Ipswich Town’s Away Support
At Rotherham on Saturday, where I saw Ipswich win 5-2, the away end was pretty full.
It’s always the same, even if the match is a long way away!
Ipswich does seem to have a large diaspora, but a surprising number travelled up from Suffolk.
Compared to some of the pathetic away crowds we see at Portman Road, Ipswich Town’s away support always surprises me. I think the team appreciate it too!
A New Route To The City Ground, Nottingham
Ipswich Town went to play Nottingham Forest at the City Ground today.
Usually, I walk from Nottingham station using Trent Bridge to cross the Trent.
But today, I decided to use the extended tram route to go to the stop at Meadows Embankment, from where I walked along the river to the ground.
I did cross the Trent once on the Wilford Suspension Bridge that carries utilities over the river, but it is a much more pleasant route, that is less crowded and away from the traffic.
This Google Map allows a comparison of the distances.
Walking To The City Ground
The Wilford Toll Bridge, where the trams cross the Trent, is the westernmost bridge on this map, whilst the Wilford Suspension Bridge is just South of the Nottingham War Memorial.
As an aside the Wilford Toll Bridge, is the only bridge which says it is a toll one, but doesn’t even allow vehicles to cross, let alone charge them for it?
If you are driving to a match at any of the three grounds by Trent Bridge, you can go to the Park and Ride at Clifton South and then get a tram to Meadows Embankment and walk. I think that the Park and Rid could be free if you use the tram.
I walked the obvious route from the tram to the ground, but there may be a shorter route that cuts out the bend in the river or cuts through the houses after crossing the suspension bridge.
Perhaps, Nottingham City Council should signpost the best route!
Plumpton Station, Level Crossing And Racecourse
When a friend phoned me from Brighton asking me next time I was in the area to meet him for a coffee, I decided to combine the trip with a visit to the site of the level crossing in I Wonder If This Happens In Europe.
These are pictures I took at Plumpton station.
It would not be called grand, but it must be one of the few stations in the UK with an attached racecourse.
The rebuilding of the level crossing is causing problems according to Wikipedia. This is said.
Network Rail closed the level crossing in September 2015 so that the gates on the crossing could be replaced. However, Lewes District Council rejected the plans to replace the gates as it would cause “substantial harm to the significance of the signal box”. Network Rail have said that they cannot open the crossing as the work is not completed. This has effectively split the village in two, with some motorists having to take a six or seven mile detour.
I did chat with a local and her grey whippet and feel that there could be more to this than meets the eye.
If you type “Plumpton suicide” into Google, you find reports, where people have killed themselves at the crossing.
But I also feel that Network Rail haven’t been too clever in this one. My view is that stations like Plumpton need at least a half-hourly service, as this means you have a proper turn-up-and-go service.
One of the pieces of work being done in the area, is to close all the signal boxes and handle all signalling from Three Bridges Operating Centre. This work combined with an automated level crossing, could surely enable all the half-hourly services between Lewes and London to stop at the station.
But it would enrage the militant wing of the heritage lobby!
As to the signal box, they should be looking at a version of the Highams Park solution. Perhaps it would make a cafe and/or business centre.
Starting a half-hourly service might have the effect of increasing traffic at the station.
It’s a difficult one, but with the population of areas like Sussex getting older, more numerous and more and more people cutting use of their cars, who knows?
For the duration of the level crossing closure, Network Rail and Southern had a golden opportunity to experiment with stopping all services. Some of those drivers, who are doing a long detour, might have been persuaded to try the trains to Lewes, Brighton or London.
The National Infrastructure Commission Is Welcomed By Warwickshire
This article on Rail News is entitled Warwickshire rail campaigners welcome news of National Infrastructure Commission and it discusses the struggles of local campaigners trying to restore the rail line between Stratford-on-Avon and Honeybourne, on the North Cotswold Route. Wikipedia says this about the plans.
The Shakespeare Line Promotion Group is promoting a scheme to reinstate the 9 miles (14 km) “missing Link” between Honeybourne and Stratford. Called the “Avon Rail Link”, the scheme (supported as a freight diversionary route by DB Schenker) would make Stratford-upon-Avon railway station a through station once again with improved connections to the Cotswolds and the South. The scheme faces local opposition. There is, however, a good business case for Stratford-Cotswolds link.
Note this could also be a freight diversion route.
Last year, I went to Stratford-on-Avon and wrote Stratford Upon Avon Station Is Getting A Facelift.
I hinted at more services to come and linked to the Wikipedia comments above.
To return to the Rail News article, it says some interesting things like this.
A NIC could overcome one of the biggest hurdles that has existed for decades. For mainly no other reason the route from Stratford to Honeybourne straddles two government regional boundaries (West Midlands and South West) two Network Rail regions (Chiltern/West Midlands and Western), three County Councils, three District Councils and two Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Is anybody in charge? Perhaps the NIC will be. This is said on visitors to Stratford-on-Avon.
Stratford only attracts six per cent of visitors to the town to travel by rail, while the national average for visitors by rail to similar UK rail-connected tourist destinations is over double that, at 13 per cent.
As the line has a good case for reopening and Stratford-on-Avon station has been upgraded, perhaps this is a project that should be looked at seriously.
We are probably going to live in a new era if George Osbourn’s plans for business rate reform come to fruition, which might see progressive Councils developing infrastructure to enable business, housing and tourism opportunities.
Surely a reconstructed line from Stratford-on-Avon to Cheltenham would tick a few boxes.
There is a major prize at the Cheltenham end if Cheltenham Racecourse, which is one of the busiest in the UK, could be linked to the main line rail network at Cheltenham Spa station. The Google Map shows the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway going past the racecourse, where there is already a station.
Cheltenham Racecourse
Unfortunately, there is a supermarket which is partially blocking the route between the racecourse and Cheltenham Spa station.
These are the sort of problems that a National Infrastructure Commission should have the power to solve or dismiss as insoluble.
Watching National Hunt racing at Cheltenham is one of the great sporting spectacles of the British Isles and a viable rail service to the course from London and Oxford needs to be created.
Manchester United 3 – Ipswich 0
These pictures document the match.
It was all very disappointing, but then Mick has his priorities of getting out of the Championship.
Old Trafford is not the sort of stadium, I thought it would be. It had a rather tired air and compared to the Emirates or the Amex at Brighton, it was very second-rate.
New Zealand v Namibia At The Olympic Stadium
These pictures document my visit.
Compare the Olympic Stadium with Old Trafford of the previous night.
The final sporting effect of this stadium will be to propel West Ham up the League, as this is a stadium that would fill, if it was staging Leyton Orient against Accrington. Apologies to both teams and their fans, but spectators would go for the experience!
One of the stadium’s best features is getting to and from the venue.
Going, I went early and easily met my friend in Eastfield, which was uncrowded ninety minutes before the match.
My friend had taken one train from Suffolk ans we bought some snacks in Marks & Spencer. How many stadia are served by long-distance trains?
Coming back, I walked out the back of the stadium and took the DLR from Pudding Mill Lane station. I could even have walked the other way to cross the site on the Greenway to get a 30 bus direct to my door.
When Crossrail opens in 2019, the stadium and the Olympic Park will be at one of the best transport interchanges in the UK.
The Olympic stadium, its setting in an enormous park and its transport links, is in a totally different class.
I Rode A Dream
On my way to Manchester for Ipswich Town’s match at United.
I Rode A Dream
What will be will be!
A French View Of Croydon
There is an article in the Standard entitled French newspaper brands Croydon ‘dull and monotonous’ as French rugby team arrives for Rugby World Cup.
What are the French rugby team doing staying South of the River anyway?
Any North Londoner will tell you, as my mother warned me, that you can get lost down there!
Dreadful Doncaster
Doncaster is a town that doesn’t deserve to have a football team.
I went to the match on Tuesday, where Ipswich won by four goals to one.
On arrival at the station, as I’d got plenty of time, I thought I’d take a bus to the excellent Keepmoat Stadium. Doncaster station is next to the bus station, but I couldn’t find any information or in fact anybody to ask. So I had to take a taxi.
I asked the taxi-driver how I would get a taxi back after the game and he said that I couldn’t, as because of the traffic taxis can’t get near the ground.
Two stewards told me that I could get a bus from a particular stop to get back. So that was some progress.
As I had to catch the 22:43 train, I decided to leave after the match proper, which meant I missed the extra time, but it did give me an hour to get to the station.
Unfortunately, the buses seemed to have stopped running, so after waiting for twenty minutes, I decided to use the most reliable transport I had – my feet!
But there were no signposts and after scrambling over busy dual carriageways and walking through dark and dismal subways, I made it with about ten minutes to spare.
If a ground, is not obvious from the station, then councils and football clubs, should at least provide some signs and maps.
I shall not be going to the football in Doncaster on a Tuesday night again.
At least I’d booked a ticket in First for the trip home for £23.75.
Wliford Bridge On The Nottingham Express Transit
Wilford Bridge opened over a hundred years ago as a toll bridge and parts of it are Listed.
The Nottingham Express Transit (NET) needed to cross the River Trent and instead of building a new bridge this bridge was widened and strengthened to accept trams.
I think that the architects and engineers have done a splendid job to create a very good crossing for trams, pedestrians and cyclists. As I walked across it, there was a lot of cyclists and pedestrians crossing the river.
I do wonder if the Meadows Embankment tram stop on the north side of the bridge will become one of the better ways to get to the cricket and football grounds. You would park at Clifton South or another convenient Park-and-Ride and after getting off the tram, would walk along the river. The Google Map shows the Trent from Wilford Bridge to Trent Bridge.
River Trent
I don’t know how good the walking route is at present, but surely signs and information on the river route and a possibly more direct one cutting out the bend in the River Trent should be provided. I suspect that the route is shorter than it first appears, as there is the Wilford Suspension bridge on the other side of the bend.
The Anonymous Widower 