Moorlands and City Railway

I have never suggested that Stoke to Leek has the inbuilt regional prosperity of Marylebone to Oxford. My comments were simply to illustrate that somebody has to have the first thought before there is anything to evaluate and we would make no progress if original thought was banned because it hadn't been market tested.

 

The original services were grim and sparse and served the area in an era when there was little movement outside one's home town or village for work, shopping or leisure. The suburbs have multiplied since then whilst the road from Stoke to Leek has remained as it was. I accept that the line is badly placed for shopping at Hanley but it is ideal for connecting with the WCML and for educational journeys. The economic circumstances of the area are more akin to Ebbw Vale than Oxford but the lessons of recent openings have been if one provides a service the passengers come. It would also be appreciated if those who don't want to investigate the potential would refrain from referring to those who can see the potential as "gricers". We want to see public transport services improved as much as possible.

 

Well we would have had you head first down the manhole - cos we know you are good with technical things.
Druids are sort of round (or is that hobbits) - perhaps we can get one of those as a plug instead in future.

 

Its Hobbits! So, no, Druids don't make good plugs!

 

Ah, but aren't Druids supposed to have some sort of mastery over the elements? If so, please can you stop it raining in the Moorlands just long enough for the water table to return to something like normal? That would make working on the Great Geyser of Bradnop much easier.

 

We do if the price is right........

 

I am sorry but a gricer is a gricer is a gricer. One who assumes that their quasi religious belief is shared by all. It is quite possible to like trains as such without automatically assuming they are the answer to all transport problems real or imaginary.

PH

 

Now what sort of price would that be? Would it involve a Wicker Man? I only ask because I can't see one of them actually catching fire or staying alight for long up here in the Moorlands.

There are one or two human sacrifices that might be, ahem, arranged....

 

Funny, when Sybil Ralphs addressed the CVR Staff Meeting back in November I didn't form the impression that she was a Gricer, she certainly wasn't wearing an Anorak.

Oh well.

 

As long as they're Vestal Virgins!

Though something tells me they are not...............

In which case, it would be a bed/floor for a night, some scran & as much ale as it takes for me to drink my fill!

 

The last time a Virgin was seen in the Moorlands the Winking Man turned to stone up on the Buxton Road. Mind we did get a decent pub out of it.

 

On the subject of Pubs, of the ten highest Pubs in England, four are in one County - which one?

 

After that, they moved over the County line to Cheshire.

Still, I'll happily settle for breakfast, lunch & a slap up dinner with free flowing ale & good company & tales told & waive the normal fee!

 

Aye, Staffycher. It used to have 5 of the highest but the Mermaid, on Morridge, is now closed, The 4 remaining are the Travellers Rest (aka the Knight's table), the New Inn in Flash (with it's 3-legged Collie), the Winking Man and the Royal Cottage (so called because King Charles stayed there during the English Civil War, although others say it was Bonnie Prince Charlie).

Cheshire has the Cat and Fiddle just over the county border. If you're fit enough you could have a pretty good high level pub crawl.

 

Paul, you seem so opposed to any railway expansion that you do not even support a thorough evaluation of the costs and benefits. Your reference to a quasi-religious belief seems to suggest that those who support railways in their many forms must be distrusted when they identify potential re-openings/restoration of services because: "they would say that wouldn't they". There are a substantial number of people in this country whose lives are so detached from rail travel that thoughts of expansion would never enter their head. Then there are the petrol heads to whom car is king. Some months ago I read a comment on our local newspaper forum from a man who thought that anyone wanting to travel by train from Derby to London must be mad because one could drive there via the M1. There is no contradiction in my view in believing that an enhanced railway network would be beneficial to the country and being interested in railways as a hobby.

 

I completely agree provided that it is accepted that railway enthusiasts in particular have form for wearing rose-tinted spectacles. As @paulhitch demonstrates, curing the rose tint by thickening the tint till no trace of pink is visible merely makes it hard to see, enabling one to follow a direction without appreciation of the nuances en route.

 

There is absolutely no difference between the obsessive gricer and the rabid petrolhead in the extreme nature of their positions. Yes there is the very real danger for these "ultras" that they will be regarded as so blinkered that their views are not worth considering. A bit like the "Peter and the Wolf" tale. Things like need, customer wishes and cost take preference (or should) in the real world over individual wheezes.

You are absolutely 100% wrong that I am opposed to railway expansion, it is just that it has to be thought about rather than emoted. The Oxford to Marylebone project seems eminently sensible.

PH

 

Had some bloody good nights in there & some weekends too, when you got snowed in!

 

sorry to hear about the Mermaid- wonderful bleak location , been too long since I've been up there

Jon