Will The Fight Continue Over Potash On The York Moors?
This article on Grough is entitled Campaigners fight on as North York Moors potash mine formally approved.
As the mine could employ upwards of a couple of thousand people, have the campaigners sent personal letters to all the redundant steelworkers explaining how it is more important that they are unemployed?
How can people be so selfish?
An Open Letter To George Osborne About Teeside
I should say, I have no connection to Teeside, except that I quite like the area.
There is little that can be done about SSI Redcar, other than hope for a miracle, as there is so much steel being produced in the world, that the price will only get lower and the plant will get less and less economic.
I also live in Dalston, which since the arrival of the London Overground five years ago, has very much gone up in the world! And in some ways, like employment, gone up for those at all levels in society.
So I very much feel, that improving a railway and other forms of public transport, can only make an area more attractive for investment, employment, living and leisure.
Teeside has been lobbying for a Metro for years, to link the knit the area together.
There is only one way that this can be provided in the absolutely necesary short time-scale.
The railway line between Newton Aycliffe and Middlebrough should be electrified, as soon as possible. Immediately, this would enable.
- The new trains being produced at Newton Aycliffe by Hitachi, to get to the East Coast Main Line under their own power.
- Direct electric train services between Middlesbrough, Darlington and all points North and South from Edinburgh to London on the East Coast Main Line.
Northern Rail or their successor have been mandated in the new Invitation to Tender for the franchise to provide 120 new carriages to replace the disgusting Pacer trains.
Some of these new carriages should be the IPEMU variant of the new Aventra trains, being produced by Bombardier at Derby, which could by the use of the electrification at Middlesbrough and on the East Coast Main Line and the trains on-board batteries be able to run on the following routes.
- Saltburn to Bishop Auckland via Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley Line
- Hexham to Nunthorpe via the Tyne Valley Line, Newcastle, Sunderland, the Durham Coast Line, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.
- Middlesbrough to Whitby could be done later.
The faster electric trains would increase capacity, decrease journey times and improve frequencies.
The only construction needed for the new trains, would be a small amount of platform lengthening and adjustments to the track and signalling.
The Creation Of The Tees Valley Metro
James Cook station is the first project that could be thought of as part of the proposal to create a Tees Valley Metro, which is described in Wikipedia like this.
The Tees Valley Metro is a project to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service. In the initial phases the services will be heavy rail mostly along existing alignments. The later phase may introduce tram-trains to allow street running.
Tram-trains could be ideal for the line and perhaps if they ran past the Riverside stadium could be used to provide a stop there.
The proposed layout of the metro is powerful in that it links the East Coast Main Line at Darlington and the possibly soon-to-be-electrified Middlesbrough station to a number of both local heavy rail lines and a couple of heritage ones, opening up the area for all sorts of business, leisure and employment opportunities.
If Newton Aycliffe becomes a major train building centre as Hitachi hope, then surely that area could become an important destination on the Tees Valley Metro.
This Google Earth image shows the Tees Valley Line through Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough
Note Middlesbrough station at the west (left) and South Bank station at the east, at the top of the image.
The current Tees Valley Line threads its way between the two stations, on the north side of the main A66 road, passing close to the Riverside stadium.
The Esk Valley Line to James Cook, Nunthorpe and Whitby branches off from this line between Middlesbrough station and the stadium and goes off in a generally south-easterly direction alongside the A172 road.
A Dreadful, But Totally Avoidable Train Journey
As a coeliac who avoids gluten and also because I’ve had a stroke and am on Warfarin, I have to be very careful about my diet. For this reason I plan my pit-stops well when I travel by train. If I do change trains, I usually arrange this at a station like Birmingham New Street, Cambridge or Leeds, where I know there is a good M & S Simply Food or a selection of restaurants that I trust.
The last couple of days, I have been in Scotland and on the way back I saw Ipswich Town play at Middlesbrough.
As Middlesbrough is a particularly difficult town for suitable food, I decided to come south as soon as possible after the lunchtime match. I did get lunch of sorts from the M & S in the town.
Quiche And Lemonade On A Bitterly Cold Day
It was bitterly cold and I ate it in the gardens in from of the Crown Court. But hey, two of my family’s bloodlines are Jewish and Huguenot and I reckon at times, they’d have found my simple lunch a veritable feast.
A couple of weeks before, I’d tried to book a First Class ticket from Middlesbrough to Kings Cross, but found the prices rather stratospheric, so in the end I bought a reasonably priced First Class ticket from Middlesbrough to Peterborough changing at York, from where I could get a Great Northern train into London.
I had assumed that the difficult availability of tickets was because of the England-Scotland match at Twickenham and at no time did the on-line booking process on East Coast inform me of the real reason for a ticket shortage.
It was only, when I caught the Virgin Trains East Coast train at York, did the staff inform me of the reason. The East Coast Main Line was subject to engineering work and we’d be using a diversion.
Unlike some other companies, East Coast’s gluten-free offering is non-existent, so I was getting hungrier by the hour, as we were shown the delights of the GNGE in the dark.
As the train was going on to Kings Cross and there were plenty of empty seats, I asked the conductor if I could buy a ticket to complete the journey on the train, rather than decamping at Peterborough to purchase a ticket for another train.
Astronomic prices were mentioned, which bore no relation to the twenty pounds or so, my phone said I would need to spend on-line for a Standard Class ticket. So I got off and bought a ticket in the Booking Office for around ten pounds for Great Northern. Incidentally, the Off-Park Single with a Railcard for East Coast is £14.75. So where did a price of three times that come from?
I finally arrived in London six hours after I left Middlesbrough. To cap it all, the only gluten-free food left in M & S at Kings Cross was one packet of sandwiches.
I could say the sandwiches were stale to add colour to this tale! But they were excellent!
If the works on the line had been flagged up when I tried to book the ticket, I would have only used East Coast as a last resort. After all, I could have gone via Sheffield or Manchester, where I can at least get something to eat. The Booking Office clerk at Peterborough had told me that they have to tell personal callers that there are problems! So why not on the web?
The conductor on the train, said it was all my fault, as I should have gone to Kings Cross, to read all the information about engineering works. Doesn’t that remove one of the advantages of booking on-line?
If you say you want to collect a ticket from a station that is not the starting point of your journey, the train purchase web sites ask you if this is what you want to do. Surely, a warning if there are works or likely delays on your route could be similarly indicated.
The real losers in this tale are Virgin Trains East Coast, as they had an empty seat between Peterborough and Kings Cross, for which I would probably have paid a reasonable amount. Next time I go to York or Doncaster where there is an alternative, I will also probably use it.
Match Thirty-Seven – Middlesbrough 4 – Ipswich 1
I travelled very apprehensively to this early match and my fears were realised by the heavy defeat.
The crowd wasn’t big, as this picture shows.
A Sparse Crowd At Middlesbrough
I do think if they are going to have an early kick-off for the benefit of Sky, then clubs should at least make sure the crowd is bigger.
The match turned in an unusual way.
After four minutes Ayala scored for Middlesbrough and in the process both Ayala and the Ipswich goalkeeper; Dean Gerken were injured.
The replacement of Gerken made no difference to Ipswich, but after twenty-four minutes Ayala was replaced by Jonathan Woodgate. In his time, Woodgate has been talked about as one of the best centre-backs in England, but he’s hardly fulfilled his promise, due to a long list of injuries.
After he came on, Ipswich got hardly a sniff at goal.
I do hope if we are going to play in Middlesbrough in the future, that the match is scheduled for August or September.
I don’t think there can be a colder place in England!
James Cook Station – The Reinvention Of The Halt
Simple stations or halts, were once very common on UK railways. These pictures show James Cook station in Middlesbrough, which is a new small station, that opened in May 2014.
As the trains stopping at the station have conductors to sell tickets, there is no ticket machine, but there is a smart shelter, a help point, a destination board, a step-free bridge and ramps to the single platform.
James Cook station is the first construction in the possible creation of a Tees Valley Metro, which may see other new stations created or old ones reopened.
Surely, some of the ideas used in the design of the single platform James Cook station could be used at several places on the Tees Valley Metro and the wider UK rail network.
Incidentally, is there another station named solely after a person?
Match Twenty-Two – Ipswich 2 – Middlesbrough 0
At one point, I thought I might miss this match.
But as luck would have it, I was on the 13:00 rather than the 13:30 train out of London, so the delay induced by signalling problems in the Shenfield area only meant I missed the first ten minutes or so of the match.
I’ll put in this quote from the Middlesbrough manager; Aitor Karanka, as it sums up what happened well.
Ipswich wanted it more than us. Murphy was first to the rebound for their first goal, Teddy Bishop at 18 years old was the best player on the pitch and Jay Tabb, at 5ft 5ins, scored with his head.
With a bit of luck, we’d have had a third, but a two-nil victory keeps us near the top of the Championship.
A Pleasant Surprise In Middlesbrough
I like nice cafes and it was only as I was leaving Middlesbrough, that I found the Traveller’s Rest in the station.
From a quick perusal of their menu, it would appear that there is something I could have eaten, which was a pity, as I didn’t get anything to eat until I got home about five hours later.
There’a positive review of the cafe here.
I did chat to the owner and he also indicated that Northern Rail had been very encouraging in his venture. Are they repeating the philosphy, which was obviously at play with the Overground at Crystal Palace station and South Eastern at Margate?
Let’s hope so, as all fair-sized stations need a distinctive and spacious cafe or restaurant for the passengers.
The Unwelcoming Thing About Teesside
It can’t be said that Teesside is not a breezy place and the wind on my visit was strong, cold and straight off the North Sea. Joking with the locals about this, they at least felt that this winter, they hadn’t had much rain.
I think the architect of the Riverside Stadium took this into account, as it was pleasant inside for the match. Even if the result was disappointing.
Teesside is certainly a place, where you should wrap up well. But saying that, one of the things I remember about living in Felixstowe is the wind off the North Sea.
Walking To The Riverside Stadium
My purpose in going to Middlesbrough was to see Ipswich play Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. On a pleasant day, it is one of the better walks from a station to the stadium, as there are things to look at.
I even popped into the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where I went over their current exhibition called Art and Optimism in 1950s Britain. It was interesting, but it was an exhibition, that would have been excellent to visit with someone of my own age, as a lot of the things shown, would bring back memories for those like me, who can remember the 1950s. I can’t actually remember the Festival of Britain, but I have seen photographs of myself, there in my Cumfifolda pushchair, with my grandmother.
I was a bit disappointed to see that some of Middlesbrough’s liths had been vandalised, as had the statue outside the court. There’s a report here on the latter, but the other damage looked like thieves were after the metal.
The Anonymous Widower 