Welcome to the Rudloe and environs website.
Here you will find news, articles and photos of an area that straddles the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north-west Wiltshire.
Contributions in the form of articles or photos are welcome. Even those with completely contrary views to mine!
Thanks to the website builder 1&1 and Rob Brown for the original idea.
Rudloescene now, in January 2014, has a sister, academic rather than anarchic, website about Box history here: http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/
It contains thoroughly professional, well-researched articles about Box and its people.
Contact rudloescene through the 'Contact' page.
25th July 2023 brings an outing to Salisbury to visit a hospitalised mate. The civilised mode of travel is, of course, train and the most convenient departure station, Bradford-on-Avon. However, after circling the station car park three times and trying other local, possible alternatives, I couldn't find a space so I headed off to Trowbridge where the station car park was virtually empty. The trip from B-o-A to Trowbridge is an easy run and the station is located on the 'big' roundabout before the town proper - cushty. And I could still buy a ticket and engage in a bit of banter at the ticket office (ref the preposterous, proposed closure of all railway ticket offices). The title pictures show the river Avon as it runs under Bridge Street by the Bishop's Mill and a rotten shop-front pillar in Dew's Road.
The 'chocolate block' station car park at Bradford-on-Avon
The station car park at Trowbridge
Welcome to Warminster or Namaste as the locals say
Salisbury is a pretty busy junction. It was the closest station for 'spotting' Southern Region engines in the days of steam but I only ventured there a couple of times (see caption on later picture).
Salisbury Station with 'local' (Romanian) taxi drivers. I asked the driver here for directions to the hospital and also asked what was the (incredibly loud) music he was playing. He said is was Romanian Rap.
And a bit of welcome sunshine on a typical (adjacent to railway stations) parade of shops at the junction of Bridge Street and Dew's Road. The massive wall at left illustrates the infrastructure required to run the railway through Salisbury.
A landscape version of the title photograph showing the Avon running under Bridge Street by Bishop's Mill
Fine Victorian, tiled shop front in Fisherton Street
Unusual (in this day and age) shop in Fisherton Street
City Hall - this is where the Wiltshire Council Cabinet meeting was held in 2018 that decided upon the future of Rudloe Community Centre
Salisbury Playhouse where some time back, HM and myself saw 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which was performed in the nude... sorry 'in the round'
Live music in Market Square on market day
Local cuisine on offer at the Wednesday market
The 16th-century, grade II listed Ox Row Inn in Butcher Row
The Avon having passed under Bridge Street heads towards the bridge at Crane Bridge Road
Back at Salisbury Station and not a train in sight
These jeans would be no good for a quick getaway
A 'not in service' train was parked at our platform for a good ten minutes pumping diesel fumes into the atmosphere (no, the lines through Salisbury are not electrified either)
Back in the 60s, the (steam) engine shed lay beyond the western end of the station in Cherry Orchard Lane but it was like a fortress, surrounded by high, brick walls and could not easily be 'bunked'
A Type 66 diesel electric locomotive at Westbury celebrating the King's coronation. The type 66 is built by GM in Canada and operated here by DB Cargo. DB is, of course, Deutsche Bahn - the national railway company of Germany.
And still at Westbury, on the other side of our train, we find a Colas Rail Freight engine operating in the yard. Colas (French) is one of the 'big four' freight companies, the others are DB (German), Freightliner (American) and GB Railfreight (Infra...)
For many years now, the railway experience includes quite a number of inane announcements at stations and on trains. My 'favourite' is "If you see something that doesn't look right, report it to a member of staff or call British Transport Police on 61016 - See it, Say it, Sorted". If anything is designed to get my dander up, it is this absolute bullshit. This message came about following the 2005 London underground and bus bombings by three benighted individuals of a certain religion and of a certain heritage sporting enormous rucksacks. So two scenarios...
1. I report an individual of a certain heritage carrying an enormous rucksack. This would most likely result in my arraignment, not his (or hers).
2. I report that our railways are being operated mainly by foreign (mostly nationalised) companies with underlying profits going abroad. This would likely result in my arraignment for wasting police time.
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