West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Compass bearings can lead to fascinating discussions. Where I was dragged up [no prizes for guessing where], we regarded Birmingham and beyond as 'The South'. Incidentally, I find the situation in Canterbury pretty anomalous, [and yes, I do know it is for historical reasons] when one considers that Canterbury West station is probably only about 100 yds West of Canterbury East station. Logic says it would be much more meaningful if they were renamed Canterbury North and Canterbury South, the stations being much further separated by their latitude than by their longitude, being very much to the North of the City Centre and to the South, rather than to the East and West.

 

I generally find South 90 degrees left from West.

 

As an exCantuarian I recall there was already a Canterbury South Station

 

There was - easily distinguished from the others by being the furthest east ...

Tom

 

...unless you are approaching from the West, in which case it is 90 degrees to the right

 

I have always understood the 'south' is anywhere, in England, nearer the equator that is below 'no man's land' i.e Birmingham. The principal exception being that if the word 'south' is pronounced as with having a 'Z' at its beginning, then those places are not south, or as often called sarf, but west.

 

According to the signs on the M20 as soon as you go past Junction 3 for the M26 (M25) you are going to The North,
London, Dartford Crossing. So Logically 'The South" is anywhere south of The North Downs.

 

People on Fair Isle talk of “going south” when visiting Aberdeen.

 

For those at the North Pole (the very cold place, not the railway depot in London) everywhere else is South

 

It's the only place in the world where if you walk a mile south, a mile east and a mile north, you end up back where you started ...

Tom

 

...rather like this thread

 

Off topic (as usual in this thread!) but that's not the case. There are other places where it is possible, in fact an infinite number of them!

Start anywhere on circle approximately 1.16 miles away from the south pole. Walk one mile south towards the pole so you are approximately 0.16 miles* from it. Walking a mile east will take you in a circle around the south pole and bring you back to the same place. Walk a mile north and hey presto. You can also start as bit nearer so the mile east takes you twice round the pole and so on.

*The exact distance being the radius of a circle where 2 * pi * r = 1, although you ought to factor in a smidgen to allow for the curvature of the earth...

 

But that involves repeating some of the same route ... sooner or later there will be a split between the “North polers” who assert the only true way involves a triangular route of three equal legs that ends up back where it started; and those “South Poler’s” who wish to exploit a geometric loophole to create a merged path solution to the problem ...

Tom

 

There's a lot to be said for the earth being flat. I wonder if it is in Somerset? Things do seem to be different there.

 

I don't know where your geography teacher came from but if he or she thinks Cornwall is in the North, then maybe they need some re-training...

 

Hampshire. And I thought it a strange line to draw.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I suspect there has been a muddling of the north-south divide with the geographers' traditional division of Lowland Britain and Highland Britain

 

Zoom Q&A and Vision Document Announcement

The ten candidates standing for election in the upcoming AGM of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust (WSSRT) would like to invite all members of the WSSRT to a Zoom Q&A session, at which we will be available to answer any questions you may have about our vision for the Trust and how we hope to achieve it.

We are doing this because it is expected that discussion/Q&A will not be allowed at the AGM.

The Q&A will be held no earlier than 48hrs after the AGM documents have been delivered to WSSRT members.

If you wish to attend the Q&A or ask your questions anonymously then this can be accommodated. Please indicate this in your email to us. Your anonymity will be completely respected and if you don't wish to attend the Zoom meeting at all, answers to each question will be e-mailed to you after the meeting. We are offering this facility because, sadly, we are aware that dozens of staff members and volunteers have recently been 'encouraged' to become members of the WSSRT and 'encouraged' to vote against us, leaving some feeling threatened for their future as staff or volunteers should they fail to comply, noting that voting choices can be observed. Some of these people have contacted us directly, so this is no idle speculation.

Questions submitted beforehand, by email, will have priority for answering during the Zoom call.

If you wish to be part of the Q&A please email us at wssrtcandidates@gmail.com requesting a place in the meeting and any questions. In return we will provide you with the Zoom link and a copy of our "Vision" document summarizing our goals and direction for you to read at your leisure.

Don't forget that there is still time to join the WSSRT - please visit http://www.wssrt.co.uk/membership/ to find out how to join.

Thank you for your time.

The Ten

 

Ah! The Party Political programme break. I knew the banter couldn't last.

 

Nice of you to make light of a fairly grim picture on the ground. If you're ok with the way people are being treated, time and time again, then I suppose that is your choice.