Selling Runcorn By The Pound: 23. Connecting Swindon

East of the M60’s 2021 Advent Calendar looks at The Cable Connection – Swindon’s role in multi-channel television history

The use of cable for broadcasting TV and radio stations is a far from new idea. Though Sky Glass is being presented as a new satellite dish-free idea, cable broadcasting has been with us for near a century. Fibre optic cables have been used for nearly forty years.

Bournemouth’s Bus Routes: Now You Know What I Did This Summer, 2019

This year’s instalment looks at the Dorset seaside town’s bus routes

I have stayed in some seaside towns where most of the buses finish for 6pm, despite being as big as Ashton-under-Lyne. I have stayed in some places where a regular bus service is a daily return journey. This year, thanks to a fine Lancastrian coach operator, my summer stay was in Bournemouth.

Bodmin Town Band: A Special Post-Whit Friday Concert

Boarshurst Band Club, Saturday 15 June 2019

With the torpor from Whit Friday kicking in, the first thing many brass band players would need is a lie-in. Whether you’ve travelled from Road End or Pound Lane for your brass banding fix, the Saturday afterwards is a time to chill out. For well over two decades, the post-Whit Friday concert has become a permanent fixture in Saddleworth. On Saturday afternoon at 3pm, Bodmin Town Band came to the Boarshurst Band Club.

Now You Know What I Did This Summer: Weston-super-Mare’s Bus Routes

A look at present-day bus operations in Weston-super-Mare

Virtual Monopoly: First Bristol, Bath and The West run most of Weston-super-Mare’s bus routes. Seen here is the decaying yet iconic Birnbeck Pier with an open-top bus on the 1 seafront service to Weston.

Thanks to the wonders of S.S. Great Britain, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the West Somerset Railway, yours truly returned to Weston-super-Mare. Which of course explains my recent absence of posts on East of the M60. 

Now You Know What I Did This Summer: Falmouth, 2016

A Look at the Public Transport Network in a Cornish harbour town

If you love your boats, Falmouth is the place to be. As for buses, a fairly elusive beast for a town of its size. Especially after 7pm.

In the last month, the head honcho of East of the M60 has taken a well-deserved break in Falmouth. For the uninitiated, Falmouth is a busy Cornish harbour town with the third deepest natural harbour in the world (after Sydney and Rio de Janeiro). It is a popular place with sailors, whether your choice of craft is a modest dinghy, or a multi-million Pound yacht. The best way of exploring the resort is along the Carrick Roads on one of FalRiver’s or Enterprise’s ferries (to St. Mawes or Truro). Or on many boat trips exploring the area.

Trouble Over Bridgwater: Summer Bussing in Weston-super-Mare

Where a revived Crosville dominates the Somerset resort

For five days, the genius behind East of the M60 was holidaying in the West Country resort of Weston-super-Mare. Yours truly was baffled as to why a proud Cestrian name was seen on the streets of Weston which inspired this year’s look at bus operations in the resort.