If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

With regards to the clearing of the disused railway line at endon Stoke on trent

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Sallywaggle, Oct 6, 2011.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. std tank

    std tank Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2005
    Messages:
    3,808
    Likes Received:
    946
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Liverpool
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Ah, so you are just a NIMBY. Who is we? Do you live adjacent to the railway? If yes, how long have you lived there?
     
  2. Steve from GWR

    Steve from GWR Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2010
    Messages:
    1,292
    Likes Received:
    14
    Well, we're always open for a reasoned discussion :)
     
  3. lil Bear

    lil Bear Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2006
    Messages:
    6,122
    Likes Received:
    1,655
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Railway Technician
    Location:
    8C / 5D / 27C / 71B
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    By "we" you mean yourself and close friends/associates. I myself have spoken with a number of people in the area who want the train services back and are looking forward to seeing the line(s) being re-opened. I realise this is not everyone in the area, but you are not speaking for everyone in the area either. As for referring to MCR as vandals, that is more your personal opinion (of which everyone is entitled to have). However everything they are doing is above board, again you can go and read all the legal documents if you don't want to believe with what we are saying.

    Also m0rris is correct, in that most people on this forum are merely enthusiasts. There are a number of us who volunteer on the CVR, but non of us have the ability to influence MCR in anyway.
     
  4. Sheff

    Sheff Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    7,567
    Likes Received:
    2,345
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired Engineer & Heritage Volunteer
    Location:
    N Warks
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Anyone in Endon who enjoys walking is indeed fortunate, as there's a lovely canal running through the village with a towpath to which British Waterways grants public access. I've walked it, it's very pleasant indeed, and there are no rails or sleepers to fall over.
     
  5. p/wayman

    p/wayman Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2005
    Messages:
    573
    Likes Received:
    168
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    voulunteer on pway
    Location:
    newcastle-u-lyme
     
  6. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 18, 2011
    Messages:
    6,081
    Likes Received:
    2,217
    thank you to everyone who quoted the OPs posts so we can see them see. Such bad manners to delete them. Fortunately the majority of people dont react to our hobby as she does, even if they are a bit condecending sometimes. As a whole the movement does far more good than harm.
     
  7. Sheff

    Sheff Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    7,567
    Likes Received:
    2,345
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired Engineer & Heritage Volunteer
    Location:
    N Warks
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Oh has she gone? Look forward to making her aquaintance as we progress south :)
     
  8. Bulleid Pacific

    Bulleid Pacific Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2007
    Messages:
    3,991
    Likes Received:
    1,039
    Occupation:
    A Thingy...
    At the end of the day, you can't win 'em all; there's two sides to every coin etc. However, wildlife flourishes alongside railways because very few humans are able to get near, being similar in nature to the biodiversity found on MOD firing ranges. Take the hitherto extinct (in Britain) Large Blue Butterfly, for example. If there are genuine concerns, then petition the local authority concerned, rather than insult the people who are helping to develop the local economy. The phrase 'never throw stones in glass houses' comes to mind.
     
  9. Kinghambranch

    Kinghambranch Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2006
    Messages:
    1,868
    Likes Received:
    1,588
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    White Rose County
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Move along folks, nothing to see or read here!
     
    1 person likes this.
  10. Warspite

    Warspite New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2010
    Messages:
    13
    Likes Received:
    6
    i dont coment on the fourm much , but watching this for the last 24 hours shows how much people on here are so well infomed and polite, so well done to everybody :wave:
     
  11. TonyMay

    TonyMay Member

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2010
    Messages:
    559
    Likes Received:
    76
    They're still a bunch of weirdos though.
     
  12. Bean-counter

    Bean-counter Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2007
    Messages:
    5,844
    Likes Received:
    7,688
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Former NP Member
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    But as I commented to some-one on the first Razilway holiday with the firm I regularly go with when he said he had worried that some of his fellow passengers pay be slightly weird "well, they probably are, but at least we're high quality weirdos"!

    Steven
     
  13. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2005
    Messages:
    9,635
    Likes Received:
    8,303
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Alderan !
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I'm intrigued as to what sallywaggle hoped to achieve by posting on here . She was unlikely to find much support and the three postings made certainly were not going to win friends
     
  14. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Messages:
    35,446
    Likes Received:
    9,144
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired-ish, Part time rail tour steward.
    Location:
    Northwich
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Or influence people.
    Perhaps just to have a rant at those perceived as responsible for the desecration of what she sees her bit of nature reserve and public thoroughfare.
     
  15. sleepermonster

    sleepermonster Member

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2007
    Messages:
    919
    Likes Received:
    1,024
    I remember reading similar comments some years ago about the Wirksworth Branch; someone living next to the track did not want the line re-opened and vented pretty much the same arguments on a public forum, BBC Radio Derby I think; there was no support whatsoever. Now you can get from Wirksworth to Paris on a through ticket with two changes of train, and there are significant numbers of people using the service for "real" journeys, not just recreation.

    Around forty years ago there was someone objecting to the reopening of the West Someset Railway on the grounds that it might disturb some badgers. They had also just bought a house next to the railway.

    Tim
     
  16. Gwenllian2001

    Gwenllian2001 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2007
    Messages:
    307
    Likes Received:
    6
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Maesteg
    Anyone who was involved with the re-building of the Welsh Highland will have heard all these rants, and more, many times. Very often they came from people who simply did not understand what a railway is. The fact that the Ospreys are thriving alongside the railway should convince even the most dedicated of nature lovers but you can never please everyone. There is even one woman who has, since the line opened, hung up some very dirty old blankets outside her house. I've never been able to figure out whether it is to stop her seeing the trains; to stop the passengers seeing her, or possibly her house.

    The Sallys of this world usually have too much time on their hands and sometimes they are right, but not in this case.

    Meic
     
  17. Martin Perry

    Martin Perry Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator Friend

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2006
    Messages:
    16,510
    Likes Received:
    7,753
    Location:
    1012 / 60158
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    It may also have been an attempt to raise some rabid reaction that could have been presented elsewhere as being typical of railway enthusiasts, so the restraint shown did not suit her purposes.
     
  18. ADB968008

    ADB968008 Guest

    Assuming Sally is female to begin with and isn't just here to provoke a reaction.
     
  19. 21B

    21B Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2009
    Messages:
    2,944
    Likes Received:
    6,303
    A wise observation.

    We aren't going to know what Sallywaggle's motivation may have been, and truthfully it doesn't really matter. What matters is that her opinions were met with restraint and respect.

    I do think that in general people are becoming more NIMBY-ist. Clearly this person has along with the "Green Party" member (I wonder if it might be the same person??) developed a sense of possession and right to use the land which the railway is to start operating again. That she and others were never entitled to be there is of no matter to them, something is being taken from them, that always generates a very emotional response. You'll probably find that in 5 years time when they have got used to the new reality they will both be regular users of the line for shopping etc, and enjoying the reduction in the numbers of heavy lorries. These things usually just need time.
     
  20. 45669

    45669 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2006
    Messages:
    2,744
    Likes Received:
    1,042
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Farnborough
    I don't know why Mrs. Griffiths should suddenly get so upset about this line re-opening; it has been a proposal for some years now. When my daughter was a student at the University in Stoke on Trent we went to visit her one day and I happened to pick up a copy of the local paper that had been put through her door. And in it, quite by chance, was an article about the proposals to re-open the line from Stoke to Caldon Low which I naturally read with interest.

    This was some years ago, so nobody living locally should be surprised that the line isn't as dead as it might appear. I cannot remember the article in detail, but it may have mentioned back then that people using the line as a public footpath shouldn't be doing so.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page