Wood from historic pier to be recycled into furniture

A project to turn wood from a derilict pier into furniture which can then be resold to raise funds for its restoration has been announced.

North Somerset Council partnered with Somerset Wood Recycling to transform material from Birnbeck Pier that cannot be reused.

The grade II listed structure in Weston-super-Mare has been closed for more than 30 years due to safety concerns but is due to be restored during a £20m programme of improvements.

A spokesperson for Somerset Wood Recycling said they were "excited" to make "a little bit of Weston's heritage available for people to own".

The Community Interest Company (CIC), based in Weston-super-Mare, recycles second-hand timber from across the county and transforms it into furniture.

The partnership with the council had been made possible with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Tom Palmer, director of the CIC, said he was "looking forward to finding a new purpose for timber reclaimed from the pier".

Councillor Mark Canniford said: "Not only does this enable us to repurpose the wood from our much-loved old pier, by working with Somerset Wood Recycling we're able to get the community involved with the process too."

Birnbeck, known locally as 'The Old Pier', is the only pier in the UK to link to an island - a small, rocky piece of land known as Birnbeck Island. Since its closure it has been battered by storms, partially collapsed into the sea and has become too unsafe for the former resident RNLI lifeboat crews to use.

Building renovations have been carried out on the land-side of the pier, while the 1888 boat house, the clock tower pavilion and the land-side cliff face - all of which are on the island - were also stabilised in 2024.

The restoration project is expected to be completed by summer 2027.

"To thank GWR for reliability"?

Seriously?

I don't think the Gloucester crews sign the TransWilts any longer, so as an educated guess the train was awaiting crew.

Woman saved with dogs felt like 'biggest fool'


The crew carried out the rescue on Saturday morning

A woman has said she felt like the "biggest fool" after being rescued alongside her two dogs when they were cut off by a rising tide.

Hannah Murphy was picked up from the beach at West Wittering in West Sussex by a lifeboat crew from Hayling Island, Hampshire, on Saturday morning.

Hannah told the BBC she abandoned an attempt to wade through waist-deep water and managed to call 999 while she waited on a sandbank.

The Coastguard has warned others to be careful in the area.

Hannah said she was not a regular walker at Wittering but had "come for a change of scenery".


Hayling's first ever all-female crew made the rescue

She explained that she started to walk back to shore and realised the tide had come in behind her. "I tried wading through the deeper channel but once it got to waist-height decided it was too deep to continue," she said. "I felt like the biggest fool."

The crew were able to escort Hannah and her pets back to the lifeboat. RNLI Hayling Island said it was the first time it had launched an all female crew, and that this had coincided with International Women's Day.

Selsey Coastguard has warned others to avoid getting themselves into dangerous situations at the beach. "The sand bars at West Wittering Beach go out a long way at low tide," said its spokesperson. "When the tide changes it races in and it’s easy to get cut off quickly, the currents are extremely strong. Do not attempt to cross or enter the water."

Crossing near-miss caused by signaller - report


The incident was recorded at the level crossing in Helpston near Peterborough on 21 October

A railway signaller forgot that a train was approaching and used an emergency system to lift the barriers of a level crossing, causing a near-miss incident, an investigation has found.

The incident was recorded at the Helpston signal box near Peterborough at 08:16 BST on 21 October, according to a report published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).

It revealed that the signaller had activated a sealed release mechanism - an override system designed to be used for emergencies or equipment faults only.

As a result, the barriers were lifted and the "wig-wag road traffic lights" were extinguished - and a waiting car had begun to move forward. The report confirmed no vehicles were struck in the incident and no one was injured.

Data showed that the sealed release plunger had been used 183 times at Helpston between mid-February 2025 and the incident, a period of about eight months. The report said this suggested "there was an acceptance of a non-compliant local practice regarding sealed release use by staff in this signal box".


CCTV from the second train at the time shows the lowered barrier on the left

At the time of the incident, the report found that at 08:12, the signaller started the crossing lowering sequence for three approaching trains. They were a passenger train on the Down Fast line, a second passenger train on the Up Fast line, and a freight train on the Up Stamford line.

It found that the signaller had "tried to manually raise the barriers" 11 seconds after the second train had passed, without looking towards the Stamford line. He was unable to raise the barrier, the report said, because "interlocking had detected the freight train approaching".

"The signaller had forgotten that this train was approaching and assumed that the barriers had developed a fault," the report added.


View of the Stamford lines from Helpston signal box. The East Coast Main Line is to the right of the picture

A sealed release is an emergency tool that is only used during mechanical failures or emergencies.

The RAIB report said, if the sealed release has been used, an entry in the train register should be made and operations control should be notified.

The investigation found use of the sealed release was not documented at Helpston and managers were unaware that this practice had been adopted. It further revealed that the signaller involved "had been trained to use the sealed release" but "did not clearly understand the circumstances in which a sealed release should be used".

The report concluded that signallers should only used sealed releases "in line with the requirements of the Rule Book" and that managers should ensure that "effective assurance arrangements exist so that emergency or out-of-course systems do not become routinely used during normal operations".

Perhaps because the 16:32 from Great Malvern is not running this week - so the extra call in the normally-express train reduces a long gap in service at Hanborough?

I notice that the 1726 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington service has been stopping at Hanborough this week - at least from Tuesday to Friday. The only reason I can think of for this is the Cheltenham Festival but it does seem a very obtuse explanation for this additional stop.

Thanks for your informative post, eXPassenger. 

However, purely in the interest of historical accuracy, the merger of the official customs, excise and revenue collection authorities hasn't just 'now been merged into HMRC': that was actually done on 18 April 2005. 

CfN. 

A point well made but it doesn’t appear to be unique to railway helplines. I seem to encounter it on a daily basis - and that’s once you got past the AI “receptionist”.

Extra bin for households struggling with recycling


Black bins will be collected every three weeks in South Gloucestershire from May

Large families who struggle with the upcoming move to three-weekly black bin collections can apply for a second wheelie bin, a council has announced.

South Gloucestershire Council will make the move from fortnightly collections in May in a bid to save money and encourage recycling. Food waste and recycling will remain as weekly collections.

The change also includes the rollout of new reusable white recycling bags for plastic, cans and foil, and a roll of small blue bags for soft plastics, along with a nappy and hygiene waste collection. But civic chiefs admitted that they made had made mistakes and "learned lessons" as some households were unaware of the changes.

It is the first time the authority has implemented a new waste service in 25 years, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At a council meeting on 4 March, councillor Sean Rhodes said the change was "transformational". But opposition councillor Paul Hughes asked if the impact of the move on vulnerable residents and larger households had been considered.

Rhodes said anybody struggling with the change could apply for an additional black bin through the council website. "As long as all of the appropriate levels of recycling and sorting are happening, the option of getting an additional black bin is available to people," he said.

The council awarded a £120m eight-year contract to kerbside waste collectors SUEZ in 2024 to continue picking up the county's rubbish. The authority has taken over operating the waste transfer stations and household waste recycling centres.

Fire-ravaged remains of Glasgow building to be demolished



The remaining section of a historic Glasgow building wrecked by a fire is to be demolished.

Glasgow City Council said the decision was made due to public safety concerns with parts of the building on Union Corner, next to Glasgow Central Station, continuing to fall off since Sunday's blaze.

The news came as the first minister said details of financial support for businesses affected by the fire would be set out very soon.

The fire spread from a vape shop on Union Street through the B-listed Victorian building on Sunday night, leaving it in ruins. Firefighters remain at the scene to continue to cool any remaining hot spots. There were no casualties in the blaze.

Glasgow City Council took control of the building from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service earlier and were able to carry out an assessment of the damaged structure for the first time.

In a statement, the local authority said: "We are now in control of the Union Street site, and after a full and final assessment of the remaining structure, has decided that demolition must happen in the interests of public safety. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are still on site to take care of remaining hot spots."

The council has not yet announced when the demolition will be carried out.

(BBC article continues)

They have both now been merged into HMRC.

But it seems daft to me that for a job that centres around spoken communication, with no visuals, they give it to someone with a strong accent?

This morning's early Gloucester-Southampton service got delayed somewhere between Chippenham and Melksham

From Shippax.com

THE BALTIC WHALE has now been put into operation

FERRYScandlines has put its new ferry, THE BALTIC WHALE, into operation on the Rødby–Puttgarden route. The ferry marks an important step toward the company’s long-term goal of operating without direct emissions by 2040, while also increasing capacity for freight customers.

THE BALTIC WHALE is the largest ferry in the world capable of sailing entirely on electricity charged from shore. Despite its size, the ferry can be recharged for the crossing in just a few minutes.

The ferry departed on its first trip from Denmark to Germany on the 10 March at 08:05. THE BALTIC WHALE has been built as a freight ferry with space for 66 freight units distributed across two decks and the capability to handle IMO Cargo (dangerous goods). This means that more freight can be moved onto THE BALTIC WHALE, freeing up capacity for cars and passengers on Scandlines’ four double-ended RoPax ferries on the route - especially during the high season.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out at midday on March 24 and 26, April 21 and 23 and May 19 and 21.

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47

Facilities on the 06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street due 09:47.
Disabled toilet facilities are not available.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please find attached running oder / agenda notes for this evening and minutes from the committee meeting a month ago.  The running order document include links to many other documents too.

This is a circular email. Please share as and if appropriate - all are welcome  … And if you have already sent apologies, please forgive this circular repeat and I already have your apologies.    If you can’r make this evening - don’t worry;  this is a silly-busy month and day, and slides and news will be online afterwards and through (I hope and thank you) the Melksham News.

Finally - massive “thank you” to everyone circulated and readers who have been are are doing so much to support MTUG and public and sustainable transport in the Melksham area.  This is a year of great change - of great opportunity but of great risk too.   It’s also the year where we’re moving from a few of us doing a lot towards a far wider community and partnership involvement as we help current transport information, use and improvement in the Melksham area - for this week, this summer, next year, and the next decade as Melksham grows and changes.

I look forward to seeing those of you who can make this evening - packed agenda!

Graham

Graham Ellis - graham@sn12.net
Links via https://www.sn12.net
07974 925 928 / 01225 708225
48 Spa Road, Melksham SN12 7NY, UK