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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

  1. brauntonians

    brauntonians New Member

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    after again reading on this site the number of people who do not visit the wsr or live anywhere near it or donate to it complain, if you feel strongly about it then do something about it not just moan on here, yes i have donated and renewed my wsra and i do not live in somerset, now for more moans heh ho
     
  2. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    This is another thing that is wrong with the WSR: I am sure that Mike is everything @Another Yorkshireman and @ikcdab say he is, and nothing I have read by him would lead me to doubt that. However commitment, hard work and dedication do not make a man infallible and Mike can still merit all the praise above and be wrong. What is badly awry in the WSR is that pointing out that, despite his heart being in the right place, his feet are on the wrong track, is characterised as "mud-slinging". This is the second time that this attitude has appeared on here in a few days.
    The WSR is in the place it is today, not because of posters on Nat Pres, however much people would like to believe this, nor even because of the continual infighting since its inception, although that hasn't helped. It has run out of money because it was not bringing in enough from outside donors, outside in the sense of them not being already one of "folk who already engage with the railway", people whose "demands for information" @aldfort finds "tiring". What I and others find tiring is having to point out on Nat Pres that this may be, perhaps, the wrong approach to take when asking people for money.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2020
  3. Maunsell907

    Maunsell907 Member

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    Big Al, good morning.

    In your post 32443 you wrote "We await the next post from @rodders154 and the opportunity
    to delete his account as his posts have been monitored for some time""


    Not surprisingly Rodders did what I suspect we would all do in such circumstances,
    he asked you to close his account. Your response is to say say " someone taking their bat home "

    I think it might be more approprate if you left the 'digs' to the posters and you assumed
    the role of Moderator. There has already been 'Sidmouth' hoping the WSR would fail.

    I have to ask. Are you stirring matters up to increase the number of posts and thus
    advertising revenue. Your parent Company it would appear would welcome additional
    revenue ?

    Or of course I could be doing what many of your posters do: 2 + 2 = 5

    Michael Rowe
     
  4. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    I note that you still have not condemned the transphobic abuse aimed at Robin Moira White.

    It is pretty shocking that you can not or will not say that such abuse, which goes far beyond the bounds of normal robust debate, has no place in the WSR family.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2020
  5. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    If you have only come back to this thread after an absence, you will have missed what happens to people like @Robin Moira White, who try to "do something about it", as the posts were so bad they were taken down, however you may like to consider this from ten others who are trying to do something about it:
    Q8: Have any of the individuals involved with this action been subject to bullying or harassment over their involvement?
    Some of the individuals involved in this action have been contacted by members of the Board of the West Somerset Railway PLC, their advisors, and by existing Trustees of the WSSRT, seeking to persuade them against standing for election. Some of this contact has been very unpleasant and constitutes harassment. However, the policies defining bullying or harassment, and covering what protections were in place for staff and volunteers, have been suspended by the West Somerset
    Railway PLC for some time. These policies also applied (or were accepted) by all the WSR charities and support organisations until having been withdrawn, without consultation, by the PLC.
     
    Dennis John Brooks likes this.
  6. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    I am afraid that's it's just another case of "X works hard for the railway and loves it, therefore X can do no wrong" (except, of course the person who appears to have become the Goldstein of the WSR and should be subjected to a regular "two minute hate")
     
  7. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

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    Speak for yourself. If it was me, I'd hesitate to do what @rodders154 did, in case it looked like I was flouncing out in a sulk.
     
    ross, 35B, Monkey Magic and 2 others like this.
  8. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    It is ironic that someone who prides himself in telling it like it is and plain speaking, when he is subject to some plain speaking from someone else (in this case Big Al) he flounces out.

    I am sure that we have all had to work with people that we have disagreed with, found difficult, disliked and found unpleasant, but at no point in time would most of us fail to condemn them being subjected to hateful abuse (in public or private).

    It is a truly rotten place where 'respected' members of a railway community, and that line's management fail to condemn such abuse.
     
  9. Maunsell907

    Maunsell907 Member

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    Please I deplore any transphobic abuse, also ethnic, racial, and indeed any
    discrimination.

    I attempt to live my life as a Christian, not I am afraid with conspicuous
    success. ( As an Anglo-Catholic I often find myself compromised )

    BTW thanks to the Moderators apparent swift action I was spared reading
    I assume some particularly loathsome posts.

    Perhaps if you came down from your tree and told us who you are I might
    give your posts more credence.

    Michael Rowe
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2020
  10. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    All Rodders had to do was to post with in the rules, then his postings would have not been under scrutiny,
    As others have remarked, there has been no response from the WSRA Chairman, over the abuse of some of his trustees, why is that? by his refusal to condemn it, he must therefore agree with it, he if he had any sence of right should have said this is wrong,
    I urge him to think on this and consider his position as Chairman of the WSRA , Which should be to his members, not the PLC board, personally I think he should have resigned first over the S&D eviction, and now over his not backing his trustees, who happen to be , as is their right standing for trustee ship of the WSSRT , as they hold dual membership . it time, he may well come to regret his actions in supporting the PLC.
     
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  11. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    Good, can you get onto the board and get them to do the same.

    Who I am has nothing to do with your and WSR SM's response to the abuse that Robin Moira White was subjected to.
     
  12. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Steady on Martin, it's worth remembering that a) @aldfort was voted on by WSRA members just a couple of days ago and b) you've just ascribed views to Mike that, despite me disagreeing with him in some places, I'm 100% sure he doesn't have. You may wish to consider that particular position, especially given all the defamation proceedings flying around at the moment!
     
  13. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    Some of us have limited scope for doing anything about it but are doing what we can.

    One thing that some can do and have done is to join any of the charities that we were not already members of in order to express, at their AGMs, our opinions as to how the WSR family should proceed so as to get over the fighting and save the railway.

    Another thing that some can do and have done is to make clear that we will be more likely to donate desperately needed cash when those in charge demonstrate that the railway family as a whole will spend that cash appropriately.

    Another thing that some of us on here have done (besides moaning, which we have indeed been doing) is to try to bring to the attention of those presently running the WSR family how they have between them frightened off external grant-giving bodies, but that lesson seems to have been ignored.

    Another thing that fifteen (?) noble souls have done was to step forward as new trustees for one of the charities. Given the oft-expressed need for some new blood in railway preservation in general, and that only a few of those fifteen were already trustees of any of the charities, that would seem to be a good thing; but four of them have been persuaded (allegedly by nasty tactics) to withdraw their nominations, and the remaining ten may be prevented from becoming trustees until too late by the existing WSSRT trustees delaying the AGM.

    On another aspect; there have been comments about evolution versus revolution, but it is not clear which some parties believe to be which. All parties claim to agree that the intended end-point is a charity as a home for the members and volunteers and for fund-raising, with a susidiary company to run the railway. One plan for getting there is to merge two of the existing charities and to use their existing shareholdings to provide de facto control of the existing PLC. The other plan is to form a brand new charity and a brand new company and somehow transfer their rights and responsibilities, including the Light Railway Order (or whatever it's called). Which of those looks like evolution and which like revolution? Which can be done quicker?
     
  14. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Indeed, I think you are getting the wrong answer to a simple addition, given the volunteer role of the moderators on here and general consensus that the forum works far better when used over Tapatalk or with an adblocker in place.

    What I find depressing about some posts, including sadly some of yours, is the way in which personal animosities appear to drive so much action. I find it very revealing that the posters close to the railway and it's many organisations seem to fall into two blocks. One - depressingly dominant - focus on individuals in what I can only regard as an "if they're for that, I'm against it" style. The others - who include those amongst the group of @WSSRTcandidates post much more in terms of what they wish to achieve for the railway.

    Given your admirably frank comments in post #32859, I urge you to reflect on your actions, including posts on here, and their compatibility with the values you subscribe to. In particular, I would welcome a clearer sense of the vision of what you are for, and articulation of how the leadership you support fulfils that vision.

    Meanwhile, I can only reiterate my post #32572 of last night, and wish those engaged in the peace processes of West Somerset all power to their elbow.
     
  15. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    Has Mike Sherwood said anything on the official WSRA site about the abuse of members of his organisation, then? my remarks are aimed at the chairman of WSRA, not At @aldfort
     
  16. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Then I think you have the wrong organisation - @aldfort is Mike Sherwood, who is the Chairman of the WSRA. And, while I may not necessarily agree with him, it is his prerogative to choose how he addresses matters of concern.
     
  17. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I think you will find they are one and the same person Martin. To my knowledge, no he hasn't. But that is a long way off heartily endorsing those vile views.
     
  18. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    [​IMG]
    This is how this thread appears at present it seems. :(
     
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  19. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    I understand completely why you may feel that way. However, if, and I say if, the removal of the S&DRT is a pivotal piece in the WSR jigsaw that once achieved will turn the corner for everything that needs to happen on the Railway - and nothing else is more important - then you can hardly blame the PLC from doing what it has done, even if it may have involved taking steps that people view as draconian.

    So, assuming that the above is true, then it is surprising that so little has been said formally and publicly to underscore that action. Some folk would still object but at least they might understand.

    I also agree that 'resolution' is the key although it may be felt by some that the issue has already been resolved through the action that has been taken! Hence many pages of debate.
     
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  20. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    I think the idea may be to try and get the laundry clean! Nothing wrong with that although how you do it seems to be part of the issue. :)
     
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