The London 1960 Cube is coming any day now

A quick post to share a box making project not involving a bus! This time it’s a map and it is a few days away from completion. My first cube map dates back to 2017, but it was less than perfect. Recently I made a cube map of Beeston open gardens and, by chance, realised how I could create a cube map of the London railways I knew and used in the fifties and sixties before leaving Wembley for Birmingham in 1969, arriving in Lenton in Nottingham ten years later, where I have lived ever since.

This cube map is about the world I grew up in and fell in love a few times, went to work in, all with the help of London Transport. More later. In the meantime, a teaser to look at:

P.S. The story of these years can be found on another blog of mine at:

mywembley.blogspot.com

Beeston Fields has it only little map. complete with bus info

 This small A5 landscape map first saw light of day in early-2019 and a few things have changed since then. Not least, the Beeston Fields Estate has lost its Monday-Saturday half-hourly bus service into Beeston town centre. Now we have just three journeys each way on Mondays and Thursdays, thanks to local government budget cuts.

I live in Beeston Fields, so know the estate quite well. I use the post office on Central Avenue when I need one and I visit The DoughMother Bakery and Café every week for a few hours to read and write. I also walk around Beeston Fields Recreation Ground regularly. 

It's a friendly estate and even with our regular estate bus, we are no more than ten minutes walk from high frequency bus services along the Derby and Woodside roads, and the town centre is just as close and, there, we can catch the tram as well. 

Nottingham City Centre is, even with the walk, within 35 minutes if you don't have to with for a bus and Derby City Centre is an hour away door-to-door. In other words, Beeston Fields is a good place to live.

Anyway, here is my update map. None of the shops on Central Avenue have changed since 2019 with the exception of one closure. It's much the same at the Priory Island shops.

The map has been designed so to is easy to read and there is a folded postcard in the process of being prepared for printing. I'm just waiting for an advert.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

 

I am a lover of trees and I have an image in my head of Nottingham City Transport's 36 bus and Trent-Barton Indigo travelling along a corridor of trees as they travel through Beeston. I hope the attached will tell you more:

The first image is of a banner being made for me for two events in Beeston later this month. Once I have more details I will share them with you. The second and thirds images are two sides of a leaflet which will accompany the banner when it is on display and, finally, an enlarged version of the sketch map I originally created in June 2020.

I describe my vision 'Creating Green Corridors'. Click on each image in turn to enlarge. I also hope to take them into Beeston High Road when there are nice days. Just turn up and pull up my banner with a small table for my leaflets.

 

The historic Bennerley (railway) Viaduct sandwiched between two canals

Well, posting a map has taken a little longer than I intended but a lot has happened — two eye cataract operations within four weeks of another at short notice. I have for several months been having problems with my vision and I finally went to my optician two months ago as good as, who told me I had a cataract on my left eye and wrote to my GP. Within three days I was invited to attend a pre-op appointment and I had the operation a fortnight later. The surgeon told me that there was a cataract on my right eye as well and I was offered a cancellation three weeks after my left eye was done. It still isn't a fortnight since my second op, but I have had a post-op check and told I now have 20-20 vision and all I needed was a pair of reading glasses, so here I am back at the computer and the map completed.

I have created the map so that it can easily be captured and printed off. I have just done it and have a perfectly readable A4 page in front of me. If you can find the leaflets referred to, then great, but you don't need them. There is plenty of signage along the Erewash Canal and by Bennerley Viaduct.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

For the moment just enjoy the pics (yet to be put in geographical order) and explore the weblink with The Friends of Bennerley Viaduct. 

A map showing frequent Trent-Barton daily bus links and my text will follow on Saturday, other than to say Susan and I took our first walk across Bennerley Viaduct yesterday after years of seeing it from the Erewash and abandoned Nottingham canals. Thanks to FoBV it has recently opened as a foot and cycle path.

Three cheers to Nottingham City Transport for spreading a little seasonal goodness

 Here I am a couple of days after taking delivery of two masks, a book and seasonal wrapping paper I bought from Nottingham City Transport, which they are selling to raise money for local NHS staff and patients.

The wrapping paper has already been put to good use, wrapping Christmas presents. The labels were made at home by Susan and printed on 220gsm white card.

Here is a link to the NCT website news story about the masks, book and wrapping paper: https://www.nctx.co.uk/read-all-about-it-nct-branded-face-coverings-and-book-written-nct-customers-sale-raise-money-local

A great idea. I wish them well. I also love the fact that Buster is back again. I still think he makes a great logo, despite being close to 40 years old. Here's Buster earning his keep on the front of my favourite NCT Route Map and Pocket Guide, dated October 1983 (click on the images to enlarge):

Perhaps next year NCT will create a fundraising 'Santa Bus', which will spend time on all the routes, collecting the wishes of passengers young and old and, perhaps, helping to deliver donated gifts to those who do not have a chimney for Santa to use. A few of his reindeer on the front and along the sides, plus his sleigh of course. I can't wait...!

In the meantime, enjoy the next few days as best you can in these difficult times. I am of an age when I tend to remember those no longer with us, who shared their happiness with me, and try to do the same.

Take care and thanks again to Nottingham City Transport for their generosity.

Bus Christmas cards

Every Christmas we get a few bus cards from family and friends. This year it has been nos. 2 and 3 below. The top one is from 2016 and is stuck to the wall by my desk at home and is my favourite to date. It's a scene c.1950 and that probably explains why. In those days there was more snow about and whilst I can't remember Christmas street decorations in Wembley I do remember going 'into town' (ie. London) to see the Christmas lights.

I would love to see Christmas bus cards like this for Nottingham and other cities. Maybe 2020 will be the year. In the meantime enjoy looking at the cards I have found together with the ones I already have.

You can find this card on the web (click here).

You can find this card on the web too (click here).

This is one I rather like, but that's the London Transport bus nerd in me. For the record is probably meant to be RT1, which entered service in 1939 but never on route 164A. For some of us with an interest in London buses, the RT trumps the RM Routemaster for its importance and comfort. You can find this on e-bay if you click here.

This one is captured from the Cards for Good Causes website (click link here).

The cards below have all been captured from the web today using 'Christmas Xmas bus card' for my search. There is not a single non-London card, this I find a little disappointing but I know from making bus boxes to take to local history fairs in Nottingham and near-by Mansfield, my London bus boxes go a lot quicker than my Nottingham City Transport and Trent-Barton bus boxes/

The similarity between these two cards is striking. In the absence of having them in my hand I can only wonder where they have been painted/creasted by the same artist/graphic designer?

And, finally, part of another Christmas card I found on the web, which you can buy. Click here for more details 

Of scenes outside London, there are a few showing my beloved trolleybuses and if you are looking for transport cards with a difference, then look no further than this link.

So, why not go in search of bus cards and see what you can find. You may well do better than me.

More Conservative promises which are not what the headline suggests

Barely a week ago this was what the Conservatives (and other political parties) said about public transport when I posted this summary from the BBC News website:



Today BBC News is running a story headlined 'Conservatives pledge £4.2bn for trains, buses and trams'.

Er, not until 2022! The report reads
The Conservatives have promised £4.2bn of new spending on local train, bus and tram services if they win the 12 December general election. The party said the cash, which would become available from 2022, would help fund transport projects outside London. 
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would transform services "in towns and cities across the country". 

The Conservatives are banking on the fact that come 2022 this belated £4.2bn public transport pledge will have long been forgotten by the muppets who voted for them. 

This is the political party with the slogan 'Let's get Brexit done'. A great many people believe if the Conservatives win we will leave the EU on 31 January 2020. NO WE WON'T! We'll be lucky to leave by the end of 2020.

Present-day Conservatives have no interest in public transport other than what profits it can make for their big business/corporate backers. Once it was very different. They created many of the municipal bus and tram systems in England, Scotland and Wales in the late-19th/early-20th centuries before the Labour Party existed. This is something you can read about in an earlier blog posted by me, headed: Take the slow bus no more dated 14 August 2019.

The Conservatives used to believe in and understand why public utilities exist to serve all us. Not any more. This makes me sad. They would be a better, and more acceptable, party if they could recapture some of the historic decency they once had. 

Catch a 35 and explore Nottingham's wild side

I am trying to persuade BBC Radio 4's Open Country series to do a programme about Nottingham City Transport's 35 bus route, which I champion at every opportunity. In the meantime a new map and leaflet to enjoy (click on the images to enlarge)

New singles for West Bridgford

I am fearful that after the General Election, should the Conservatives win and do a trade deal with America, they will see Nottingham City Transport as a prime municipal asset they can take away from the people of Nottingham and sell off, for that it was a free trade agreement with the Americans means.

However that's a thought for the future. Right now I'd like to celebrate NCT's purchase of 10 brand new Alexander Dennis E200MMC low emission midi-buses, which will allow NCT to complete its upgrade to a fully Euro VI fleet and meet Nottingham City Council’s Clean Air Plan to improve air quality.

Click on the bus to enlarge.

These light, spacious buses feature on-board Wi-Fi, USB chargers, comfortable seating and double passenger information screens which NCT are currently trialling.

The new buses are primarily operating on Bridgford Bus routes 5, 7, 8 and 9 which link Gamston, Wilford Hill, Compton Acres and West Bridgford to Trent Bridge, the Railway Station and City Centre. 

West Bridgford section of NCT Bus Map, Sept. 2019 Click on the map to enlarge.

Between West Bridgford Town Centre and the City Centre, Bridgford Bus operates up to every 5 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 15 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays.

David Astill, NCT Commercial and Operations Director, said, “We are delighted to introduce these brand new buses to our customers in West Bridgford. With almost 40% of Bridgford Bus customers telling us that they have a car they could use for their journey, but they proactively choose to use the bus, we expect the modern design and features of the new buses will attract more motorists on board.”

From 1914 until 1968, the then West Bridgford Urban District Council had its own fleet of municipal buses. In 1968 the Council transferred its buses to Nottingham City Transport and some reading this might remember the celebrations which took place in 2014 to mark the centenary of municipal bus services in West Bridgford. Here is a link to a BBC News feature and a photograph of a West Bridgford UDC single decker from 1954. It is a pity that the modern buses, with all there wonderful gizmos, have lost the soft, elegant line of earlier buses.

Click on the bus to enlarge.

As a result of the 10 new buses entering service, the ten oldest NCT buses in the fleet (two dating back to 2001) are being withdrawn. This sees NCT’s average bus age fall to just 4.5 years old (UK average 8.5 years) and the oldest bus drop by half from 18 years to just 9 years.

Other routes and areas to receive new buses in 2019 include Brown 17 and Yellow 68, 69 to Bulwell; Lilac 27 to Carlton; Pink 28 to Bilborough, Lime 58 to Arnold; Turquoise 77 to Strelley and Purple 89 to Rise Park.

2019 General Election party offerings when it comes to buses and HS2

One thing jumps out when looking at the transport policies of the main parties. There is no mention of light rail/trams by any party and is it all hot air when it comes to buses? The devil is always in the detail.

Below is a BBC News list of what the manifestos of the main political parties are offering us in the forthcoming 2019 general election when it comes to transport.

HS2 will do nothing for the East Midlands or most of the Derby-Nottingham conurbation. It will not lower journey times door-to-door because of the time people will spend getting to Toton (e.g. 34 minutes by tram from the Nottingham city centre plus more minutes to get to the HS2 station) and I am one of those, should I still be alive when its completed, who will benefit, living in Beeston as I do. However, I am still against HS2.

The Greens want to upgrade the capacity of the existing railway network and electrify all railway lines and, quite simply, want to give local authorities control of local bus services. All too often good policies get lost in the detail and the Greens seem to understand this better than the other three main parties.

The Conservatives promise hardly any money for buses, only £220m over 5 years and a ‘superbus network’ (this link might help explain the aim). What we need are regular daily services operated by good quality buses serving neighbourhoods and local town centres, not just inter-urban main roads, if more car users are to be persuaded to use buses.

Labour will extend free bus travel to all under-25s ‘where routes are run by councils’ and 'restore 3,000 bus routes' and promise 'more local control'. How much more they don't say?  Nottingham City Council own Nottingham City Transport, an ‘arms length’ company, so will they qualify to provide free bus travel to all under-25s and will it just be within the Nottingham City Council boundary? Then there is what happens to Trent-Barton bus services? Surely, it is not Labour's intention to penalise a well loved excellent private bus company? You see what I mean about a seemingly good policy getting lost in the detail and, perhaps most important of all, the policy will not be fair to all under-25s.

And the Liberals are vague. The problems buses face in England cannot be solved with money alone. Government money means Government control. The Greens understand that. It’s about local control at the end of the day. What’s right for Nottingham and Beeston in a conurbation will be different in rural areas and small towns.

The choice between the main parties is stark. If the Conservatives win things will stay much the same in Greater Nottingham (we already have bus lanes and inter-urban 'superbuses' in the form of the Red Arrow and a few others), and whilst Labour and the Liberals promise lots of money, the Greens promise unambiguous local control.

On Thursday 12 December 2019 you get to choose.

Click on the lists below to enlarge:

We're so lucky – Nottingham City Transport does it again!

THIS IS SO OLD HAT… 

NOW FOR THE 5TH TIME IT'S
UK BUS OPERATOR OF THE YEAR!

It is so easy to forget how good the buses are in Nottingham and it's a pity that the national and regional media, with all the talk right now about transport, us being as we are in the middle of a general election campaign, ignores the annual UK Bus Awards. It's the same every year, so here is my attempt at sharing the good news with you, thanks to a press release I received from Nottingham City Transport.

Nottingham City Transport have won five of the top gongs at the 2019 UK Bus Awards in London on Tuesday, including the highly contested ‘best in show’ category, UK Bus Operator of the Year (which NCT has now won for a record breaking five times).

Jatinder Kumar took the Top National Bus Driver title sponsored by Volvo Bus. This is the second year in a row a bus driver from the Nottingham bus company has won the coveted award, following Aaron Johnson’s win last year.

HR Admin Manager, Sheila Swift won the Unsung Hero accolade sponsored by Backhouse Jones, recognising her 37 years of dedicated service at the company and NCT’s Managing Director Mark Fowles was presented with the Services to the Bus Industry honour sponsored by Buses Magazine.

 No one could knock NCT off the top spot either, as Nottingham City Transport took the gold once again in the Top City Operator category, sponsored by INIT Innovations, which saw them through to the grand final where they went on to win the UK Bus Operator of the Year, sponsored by Gallagher & QBE Insurance.

NCT previously won UK Bus Operator of the Year in 2004, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Newly crowned, Top National Bus Driver Jatinder, fought off competition from tens of thousands of bus drivers nationwide. The award recognises outstanding achievements in delivering exceptional customer service and always going above and beyond to exceed passengers’ expectations.

Jatinder is described by Nottingham City Transport as ‘one of the most compassionate and caring people you could ever meet.’ Jatinder grew up in a rural Indian village, he moved to the UK so he could pay for his sisters' education, and putting other people first comes second nature to him. A recent mystery traveller assessment read: "He is a perfectionist, doing his job to the maximum with no fuss and a pleasure to travel with. A fantastic asset to the company."

Unsung Hero winner Sheila's love, commitment and dedication to NCT over nearly 4 decades is unquestionable. Joining City of Nottingham Transport in 1981 as a short-hand typist, Sheila has progressed to be Nottingham City Transport’s HR Admin Manager, where she has responsibility for recruitment, making sure NCT's rules, policies and procedures are followed, delivering many HR projects and GDPR compliance.

Mark Yexley, Chairman of the UK Bus Awards, said: “A massive congratulations to Nottingham City Transport! To win five awards, including Top National Driver and Bus Operator of the Year, is an outstanding achievement. The judges were really impressed with the investment the business is making in its fleet and infrastructure too. The company has seen fleet emissions fall by 90% and 8000 tonnes of CO2 and 70 tonnes of NOX emissions were avoided in the last 12 months. They also commended the company’s substantial investment in gas buses and its achievement in encouraging and attracting more young people on to its services.”

Mark added: “Jatinder’s dedication shone through, and Sheila’s outstanding contribution over the past 37 years to the business has been remarkable, just as Mark Fowles commitment has to the industry where he has become synonymous with high standards, innovation and a clear intent to put customers at the heart of everything it does.”

“The whole city should be immensely proud of the company and its employees!”

Nottingham City Transport’s Jack Moore was also a finalist in the Engineer of the Year category.

Anthony Carver-Smith, NCT Marketing Manager commented, “Wow! 2019 has been the best year yet for Nottingham City Transport at the UK Bus Awards and we are over the moon to have been crowned UK Bus Operator of the Year for a record breaking fifth time! A massive thank you to everyone throughout NCT who work so tirelessly to deliver the best bus service in the country! It is without a doubt the people within NCT that make it so successful, as demonstrated by Sheila, Jatinder and Mark winning awards today”.

The last 36 to Chilwell. One of my favourite photographs, taken close to midnight at the Beeston Interchange. If I was fitter I would take more such photographs of Nottingham buses late at night. In so many other towns, the last bus would have been in the garage by 9 or 10 o'clock. You can see why I've headlined this post 'We're so lucky'.

Let's have a day out in Beeston: How to get there by bus

You will also find this map on my new Beeston Maps blog:

It has been designed to print A3 but it can be read when printed A4 landscape if you have good eyesight!


Click on the map to enlarge.