The fact that different councils can make different arrangements is something I find particularly frustrating, as it isn't always easy to find out what the situation is in any authority's area, even if you do happen to have access to websites.

An update, from the BBC:

Bath & N.E. Somerset is from 9am to 4am the following day, so not as written above, and I have often used mine here on late buses after 11pm. If anyone has told you otherwise, tell them to look at the council's website.

It uses the TIPLOC code - never use one system where you can have five.   I'm sure when we have GBR this will simply and standardise things 

Rare glimpse of historic bridge thanks to low tide


Lifeboat volunteers explore Severn Railway Bridge – which has lain under silt and mud for decades

Dramatic rain and low tides have uncovered parts of a railway bridge that was demolished after a disaster in which five men died.

The Severn Railway Bridge, which spanned the river between Sharpness and Lydney, was torn down after two barges disastrously struck the bridge in 1960. While parts of the structure are always visible at low tide, heavy rain during exceptionally low tides have washed away sediment – allowing Sharpness Lifeboat Station volunteers to explore the bridge during a rescue training session.

Crew member Luke Grinstead said it was "just fantastic" to have the opportunity to visit the remains of the bridge, which was built in the 1870s. "To actually have the opportunity to go out there, to stand on it, to touch it, and actually be in the environment that the workers were in when they built and demolished it was a privilege," he said.

The structure was partially destroyed in the Severn Railway Bridge disaster on 25 October, 1960, when two tankers carrying petrol and heating oil were caught in dense fog and driven upriver.

They collided and, unable to separate, span together towards the bridge, hitting one of its piers – just minutes after the last train of the day had crossed. Flames then spread across the Severn when the petrol and oil cargo caught alight.

The two captains managed to swim to shore and an engineer was saved by men searching for the crew in a rowboat. However, the five remaining crew members did not survive.


Remains of the railway bridge are strewn across the Severn riverbed

The bridge was demolished after the incident but remnants of the structure were left behind.

Rob Burrows, a volunteer at Sharpness Lifeboat Station, said he and other crew members made the most of a rare window of opportunity "to get out there". He said the bridge could have been quickly covered up again due to the equinox spring tides – which bring exceptionally high and low water levels.

Surges of water upriver caused by the Severn's strong tidal bore also tend to "reset things a bit", Burrows said. "Stuff gets exposed and it's very fragile – you see it once and then it's gone," he added.

Grinstead said it was "an exciting" and "challenging" trip overall. "I think it's just fantastic," he said. However, he warned any would-be explorers not to venture out to the remains due to the dangerous conditions.

I remember reading here in the winter that the printed version of the spring international rail timetable wouldn't be available until March. Does anyone know if it is now available?

From Wiltshire Live


In Swindon, I believe it's the minimum government hours of 09:30 to 23:00 on Mondays to Fridays, and any time on Saturday or Sunday.

In Wiltshire, I believe it's from 09:00 to last timetabled service on Mondays to Fridays, and any time on Saturday and Sunday.

In Bath, I don't know what the starting time is but in theory it's to 23:00 Monday to Friday, and any time Saturday and Sunday.

The 09:00 cutoff in Wiltshire makes huge sense.  Being valid on the final service also makes sense - and both of these are successes for common sense.  Between 09:00 and 09:30,  there used to be a "quiet half hour" after work and school journeys were completed, and before the seniors "could" travel ... yes, I know people with a senior card can pay, but many of them take the view "I cannot travel".   The slightly later start also lead to people who wanted to be out getting on the bus at perhaps 09:15 and buying a short distance journey, then getting off and back on at the first timing point after 09:30, in one instance large numbers of them at a countryside "flagpole" stop on a narrow lane with a sloping verge.

The late bus 273 from Bath at 23:15 (Monday to Friday), 23:20 (Saturday) rarely carries many seniors.  In theory, I believe you have to pay if you join before Shockerwick and can travel on your bus pass if you hold a senior card from Shockerwick onwards.  In practise, I only use this service very, very rarely as a fallback and can't recall being asked to pay.

What is the situation in Somerset? Dorset? Devon? Cornwall? ...

In the URL, surprised that it doesn't use the three letter station code, or, as it doesn't, that system's not able to take a station code in the URL and substitute whatever it does use.

Mark

Wildlife to replace historical figures on banknotes



British wildlife will replace historical figures on the next series of Bank of England banknotes - and the public will get their say on which animals and birds will appear.

Images of wildlife would be difficult to counterfeit, while also allowing for a celebration of nature across the country, the Bank said. It spells the end for the, sometimes controversial, choice of historical characters which have appeared on £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes for more than 50 years.

A panel of experts will draw up a wildlife shortlist to put before the public. The final decision is made by the Bank's governor but it is likely to be a few years before the new notes enter circulation.

"The key driver for introducing a new banknote series is always to increase counterfeit resilience, but it also provides an opportunity to celebrate different aspects of the UK," said the Bank's chief cashier, Victoria Cleland, whose signature appears on notes.

Nature was the most popular theme in the 44,000 responses to a public consultation and focus groups on banknote imagery. Some 60% of respondents selected it as one of their preferred themes, ahead of architecture and landmarks (56%); historical figures (38%); arts, culture and sport (30%); innovation (23%); and noteworthy milestones (19%), the Bank said.

Wildlife already appears on banknotes in the UK, with mackerel, otters, red squirrels and osprey featuring on notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Glen Sannox ferry needs £3.2m repairs after one year in service


Glen Sannox began serving the Isle of Arran in January last year

A troubled Scottish ferry needs new propellors as part of multi-million pound repairs after just over a year in service, MSPs have heard.

Shipyard bosses told a Holyrood committee that repair costs for the Glen Sannox could hit £3.2m after a small crack was discovered in the hull.

Ferguson Marine chief executive, Graeme Thomson, said that extra steel had been added to strengthen the CalMac vessel, but only new propellors would tackle "the root cause" of the crack. "There is an opportunity to improve the design of the propellers," he told Holyrood's net zero, energy and transport committee on Tuesday.

Glen Sannox began serving the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde in January 2025, seven years late and four times over budget.

The 336ft (102m) vessel, with space for 127 cars and 852 passengers, was the first major new ferry to join the fleet off the west of Scotland in a decade.

Glen Sannox was briefly taken out of service last year for the crack on a weld seam to be repaired, and was again off duty in November for annual maintenance at Cammell Laird's yard on Merseyside. That work was extended to include steel strengthening to tackle the vibration issue.

The committee heard that the problem related to "cavitation" - when bubbles detach from a propellor and pop, causing damaging vibrations.

Thomson said that the source of the crack was "vibration through the hull caused when the ship went astern." Similar work would be needed on its sister ship, the Glen Rosa, he added.

The issue is understood to run right back to the ferries' controversial design, which was intended to allow them to ply both the Arran route and the higher-speed 'Uig triangle', which links Skye to North Uist and Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

Glen Sannox was the first UK ferry capable of running on the dual fuels of liquified natural gas (LNG) and marine gas oil (MGO), a low-sulphur type of diesel.

(BBC article continues)

Gale-force winds to batter UK as snow and cold set for comeback

Some travel disruption is likely in the next few days as strenghtening winds develop across the United Kingdom.

On Wednesday a Met Office yellow warning is in force for gusts up to 80mph (130km/h) expected across northern and western Scotland.

But, it will turn more widely windy for most of us during Thursday.

Temperatures will then drop into Friday with a return to some wintry weather, with snow on higher ground.


Strong winds will develop on Wednesday and Thursday across parts of the UK

A deepening area of low pressure between Scotland and Iceland on Wednesday is bringing strong westerly winds, gales and even touching severe gales.

The Met Office has a yellow warning in force until 12:00 GMT in western and northern Scotland for gusts to reach 65-70mph (105-110km/h) and a small chance of up to 80mph (130km/h) in some locations.

The strongest winds will initially be felt in the Outer and Inner Hebrides before spreading into northern mainland Scotland and Orkney later on.

There could be some travel disruption such as cancelled ferries, flight delays and bridge restrictions for high-sided vehicles.

(BBC article continues)

More like not letting a private TOC get the credit for it and/or letting the Scots figure out the procurement first. 

At least six dead in Switzerland bus fire


The bus was engulfed in flames and gutted in the small Swiss town

At least six people have been killed and others injured after a bus caught fire in a town in western Switzerland, according to police.

The incident took place at around 18:25 local time (19:25 GMT) on Tuesday in the centre of Kerzers - known in French as Chiètres - in Fribourg canton, about 20km (12 miles) from the capital, Bern.

At least three people were taken to hospital, police said, and there were reports that a rescuer was also hurt.

The cause of the fire is not yet known but an investigation is under way into whether it was deliberately started.

There have been reports that a person doused themselves in gasoline but the authorities said they could not immediately confirm this.

Video posted by local media shows a bus in flames and a local resident described seeing a thick column of smoke.

The bus involved had reportedly travelled from the Düdingen municipality, 17km south of Kerzers.

In a post on X, Swiss President Guy Parmelin said that it "shocks and saddens me that people have lost their lives in a serious fire in Switzerland".

Forty-one people were killed in a deadly fire that broke out in a Swiss ski resort on New Year's Eve.

The Clifton Rocks Railway Trust has been formed by a group of volunteers to restore the Railway.  Supported by the Avon Gorge Hotel, Bristol City Council and sponsored by a number of local companies, the Trust is working hard to restore elements of the railway.

You can view the boards online can't you? How do the boards I see in people's houses work? That feed is presumably free?

Very likely - though I'm not when. Not there to observe