Manchester In The Slow Lane
An article published in The Times today says that a survey has shown that Coventry is the speediest city in the UK.
It also says Manchester is the slowest!
Could it be that Manchester has a terrible bus system, with little information and single door buses, that take forever to load and unload passengers? So buses waiting at stops, slow everybody down. I commented on the public transport system in Manchester here.
The Correct Term is a Light Engine
When you have just a railway engine travelling by itself, it is called a light engine!
One has caused chaos on the West Coast Main Line by getting itself derailed at Bletchley, as reported here on the BBC. But few reports have called it a light engine, most have called it a freight train, as it is owned by a company called Freightliner, although it is at present leased to Virgin Trains. So at least they can read, even if they don’t know the correct railway term.
The BBC report says this.
A spokesman for Network Rail said the Freightliner locomotive appeared to have approached a set of points at Bletchley south junction too fast.
This caused the tracks to buckle, damaged wooden sleepers and brought down some overhead cables.
There is as yet “no estimate for the completion of repairs and therefore it is not yet known whether services will continue to be affected on Sunday”, according to the National Rail Enquiries website.
As no-one seems to have been seriously hurt, but many have been seriously delayed and inconvenienced, this will turn out to be one of those stories that will run and run all the way to the Supreme Court. After all the engine wasn’t owned by Virgin Trains, but it was being run on their behalf.
So will Virgin Trains be suing themselves for all the compensation, they’ve paid out to passengers?
Incidentally, I usually go to see Ipswich at Coventry, but won’t be going today. I was going to go and get in by buying a ticket on the gate. But because of this light engine crash, I wouldn’t have been able to get to Coventry.
So should I add my case for compensation to the rest?
No! But, if I’d bought a ticket you could be rest ensured, I wouldn’t be a happy bunny, aif I’d been unable to get to Coventry!
One Of My Least Favourite Stadia Will Get a Station
The Ricoh Arena at Coventry is a reas9onable stadium, unless you want to get there when the buses aren’t running from the centre. That happened on News Years Day in 2011 as I reported here.
But it would now appear that by December 2013, it will have its own station! About time too!
92 Clubs – Day 11 – Coventry, Crawley, Crewe
This was three trips out of London and it was quite a long day.
I left Euston in late morning for Coventry and it was then a twenty minute walk to the bus station at the least customer-friendly interchange I’ve found in the UK. The town has form here, as on January the first, they didn’t provide any transport to the match except taxis.
It was then a twenty five minute wait for the bus, which wasn’t good, as I missed one, as they don’t announce the bus at the stop and you can’t see the numbers from the gate. Is this why in Cambridge, the buses always come nose in to the stand, so you can read where they are going?
The ground was deserted as this picture shows.
The Ricoh Arena, Coventry
It was then a walk round a retail park to find the bus home. Guess what, there were no signs to the bus station. Eventually, a bus inspector told me to walk out the back and get a bus from the main road. It was a 48 and it got me reasonably quickly back to the centre. It was still quite a walk to the train station, but not as much as from the bus station.
From Euston, i took the Victoria line to Victoria and tried to get a ticket to Crawley. Everything was rather busy and as I had plenty of time, I decided to use my freedom Pass to get me East Croydon, where I could get a return to Crawley. It should have been easy, but no-one seemed to know, which was the next platform for an East Croydon train. I was sent to platform 4, then 18, then 14 and finally back to 16. Organisation? No! Headless-chickenism of the worst kind.
Eventually, I got to Crawley stadium and the taxi driver took the picture.
Outside Crawley Town Stadium
I had been unsure, as to whether I would do Crewe, when I returned to London, but as Virgin have no rush-hour restrictions, I took the 18:10 to the famous railway junction.
It was raining when I got there and just walked the hundred metres or so to the deserted ground.
A Wet and Dark Alexandra Stadium
Thirty minutes after arriving in Crewe, I was back on the train south.
Virgin Do It Right for the Dogs
Whilst waiting for the train, I noticed this at Coventry station.
Dog Water at Coventry
If only the rest of Coventry thought so much about visitors. After all, the city is just an hour from Euston and so would make an ideal day trip if the city got its act together. I’m sure Virgin would co-operate as there is plenty of space on the trains.
After the Match
It was in some ways a disappointing draw for Ipswich, as they dominated for long periods and should have scored two before they actually did.
But we did have the pleasure of seeing the odious Marlon King sent off for a tackle well up with the sort of behaviour that got him doing time in prison.
I had been assured by one of the stewards that there would be buses from Tesco’s after the match.
Wrong! Especially, as he’d checked on the radio.
So it was a taxi to the city centre, which cost me as much as my lunch and about the same as a one-way ticket to or from London. Still the vehicle was clean and the driver was pleasant enough.
I do find it rather sad, that in some of these cities, like Coventry and Middlesbrough, it seems that the limit of ambition of many Asian youth is to own their own taxis and consequently, these cities seem to have thousands of taxis, completely non-functioning bus systems and no decent walking and cycling routes.
Perhaps though, it is not the limit of their ambition, but surely there are other worthwhile professions they could enter.
Or is it down to that belief typical of many young men and probably me at 20, that you aren’t anybody unless you have your own car.
Only now, when driving is off-limits to me, do I realise that there is something better. Certainly in London, I am more mobile now on the buses after a stroke, than I was in my twenties, when I had a car and all the attendant costs and problems like finding a place to park.
What I Had Intended to Do Yesterday!
In an earlier post, I said how disappointed I was with Coventry yesterday.
To be fair to the city, I think I should say what I had intended to do and talk about some of it.
When I got my fixture list, I saw that Ipswich Town were playing there on New Year’s Day, so I made a mental note that if I had moved to London by then, I would go and visit the cathedral, as it is a mystical place, where I could contemplate the recent deaths of my wife and son. I thought too, that I might sample a good curry before the match and perhaps visit an art gallery or a museum.
The day had started well, with just the minor distraction of being unable to buy my copy of The Times at Euston, after a twenty minute bus ride from the Balls Pond Road, just round the corner from where I live.
The train left London dead on time and all the way to Coventry, I had two seats side-by-side in Standard Class all to myself. My only complaint would be that the seat back tables are a bit difficult for me to balance a magazine on, but then that isn’t serious and as I was paying just over £10 each way, it was good value and comfortable.
Arriving in Coventry, we were still on time and as I don’t know the city well, I decided to look for a map or some form of tourist information. Perhaps, I should have gone elsewhere or perhaps come on a different day, as I couldn’t fmind anything. I almost felt that I’d come to Coventry on the wrong day for the match, as the place was totally closed. Even the WH Smith’s was closed, so I couldn’t get my paper.
outside of the station, the forecourt was equally dead with no buses or taxis. Eventually, I found a helpful Coventrian, who pointed me to a rather scruffy underpass and bridge that led towards the city centre. It wasn’t the best marked walk, but I got there passing perhaps half-a-dozen people on the way. Comparing this to the busy Upper Street, the bus had taken me through on the way to Euston, just reinforced my fears that Coventry was in fact shut and I should make my way home as soon as possible to watch other football on Sky.
There was few people about, as I walked up past a few smark banks and endless dreary stores, which seemed to be mainly amusement arcades or pawn shops.
The cathedral is surrounded by a few mediaeval steeets and I did find a Pizza Express, where I decided to have a salad Nicoise for lunch, as time was now running short and I hadn’t seen an Indian restaurant, let alone one that looked to be decent. The salad was acceptable, but the waitress got it delivered with bread sticks, so I sent it back. Although she talked and behaved like one of Catherine Tate‘s creations, I put it all down to bad training, so it wasn’t her fault.
I then walked to the cathedrals and like the rest of the city they were deserted. Perhaps, not a bad thing really, as I was able to pay my respects to both my wife and son and those who died in Coventry’s Blitz in almost absolute silence.
After the visit I walked towards the bus station and found a Sainsburys, where I was finally able to buy my copy of The Times. But was Sainsbury’s busy? No! Of course not. Perhaps, evrybody was sleeping off last night’s excesses, but it was now after two.
It was now getting to be like one of those series, where everybody has died from some sort of bug and there is no-one left. Now that I’d got the paper, I actually checked that Ipswich were playing in the city, but couldn’t find the fixture list.
The bus station was totally deserted except for a few Coventry fans looking for transport to the Ricoh. But there was none, until two kind Coventry fans suggested they give me a lift.
Surely, Coventry City shouldn’t have been selling tickets, as they did to these fans, without making sure that the transport was in place.
Travelling to the Ricoh at Coventry
Radio 5 this morning, is headlining a story that there is a bug in the iPhone. What do they think? I’ve been writing software for nearly 50 years and if you show me a man, who says he’s got a bug-free program, I’ll show you a liar.
To tell my story of yesterday, I send an e-mail entitled “Fix the iPhone, How About Fixing Coventry First”
I went to Coventry to see Ipswich play. As I can’t drive because of my strokes, I took the excellent train from Euston. However, there were no buses running from the city centre to the Ricoh Arena. Coventry was like a morgue too, with few restaurants and shops busy. In the end two kind Coventry fans took me to the stadium, but the taxi back cost more than my lunch and almost as much as a one way ticket on the train. No wonder a only a small crowd turned up to the match.
Surely, if cities like Coventry want to attract visitors, they should put in public transport that works. I suspect though that they’re all still in bed, as the Christmas iPhones don’t work.
I tweeted the whole journey on my elderly Nokia 6310i, that has no bugs and an alarm that works.
After I’ve posted this, I’ll be sending copies to disinterested parties, who don’t care. I don’t anymore, as I won’t go to Coventry again to see football, without a cast-iron guarantee that buses are running to the Arena from the Station.
A Date in My Diary
Last night, the BBC repeated the program about the Coventry Blitz. It reminded me that I shall be going to see Ipswich at Coventry on New Year’s Day. I shall of course visit both cathedrals.
I was talking to an Italian tourist at that I met at Mallaig about other places to go in the UK and I suggested Coventry. He mentioned that the verb to coventrate, or lay waste by areial bombing, is now incorporated into the Italian language.
The Largest Tea Urn in the World
The One Show on BBC this evening told the sort of tale that I like. It was of a man Ted Simmons, who after Coventry had been blitzed in the Second World War created an enormous kettle, so that people could have a hot drink. The story of the recreation of the kettle is told here.
I sometimes wonder whether we could do such things today, as we often have this negative give-up attitudes to stiff challenges. But as the Coventry Urn tale says, that if you have strong and good leadership, this will inspire others to get the job done in the best and quickest way possible.
The Anonymous Widower 