Great Western Coffee Shop

Started from "Thames Valley Branches" section where comparisons were being made with the Henley Regatta.


Specifically ... traffic up from Melksham and Trowbridge on the 234 bus has been too much for the onward rail replacement coaches to Swindon to cope with, and extra vehicles have been laid on.  Yet further proof of the travel need on the corridor.

So - First are reminded that the Chippenham - Melksham - Trowbridge corridor does have some people who want to use it  ;), and indeed I passed on the message about the "Party in the Park" to one of their people "on the ground" at the Bristol meeting yesterday.   Net result - First (group?) are aware of 17th July / estimated figures.

Train?   For next year - good idea, I think. VERY good idea. TwCRP material.  For this year, at least they're alerted to watch out for overcrowded 234s.   Do you have any flow information that could be passed on?   My answer on "what will it mean to our flows" is "I don't know - but I know a man who might know a bit better"  ;)   Should we follow up on the details by email?

Happy to discuss here until told otherwise as it's probably useful information for the wider audience.

My estimated "5000 people" figure is based on gate receipts last year for the Party in the Park (ten grand at two quid a head), however that doesn't take into account the Carnival, which happens the same day. Not everyone at the carnival makes their way up to the Park afterwards, though it's a safe assumption that a significant majority do. Neither does the figure take into account the several hundred people who make up the acts, organisers (including numerous air and army cadets) and stallholders, although it's fair to say most of those have their own transport.

The Party in the Park opens officially at 2pm 1pm this year and goes on until 10:45ish (huge firework display at 10:15 with a final set by the main band - a Queen covers band this year - on stage afterwards). The fireworks are rightly a fairly big attraction so people tend to hang on for that - it so happens that a former world champion firework artist, the same chap who set fire to the Thames at the Millenium celebrations, is related to one of the Party in the Park committee members so we get it at "mates rates".

As for the Carnival, I'm not sure of the start time as I'm never there (obviously, being co-Chairman of the Party in the Park I have to be in site all day) but it finishes at 6, at which point the Party in the Park immediately steps up a level, with several hundred people arriving all at once.

Neither do I have any details about where people from outside of Melksham who attend on the day are actually coming from, though it's a safe bet the majority of outsiders come from Chippenham and Trowbridge (both nearby centres of population whose residents are used to enjoying park-based Summer entertainment events, although there's a significant difference in that theirs are funded by the council, whereas Melksham's is entirely self-financed by volunteers).

There's also a significant number attending from the Pewsey area, oddly enough - the connection being the "carnival circuit" (both places help each other out when their respective carnivals take place; the crash barriers we use at Melksham all come from Pewsey for example).

Others will travel from Devizes, Warminster, Westbury, Calne and Corsham. Some come from Bath, and I know at least one group of people from Bristol who are planning on attending.

A word to the wise: travel by public transport if you can. There's no parking on site at the Party in the Park, only street parking nearby, and at the Manor School (500 yards away) on a first come first served basis. The Kings Park School (which is adjacent to the park in which the event takes place, the King George V Playing Fields in Melksham) has decided this year NOT to allow disabled parking on site, apparently because the cars might drip oil which would constitute a health and safety hazard. Bit of a PR own goal if you ask me, but there we are.

Final public transport departures on a normal Saturday ...

15:21 train to Chippenham and Swindon
21:05 National Express coach to Frome
21:34 train to Trowbridge and Westbury
21:43 bus (route 234) to Chippenham
21:50 bus (route 272) to Bath
22:30 bus (route 234) to Trowbridge
23:45 bus (route 272) to Devizes

and I don't know of any extras.  All services listed are run by First (even the National Express Coach which often leaves early - beware!).

Good idea for Devizes / Pewsey people to leave their cars in Devizes - that solitary last bus to Devizes is, frankly, the only public transport that's suitable for anyone who wants to stay for the fireworks.

Other parking idea - the station / station approach.   Free parking, just off the A350 and A365, underpass to the town centre ... quiet side street where you won't be bothering the residents on a Saturday evening as it's an industrial estate.