrived from Exmouth on time).

As to the possibility of being related to 'inspector_blakey' - not that I know of.Having been a viewer of this site for some time I assumed that said individual was actually a very confused bus enthusiast (You have to have heard of Reg Varney to understand this).

Welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, Bob_Blakey!  ;)

I'll leave my 'inspector' colleague to answer any suggestion that he might be 'a very confused bus enthusiast'!  :D ;D

Well, there's a story behind the "Inspector Blakey" moniker which is related to buses, albeit tangentially via railway preservation! Certain good friends of mine would probably be falling about the floor laughing at the suggestion that I was a confused bus enthusiast after a few past escapades ;)

That's all I'm going to give away for now, although I should probably confess that my real surname isn't Blakey (just like my real first name isn't Inspector, come to that...)  :-X

On the subject of Digby, is parking free there?

I know it is at Whimple  ;D

there is a small carpark at the entrance via clyst holt avenue and this is free however there are limited spaces, as for the other carparks... i really dont know ive never used them, actually while stil on the subject of digby it looks like it was originally built to be staffed anyone know more?

It seems that the current Digby and Sowton Station has never been staffed - hence some problems: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digby_and_Sowton_railway_station

you cant see it too clearly in that picture but there is what looks like a window which has been boarded up.... looks the correct place for the booking office

yes it was originally planned to be staffed. There's a ticket hut with electricity but it has never been used!

My my what a beautiful station you have.....

(welcome to the forum)

The photograph in the Wikipedia article is somewhat dated - all the roofing was removed some time ago. Also fairly recently the number of parking spaces was increased, although they are still free.
The latest development is a much more direct pedestrian/cyclist link to the Sandy Park stadium, home of the world famous(ish) Exeter Chiefs rugby club; this runs parallel to,but east of, the railway and should be open late November/early December.
The degree of development either already in progress or proposed for the immediate area should (providing the local authorities/Network Rail & to a lesser extent FGW remove their heads from the part of their anatomies where the sun don't shine) mean the provision of a second platform within about 5 years.

Thanks very much for that additional information, Bob_Blakey. ;)

I do accept that Wikipedia has its limitations ... ;D

Also, (relex109's apparent camera problems aside,) does anyone have a more recent photo they could offer here?  :)

True. In the picture you can see the borded up ticket office and also a side door - probably would have been similar to the booking office at Feniton. 

On the subject of ticket offices, yesterday went to Honiton station around 17:40 to buy a family railcard but arrived to find that it closed at 17:30!  This is a ridiculous closing time as it is totally unsuitable for working people and the ticket machine, which I don't like to trust with my money didn't seem to sell railcards.  I will now have to get one at Honiton either on Friday in the daytime or at Exeter St Davids on Friday.  I need it by then at the latest as I plan to drive up the M5, park at Worle and then catch the train to Bristol on Saturday and I don't think you can buy railcards on the train (?) !

actually my camera is 'ok' there is a slight issue which can be managed however its more I WANT A NEW ONE NOW NOW NOW NOW, but i will take the camera that i am bored of and take some new pictures for you as i pass within half a mile every day