Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Steampunk, Travel, Writing | Tags: #asylumsteampunk, Asylum Steampunk Festival, Glasgow Ubiquitous E Steampunk Society, GUESS, Lincoln, Steam Powered Giraffe, The Victorian Steampunk Society, Welcome To The Asylum
I am a little disappointed that my plan to attend the Asylum in Lincoln again this year will not come to fruition. However the simple fact is that I cannot afford it. I am not blaming the ticket prices which are not at all unreasonable, at £36 for a weekend wristband that covers and enables participation in events for four days (and probably Thursday evening) that’s less than a tenner a day for a lot of fun and access to the most amazing Steampunk markets. Of course tickets to Evening Events add to the cost, but with a city full of Steampunks there’s plenty of fun to be had without paying for evening entertainment. I should point out that while tickets for the Steam Powered Giraffe concert are £25 (worth every penny and cheap for the BEST BAND in the Universe) most of the other evening events only cost £12.00 and that’s positively cheap these days! Sadly one also needs to factor in the costs of accommodation, transport, and food and my budget won’t stretch that far.
Of course not going to Asylum provides no block to my Steampunkery. I have written several times in my blog and in the Glasgow Ubiquitous E. Steampunk Society Newsletter about how Steampunk accommodates itself to a limited budget. Although the Asylum is out this year, and I’m sure there are others in a similar position, there are still plenty of local opportunities for unexpurgated Steampunkery. Most countries now host a number of Comic Cons and our Glasgow group takes advantage of them. As well as the Cons there are plenty of other events to which our group is actively invited so there are plenty of occasions to enjoy. It’s true that these events are not the same as being surrounded by thousands of fellow Steampunks for a weekend, but they do allow what one might call ‘missionary work’. After each event we attend we receive requests to join GUESS. Although we may only have a handful of members at an event our online group is growing and it’s not always the same members who attend each event.
Perhaps the hardest part of not going to Asylum is reading the posts of all those excited people on ‘Welcome To The Asylum‘ who are preparing to attend. However, on the plus side, this does at least hold out the promise of some wonderful photograph albums to peruse in September. There are so many events I can’t attend like Wild West Con and the Steampunk World’s Fair, but whose photos provide pleasure and inspiration; this year the Asylum will be another of them.
One of the pleasures of the Asylum is watching civilians walking through the markets and gradually becoming Steampunked. That’s the first step for some, hopefully it leads on to crafting one’s own Steampunk creations. Events like the Asylum are a huge boost for one’s Steampunk soul, but life has to go on and so does one’s Steampunkery. Perhaps the true power of Steampunk is not that it can bring thousands of Steampunks together on the Castle Green during Asylum, but that it can provide them with pleasure and purpose throughout the other three hundred and sixty days of the year.
I won’t be at Asylum this year, but I won’t suffer the Asylum Blues, my life steams on regardless. However to those who are going may I wish you all a wonderful time and good weather. If it rains there’s usually cover somewhere, last year as a shower came in I found myself in a tent full of corsets feeling like a character from Father Ted. I hope you have fun and make new discoveries. Take time to appreciate the organisers (The Victorian Steampunk Society) and volunteers too, they do a terrific job. Oh, and please post lots of photos to the Welcome To The Asylum Page, we’d all love to see what you get up to.
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, autism, Health, personal development, social media, Steampunk, Technology, Travel, Writing | Tags: #asylumsteampunk, #SHAWhands2017, #SteampunkHands, Airship Ambassador, Glasgow Ubiquitous E Steampunk Society, Making Life Better, Music City Steampunk Consortium, SHAW 2017
February is Steampunk Hands Around the World month hosted by the Airship Ambassador. The theme this year is Making Life Better. I have chosen the category ‘Personal Issues’ because Steampunk has added so much to my personal enjoyment of life.
“You should come along, you’ve got the glasses for it!” said my friend Brian as he informed me that the Glasgow Ubiquitous E. Steampunk Society was going to participate in the Glasgow (Scotland) Style Mile Winter Parade. I hadn’t heard of the Style Mile and the existence of Steampunk as a thing had escaped me. A little explanation left me wondering how it had escaped me. I had the glasses, I also had a long association with waistcoats, cravats, bow-ties, hats and other sartorial eccentricities. I was at school when William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were ‘The Doctor’. My school reading tended to be HG Wells, Kipling, H. Rider Haggard and Michael Moorcock as well as The Eagle and the Rover and Wizard. I loved the cartoons of Charles Addams and Heath Robinson. The school film club brought us films like The Time Machine, 2000 Leagues Under The Sea and Journey To The Centre of the Earth. However Steampunk had never impinged upon my consciousness.
I had accidentally retired early when I was made redundant at the age of sixty. I had time on my hands and so I wrapped a top hat in holly, put on my naval greatcoat, picked up my carved Indian walking stick and joined GUESS on the parade. I was unprepared for just how much fun I would have and how much entertainment we would give the public just by walking among them. I was easily persuaded to attend RaiCon a few weeks later, I had never considered going to a Comic Con previously and I had a marvellous time. Cosplay is another concept that had largely escaped my notice, but what a lovely welcoming group of young (well compared to me) people they are and they seemed delighted to have a bunch of Steampunks wandering around the Con.
The Society’s annual general meeting came around and inevitably I went along and left at its end, the ‘Chief Engineer’ (Club Secretary) of the Glasgow Ubiquitous E. Steampunk Society. No longer just a pensioner, but a pensioner with a purpose (besides my writing that is). As a representative of Steampunkery and of the Society I threw myself into Steampunk. I had been up until that point an E Bay virgin, but building a Steampunk wardrobe for every occasion can prove costly and I was on a small pension. I not only learned to use E Bay, but became a frequenter of charity shops and antique shops. I was forced to become creative and gradually more adventurous. I began by camouflaging with cogs, burn holes in a used Morning Coat. It was not too long before I had sewn myself a leather coachman’s hat from a bag of scraps bought online. I learned, as I went round charity shops, to look at things differently; I learned to see things not as they were, but as what they could be. Sometimes I bought things merely because they looked as if they could become something amazing even if I could not yet see it. I have even been on a workshop to learn how to use a sewing machine!
I went online seeking ideas and inspiration on You Tube, Facebook and Google Plus, there are so many of us in cyberspace! Steampunks are very helpful and encouraging and some I call my friends even though we may not yet have met, and some I have. I was amazed to discover how large a community we are and how widely dispersed around the world. I was delighted to discover that many are ̶ like myself ̶ on the autism spectrum, finding in Steampunk an ideal outlet for their imaginations. I find Steampunk is a wonderful vehicle for communicating with the world and building a web of relationships. I now edit a quarterly (ish) online newsletter for the Glasgow Ubiquitous E. Steampunk Society. From the last issue we have started to produce it in association with the Music City Steampunk Consortium of Nashville, Tennessee and hope to have increased participation from them as time goes on.
There is something magical and inspiring about the internationalism of Steampunk. I went alone to the Asylum Steampunk Festival in Lincoln last year and had no problem communicating with complete strangers from all around the world. Those who understand Aspergers will appreciate how important that is. However I did not feel as if I were among strangers, I felt very much at home (in the evenings I was staying with my brother outside Lincoln which probably helped too).
There is so much to discover in Steampunk, culture, fashion, art, music, literature, amazing events. My days are never dull despite retirement. Also it opens the door to so many other new interests. In Glasgow we have the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, the world’s oldest operating music hall and I have become a volunteer in its struggle to preserve a unique cultural institution. I used to study medieval history when I was younger, now I find myself looking at the history of the Georgians, Victorians and Edwardians to inform my Steampunkery and of late I’ve been looking at the American West in the Nineteenth Century in a way I never did before (Bass Reeves…wow!)
Here I am in my sixties, on the Spectrum, with a whole new and exciting life open to me. I had expected, once the work dried up, to spend my time at home reading and writing and growing old. Now I’m like a child in some sort of brass and copper built Disneyland with a new wonder around every corner, a new adventure over the brow of every hill. Someday I may die by chronological inevitability, but I doubt if I shall ever grow old!
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Justice, personal development, Politics, Religion, Scotland, Steampunk, Technology | Tags: Brexit, Glasgow Ubiquitous E Steampunk Society, GUESS, MCSC, Music City Steampunk Consortium, NESS, North East Steampunk Society, Trump
Steampunk Superhero’s Cosplay
I think it is fair to say we live in strange and troubling times, what with the decision by the English to turn their back on Europe and drag their neighbours also into a new parochial rejection of the outside world, and the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA who appears also to want to turn his back on the world whilst at the same time plundering its resources. I accept this is somewhat of an over simplification, but the political details are not really my concern here, but rather how people respond to them. I think it is fair to say that that feelings are running high not only in The USA and the UK, but in Europe and throughout the Middle East, look further afield to Africa, Asia and Russia and it looks as if the whole world is on the edge of some sort of emotional cataclysm. So what, if anything, has any of this got to do with Steampunk?
I know that Steampunks like other folk hold political opinions, some are guided by political and religious beliefs so why, when countries are bitterly divided within themselves and from their neighbours, are Steampunks from all around the world still bumbling along together cheerfully? The answer is not ‘Gin’…at least not entirely. I would like to postulate that there are several reasons Steampunk is not dragged into the political morass in which the world now wallows. I have to confess at this point that my reasoning is based upon my observations of British Steampunk, it may be that some countries Steampunk differently, however I suspect that what is true for a British Steampunk is as true for others around the world.
Those who know my personal political beliefs to be extremely socialist, republican, and nationalist may find it strange to see me including Scottish Steampunks in the umbrella term ‘British Steampunk’. The truth is that apart from some details of expression there is little to distinguish the attitudes of Scottish Steampunks from their southern neighbours…when in Steampunk mode. And I think that is my first point: Steampunk as a way of thinking occupies a place that is meta to ordinary political thinking. Some Steampunks live in a permanent attitude of Steampunkery, for others Steampunk is more of a cosplay that they put on and off. However as I have said, when in Steampunk mode Steampunks relate to the world differently from other people.
I remember being startled when I realised that in a whole weekend at the Asylum in Lincoln I had heard not one swearword nor a raised voice. There is something about being a Steampunk that induces courteous behaviour. A Steampunk uses politeness like a shield to parry the unpleasantness of the world and wit the blade to return the blow. I will not pretend for one moment that Steampunks do not insult each other, but we do so with wit and humour, perhaps some buffoonery so that there is almost as much enjoyment of defeat as pleasure in victory…when the other side scores a try (or a six) we applaud and enjoy the moment for its own intrinsic artistry. What is saddening about politics at the moment is the depths to which people have sunk in their interactions with each other, people have become nastier, xenphobia, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination and abuse have become commonplace. People have no embarrassment at being caught in a lie. Respect for the rights and opinions of others is no longer considered important or even desirable, there is no place for old fashioned courtesy. Except in Steampunkery where old fashioned courtesy lies at its heart (we do like old fashioned or even an Old Fashioned).
One might expect a strong conservative streak in Steampunk because of its embrace of old fashioned courtesy and dress. However Steampunk cherry picks what it takes from any era and so while embracing the virtues of the past it rejects its vices. Strong women are very evident in Steampunk circles, frequently armed to the teeth with customised Nerf guns and they’re not afraid to use them! Steampunk is undoubtedly trans cultural as can be seen in its Facebook groups, but also at major Steampunk gatherings that attract attendees from all over the world. Our Glasgow Ubiquitous E. Steampunk Society is not only associated with the Music City Steampunk Consortium of Nashville, Tennessee, but has scheduled a jolly day out with the North East Steampunk Society from England (now that is true internationalism!). I haven’t noticed religion entering the Steampunk conversation except as a costume, we have Steampunk monks with goggles and Victorian Bishops with gaiters at one end and goggles at the other. Given the international nature of Steampunk, I assume that it contains folk of all faiths, but they don’t let it come between them or get in the way of the fun.
Conservatives may not be very evident in Steampunk, but conservation is. Steampunks have a respect for history especially, as the name suggests, for its technology. Nothing sets the Steampunk blood racing more assuredly than polished brass, well oiled pistons, smoothly turning gears, and the ecstatic call of a locomotive whistle. “Ah but,” I hear you say, “Steam engines run on fossil fuels and pump carbon into the air!”…don’t expect a clever argument from me, although I would argue for balance and responsibility. However the Steampunk embrace of steam should be interpreted rather as an embrace of the best of contemporary technology, which in Victorian times was steam. I think we should note that Steampunks are equally enamoured of clockwork. The essential thing about the Steampunk attitude is that technology is employed for the good of society. You may object that Steampunk has its evil villains 
and mad scientists with their death rays and killer robots, but they only exist as villains in opposition to the positive technological vision of Steampunk…besides they are playing a role (or possibly over playing in the case of Kenneth Brannagh’s Dr. Loveless) we all come together in the bar at the end of the day. In Steampunk science is treated with respect and so is scientific method and evidence, some (many) of our inventions are fanciful, but they can be so because we are aware of the difference between science and superstition and so are free to play with both. More importantly in Steampunk the urge to conservation manifests itself in an abhorrence of waste, or more accurately a love of recycling and up-cycling. Steampunk is not part of a disposable society; where civilians dispose, we reuse and re-purpose.
I think what sets Steampunk apart politically from much of society is that it is cooperative and sharing. In victory there is little inappropriate triumphalism whether in cosplay competitions or a tea duel…okay there may be a little (I’m not sure ‘little’ is entirely the correct word.) triumphalism in tea duelling, but there’s none of the vicious denigration of the losers that has marked the conduct of Trump supporters and Brexiteers, nor the bitter resentment we have seen from the other side. Steampunks are building a better future for all based on the best of the past and that means magnanimity and mutual support. You will rarely find a Steampunk rubbish someone else’s work, but they will be generous with suggestions for improvement. Steampunks help each other, they share their skills and insights, they encourage each other. I think it is safe to say that wherever you observe someone indulging in selfishness, discrimination, misogyny, xenophobia, abuse, or any form of discourtesy the person you are observing is not a Steampunk. Steampunks are building a future on the foundation of the most noble values of the past. To put things more simply: If they ain’t nice, they ain’t Steampunk! Now it’s Time For Gin!
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Health, Steampunk, Travel | Tags: Ayr, Jordan's Opticians
Had I had a plan for today, today would not have gone to it. I suppose I had a sort of plan, but it went no further than going to Ayr with my wife to have lunch and then collect our new spectacles from Jordan’s Opticians.
The day started somewhat more slowly than anticipated and by the time we got to Ayr lunch was long passed and so we did not get the Macaroni Cheese to which we had been looking forward. However we did go to the Cookery Nook to buy the Gripper (jar opener) that they didn’t have in stock when we were last in Ayr to have our eyes tested. We might not have got our Macaroni Cheese, but coffee and home baked cakes and scones in Book and Bun was a happy alternative. Needless to say we ended up buying books…some habits are hard to break.
We collected our eyeglasses and went for a wander through the town rather than risk the rush hour traffic. As we rested a while on a bench some yards from the Gaiety Theatre a young woman asked to take my photo for an art project. I was not wearing Steampunk so it was a wee bit of a surprise, but I’m always happy to help. We set off about the time I had anticipated being home to watch Strictly It Takes Two and after driving around the streets of Ayr for some time we found ourselves on the road home. It’s nice sometimes to explore new places, unfortunately I’m not sure where it was we were exploring, but it’s an attractive town, on the whole.
Our timings were by now well adrift and so rather than cook we decided to buy a takeaway on the way home. While I waited for our food to be cooked Neelam went into Asda for some shopping. We had intended to get home and eat our food while it was hot. However when I got to Asda I discovered my wife helping an old Indian Woman packing a trolley-load of fruit punnets into bags. It turned out the woman seeing another Indian had asked Neelam if she might have a lift to the bus stop. She said she was going to near Lidl. Now there was no way Neelam was going to allow an ould woman who walked with a stick to struggle with five heavy bags on the bus. So it was we decided to run her home which turned out to be in Garnethill. We were somewhat later home with our food less hot than anticipated. However with the warm satisfaction of having used our time well we enjoyed our meal.
The funny thing is that although almost no part of my day passed as planned or expected and I’m later to my writing than I’d like I am well content. Some days are good days even though they are full of surprises (I don’t like surprises) and today was a good day. I think I will sleep well tonight.
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Film Reviews, Scotland, Technology | Tags: cinema, cineworld, Cineworld App, Jeremy Corbyn, Renfrew St., Unlimited
I went to the Cineworld Multiplex in Renfrew Street to day to see the new The Magnificent Seven and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. However this is not a film review. I appreciate that cinemas, like any other business need to run at a profit if they are to keep providing the service they do. I have an Unlimited Card which enables me to go to the cinema whenever I like for one good value monthly payment and I appreciate that too. I like Cineworld, I have had an Unlimited Card since they were introduced by UGC.
The Cineworld in Renfrew Street is undergoing a major refurbishment and I think it fair to call it a real improvement. I love that the former bar has been separated into a bar (very good discount for Unlimited card holders by the way) and a Starbucks (let’s face it Cineworld coffee leaves a little to be desired). The toilet facilities are greatly improved, they’d be better with another hand dryer on each level, I cannot comment on the Ladies. The whole place is becoming much more enjoyable to visit.
But, as Jeremy Corbyn said to Labour Party Conference, “There’s always a ‘but!’” I have found the Cineworld App upon whose information I plan my cinema visits is now inadequate for its purpose. I arrived today to see my film as advertised at Eleven Thirty. It was only when I got to the cinema that the girl on the desk told me. “That’s a DX4 film.” Apparently that meant there were all sorts of added extras like shaking seats, water sprays, air jets, and smells. I asked whether there were any normal seats to which dhe responded that there were, but not until Half Past Two…a three hour wait.
There was, she told me an alternative, I could see the film on the special screen at Twelve Forty. I asked her what the difference was and she explained that the screen was bigger and the sound, apparently, better. However I would have to pay a £2.50 premium.
Rather than wait three hours I paid up. That was £2.50 wasted as far as I’m concerned. I could not perceive any enhancement of my viewing experience. Perhaps has I been watching a 3D blockbuster it might have been worth it, but I wasn’t. Still I did enjoy the film. I am annoyed that I was put into the position of having to pay extra or lose a large part of my day because Cineworld had provided me with insufficient information. I accept that they are in a period of change, but it is unfair on their regular and loyal customers to mess them about however inadvertently. While they are busy upgrading the building they should, to avoid disappointment, update their Cineworld Phone App as a matter of priority.
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Scotland, social media, Steampunk | Tags: BBC Radio Scotland, Comic Con, cosplay, Glasgow Ubiquitous E Steampunk Society, Good Morning Scotland, MCM, SECC
Oh isn’t it big! I have never been to the big Comic Cons in the USA, but I am not sure they would impress me any more that MCM in terms of size. I was impressed at how quickly the entry queue at the SECC moved. We did not have to queue for long before we were in the 
Comic Con. It was then that its shortcomings became apparent.
There didn’t appear to be any sort of program to tell people what was happening. I don’t 
know whether there were any panels and if there were when they were. There was a meet and greet, I only know because I found it as I wandered about and I only know who was there by the signs at the tables, On a positive note there was a food court, over priced as at every event, but big and varied.
In the end I spent the whole day wandering around the stalls, taking some photographs, being photographed and introducing enquirers to the existence of the Glasgow Ubiquitous E Steampunk Society. I gather we had a dozen applications to be added to our Facebook Group from the weekend, which is gratifying. Unlike some of the smaller Cons there were a couple of Steampunk stalls, sadly Victoriana for the Voluptuous Vixen wasn’t there, but those that were were fairly reasonably priced. Of course as MCM is serving a wide range of genres it couldn’t hope to be as satisfying for me as a dedicated Steampunk Festival or Bazaar. Sadly most of the dedicated Steampunk events tend to be South of the Border so we have to grab what we 
can up here. It was nice to find quite a few Steampunks wandering around several from South of the Border. Had the other GUESS members who took photographs uploaded them to our page they’d be illustrating this, in the meantime I’ll just use the few I took.
I was disappointed that the Rebel Con alternative Masquerade had to be cancelled because of the bad weather, particularly as it was the only thing that was happening whose time and location I knew in advance. It appears that the reason for the Rebel Con was removed by the accommodation of those who wanted to perform in the official masquerade…I never found out when or where that was!
It may sound as if I didn’t enjoy the event, but that would be wrong. I had a wonderful time. I just love the imagination and work that the cosplayers put into their Cosplays; creating outfits and accessories, intricate face painting, building EVA armour 
and prosthetics, some had actually used metal…heavy, and learning moves, speeches and songs. It always makes me smile when confronted with a camera they drop into poses associated with their characters and then stroll off being 
Iron Man, Batman, Sailor Moon or whoever they are cosplaying.
We were interviewed by BBC Scotland who were including participants’ comments in their piece about MCM on Sunday’s Good Morning Scotland. The item filled the last half hour of the program and focused very much on cosplay and included a fair amount about Steampunk with several references to the Asylum. All in all a very gratifying weekend, I think next year I shall go on both days.
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, personal development, Scotland, Steampunk, Writing | Tags: blogging, blogs, Comic Con, commitment, Glasgow Ubiquitous E Steampunk Society, goals, journaling, MCM, routine, schedule, targets, Werner Erhard
GUESS at MCM
On Saturday I took a day off from my usual schedule. I enjoyed it. Everyday I write my journal, everyday I read my Bible, everyday I post my blog. Saturday began as any other day I did write in my journal in the morning, but decided to postpone my Bible reading until the evening, as I often do. I usually blog in the evening, often the subject of my blog is suggested by the events of the day or, perhaps, the news. Saturday began as a normal day, the only anticipated break from routine was meeting up with some of my friends in the Glasgow Ubiquitous E Steampunk Society to go to the MCM Comic Con. This is not going to be a blog about MCM nor Steampunk, but there will be reference to both later in the week possibly.
It was only in the evening as I thought about blogging that I realised it felt like a burden. I could have posted one I had in reserve for an occasion when time did not permit writing. However as I contemplated what to post it occurred to me that I had become a prisoner of my targets and goals. I love setting goals as they provide a clarity and focus to my actions, but on Saturday I realised that instead of using them I had become subject to their tyranny, I had become obsessive about achieving them. I had set myself the goal of posting a blog every day of the year and having blogs in hand made that a simple enough thing to do. On Saturday the thought of posting a blog everyday ceased to give me joy. Blogging is not my job, I don’t get paid for it, I do it for pleasure and if it does not give me joy then what is the point? On Saturday I chose not to post even a reserve blog, I chose not to read my Bible, and in the evening I did not complete my journal for the day.
For a little while I felt uncomfortable, I do not like it when my days do not follow their expected routine. For a little while I felt uncomfortable that I was letting myself or others down, I have no contract with anyone but myself so at worst I was letting myself down. I learned many years ago from Werner Erhard that even when one has given one’s word it is permissible to renegotiate any agreement. My agreement is with me and I realised that the deeper level of the agreement was to find joy in what I was doing, I gave myself permission to play hooky and immediately experienced a great feeling of freedom, so much so that I almost wrote about it there and then. I think that might have defeated the point a little as it was only by breaking my agreement with myself that it ceased to be a burden.
One day off from goals and schedules and then it was back to the blog and all the rest of it because that’s what I wanted. I have a better agreement now, now I will not allow myself to be burdened by my commitments, but to focus on the joy to which they lead. And where there is no joy on which to focus then I will do something else. Another thing I learned by taking that day off is that I love to write and a day without writing feels like a day with a hole at its heart. I doubt I’ll take another day off like that, but I’m happy I did.
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Politics, Steampunk, Technology, Travel | Tags: BR, British Rail, integrated transport, Jeremy Corbyn, nationalised railways, Virgin
Today I watched the last part of the excellent BBC series about the history of Britain’s railways. I don’t think I had ever understood how integral were the railways to the development of modern Britain. There is not an area of our lives that doesn’t owe something to the railways and the network that was laid down in the days of steam. It’s not for me to go into it here, the series is available on DVD and I shall get it as it’s one of the best history series I have seen and I’ve been watching television since steam locomotives were not an uncommon sight.
When I was a child trains were pulled by steam or diesel locos for the most part. From 
where we lived we could if we chose travel to London, or anywhere else in Britain by train. We lived in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, but we could take a local train from Grassington to Skipton. We could take another from Skipton to Leeds and thence on the mainline to Euston. Back then we thought nothing of making journeys with several changes of train. On British Rail for all its faults I don’t remember ever being stranded because a train had been arbitrarily cancelled. I suppose the real rot began when the Conservatives decided to close the branch lines, but as all their voters could afford cars I don’t they felt a need for local lines.
Recently I went away for a long weekend and made the mistake of travelling on Virgin East Coast. I can not remember such a miserable journey in the last sixty years except once travelling to Bournemouth and nor such a delay since the IRA held up my journey by bombing Warrington. I accept that the catering on modern trains is infinitely better than on BR and the facilities may be better, but they do not compensate for the inconveniences of modern rail travel. Again I admit the decline began before the privatisation of the railways.
I suppose my first awareness of the decline was my grandmother calling in vain for a porter on Skipton Station only to learn that there was no longer a porter service. The decline in our railways has arisen entirely from a desire firstly to cut costs and secondly to make a profit at the expense of passengers. In the days of British Railways the decline came from what would appear to be an understandable desire of government to subsidise public transport. As a consequence we have an inferior and limited rail service and poorly maintained and over burdened public roads. Whereas on the continent governments recognise the value of an efficient rail network. Where once our railways built a tourist industry now I find myself apologising to foreign tourists for the state of them.
There is a limit to how far any country can allow its infrastructure to decline before the economy is damaged. The UK government has for decades taken a limited and short term view of transport eschewing ideas like integrated transport planning as unacceptably socialist and as a consequence leaving us with a system where getting anywhere outside London is a game of chance. I am pleased that should he be elected Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn will privatise the railways. I hope that he will go further and promote an integrated transport system that optimises our resources, particularly under used ones like the waterways. It was the railways that made Britain great, it is properly managed transport and communications infrastructure that can restore greatness to a country crippled by greed.
Springingtiger's Blog 