The Missing Links in East Anglian Railways
Travelling from east to west or vice versa by public transport is difficult in East Anglia.
Peterborough-Ely-Ipswich is not too bad with a fast train every two hours and bits and pieces in between. But now that the rail line is being upgraded to carry more freight, it surely should be possible to improve this service and the very much related Ipswich-Cambridge service I use about twice each week.
On the other hand Kings Lynn-Norwich-Great Yarmouth is only possible by Ely, as the line from Kings Lynn to Norwich via Dereham is long gone. And it takes over three hours compared to the hour and a half for the fast trains between Peterborough and Ipswich! So who in his or her right mind would go by rail. People like me, who have no alternative, I suppose!
I doubt that the Kings Lynn-Nowich missing link will ever be built, but as Kings Lynn will become a Thameslink station in a couple of years, there should be an increase in the variety and frequency of services into London and beyond. Hopefully, this will also mean increased frequencies btween Ely and Kings Lynn, which might make the Kings Lynn-Norwich-Great Yarmouth journey a lot easier.
There is also another missing link that a lot of people feel should be reinstated and that is Cambridge to Sudbury. If this line was to be reinstated, it would link the Marks Tey to Sudbury branch to Cambridge, via Long Melford, Cavendish, Clare and Haverhill. A station at Haverhill would be a bonus for me in my state, but then the town has grown substantially since it lost its rail link in the 1960s. I do think though that the sums don’t really add up for this line, but it would be a nice must-have, if we start expanding railways again. Schemes like this do seem to be getting the nod again in Scotland!
Since I originally wrote this piece yesterday, I’ve found this web site of the Norfolk Orbital Railway. They are proposing a reconnection of the railways from Wymondham to Sheringham along disused and heritage lines. This would be a welcome addition to the infrastructure of Norfolk.
Completing the A11
If the A47 Acle Straight is a problem in East Norfolk, then the much delayed Elveden bypass is a problem at the south west corner of the conty.
Local MPs are trying to get the project moving again, but I’m not hopeful, they’ll have any affect.
Just as at the Acle Straight, there is a rail alternative for those travelling between Cambridge and Norwich, but it needs more capacity and a more frequent service. At least though Cambridge is to get extra platforms, which may help.
But the rail route can’t take the freight for Norfolk, that comes off the A14 and the M11!
Walking Around Clare
Before and after the Tour of Britain, I had a chance to walk round Clare, which is a pleasant village dominated by a church, that is very typical of the Stour Valley.
Scotland and London Get the Pope, Suffolk Gets the Tour of Britain!
Today, the Tour of Britain came to Clare, which is a village a few miles from where I live.
I asked one of the local officers about it and he definitely felt we’d got the most entertainment and the better deal.
There was quite a few people on the streets of one of Suffolk’s most pleasant villages, as this video shows.
After the excitement, I went down the pub and had a half of Aspalls, before returning home for lunch.
Looking back on today, I’m rather pleased at how the video has turned out. It’s the first real one, I’ve done since the stroke and it’s a lot better than some I’ve tried. But this was done with my trusty Fuji S5700 and Windows Movie Maker.
Why We Are Short of Trains in East Anglia
Yet again, there has been a serious level crossing accident in East Anglia. At least the twat in a sewage tanker, who seems to have been the cause of the accident, has been held on suspicion of dangerous driving.
The knock-on of these accidents, is that yet another small diesel multiple unit, which are the backbone of rural services in Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire, is lost or at least out of service for several months. The line I use regularly between Ipswich and Cambridge, is in desperate need of a two-coach unit to replace one of the trains, which is only one coach an totally inadequate, but this accident probably means that replacement is far in the future. I hope we don’t lose one of our trains to replace the one lost in the accident.
Royal Mail to Abolish Counties
Well not quite, but they are going to remove the county line from addresses.
Just out of curiousity I looked up the address of their ground on Ipswich Town’s Web Site.
Ipswich Town Football Club
Portman Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP1 2DA
United Kingdom
So it would only mean one line disappears in this case, but I suspect there are few in the UK, who don’t know that Ipswich is in the County of Suffolk. Incidentally, there are people in Suffolk, who would say that Ipswich is in the County of East Suffolk, which was merged with West Suffolk to form Suffolk in 1972, when Ipswich lost the County Borough status it had gained in 1888.
So the address of Ipswich Town, if the pre-1972 rules applied woiuld now be exactly the same as the Royal Mail is now proposing.
Ipswich Town Football Club
Portman Road
Ipswich
IP1 2DA
United Kingdom
So it might not make much difference to many here in Suffolk, but I can imagine that others might be not so relaxed about it.
What annoys me about addreses, is that I moved here nearly twenty years ago and my bank still haven’t got the new address on my statement correct. But the Royal Mail usually gets it delivered correctly.
So does it all matter? No!
Understanding UK Regional Accents
There has just been a discussion about regional accents in the UK on Radio 5. Apparently a survey has shown that the Geordie accent is the easiest to understand and is often chosen as the voice in sat-navs.
That’s as maybe, but what bright spark put the call centre for the Child Support Agency for East Anglia in Northern Ireland. Suffolk people couldn’t understand a word that was said. My late wife, C, was a barrister and this caused her a lot of grief, as some of her clients couldn’t get their finances sorted at all.
Anyone for Squirrel?
I always refer to squirrels as American tree rats, because of the damage they do to trees and because they chase our native and much better red squirrels away. They were one of the first American cultural imports, like burgers and baseball caps, that we can well do without!
So to see that Budgens are now selling them in Crouch End is good. As they say in Suffolk, “Make the buggers work!” That was originally said by a farmer and horse-coper called Dick Freeman, when I told him that my business partner and his wife, had been offered a local speciality in Geneva; raw donkey meat. They had been horrified as at the time, as they had had a pet one called Robin. Dick hated donkeys with a passion, as they give worms to horses.
Our housekeeper at Debach was partial to squirrel and told me that young ones were very nice if fried in a little butter.
Remember though, I am of an age, who was brought up when meat was rationed in the 1940s and early 1950s. As rabbit was off coupon and my father had a customer, who could get it, we had quite a few rabbit pies in those days.
I still like rabbit and would try squirrel in a decent restaurant. After all it’s gluten-free isn’t it?
I doubt I’ll ever go again due to my health, but on Salina in the Aeolian Islands, rabbit is the local speciality, as rabbits are wild and plentiful. The rabbit at the Hotel Signum is exquisite. It’s an ambition to go again and a goal to aspire to.
The Weekends Are The Worst!
After C died in December 2007, I found that the weekends were the worst times. That is apart from Christmas, where I volunteered to help in the Bury St. Edmunds Christmas Lunch for the elderly, who had no family or nowhere else to go. But I can’t even do that now, as I’m not allowed to drive.
So in early 2010, I made a pact with myself and made sure that I always had something to do at the weekend. Often that was football at Ipswich or on their travels and I think I hardly missed a match.
Before C died, wekends were full, but not particularly busy. Usually it would mean a meal out or a visit to the theatre or the cinema, or perhaps the shops in London or Bluewater. We also had four weekends away in 2009.
How times have changed!
This weekend from the time my carer/driver left on Friday night, I didn’t see anybody except the postman and the paper lady on Saturday and my stud groom on Sunday, when he delivered the Sunday Times.
It illustrates so well, our decision to think about retirement to somewhere like Hampstead in perhaps 2012 or 2013. Little did we know what would happen with C’s death from cancer of the heart and then my strokes.
Where I live may be beautiful and tranquil, but there is no shop or pub within walking distance, no bus worth talking about and as I can’t drive, the only transport option is a taxi at £25 a time to Newmarket or Haverhill. Taxis round here are more expensive than black cabs in London. I can afford them, but I object to being ripped-off!
And then this last weekend, the weather wasn’t good and the television with one or two exceptions was complete rubbish.
I suppose the solution is to plan them, so that I don’t get another one again!
Something to Look Forward To!
The tour de France it is not, but the Tour of Britain is a spectacle in its own right and it will be coming almost past my door, as it goes from Bury St. Edmunds, through Haverhill, Clare and Cavendish on its way to Colchester on the 17th of September. Read more here.
I note two that it has teamed up with The Prostate Cancer Charity, something that has touched a few of my friends.
The Anonymous Widower 