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Splitting headaches?
Posted by Tom Dodds on October 31, 2008 2:52 PM
I'm not the first, and I'm sure I won't be the last observer of transport matters to be perplexed and bemused by the mysteries of UK railway ticketing.
Today, Jill and Julia are travelling home to Prudhoe from Jill's parents, just to the south of Sheffield. In the past, I've managed to get train tickets for around £30. When I went on-line to buy tickets a few weeks ago, the best price I could get was £64.50.
So instead I looked at splitting the journey into sections. Jill doesn't mind changing at Doncaster, so first I managed to get Doncaster to Newcastle tickets from National Express East Coast's own web site for just £33.35 - and their First Class ticket was just coppers more than Standard! Jill will buy on-train tickets for the Northern Rail services between Kiveton Bridge and Doncaster, and Newcastle and Prudhoe, bringing the total cost of the journey to £45.35, almost twenty quid cheaper - and with a fair chunk of First Class travel, too!
And while we're busy tightening our belts, here's a good way of saving money on refreshments for the journey. The Bite discount card gives a 20 per cent discount on purchases from selected food and drink retailers at many of the country's railway stations. You can easily save a couple of quid every time you buy a coffee and sandwich...
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God created woman - quickly followed by chocolate
Posted by Anna Heywood on October 10, 2008 9:26 PM
Not that I need any excuse to indulge, but I am super excited that my favourite week of the year is almost upon us; National Chocolate Week and it arrives in Newcastle with a mouth watering chocolate sculpting session on Monday.
Continue reading "God created woman - quickly followed by chocolate" »
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Write Said Fred... the return
Posted by Write Said Fred on October 7, 2008 10:06 PM
For those of you who have been worried sick... Freddie boy is back and blogging.
But I don't mind telling you that the past couple of months have been a struggle.
Just when I thought I'd got used to the whole holiday concept (everyone was ALWAYS around so I never got a minute to myself; bedtime was out of the window so my Mr Grumpy side was getting a regular appearance fee; the heat sent me a little bit doolally on occasion; and don't get me started on the dietary issues) they bring me back to where I started from and then have the cheek to introduce me to the weird and thoroughly perplexing world of (drum roll please)... NURSERY.
Now up until this point in my year-long life, I hadn't want to mention the fact that my Dad seemed to go missing most mornings... I mean at least I had Mum to keep me company and to be fair, she didn't seem that worried about it, so I took her lead and took a figurative chill pill.
But when she suddenly decided that she wanted a slice of the absentee parent action, I simply couldn't hold my tongue any longer... so I screamed... and screamed... and screamed until I was on the verge of vomit.
I can't be sure, but I would doubt whether a child has managed to conjure that shade of purple in his cheeks before.
I think I got my point across.
However, it quickly became obvious that I couldn't keep this kind of tonsil action up for any real length of time... I've got to think of any future singing career which may be on the cards.
And truth be told, nursery is a bit of a doss really.
I can have a kip whenever the mood takes me; by and large my stabliser mates are a good crowd (a certain young lady - we'll call her A - is particularly lovely and we regularly have a holding hands moment over lunch); there's LOADS of room to practise my newly-found walking prowess; and to be brutally honest, toy for toy, the nursery goodies box puts my play pen to shame.
So, after a few hairy sessions, I seem to have found my feet (which apparently grow "faster than we can buy shoes") and am throwing myself into my ever-widening social circle.
Thanks for sticking with me... I won't be leaving it anywhere near as long next time...
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Ecoiffeurs
Posted by Anna Heywood on September 30, 2008 8:46 PM
My new word of the week and I coined it after a fantastic trip to LEAF in Heaton, a hairdressing salon who are trying their best to tame our tresses in a planet friendly fashion.
Continue reading "Ecoiffeurs" »
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Reasons to be cheerful...please
Posted by Graeme on September 18, 2008 3:52 PM
What with Northern Rock, the credit crunch, the floods and Newcastle United, it's been a pretty depressing few months. Just when you think things are going to get better, a dead whale washes up on the beach.
Every day at The Journal we go into conference - where we discuss the stories of the day - and share more bad news: people being laid off, energy prices going up, the value of your house is going down and so on and so on.
At this morning's conference there was more of the same and we discussed whether we could do a story with some reasons to be cheerful. We all agreed that we should...then couldn't think of any.
Continue reading "Reasons to be cheerful...please" »
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In town without my car day
Posted by Anna Heywood on September 18, 2008 3:39 PM
Commuters and visitors to Newcastle are being asked to leave the car at home on Monday 22nd September for In town without my car Day.
To help this along, a whole host of activities, from lectures to walking buses, have been laid on by the City Council.
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Water, water, everywhere?
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Posted by Tom Dodds on September 17, 2008 11:25 AM
While parts of the North East are still drying out, I was wondering if anyone has given any thought to the export potential of this most prolific natural resource?
While we've been trying to get rid of our surplus rainwater by allowing it to run off into our rivers and the North Sea, other parts of Europe have been facing near-drought conditions. Barcelona, in particular, is having a tough time.
There's a water pipeline that connects Kielder to the Tees, via the Tyne and the Wear. The pipe was built to take the stuff to the steel and chemical industries on Teesside. It can't be that difficult to put the water into tanker ships and send it off to the parched Spanish mainland and islands.
Now you may think that desalination of seawater might be more efficient, but apparently not. There simply aren't enough hours of sunshine in Spain to power a plant of the size needed. Shipping is an affordable way to carry drinking water around, and to, the Med. So, as we've got more of the wet stuff than we can ever use, perhaps we could see it making a valuable contribution to the region's exports in the not too distant future.
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Stories I wish had happened in Newcastle (part 768)
Posted by Graeme on September 16, 2008 5:13 PM
This happened on the Isle of Wight, unfortunately, but is clearly one of the greatest names ever:
"A medic told today how he saw a colleague called Clive Greedy eating a piece of celery as they were treating a dying man who had collapsed in his kitchen."
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Mollusc morals
Posted by Anna Heywood on September 13, 2008 6:45 PM
Slug and snails in the compost bin - is it ethical?
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It's so bracing!
Posted by Tom Dodds on September 12, 2008 12:17 PM
It must have seemed like such a good idea at the time. East Midland Trains, under pressure to provide extra seats between Nottingham and Skegness on summer Saturdays so that Midlands holidaymakers could reach the nearby Butlins holiday centre without using cars, took the innovative step of hiring in two locomotives and five carriages from West Coast Railways, better known for running enthusiasts specials.
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