Newbury Weekly News 110517

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Newbury Weekly News

Your views POST : Newspaper House, Faraday Road, Newbury, RG14 2DW EMAIL editor@newburynews.co.uk talk to us Email letters to editor@newburynews.co.uk with your full name, a terrestrial address and daytime phone number. DEADLINE: MONDAY NOON

More should bedone to stoppavement cyclists RECENTLY I visited my friends in Plymouth, and as we walked through the city centre, I remarked how surprised I was that there were no cyclists riding on the pavements. Even in the pedestrianised zones I saw cyclists walking with their bikes until they reached the end of the zone and they only remounted when they reached the cycling lanes. It is all due to the police fining the riders according to a letter in the Plymouth Herald on Saturday, April 8, which is as follows: “A cyclist giving someone a ‘backie’ was one of more than 100 riders slapped with fines for breaking the law, new police figures show. “Devon and Cornwall Police revealed that 112 cyclists have been hit with fines in the last five years. But the number of tickets issued has dwindled from 60 in 2012 to just four last year. ‘learning’. It was such a privilege to be able to give our families the opportunity to experience Pantomimus ; the expertise was not only in the execution, but the fundamental understanding of early years education which underpinned the show. I have rarely been so impressed. Bravo! PAULA CRAVEN Central Family Hub Manager

marking’ – such as jumping a red light. “Riders were also penalised for not having working lights, cycling on a footpath and failing to stop for officers. “Fines for cyclists breaking the law rose from £30 to £50 in 2013. In all, riders paid fines totalling £3,960.” We still have a problem in Newbury with the pavement cyclists, and when I and other pedestrians have asked them to stay on the road, we have had verbal abuse, which has got to stop. Also, recently a cyclist was seen riding through the Kennet Shopping centre by many shoppers. So come on West Berkshire Council and Thames Valley Police, please try and do something about the few irresponsible cyclists who endanger pedestrians.

Lambourn busservices aresimply notjoined up

is operated by West Berkshire Council transport services team.

n Continued from page 21 The kind of tactics that led to the Lib Dems being slaughtered at the last election, when they were reduced to a handful of seats, and Ms Bunting’s vote dropped by 20 percentage points? It is, of course, true that in some areas where Labour is successful, Conservatives vote with the Liberal Democrats in the hope of a coalition which will preserve austerity, damage the NHS and force young people out of higher education and the housing market. In Newbury though, a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for the Conservatives. It may be a tactic, but it’s a bad, failed, futile tactic of Tom-ish proportions. There is no hope of a Liberal Democrat victory here. If you want progressive policies, then you can’t vote for parties that aren’t progressive. The Conservatives offer austerity and a hard Brexit, the Lib Dems offer Tory plans wrapped in an EU flag. Only the Labour candidate can promise to fight for those progressive policies of fairness, for a more hopeful future. The dictionary definition of tactic is an action carefully planned to achieve a specific end. A tactical vote means that the specific end will be a Conservative victory. So before deciding on tactics, watch Tom getting a frying pan in the face, and think again. ALAN CHILDS Newbury Labour Party campaign co-ordinator

As the council appears to have responsibility for both of these

Thanks toMaestros for theshow atfamily hub the convenience of the operators? These are, after all, supposed to be ‘services’. ROY BAILEY Great Shefford I WOULD like to say a great big thank you to Berkshire Maestros’ Early Years Team for their wonderful Pantomimus Show last week. As part of a series they are staging, they performed two fantastic shows for toddlers, babies and their families who attend the Central Family Hub (formerly Thatcham Children’s Centre). As one of West Berkshire Council’s family hubs, we are committed to improve outcomes for children and their families and reduce inequalities, particularly for those families in greatest need of support; early education is a major part of improving outcomes for all children. The Pantomimus Show accomplished this by the bucket load, deftly incorporating communication and listening skills, physical movement, pattern recognition, motor skills and a whole host of others. All these, but with heaps of fun, enjoyment and pleasure so that no one felt they were services, why don’t those in charge of transport ensure that the timings meet the needs of the passengers rather than

I AM an occasional user of the no 4 bus service from Great Shefford into Newbury, but recently I looked into the possibilities of using the bus to go to Swindon. The no 4 from Newbury connects with the no 47 for Swindon at Lambourn, but a look at the timetable showed me that this so-called connection is a joke. The 0922 from Great Shefford gets into Lambourn at 0935, but the 47 departs at 0930. The 1122 reaches Lambourn at 1135, by which time the 47 has left five minutes earlier. Only in the afternoon do the connections work, although passengers arriving in Lambourn on the no 4 at 1515 would have to hope that the bus is punctual and they are swift on their feet, as the 47 leaves at the same time. In the opposite direction, departures of the no 4 from Lambourn towards Newbury provide a reasonable overlap with the arrivals from Swindon up to early afternoon, but the penultimate no 4 of the day departs at 1655; the same time as the arrival of the 47. The last bus from Swindon arrives in Lambourn at 1835; 15 minutes after the final no 4 service has left for Newbury. Where is the sense in having bus services in a rural area whose timings seem designed to inflict the maximum of inconvenience on passengers? The current timetable states that the no 4 service is operated under contract to West Berkshire Council, while no 47

How togetyourviews published intheNWN THENewburyWeeklyNews isdelighted toreceive letters andviews from readers. Preference willbegiven toletters offewer than300 words and local topics. Allviewsmaybeedited to conform with legalandpublishing requirements. Theidentities ofcontributors maybewithheld only in exceptional circumstances. Anonymous submissions willnotbeconsidered. And, if they only thought, they endanger themselves as well. MICHAEL CRYER Enborne Road Newbury

“The most common offence was ‘contravening traffic sign/road

The Dartmouth Express Saturday 24th June 2017

Steam to Paignton, Kingswear and picturesque Dartmouth…

Bob Green

U K S T E A M R A I L D A Y T R I P £135 from

A special rail journey into Devon and by ferry to pretty Dartmouth. Our vintage train will travel along the Kennet and Avon Canal to Bristol to meet an historic steam locomotive No. 34046 Braunton or No. 6023 King Edward II. From there we will steam through the Somerset countryside, climbing Whiteball Summit on the Somerset and Devon border before dropping down to Exeter and enjoying an exciting run along the famous sea wall from Dawlish to Teignmouth. The Dartmouth Express will stop at the holiday resort of Paignton where passengers can choose to spend the afternoon or stay on board for Kingswear where a ferry (fare included) will take them across the River Dart to the picture postcard town of Dartmouth to explore its narrow winding streets and castle. On the return our vintage train will leave our steam loco behind at Taunton finishing the journey diesel hauled.

Approx. Timings

Outward

Return

Fares

Adult

Junior Family

Newbury Paignton Kingswear

07:50 12:10 13:00

21:35 17:20 16:45

Premier

£279 £195 £135

£195 £137

£851 £595 £462

First

Standard

£95

• Premier Dining includes full English breakfast and a four course dinner silver served at your seat. • First Class includes morning coffee with a Danish pastry and afternoon tea with a savoury dish followed by a selection of fancies and cakes. • Standard Class includes a reserved seat usually at a table for four. £5 per person discount for Newbury News readers. Please quote code QPA when booking.

14a Tuesday Market Place, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1JN Visit www.railwaytouring.net or phone us on 01553 661 500. A buffet car is available and serves tea, coffee, snacks and light refreshments. Tables for two can be guaranteed in First Class and Premier Dining for a supplement of £22 per person. (subject to availability) Terms and conditions apply. Please ask for details.

Your booking is made subject to the terms and conditions of The Railway Touring Company