Wot I Wont

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Wow - bowled over yesterday afternoon when I visited a branch I've not been on for ages.  I come back saying
"I want" ... at Swindon, at Chippenham, at Melksham, at Trowbridge and at Westbury ...

A canopy to shelter all the arriving passengers (and I want plenty of them) as they get off the train



Information to hand about what visitors can do in the area



Cycles for hire for the more active arrivals



And buses, well signposted and connecting, just outside the station



I'm learning how hard it is to achieve any one of these things - congratulations to Barnstaple for having all four and much more too.  I may not have noticed that my train (uniquely in the day) dallied there for half an hour as it gave me a change to have a good look around.    Getting stranded because I missed my last connection home was a small price to pay!

Warning - I'll be back.

It just shows what community, rail, and local council working together can achieve, and this is what we aspire too in Wiltshire.   We have a long way to go yet.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I think RichardB, and his team, and others, have a lot to answer for. 

[LiskeardRich]

Not forgetting the huge tesco to get supplies for the trip back on adjacent former railway land (I believe).

I was looking at leaflets at liskeard, many of which were for attractions unreachable by public transport. One would expect many arriving at a rail station to need public transport to access places, so many unreachable places being inappropriate to flyer at the same station.

[grahame]

Not forgetting the huge tesco to get supplies for the trip back on adjacent former railway land (I believe).

I'm being very careful about talking about the Asda in Melksham, having been denied a bus stop at the top of station approach in case people get off there and Jaywalk across to Asda.

I was looking at leaflets at liskeard, many of which were for attractions unreachable by public transport. One would expect many arriving at a rail station to need public transport to access places, so many unreachable places being inappropriate to flyer at the same station.

But how far are people prepared to walk, can they hire cycles to get to these attractions, or could they use a taxi?

I picked up a web site just this morning .... http://www.trainspots.co.uk/locpage.php?ts_number=890

It says:

I doubt this location can be reached by public transport.

but in fact the 69 and 68 buses pass the location, and the x96 and a run of route 14 on Saturday pass the road end 100 yards away.

How good is the information about getting to the attractions at Liskeard?

[LiskeardRich]

Some of the leaflets are places 7-8 miles or more from public transport. No cycle hire places i am aware of

[grahame]

Some of the leaflets are places 7-8 miles or more from public transport. No cycle hire places i am aware of

How much is Liskeard used as a park and ride for Looe?  Those people have their own cars.

Any car hire at Liskeard station?  I recall "Godfrey Davis" in times gone by, and these days Enterprise car rentals have a place by (in my area) Chippenham Station.

Local car club? - such as http://www.co-wheels.org.uk/locations who have a car available a few yards from Swindon Station.

[LiskeardRich]

Some of the leaflets are places 7-8 miles or more from public transport. No cycle hire places i am aware of

How much is Liskeard used as a park and ride for Looe?  Those people have their own cars.

Any car hire at Liskeard station?  I recall "Godfrey Davis" in times gone by, and these days Enterprise car rentals have a place by (in my area) Chippenham Station.

Local car club? - such as http://www.co-wheels.org.uk/locations who have a car available a few yards from Swindon Station.

Not sure on park and ride, but car park isn't very big, 20-30 spaces at most and rarely full, the pay and display machines have been out of order for several months with temporary free parking, and still never seen the car park more than 50% full!

No rentals, nearest I know of is Plymouth or Bodmin.

No car clubs, this is Cornwall  we may get them in say 20'years time!

[Pb_devon]

A mention also (at Barnstaple and Liskeard) for cafe's at both stations. Not sampled Liskeard, but Barnstaple dispensed a good takeaway coffee when I visited by train recently. Something the train conductor suggested to me, with an assurance they wouldn't leave without me!

[Chris from Nailsea]

As a matter of interest, Pb_devon, does the station cafe at Barnstaple still offer a live departure screen on the premises?

[Chris from Nailsea]

No car clubs, this is Cornwall  we may get them in say 20'years time!

... by which time you may even have got some of that new-fangled electricity you've heard about ... 

[bobm]

Local car club? - such as http://www.co-wheels.org.uk/locations who have a car available a few yards from Swindon Station.

I would love to know how popular the car club is in Swindon.  Purely anecdotal, but whenever I walk to the station a car always seems to be parked in the designated car club bay.

[LiskeardRich]

No car clubs, this is Cornwall  we may get them in say 20'years time!

... by which time you may even have got some of that new-fangled electricity you've heard about ... 

Still got the hamster in his wheel in the corner here     

[grahame]

Local car club? - such as http://www.co-wheels.org.uk/locations who have a car available a few yards from Swindon Station.

I would love to know how popular the car club is in Swindon.  Purely anecdotal, but whenever I walk to the station a car always seems to be parked in the designated car club bay.

Until you have a significant number of cars at a location (i.e. much more than 1), utilisation has to be very low so that people don't put off by finding that it's always booked.  I suspect it's a seeding project (.org.uk rather than .co.uk would suggest it's not totally commercial!) which will either peter out or turn into something with several handfuls of cars over a ramp-in period.

[Chris from Nailsea]

In my day job, I drive past two such 'car club' parking bays (in different side streets) in Bedminster, Bristol, and every time there is no car there.

I'm not saying what that proves, I'm merely offering it as an observation. 

[LiskeardRich]

I've just researched these car club things, the closest to Cornwall is Bristol!
It's ok though as Redruth has the locally famous Melroy (MY Motors) renting out 20+ year old vehicles still on the cheap!
Such as this Transit minibus

https://flic.kr/p/yQf2X4