Margaret Swift's Posts

No, I can't hear a thing either, don't know what all the fuss is about!!

Well said Fred and Deedoodle, you really do both speak the truth about all this. It really is now all about control and it is damm scary!

@Leatash, got my keyboard back so can do a full reply! I pointed out to NR in the first consultation  that in 2014 the line was breached and they needed to work 24/7 to get it up and  running, which we all understood. But, that is not the case in building the Dawlish Berlin Wall! The line is open and so there is no need for night working. I asked why they needed to work through the night and the ...

Duckileaks, the ones I'm talking about probably do have back doors but to get to them you have to go from the front. I know for sure that two have definitely been closed throughout lockdown.

If you are going to visit then take proof of your address otherwise you will be turned away.

@leatash .......bully for you!

When will someone say enough is enough and force CC to use their HST fleet on this line as these are not affected by the waves?

Sidmouth is an excellent example. Two of the project managers and the lead engineer told me at the first consultation, in answer to my question, that man-made reefs out at sea was the best option but was also the most expensive option. I did point out that as this was a project to protect the line for the next 100 years then cutting on costs was particularly shortsighted. Surely they should have ...

Perhaps someone can ask if the rumours are true that the work is so far behind it won’t even be finished by the end of March!

They are refurbishing it but mainly to reconfigure things to try and stop the thieving that goes on blatantly every night!

And then it’s 24 hours a day from September until they finish, supposedly mid-January!

The BBC is outdated and needs to move into the 21st centuary. If we want to watch BBC then we should pay like we do for Sky or any other service and if we don’t then we shouldn’t be paying, it really is that simple! I happily pay for Sky yet rarely watch the British Bias Corporaton(BBC) so why should I have to pay for something I choose not to Watch? I’m now ready for the volley of vitriolic ...

And believe me majorp, it’s no different at local level!!

Thanks Lynne, that gives a good steer for the folk on here about who to vote for if they want a playpark or don’t want a park. Could you do a letter to the gazette with the same information?

Again! Just give us the HSTs decommissioned by GWR!

How about putting the money to better use such as better care for our old people!!

The article is exactly the same one from last month so to say “ The Rarely seen Network Rail Flying Banana Nos 43014 Named the Railway Observer and  43062 Named John Armitt, worked down from Reading Triangle Sidings to Paignton via Penzance," is a nonsense. It’s up and down our line like a yo-yo due to rough seas and high waves which prevent Crosscountry trains running along the line! I think the ...

Close it down and move into the 21st centuary!

They are planning to reshape the seawall along Marine Parade to deflect the waves back to the sea, whether that will work remains to be seen.

I’m thinking of opening a just giving page to fund majorp being kindly put to sleep by the local vet! Any takers?

Great, so the next shop to close on the Strand will be the opticians, who, in my experience, are very, very good. Shame our beautiful little town seems to have the self destruct button permanently activiated!

I do hope Censi’s come back, they were brilliant and really did increase footfall to the beach. The Tuesday Pizza evenings were also very popular.

Apparently a spokesperson at Network Rail said they will never agree to put benches on the sea wall due to health and safety reasons. When I asked in a meeting a couple of years ago what the reasons were I was told that people could stand on the benches to get onto the line! I did point out the that the low wall all the way to DW provided much easier access to the line!

@Daina Mond (Mrs C), your post wasn't subtle in the least, that's why it was nasty. Your subsequent post is the subtle version, perhaps you ought to look up the meaning of subtle! And, I think you have got the wrong end of the stick, again, I don't think anyone has said people don't take their kids to Teignmouth and Paignton to the play parks, in fact we know they do! Lynne's post is asking the ...

As I walked through town yesterday there was a police officer (female) sat on the bench where we would normally see the alcoholics, obviously she was on her own. As I carried on my way home I came across four of the alcoholics sat on the bench above the beach manager's hut merrily drinking their day away! I wonder how long she sat there thinking she was doing a good job?

Yes I am an ex councillor, so what?

This is a sad time, the end of HSTs and the introduction of more uncomfortable, overcrowded inferior trains similar to the Crosscountry trains.

It is for the cyclists to wheel their bikes up or down the very steep incline. They have one in Bideford on the Tarka trail but very few cyclists use it as it is very difficult to wheel your bike and keep control of it down such a steep gulley - I know as I have tried but only once!

@Romulus i agree with some of yourr comments. the vast majority of staff at waitrose are really helpful and courteous but recently i did a click and collect order and the woman who served me was incredibly patronising, suggesting i requested my ordered then did my shopping so she had time to collect it for me. it then took her less that two minutes to come back with my order! me being me i did say ...

I was told last week by GWR that the first wave was built in Japan and the second wave is being built in Italy. As long as they are not of the same design as the original Virgin Voyager trains then the waves crashing over them should not be a problem. Time will tell...........

@Carer - perhaps you should have gone to specsavers! the areas I have been to are blighted by these hideous pieces of useless equipment and, no, I would not like to see our beautiful coast ruined by them.

I say bring back Mary Lowther!

Thanks for the links Lynne and it was great to see the article in the gazette. If feels like things haven't moved on that much for women in a hundred years!

Well I will be interested to know if the town centre CCTV is switched on as I think it was inactive for a very long time. I hope it was working and captured images of the vermin who attacked the Costcutter manger so they can be caught and dealt with severely. The council need to provide CCTV at CC but I bet they won't!

An accident waiting to happen......... .and a compensation claim! Some old biddy steps off the coach and a cyclist takes her out! Who pays the compensation for injury? DCC, TDC or DTC? They are all barking mad!!

Well done to whoever on the Council arranged for the lighted swans on the bridge, tthey look fab in the dark. And so do he lights over the brook, as they always have done. And to think, not too long ago some councillors wanted to get rid of the lights over the Brook and replace them with modern rubbish that would have not looked anywhere near as attractive as the 'old fashioned' lights!

I know! But whatever they spend on the line is useless while ever we have Voyagers travelling along the line! But..........CC are about to solve this problem by stopping all of their services at Exeter! So, we won't have that problem after December 2017 but we also won't have much of a service!

Great photographs, thank you.

Perhaps, like me, people have been deliberately put off using telephone boxes. I had to use one on Exeter St David's Station a few years ago when I left home without my mobile phone and was away for three or four days so really did need it. This was before I had a dongle for my iPad and GWR provided wifi. I entered the phone box with change in hand only to find, due to the limited coinage it would ...

Me too Deedoodle! I too walked around town last week in the late afternoon and evenings and saw the usual suspects openly drinking from beer cans, cider bottles etc! Not a plastic or real Bobby in sight to impose the PSPO! Why do we have this problem in Dawlish and other towns do not seem suffer a similar problem?