A Stopover At Lincoln
Although my ultimate destination was Sheffield to see Ipswich Town play, I had brunch with an old friend at Lincoln on the way.
In some ways Lincoln and its station is a very sore point in the UK’s rail network. And my brief visit flagged up many of them.
The rail service from London for an important city like Lincoln, is inadequate despite many promises of direct trains from the capital. I changed at Newark and the train from there to Lincoln was a very clean, but very crowded Class 153. But then it was run by East Midlands Trains, who aren’t exactly famous for providing services that customers want, as my trip earlier in the week to Derby showed.
I found the information at the station to be up with the worst in levels of inadequacy. I knew that our meeting place; Carluccio’s was in the High Street, but I ended up walking the wrong way down it, as maps were not of the standard that many places now have. If they want to get tourists from London on the eight hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta in 2015, they ought to get some wayfinding experts in to advise.
There is also the infamous level crossing that causes endless holds-up to pedestrians and drivers going about their business. Surely, this relic of the nineteenth century should be done away. But as Beeching removed the obvious solution, it looks like it is something that the city will have to live with for some time.
The Hospital Test
As I travel around the country, I like to apply the hospital test to all of the places I visit.
Imagine, that a friend or relative has been taken ill or had an accident and is in the local hospital!
By going to the local main station or airport, can you get to that hospital easily using information available there?
Some hospitals are easy to do the last link, but for others, the information is sadly lacking.
I’ve just looked up Barnet Hospital, where both my in-laws died. I did find the nearest station and bus information on the web site, but it wasn’t on a front page link, as it seemed to assume most will drive. On the Transport for London web site, I did find a spider map for the buses to and from the hospital. But not in every case, will I have such good local knowledge!
Incidentally, it seems that most London hospitals have their own spider maps showing all buses around the hospital. The only one I can’t find is one for University College Hospital.
How does your local hospital stack up?
Remember a high proportion of visitors will not be in the first flush of youth and many will have mobility and eyesight problems.
Ealing Has Got Liths
Ealing has now got some of the Legible London liths.
Ealing Has Got Liths
It is good to see them spreading around the City.
One even helkped me find the exhibition.
An Open Letter To The Lord Mayor Of Liverpool
I spent four years in Liverpool in the 1960s and as I met my late wife there, although like me, she was a Londoner and we had forty good years together, I have a great affection for the Second City. I also know the city well, although that is in part memory from nearly fifty years ago.
On Friday, I took the Virgin train up from Euston for a meeting with Liverpool University. As I had an hour to spare, instead of going straight to my meeting, I decided to awake an old memory by going to see the Richard Huws fountain by the Pier Head. I took the Wirral Line to James Street station and I must say, the Underground looks very good after refurbishment.
The fountain didn’t disappoint, especially as it was working.
I then needed to find my way up to the University. As I’m 66 and have a free bus pass, I remembered that in the 1960s, there was a bus from the Pier Head up Brownlow Hill. But I also know, that traffic layouts in Liverpool have changed a lot. So I did what I would do in London and found a bus stop. I tried several and there was no information that I could find that told me how to get up the hill. So in the end, I took a taxi and got entertained by one of Liverpool’s many comedians.
I know the city from a walking point of view well, but I didn’t see any serious walking maps like those in London, Ipswich or Bristol. I even gave directions to a group of alumni from my university, who were looking for the same fountain.
On the subject of information about the city, you rarely find any adverts or posters in London, directing tourists to visit Liverpool. Only recently, I finally persuaded an old friend, to have a couple of days with her husband in Liverpool and they returned thoroughly impressed with what they had visited. I recently came up to see the Chagall exhibition and the floor of St. George’s Hall, but I only heard about the latter by accident. I’m glad I didn’t miss it!
Unlike some cities I won’t name, you have the attractions, the hotels and the restaurants, but they just need to be linked with more and better information.
Oslo’s Tourist And Transport Information
There is a lot of transport information in Oslo, but much of it, is not really geared at tourists and especially those that walk everywhere like me. Here’s some examples.
Note that the bus timing information is in the stop itself and the clock in the train information.
But there were no walking maps and you needed to have a paper guide or book in your hand.
Plymouth Gives Payday Lenders The Boot
Plymouth has banned the adverts for payday lenders from billboards and bus shelters, as is reported here in the Independent.
Perhaps they could use the space saved on bus shelters to provide user-friendly maps and bus information, to help visitors to the city.
Cambridge Tries Its Hardest To Discourage Visitors
I changed trains in Cambridge yesterday and as it was a convenient time for a meal, I took the opportunity to go into the centre to have a late lunch in Carluccio’s.
Every time I go to the city, these days, it would appear that the bus stop layout is different and further from the main entrance to the station. And there’s no simple information, which has a map of the various stops and go to bus stop X for the city centre.
The first stop you come to, tells you all about the Cambridge Busway, but I know that the bus-way at the station goes to Addenbrooke’s and not the city centre.
After waiting at the wrong stop for a couple of minutes, only to see a couple of buses I could have taken, go past. So I waited ten minutes, when if there had been proper information, I’d have waited one.
When a bus did arrive, it was the usual scrum at the single door used for all entrance and exit. Visitors from London, who use the capital’s buses must really fume at the slowness. It’s even worse for people like me with a Freedom Pass, as you must take it out of your London folder to put it flat on the reader on the bus. Surely, we could have a touch and enter system based on Oyster technology all over the country now, as it’s been working in London for several years.
I knew where I was going, but I didn’t know exactly where the stop I needed was. I guessed wrong, as Cambridge buses don’t display the stop names or announce them as all sensible buses do. It must be a nightmare if you’re blind!
Coming back it was a repeat of the process; guess the stop, ask the driver, fight your way through the scrum and then walk farther than you used, to get to the train station.
It really is rather Kafkaesque and how much does it cost the city in lost visitors?
I suppose the only beneficiaries are the taxi-drivers, as those probably get a lot more business.
An Attempt To Find The New Olympic Park
On Monday, I attempted to find the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which the BBC announced had opened.
After a very unwelcoming walk from Eastfield, I found the entrance and it was crawling in security, who said it opened later.
Information and maps were also a bit lacking about the buses, but eventually I got a 588 to Hackney Wick, from where I got a 30 home.
A Bug In The Software
I took this picture on the Southbound platform, at The Angel, this morning.
A Bug In The Software
How could the second train arrive before the first? Do they have an overtaking line to the north of the station?
In the end, it arrived in under three minutes.
More From The Institute Of Economics and Peace
the web site of the The Institute Of Economics and Peace is fascinating.
Shown here, is a comparison of the various US States. As most would expect, Maine and Vermont are at the top, but to me, there are some surprising states in the bottom ten.
And here is a global terrorism index.
Both reports have very good interactive maps.
I think research like this is invaluable, when it comes to sorting out the world.
The Anonymous Widower 