ChrisB

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Posts posted by ChrisB

  1. Do Trent buses still exist or have gone out of business or merged with another bus line?

    Trent are still very much in business but when they took over Bartons some years ago, they changed their name to Trent Barton.

    They don't seem to display it very prominently now though, they're more obsessed with silly brand names for every service they operate.

    • Upvote 1
  2. As a long time resident of Derby, I can categorically say it's not one of the biggest dumps in the country.

    It is THE biggest dump in the country!

    The city centre abounds in drunks, drug addicts, beggars, vagrants and nut cases. Also boarded up shops, Assembly Rooms which have been closed over three years now,following a fire. River Gardens which are a muggers paradise, a bus station which is hell on earth, two indoor markets with more empty stalls than occupied ones, a city council which is not fit for purpose, a shopping centre which has totally killed the rest of the town, homeless people occupying every shop doorway in the evening and a general feeling of unease for decent folk who are out after 7pm.

    barclaycon, you are absolutely correct in your description of Derby, a few years ago, someone coined the phrase 'Northern towns not worth reviving' If ever there was a northern town not worth reviving, then truly this is it!

    Oh, why do I stay? It's cheap - in every possible respect!

    • Upvote 3
  3. My local has gone bust!

    I spotted this today at Nottingham station, the shop on the concourse had an administration notice on the door.

    To be honest though, since they bought the local shops from Morrisons, they've been stocked with very poor quality stuff at very expensive prices. The station shop is still trading but many of the shelves are empty.

    On another note, work on the old Gresham Hotel is nearing completion, two shop units have been created at ground level, one is already occupied and guess what: it's another 'up market' coffee shop!

    Is Britain overdosing on caffene? I think we must be if we're prepared to pay those sort of prices for a cup of coffee.

    Let me put the kettle on, I'll make me own!

    • Upvote 3
  4. Another thing I've noticed in the picture of the demolition of the garage is what appears to be a pedestrian subway, presumably going under the bottom of Derby Road.

    I never knew there was a subway there, how long did it last?

    • Upvote 1
  5. Going back to that picture looking up Derby Road, there appears to be a rather nice art-deco style garage on the right which bears the names Chapel and Garage.

    If it was called Chapel Bar Garage, it wasn't exactly on Chapel Bar, was it?

  6. Ah, well the same thing applies when travelling from Skeggy.

    Once through the tunnel before arriving at Grantham, then again through the tunnel after leaving there for Nottingham.

    But as catfan says, only if the train calls at Grantham that is.

    • Upvote 1
  7. It's before Grantham actually, Valuer Jim! It's the only tunnel between Nottingham and Skeg and I would guess it's about 700 yards long.

    If you travel to Skegness on a train which stops at Grantham, you pass through it twice now, because the train will reverse and come back to Allington Junction before turning off to Skeggy.

    If you get a direct train to Skegness which doesn't stop at Grantham, you won't pass through it at all!

  8. One I spotted in the library a couple of weeks ago and thought it might be a good read was 'Northern and Proud'

    It's the biography of Bob Stokoe, manager of Sunderland FC in the 1970s, also manager at Bury, Blackpool and Carlisle amongst others.

    There's interesting accounts of when Don Revie offered him a bribe to throw a game, also his bust up with Cloughie which was never reconciled and of course his epic time at Sunderland when, as a second division side, they won the FA cup.

    I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish, highly recommended!

  9. I remember the proposal to close the Trowell branch permanently, I think it pre-dated this crash by a few years.

    It was all about saving money when BR was seriously strapped for cash and the Erewash Valley passenger trains were diverted via Toton centre, crossed onto the goods lines, up to Meadow Lane Junction and then down to Attenborough Junction and into Nottingham from there.

    The one big flaw in the scheme was that the lines from Toton very slow and not up to passenger standards. I remember there was a story at the time that when one passenger train was crossing over, it lurched so badly that a water boiler in the buffet car tipped over and seriously scalded a member of staff.

    I think BR came to realise it wasn't a viable option because it added too much time to journeys and led to unacceptable congestion at Attenborough Jcn. where trains had to be pathed in between London services, Derby locals and freight as well.

    Luckily, BR saw sense and scrapped the idea, just as well because loss of the Trowell branch would have led to tremendous problems today.

  10. Camms set up an operation in Derby running local services. At first it was a pretty ropey affair but it developed into quite a smart operation and was taking quite a lot of passengers away from Derby Corporation which was by then owned by it's employees. It looked like Camms were there to stay and after trying to drive them off the road in all sorts of dubious ways, Derby decided the only way to get rid of them was to buy them out.

    Apparently, a quite substantial offer was put to them and Camms made it a condition that their name should be retained. Unbelievably, this was conceded (which showed the ineptitude of the employees running the Derby business) and several Derby buses were painted in Camms orange and cream colours and ran like that for a year or two.

    All this happened at the end of the 1980s and it was widely said that Arthur Camm laughed all the way to the bank when Derby City Transport bought him out!