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Great Western Coffee Shop
Recent Public Posts - [guest]
Re: 2 of 3 - rail related but no trains
In "The Lighter Side" [378970/32435/30]
Posted by stuving at 22:13, 31st August 2026
 
B4: Bregenz - like what it says on the lady's bag!

Re: Railways but no trains - 1 of 3
In "The Lighter Side" [378969/32425/30]
Posted by LiskeardRich at 21:48, 31st August 2026
 
Number 2.

Re: Railways but no trains - 1 of 3
In "The Lighter Side" [378968/32425/30]
Posted by LiskeardRich at 21:43, 31st August 2026
 
13 is Plymouth,

I’ve visited two of the international photos so far this year too. Didn’t spot Grahame.

Re: Flying Scotsman - passing thru Westbury to Swindon - 17th & 18th October 2026
In "TransWilts line - Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Salisbury" [378967/32411/18]
Posted by Southernman at 20:48, 31st August 2026
 
That Standard fare is a lot for a couple of hours or so! You can get almost a full day out usually for that price-ish.

And only 10min break at Newbury in the afternoon?!

It'll probably be the most people you've had on Melksham since the station closed.....and it's not even stopping 

I hope not - we have had Santa Specials for which the platform has been filled to the extent that stewards were needed (and pre-arranged) for safety purposes.   With it passing 4 times, people coming to see it will have multiple opportunities and that may spread the load. 

I am also thinking about where else it could be seen from, and not only the rail but the roads that cross on various bridges. And also wondering how and if to show interest in the publicity it will get without stoking the enthusiasm of any crowds that might come along.

Take care in what you recommend. Many years ago, someone locally was killed crossing the road to catch another glimpse of a steam train passing. Easy to do and not think to look for cars.

Re: Why so many pictures??
In "Introductions and chat" [378966/32439/1]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 19:24, 31st August 2026
Already liked by Mark A
 

... or of mistakes not to be repeated where I have any influence



Nice to have a ramp up. Pity there's no space to turn into the cafe at the top


Did it not occur to the installer of that ramp that it was not going to work, and query the specification at the time?

No: apparently not. 

Edit to add:  Unless that ramp is not actually fixed in place, but can be moved to the right, to align with the doorway, in case of need.  The markings on the brickwork suggest that might be the case. 

Re: 2 of 3 - rail related but no trains
In "The Lighter Side" [378965/32435/30]
Posted by Mark A at 19:20, 31st August 2026
 
What or where is the Sham?

For the first time, there are three others I know too.....and CfN really ought to get one of these!

(Melk)sham - fond local name for the town.    Got me thinking - how common are nicknames like this?  In my youth we always used to say we were going to "into Town" for trips to London which was about half an hour by train.  Is that saying still commonly used?

Fairly common? 'Ciren' for the town for which Kemble is the railhead, though my great aunt's name for it was 'Ciceter'. Hampton on Thames was sometimes known as 'Appy Ampton' - the reason being lost in the mists of time. Or of Bushy Park.

Re: Turkey: Seven killed and 23 missing in boat capsizing off northern Cyprus
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [378964/32434/52]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 18:45, 31st August 2026
 
An update, from the BBC:

'She slipped out of my hand' - children missing after ferry sinks off northern Cyprus

Ayten Bicer felt her 12-year-old daughter slip from her grasp and disappear as the ferry they were travelling on capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus on Sunday, killing eight people.

Her daughter Miray and six-year-old son Memhet Asaf are among 20 people still missing after the vessel sunk while en route to Turkey from the coastal town of Kyrenia, in the self-proclaimed Turkish republic on Cyprus.

She and her husband Hayri survived, and like many other families are waiting for news of their loved ones back in port as rescuers continue to search.  "She was saying, 'Don't let go'. And I didn't let go of my daughter. I swear, I didn't let her go," Bicer told reporters through tears.

Bicer said a suitcase fell on top of her, which forced her daughter from her grip. She managed to grab hold of her daughter's foot, but her shoes were coated in engine oil from the overturned vessel and she slipped through her hands.  "It was slippery everywhere. It was like oil. She slipped out of my hand," she recalled.

The family was returning to Turkey after a holiday on the Mediterranean island.  "We couldn't intervene, we lost our children," Hayri Bicer said. "Two of my three children are gone. We left them. We are leaving them on this island as we go."

The vessel had been carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members. Nineteen passengers are currently being treated in hospitals in northern Cyprus, local authorities say.

The eight crew members, including the ship's captain, and one other man were formally arrested on Monday. They will be detained for three days, while warrants have been issued for several other people.

The privately owned ferry left the popular holiday resort of Kyrenia at about 12:30 (09:30 GMT), en route to the town of Tasucu in Turkey.

It had been scheduled to travel to Turkey on Saturday but its journey was delayed due to severe storms hitting the island. The seas were still rough on Sunday.  Some eyewitness accounts say the double-hulled ferry jolted violently before slamming onto the sea surface, with part of its bow bursting open on impact.

Ünal Üstel, prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is only recognised by Turkey, told local media the boat was hit by two waves before it capsized.  While the captain of the vessel was trying to recover from the first wave, a second wave hit and it began taking on water, he said.

(BBC article continues)


Re: 3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378963/32437/30]
Posted by grahame at 18:28, 31st August 2026
 
C12.  Ballymote station, on the Sligo to Dublin line.

Right country ... shame about the town

Re: Call for improved catering (a Coffee Shop!) in Cornwall
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [378962/32440/28]
Posted by Andy at 17:55, 31st August 2026
Already liked by Mark A, Ralph Ayres
 
Being related to "Cornish News", I think I can safely say this is not to be taken seriously.

:-)

Re: 2 of 3 - rail related but no trains
In "The Lighter Side" [378961/32435/30]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 17:51, 31st August 2026
 
... Got me thinking - how common are nicknames like this?  In my youth we always used to say we were going to "into Town" for trips to London which was about half an hour by train.  Is that saying still commonly used?

I've heard it used occasionally in Nailsea - which is a town in its own right - when people express their intention of "going into town", when they mean Bristol - which is a city.  Ten minutes by train, in our case.

Re: Call for improved catering (a Coffee Shop!) in Cornwall
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [378960/32440/28]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 17:38, 31st August 2026
 
From Cornish News

A Camborne couple have called for a Costa Coffee to be built on top of Carn Brea after walking up the hill for the first time and being disappointed by the lack of refreshments.
...

But after a gruelling half-hour hike to the top, Dazza said he was shocked to discover there wasn't a coffee shop waiting for them.
 
Incidentally, there isn't a Costa Coffee at the top of Snowdon, either.  From the BBC:

I couldn't reach Yr Wyddfa's summit because people jumped the queue

When Helen Pacey and her family booked a trip on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, they were looking forward to touching the summit marker at the top of Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon.

But after spending 30 minutes waiting in a queue at the top of Wales' highest mountain, 58-year-old Helen ran out of time and had to get the return train back down.

"I've had both my hips replaced, so there was no way I could have gone up the rocky side of it," said Helen, from Hull in Yorkshire. "Because people were pushing in, we missed out. That is not fair."

Scores of visitors have climbed Yr Wyddfa this summer, but there have been reports of people waiting more than an hour to reach the mountain's highest point, at 1,085m (3,560ft).

Earlier this week, we reported on arguments breaking out between queue-jumpers and those waiting in line at the top. Dozens of readers subsequently got in touch to share their views on the issue.

(BBC article continues)


Re: 3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378959/32437/30]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 17:05, 31st August 2026
 
C12.  Ballymote station, on the Sligo to Dublin line.

Re: 2 of 3 - rail related but no trains
In "The Lighter Side" [378958/32435/30]
Posted by grahame at 14:37, 31st August 2026
 
B13: Lyon Saint-Exupéry TGV


Sorry - it isn't; not even right county.  But it IS a very modern station server by rather fast trains

Re: Call for improved catering (a Coffee Shop!) in Cornwall
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [378957/32440/28]
Posted by Mark A at 14:12, 31st August 2026
 
My fond memory of Camborne: I'd stayed a couple of days in West Cornwall and on the last day rather than travel back from Penzance by rail, set off on the bike for Redruth, and that 6(ish) pm train there. The first half of the trip I somewhat followed the railway - and met with more than a few traces of the Camborne and Hayle line that it replaced.

At Camborne, leaving the route taken by the railway in favour of the valley behind that high ground there, the highlight of actually leaving the town was that I got away from a group of stone-throwing children. The valley south and east of Camborne was something special - extensive hard rock mining by an industry that had moved on, so, mournful relics everywhere, safely secured open mineshafts as is the Cornish way, and cycle/walking routes on the various tramways that served the industries, said tramways surfaced with some of the cleanest and most abrasive grit in the world.

Time was getting on a bit but the sun had been out all afternoon and it would have been churlish not to climb Carn Brea and enjoy the view in all directions - St Ives at a range of several score miles looking very picturesque, and Redruth below the hill - the last few miles being downhill there was even time before the train for a piece of cake from, of all places, Redruth's cinema's buffet.

Re: 2 of 3 - rail related but no trains
In "The Lighter Side" [378956/32435/30]
Posted by DR7835 at 11:39, 31st August 2026
 
B13: Lyon Saint-Exupéry TGV

Re: 3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378954/32437/30]
Posted by DR7835 at 11:27, 31st August 2026
 
C14.  Bewdley, SVR.  Bewdley North Signal Box

Call for improved catering (a Coffee Shop!) in Cornwall
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [378953/32440/28]
Posted by grahame at 10:30, 31st August 2026
 
From Cornish News

A Camborne couple have called for a Costa Coffee to be built on top of Carn Brea after walking up the hill for the first time and being disappointed by the lack of refreshments.

Darren, known locally as “Dazza”, and his partner Debs say they had talked about climbing Carn Brea for years before finally deciding to give it a go at the weekend.

But after a gruelling half-hour hike to the top, Dazza said he was shocked to discover there wasn't a coffee shop waiting for them.

Why so many pictures??
In "Introductions and chat" [378952/32439/1]
Posted by grahame at 10:00, 31st August 2026
Already liked by Mark A
 
You would be amazed at the number of pictures grahame takes, stuving. 

I was, when I met up with grahame at the Imberbus event a couple of weeks ago.  I took just a few pictures, for my personal interest - but grahame must have taken bluddy hundreds!    I kept an eye on him, while he did so, by the way, just in case he posted one of them here in a 'where was I?' quiz topic.

CfN. 

Facebook has labelled me as a "Digital Creator". And I created content about that at https://grahamellis.uk/blog2063.html the other day.

I failed my English "O" levels - language and literature - at school on the first taking, and scraped through language at a resit at the following oportunity.  So it was then perverse that my career majored on learning highly techical subjects, and then explaining them to others.  I try to write or talk from a position of knoweldge, not only of a topic but also of why things are as they are, and I try to break up what I write into manageable chunks and with a view of the metrics of my target audience.  Those chunks often being best illustrated by pictures, which as the saying goes "paint 1000 words".

And so ... I have built a library of pictures, and continue to do so. The occasional one has artistic merit; the major uses, though, are to provide illustrationa and to remind me later.  On Saturday last (29th August 2026), I took the train from Melksham to Weymouth. Walked just shy of 15 kms. Interacted with passengers at the stations, platform staff at Weymouth, train manager and police on the train.  Stopped for drink / snacks at 4 places along the walk in Weymouth.  Observed, made notes in my personal memory, saw some new places (yes, even after all these trips to Weymouth) and watched how the social side of societyi, our behaviours and our towns have changed. Far more pictures taken than I can ever make use of, and many of them of things that perhaps others don't photograph, or of the same thing from multiple angles to fully capture the 3D.

The mapping facility in my iPhotos app allows me to home in on pictures by location which is ideal for geographically based writing - and somehow (even when something is not location specific) I'll remeber when I took a picture.



Some of the pictures are just "fun" - things that take my fancy

Some birds doing syncronised swimming

Some may be used to help market and promote things I am interested in

A nice walk in a lesser know part of Weymouth

Some are used to record history, or places that have a history

This bridge replaces the rail bridge that took the line to Portland

and some are reminder of food eaten

The Nautico lounge - a relaxed meal while waiting for the direct train back in the evening

or of amusing happenings

Feeding the gull on the train roof

or of mistakes not to be repeated where I have any influence

Nice to have a ramp up. Pity there's no space to turn into the cafe at the top

My study of the English Language, and perhaps a degree of ADHD, lead me to see a perverse side in signage and I often photograph that too

"Free George Davis" said graffiti in my youth on a wrongly convicted person. What has Drinking Water been convicted of?


I thought the days of chaining people up as slaves by the ankle had long passed. Shocked!

BUT - I am picture and writing rich, and at times I feel outlet and audience poor. I have a wide variety of friends, friendly contacts, and some followers - but I am loathe to flood the outlets I have either in overall volume, or on "hobby horse" topics that will get to bore a significnat proportion of the clsuter of people who read me.

No conclusions here / today - just a rambling.

Re: 3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378951/32437/30]
Posted by stuving at 09:46, 31st August 2026
 
C10 is that bird in Antwerpen Centraal again isn't it?

Re: Turkey: Girl faces six-month recovery after 'freak accident' bus crash
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [378950/32433/52]
Posted by LiskeardRich at 09:12, 31st August 2026
Already liked by GBM
 
I fell ill in Greece about 20 years ago, and spent 4 days in hospital. €15000 bill settled within days by my £6 insurance. I’d never go without it out.

I regularly see crowdfunders on social media for people who didn’t bother.

I’ve an annual policy now that covers the entire family.

Re: Railways but no trains - 1 of 3
In "The Lighter Side" [378949/32425/30]
Posted by chuffed at 09:04, 31st August 2026
 
9. Milazzo Sicily... rebuilt station out of town replacing the old one in the centre ?

Bristol Temple Mead opened 31.8.1840 - [OTD]
In "Railway History and related topics" [378948/32438/55]
Posted by grahame at 08:40, 31st August 2026
Already liked by johnneyw
 
From Wikipedia

Temple Meads was opened on 31 August 1840, as the western terminus of the Great Western Railway.




Re: 3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378947/32437/30]
Posted by rogerpatenall at 08:39, 31st August 2026
 
C3 London Bridge

Re: 3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378946/32437/30]
Posted by eightonedee at 07:44, 31st August 2026
 
C4 Beauly

Re: 3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378945/32437/30]
Posted by bradshaw at 07:15, 31st August 2026
 
C5 Corfe Castle

Re: Flying Scotsman - passing thru Westbury to Swindon - 17th & 18th October 2026
In "TransWilts line - Swindon, Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Salisbury" [378944/32411/18]
Posted by CyclingSid at 06:28, 31st August 2026
 
And only 10min break at Newbury in the afternoon?!

Presumably at Newbury Racecourse to take on water.

3rd and final (for now) "Rail related but no trains"
In "The Lighter Side" [378943/32437/30]
Posted by grahame at 06:22, 31st August 2026
 
Encouraged by the very busy responses yesterday to quiz no. 2 in this series, here are the final 15 pictures in the group.  Yes, I have taken a lot of pictures of late, and tend to build a library of things that others don't photograph.

C0.


C1.


C2.


C3.


C4.


C5. 


C6.


C7.


C8.


C9.


C10.


C11.


C12.


C13.


C14.

Re: 2 of 3 - rail related but no trains
In "The Lighter Side" [378942/32435/30]
Posted by grahame at 06:04, 31st August 2026
 
Well - that's an incredibly rapid set of responses, and correct ones.

B0 Reading - ChrisB
B1 Arnhem - stuving
B2 Wuppertal - PrestburyRoad
B3 Cattewater (Plymouth) - Chris from Nailsea
B6 Taunton - Chris from Nailsea
B7 Inverness - eightonedee
B8 (London) St Pancras - TonyN
B11 Leven - brooklea
B12 Melksham - Phil

Re: 2 of 3 - rail related but no trains
In "The Lighter Side" [378941/32435/30]
Posted by grahame at 05:38, 31st August 2026
 
What or where is the Sham?

For the first time, there are three others I know too.....and CfN really ought to get one of these!

(Melk)sham - fond local name for the town.    Got me thinking - how common are nicknames like this?  In my youth we always used to say we were going to "into Town" for trips to London which was about half an hour by train.  Is that saying still commonly used?

 
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