komadori’s green corner

It seems that First Great Western are very proud of their website:

The First Great Western website… has won a prestigious Award from Revolution magazine, in its Travel and Leisure category…. Says Tim Hayne: “We are delighted that www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk is achieving the recognition and acclaim it deserves, through independent assessment, as well as through the popularity with our customers.”

What is the source of the popularity of FGW’s website?

Most of the visitors to the website are seeking information about train times, want to buy tickets or check latest travel news.

(My emphasis.) Yes, people are visiting the website to find out just how late the trains are running. If only FGW were winning awards for their train service too, rather than apologising for it.

Whilst walking home today, I saw shop fitters putting up the illuminated signage on a newly refitted shop at the local parade of shops. The shop, formerly a letting agent, had been closed for over four years and continues a recent upturn. The 12 bar is doing goodish business (despite its odd approach to opening hours), the local sub-post office was refitted just over a year ago and is now much brighter and the pharmacy was refitted after flooding last autumn. The Shanghai restaurant and associated take-away do a steady trade and the Greyhound pub has gained the business of the locals that used to frequent The Ship (now the 12 bar). Only the second-hand hardware shop and florist seem to be customer-free zones. So I hope the new shop does well.

The sign? ‘Smakosz Polish Delicatessen’.

Final pop at local journalism for the evening.

YOU cannot be serious! Swindon Council’s chief executive Gavin Jones and his predecessor Sir Mike Pitt are hoping to show off John McEnroe-like skills when they enter the Challenge Swindon sport festival.

I take it that what the journo had in mind was Mr McEnroe’s sporting skills, rather than his language skills as demonstrated in the rest of his ‘You cannot be serious!’ outburst.

The saying the camera never lies may no longer be true, but it certainly seems to be more reliable that the written and spoken word in the hands of local journalists. The headline may say ‘rush hour chaos’, the voice-over may say that traffic was ‘brought to a stand-still’, but the video shows traffic moving freely. I bet the learner driver at the end of the video will be very wary of accident recovery vehicles in future.

The list of candidates in the local elections have now been published (though you have to search for your polling station by selecting ‘where’ before the site will tell you). (Actually, they’ve been published for about a week, but it’s taken me until now to work out how to get the list from the official site.) Those for central ward are an interesting bunch, honest. There’s David Cox (independent egg) who’s apparently taking the man-of-mystery approach. Listed next is Karsten Evans (green egg) whose only promise is “I can be a ‘pain in the neck’ when I need to be.” So no different from most other politicians then, for whom being a pain in the neck seems to come naturally. Other candidates are Karen Leakey (blue egg), Derique Joseph Montaut (red egg) and Steven Francis Pipe (yellow egg), all of whom, as predicted, are committed to fighting crime and anti-social behaviour, dealing with traffic congestion and protecting the green spaces in the town centre.

Either it’s been a slow news day or there’s an election in the offing for this to be worth attention.

RAMBLERS and cyclists in Swindon should find the way forward a little clearer as they pursue their leisure activities.

In three years’ time, the council hopes that 90 per cent of the town’s footpaths and cycleways will be easy to use.

At the moment 86 per cent of the 211 miles of public rights of way in Swindon meet the Government standard.

So an extra 4% of 211 miles will be easy to use. Hmm…. If the quote in the Adver from a personage in the local branch of the Ramblers’ Association is correct

“I haven’t noticed a dramatic change over the years – perhaps the overgrown footpaths that exist do not lead anywhere in particular.”

then perhaps I won’t bother to seek out those extra eight miles.

As it seems to have received very little attention elsewhere, I’ll give a small toot here to a recent government announcement that the outgoing chief executive of Network Rail will be spending a little more time in Swindon.

Anyone making jokes about getting research onto the right track will be unceremoniously ejected from the nest!

Swindon Borough Council’s Central Area Action Plan will be out for consultation from the end of this month. Whilst full of big visions that make good headlines, the ‘action’ will be spread over quite a long period… until 2026. Worth a look, if only to see if you can find some green arms and green legs to go with the proposed green spine. A green man amongst the streets of Swindon would be a unique planning concept.

Having taken a wrong turning whilst peddling frantically along route 45, I came across Mouldon Hill Country Park. A haven of tranquility on the (current) fringes of Swindon’s northern expansion.
Apparently the Swindon & Cricklade Railway will end here soon.

Apparently I’m teal green. I was hoping to be a nice green shade of green.

What shade of green are you?