We need £100,000 to keep Alresford to Alton heritage line open

http://tinyurl.com/no56rj8

 

Nice to see priorities are being considered, a failing pub to be kept open, or supporting a major tourist attraction for the area...

 

So it doesn't matter that folk'll have to drink and drive........ Certainly appears that at least one member of the local "authority" couldn't careless. Unlike North Yorkshire County Council who forked £300,000 for the NYMR's bridge 30, as they recognised the value to the "Greater" North Yorkshire Moors area round Whitby, they reckoned at the time that the Moors generated something of the order of +/- £35 million, so £300,000 is/was decidedly small change. Though no doubt there would be/are those in the area set against the NYMR and I have overheard such anti - sentiments.

 

I think the councillor is quite right to consider the fate of the local pub closing. Not everyone is a railway enthusiast and not everyone benefits from the railway's presence. That said I hope the MHR raises the money it needs and I'm sure it will.

 

Nothing in this posting I would quarrel with in the slightest. However I would add (with absolutely no reference to the Mid-Hants in particular) that this story touches on something heritage railways are far too prone to overlook.

The pleasant rural scenery which most heritage railways run through means there will be a fair population of old f***s and nimbys amongst the population. Such people have about 50% of zilch toleration of anything which might impinge on their settled lifestyle. They are also unlikely to have any especial interest in local commercial matters. The local shop or, yes indeed, the local pub might be an exception. They tend to be articulate and to "know the ropes".

"Yer average" heritage railway is far too apt to create piles of anonymous grot which seldom gets cleared away. There is, in addition, the "linear scrapyard" of stuff long overdue for the gas axe which is an affront to the eye, particularly for locals. Because it was cheap, these railways were apt to burn Daw Mill coal which was capable of recreating the scenes of the Infernal City depicted in "Paradise Lost"!

Yes these are caricatures but not that far from the actual position. When these two interests collide there is likely to be trouble. Heritage railways can ease things by having a gigantic tidy up/scrap drive and avoidance of pollution.

Again I would emphasise these are general points and not directed at the MHR.

Paul H

 

Paul's point is well made. There is a tendency amongst enthusiasts of whatever persuasion - be it steam railways, diesel locomotives, motorbikes, football et al to assume that the worth of their cause is self-evident and that anyone who cannot see that is somehow stupid.

Heritage railways - particularly those whose volunteer support base is not very local (and I don't know if this is the case for the Mid-Hants) would do well spend time and effort on building and maintaining support amongst local people and opinion formers. The economic benefits argument is a strong one, but not everyone may find it compelling. Issues like lines of rotting carriages and excessive smoke as well as local issues around parking by visitors are also key points to consider.

 

yep, it only takes one articulate NIMBY and Railways could be in for a lot of hastle. I'm sure most try to keep their houses in order, but such matters certainly cannot be underestimated. I'd love to have a smoky old loco at the bottom of my garden, but I'm pretty sure most of my neighbours wouldn't (and I actually do have a disused line at the bottom of my garden!)

 

The MHR and the local pub are two different issues and aren't related to each other. If local people are unwilling to use the local pub then it will close. There are two many people out there that complain the local pub and shop are closing but they never use them. The councillor is forgetting if the bridge isn't repaired then local people would need to travel a considerable longer distance to access the A31 road.

 

They may be unconnected, but the point that the railway is not everyone's prime local concern is valid.

 

Nor is the local pub. Which is why it's now been sold to the CO-OP group so I hear.

 

Indeed the NIMBYS in and around Longmoor were succesful in stalling/closing the embrionic preservation attempt to create not just a preserved railway but "transport" museum there with both aeroplanes and road vehicles. Granted another major stumbling block was that the site was and still is I believe an operational Military base. Both of David Shepherds engine [Black Prince & Green Knight] along with Blackmoor Vale were based there for a time. Having been successful in stalling the railway set up the local residents had a major Dual Carriage Bypass built through part of the railway line/site and tried to reverse their actions against the railway closure......So things can turn out to be a double edged sword, with some getting what they wanted [i.e. the proposed railway closed], but not liking what they got [i.e. a major dual carriageway highway/bypass] instead.

 

This thread has now moved to nimbys which isn't the case when reading the original link to The Daily Echo web site. I don't think anyone has expressed an issue about having a preserved railway running through Four Marks.

 

On a railway I'm involved with, the drains on a road overbridge (carring an A road) constantly failed, swamping the railway below. We kept on at the council to sort out their drains, they maintained it was our bridge and our responsibility. So I wrote to them telling them if it was our bridge, that was fine - as we'd be charging a toll for motorists to use it effective as of Monday. I had a phone call from the highways manager the next day accepting responsibility and offering to fix the drains immediately!

 

A strange piece of journalism. The article says the £100,000 appeal is aimed at members of the railway. Nothing to do with the council, so why the Councillor's unenthusiastic reaction has any relevance at all is not explained. -

 

I would have thought that the Council was at least partly responsible if the tarmac and membrane had broken down, it would have led to the pointwork etc braking up because the Council had not maintained the top surface.

IMHO this means both the Railway and the Council are responsible , though it all depends what percentage each side pays?

Just my opinion

Chris:

 

From a purely economic case, the line provides significantly more financial benefit then the pub, and I would be surprised if East Hampshire District Council or Hampshire County Council overlooked this. Lets not be under the impression that the Independent member for Four Marks and Meadstead speaks for the whole Council. There's Mark Kemp-Gee (County Council Member for Alton Rural), Damian Hinds (MP for East Hampshire) and the 11 Four Marks Parish Councillors to ask yet. The political system in Hampshire is baffling!

 

Is it the Windmill pub that is being referred to? I used to live in Four Marks down Lymington Bottom Road and I never went there once in three years.

 

If it is the Windmill that is being referred to, this was a crap pub full of juveniles and scrotes though it has changed hand recently.

Chris: