Southwold Railway

Chelsea on sea? How very dare you! Islington on Sea if you don't mind...
What matters in that respect is that Southwold is (amd arguably always has been) a resort that doesn't need (or want) mass tourism. Even though a 3' gauge steam railway is not going to bring them, the fear of hoi polloi is strong.
(And as a regular renter of a cottage in Southwold that costs more than my house in leafy north london, I get the other side's view).

If the locals are en masse on side, it will not want for funding.

 

I thought that, given some of its residents that "Notting Hill on Sea" was more appropriate. I also thought the biggest objectors to tourists were the London 'incomers'.

 

Remember that scene in Titfield Thunderbolt with the steam roller vs the 14xx locomotive?

in Southwold that would be ‘Blyth’ vs a BMW

 

Southwold is the only town I have ever lived in where you not only often see double parked SUVs (mostly not busted for it) but also triple parking - right across the road. I kid you not. They know that there's a good chance of getting away with it.
Hopefully Blyth will be re-assembled soon, and there won't turn out to be other nasties lurking from the build - so perhaps such a re-enactment can be organised....
James

 

What was/is wrong with Blyth please? I hadn't heard of any problems with the loco.

 

I didn’t know Blyth had been disassembled…

 

Neither did I ?

May I ask what was the problem ...?

 

OK - not really my remit here (Blyth is an asset of our brother organisation, the Southwold Railway Trust, while we are the HSNGR CIO, working at Blythburgh, mainly).
I am a founder member of the SRT, and have some money in Blyth, but that does not necessarily give me the right to comment in public. Blyth was built by North Bay - now in liquidation - so the inevitable teething troubles of a new-build cannot easily (or cheaply) be sorted. Tanks and cab are off, and many fittings. I feel a bit uncomfortable about saying more here - that's really the job of SRT (who I doubt are on this forum). All I CAN say is that I hope it's all sorted (the Sharpie is a very nice-looking loco and would seem to me to be an ideal ambassador to promote the SR's restoration) before any more of the boiler ticket has ticked away.
James

 

Oh.

 

But also seemingly resurrected as Northern Heritage Engineering.

 

@James Hewett - any news on the retrospective planning application?

 

Sadly not yet. They have extended the time for responses twice now (and one objector has put in 3 different submissions already). If it goes to full Council then it's likely to be next year. (But the SR Trust waited for YEARS for a decision in Wenhaston....)
The volunteers onsite told me today that mis-information abounds in the village - statements are being made -and believed - which are just ludicrous. It's beginning to remind me of the rabble-roused townspeople of Chester's Mill in "The Dome".....

Still - the work carries on whatever - our replica SR van is getting on nicely, as is our first coach. Our second workday at Walberswick Station is next Tuesday (strictly limited work, but a start......) James

 

Why does this passage from a little down the coast come to mind?

 

Oh Lord, that takes me back to 'O' Level music - we studied Peter Grimes. I seem to recall it was also one of Decca's earliest stereo recordings.

 

Ah yes - a much more literary reference......odd how many major works were written when the authors/composers were in exile.....
Can't say I missed East Anglia much when I lived in Porthmadog (though was true vice versa) - but then I have no artistic talent so that doesn't really count..... James

 

Or indeed, of HS2. I'm increasingly convinced that thr British public--or at least, a substantial section of it--is just prejudiced against railways, full stop. They have a kind of confirmation bias by which they will believe any arguments against railways (even when these are demonstrable fallacies), and dismiss any information to the contrary.

If you know exactly what is being said about the railway, I'd suggest that it might be worth running a social media/press/leaflet campaign to tackle these claims head on. Whilst you have to be careful to avoid a confrontational tone, HS2 has shown that if you don't nip misinformation in the bud, it grows and multiplies until eventually neither the politicians or the media are prepared to challenge it.



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Indeed: look at all the anti-railway sentiment where East West Rail's eastern section is concerned. Similar noises were made by residents adjacent to the Spalding line when it was upgraded to allow 24-hour running with goods trains again - which it used to do many years ago (certainly in the 70s).

 

There's a lot to be said for this- gossip, if left unanswered, can easily become tumbrils and pitchforks. It requires guts, but cannot go unanswered.
'The Peasants on the Green" (to borrow a phrase from Stephen Sondheim) still carry weight on a very local level, and need addressing, if only to save them from their own self delusion.

 

That requires prior intervention, not waiting for rebuttal.

 

Which in turn requires advance intelligence. Ok if you have residential boots on the ground, difficult if not.