Michael Portillo visited Bournemouth yesterday during his 'Great British Railway Journeys' series. He covered the history of the town, but missed the most important aspect of Bournemouth's rise - the S&D!
The London route was (and still is) fairly important but it was the S&D which really brought Bournemouth to life, bringing in holidaymakers from the Midlands and the North in their millions. How many of them today dare brave the same journey using Britain's antiquated road network?
As climate change warms our seaside resorts up - even with the downside of massive storms like the one that hit Bournemouth just as we arrived last August - and as Peak Oil kills air travel and pushes road travel beyond the means of 95% of us, it won't be long before Bournemouth becomes so busy that there'll be a procession of trains bringing the tourists in - including a new Pines express!
What a gem we have at each end of our line!
3 comments:
Yes.
I am watching the series as well
and was surprised by that omission.
I suppose the excuse would be that he is dicovering the sites referred to in his copy of Bradshaws Guide, not discovering railway history.
The other point is that I suspect that the programme planner knows nothing about the S&DJR so it was not on his horizon.
I was waiting for him to say the words, "Pines Express!" but it was still a very interesting and watchable programme as all of them seem to be. It isn't too "railway spotter" heavy either which appeals to a wider audience.
It felt to me like it was all building up to the S&D and the Pines, but perhaps I'm biased. Needless to say I prefer the non-trainspotter programmes!
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