hitting home

A gem from Mick Knox -

The picture of Midford is pure nostalgia. I even like the unclutted road, neat verges and the concrete & wire fencing. No pikey palisade fencing anywhere to be seen, unlike today’s Britain (Chilcompton Tunnel road access as an example). We have so much to admire in the transport infrastructure the Victorian’s bequeathed us, and yet we didn’t, and judging by Leicester City council demolition of the Braunstone Gate GC Bridge (ongoing), still don’t. I would love to see the S&D reborn, and deep down I know I will, because whatever happens with oil, you can’t just rely on one transport solution, i.e. roads. That was the mistake of the past, because somebody (like Mr Marples?) saw to it that everything had to go by road. And this is the view of a petrolhead, who still can enjoy driving, has motorcycles, has driven HGV’s, and started his working life as a vehicle mechanic in the army. The train is the superior form of transport and is once again on the rise in Europe and especially China. If the Beeching era had never happened here we would all have been better off, even those who never used a train, as the roads would have been less congested. So rail will once again rise here, especially when outside of the control of politicians, so let’s make the Somerset & Dorset the example and support the New S&D, and all groups aiming to preserve the route. United we triumph. Anyone noticed how oil is creeping up in price again? During a recession!

I'm planning a piece on oil very soon so Mick's comment is very timely. It also hits on something that's, to me at least, a little difficult to define. But do as Mick has and look at this site's header picture of Midford. Our built environment does not have to be forbidding and characterless. It can be modern but human scale. The S&D did this brilliantly, fitting in and enhancing the environment wherever it ran. The New S&D will do the same.