Random Stuff!

[TheLocalYokel]

Helicopters.Friday march 9th
I see 2 helicopters from RAF squadron 286 chinook display paid a visit to Bristol port along with 2 French air force helicopters for training. This is not the first time helicopters have visited Bristol port for training purposes.

Was that in the paper?

 

[superking]

It was in the Bristol port twitter site.

 

[superking]

I did not catch all of report,but they announced today that they are going to spend 14 million£ on the roof of templemeads railway station.About time they started spending money on the station as I feel they lost out compared to whats been spent else where.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I did not catch all of report,but they announced today that they are going to spend 14 million£ on the roof of templemeads railway station.About time they started spending money on the station as I feel they lost out compared to whats been spent else where.

I think it's £40 million but final approval by the relevant board is still to be given. There was an item about it on BBC TV Points West this evening. The money will also be used to build two more passenger exits.

The roof covering was previously replaced in 1989 with clear plastic replacing glass. This seems to have been a false economy.

The major £100 million renovation of the station, promised for many years, is still awaited. A major snag is the station's Grade 1 listed status which will limit the amount of 'modernisation' that can be done.

On a related topic the city council staged a debate this week on the location of the proposed arena: the original Temple site next to the station or in the Brabazon Hangar on the Filton airfield site just inside the city boundary. Councillors were significantly in favour of the Temple site but the final decison will be that of the city's elected mayor, Marvin Rees, with the latest decision date given as 1 May.

 

[superking]

A pilot from somerset is attempting to fly the English channel from Lydd to Calais both ways up side down. At least its not a passenger aircraft. Wonder what other things will be tried next. Lets hope he does it as being done for charity.

 

[superking]

The first metrobus route commences service on the29th of may. It will be the M3 route which will run from Lyde green to the city centre. The route will be with deckers and for the first 10 days will be free of charge to passengers.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The first metrobus route commences service on the29th of may. It will be the M3 route which will run from Lyde green to the city centre. The route will be with deckers and for the first 10 days will be free of charge to passengers.

It will only be a 20-minute frequency until September. First have the contract for the M3 at the moment but I read somewhere that a second operator will be joining them which will presumably be in September when the frequency will increase. I suppose the obvious contenders are Stagecoach or Wessex (Rotala).

M2 from Temple Meads via central areas to Long Ashton should have opened last November but there is still no definite date. The longest route M1 from Cribbs Causeway to Hengrove is pencilled in for a July opening. Given the delays so far we'll have to wait and see.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bristol Rugby

Congratulations to Bristol who were promoted back to the English Premiership today following their 60-17 win at Nottingham last night and Ealing Tralifinders' surprising heavy defeat at Doncaster this afternoon.

Having been promoted two seasons ago they were relegated after the one season at the top level before returning at the first attempt, a manoeuvre that seems to happen regularly between the Prem and Championship. Since 2010 Bristol finished top of the Championship regular season on five occasions but were only promoted once having lost in the play-offs in the other years. This season there are no play-offs so their six regular season title since 2010 means promotion.

This time they have to ensure they stay there. Since the professional leagues began in England in 1987, next season will be Bristol's 21st in the top tier, but for a club with such an illustrious record for much of the 20th Century their performance over the past 30 years has been disappointing.

The coach for this season, Pat Lam, seems top notch at his job and much recruiting has already taken place for next season including Charles Piutau who will reputedly become the world's highest paid rugby player at £1 million per season. With Bristol Rugby now being part of local billionaire Stephen Lansdown's Bristol Sport stable - the other major member is Bristol City FC, with Bristol City Women FC, Bristol Flyers basketball team and others part of the group - finance is not a major problem although there are salary cap rules. Bristol can attract large crowds and its ground at Ashton Gate is arguably the best in the Prem along with Wasps' Ricoh Arena at Coventry.

Lansdown and Lam have a clear plan for the club to become a major force both in England and Europe.

 

[Jerry]

Congratulations to Bristol RFC on promotion and good luck in the Aviva Premiership!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Metrobus

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/longest-metrobus-route-m1-run-1433442

Announced today that M1, the longest of the routes, that will run from Cribbs Causeway to Hengrove will be operated by Bristol Community Transport (BCT) under contract to First West of England. There is no definite news of an opening date for this route.

 

[superking]

45 years ago today the Swiss air disaster flight from BRS to BSL crashed into mountain trying to land at BSL due bad weather. My thoughts are with all those that died on that fatefull day,as I had a few friends that lost their lives. It was a shopping trip to BSL from folk in a lot of villages local.
My thoughts are with them RIP

 

[Jerry]

Sorry for your loss @superking and that of all the other families. May they rest in peace.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

45 years ago today the Swiss air disaster flight from BRS to BSL crashed into mountain trying to land at BSL due bad weather. My thoughts are with all those that died on that fatefull day,as I had a few friends that lost their lives. It was a shopping trip to BSL from folk in a lot of villages local.
My thoughts are with them RIP

Indeed. When you were posting this I was preparing something about the disaster and another topic that I've just posted in the BRS Nostalgia thread.

 

[superking]

just beat you to it then local

 

[TheLocalYokel]

just beat you to it then local

As with you, some of those killed were known to me. I remember listening to BBC Radio Bristol (then in its infancy) on that fateful day when news was beginning to filter through. I wasn't living at Wrington or Redhill then, having moved to Bristol some years earlier, so I wasn't immediately aware that the majority of passengers were North Somerset women on a shopping trip to Basel.

 

[superking]

I see the red arrows confirmed for the 2018 Weston air festival. They are always good to watch,it never gets tired of watching them.

 

[superking]

The metro link from Hengrove to Long ashton park and ride has been put on the back burner for the time being. It was to run part of it on the south link road with a section built close to the park and ride which has been done.At least that part is being used at the moment by Irish tinkers till they moved on.
No date as to when the full section will be running.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The metro link from Hengrove to Long ashton park and ride has been put on the back burner for the time being. It was to run part of it on the south link road with a section built close to the park and ride which has been done.At least that part is being used at the moment by Irish tinkers till they moved on.
No date as to when the full section will be running.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrobus-deceived-people-south-bristol-1451171

Another Bristol Post report today into the daily farce that is Metrobus that would have had Brian Rix (were he still alive) purring with admiration.

The Metrobus people said earlier this week that the Hengrove-Ashton Vale link was never intended as part of the first group of routes but was shown as 'an aspirational route' for future developments. I thought that was bullsh*t and now it seems it was.

Today's Post report has discovered that this route was never intended to be built until sufficient new houses are built along its length to make it viable. The local MP calls it a deception and I think she is right.

After over two years of intense disruption around the city with at least the rest of this year to follow suit - not the mention the expenditure of hundreds of millions of pounds of pubic money - the entire programme is still struggling to spark into life.

We only know for certain (at least, we hope it's for certain) that Route M3 - Emersons Green to city centre - will begin operations by First West of England on 29 May. The longest route - M1 from Cribbs Causeway via UWE, and centre to Hengrove - at least now has an operator (Bristol Community Transport under contract to First) but no start date.

The same applies with M2 - Ashton Vale to Temple Meads and central circuit - which was supposed to have opened in November with all the work on the guided busways, restoration of the Ashton Avenue Swing Bridge and a new bridge at Commercial Road along that route all completed by then. Various reasons have been given for the subsequent delays, from probems with the on-site ticket machines to an unspecified problem with the swing bridge.

I wonder if the real reason is actually the Temple Meads end. The mammoth project to re-align the junctions and the widening of the roads to replace the huge Temple Circus Gyratory began in June last year but won't be completed until the end of this year. It's actually a year behind schedule, having had an original start date of June 2016. Running M2 into that chaotic environment might be the unspoken reason for the delay - at least until the new road system begins to take shape.

And if the Metrobus farce was not enough, the other long-running high comedy show, the Arena, shares centre stage today. The decision whether to proceed with the Temple site or switch to the Brabazon Hangar at Filton has been pushed back in time yet again - it should have been announced on 1 May.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-arena-decision-delayed-again-1451726

 

[superking]

They did construct a portion of the route and it looked like it was from thr ashton park and ride to the link road. Irish tinkers have moved in on that bit,so be 1 hell of a mess to clean up at expence.
Did you see where they moved in on the taunton park and ride last weekend the mess they leftand that was only for 5 days.Yoc cant call them gypseys as a true one will never leave any mess, and when they call them gypseys its an insult to a true one.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

They did construct a portion of the route and it looked like it was from thr ashton park and ride to the link road. Irish tinkers have moved in on that bit,so be 1 hell of a mess to clean up at expence.
Did you see where they moved in on the taunton park and ride last weekend the mess they leftand that was only for 5 days.Yoc cant call them gypseys as a true one will never leave any mess, and when they call them gypseys its an insult to a true one.

I did see the Taunton incident on the local tv news. The local authority there said they have a permanent injunction to prevent travellers from literally pitching up on tis site but they still have to obtain a possession order on each occasion which can take time especially at weekends.