Musings from the Merse
Friday, September 11, 2009
Reston on whose Laurels
'CAMPAIGNERS for the re-opening of Reston Station were given a major boost last week when the Scottish Transport Minister agreed to fund the next step in the process to find out whether it will be financially viable.' is the opening sentence of Janice Gillie's main story in yesterday's Berwickshire. You can read the rest of the article here
AS a long time opponent of wasteful public spending (New benches in Hutton Village always excepted) I am delighted to the read that at last the value for money aspect is going to be examined-the elephant in the room will be found to be white. You would have thought that financial viability would have been the first thing to consider-years ago when the campaigners in RAGES fired their opening salvos. But there you are. Financial cut backs means hard choices but in the case of Reston Station and its hourly service to East Linton this is an easy one. So Mr Minister pull the plug and throw it away.
If you can bear to read the article in full you will come to the usual supporters for madcap if locally populist schemes. Mr Lamont will loudly back anything that might add a vote or two to an already healthy majority and as for Big Dim Jim-dim does not necessarily apply in this case, the developer's faithful friend has a nice acre or two down Coldingham way-railhead at Reston, commuter housing at Coldingham. Oh but isn't that good farming land? Yes. And look at Big Jim's record of support for building on farming land.
And much will become clear
'CAMPAIGNERS for the re-opening of Reston Station were given a major boost last week when the Scottish Transport Minister agreed to fund the next step in the process to find out whether it will be financially viable.' is the opening sentence of Janice Gillie's main story in yesterday's Berwickshire. You can read the rest of the article here
AS a long time opponent of wasteful public spending (New benches in Hutton Village always excepted) I am delighted to the read that at last the value for money aspect is going to be examined-the elephant in the room will be found to be white. You would have thought that financial viability would have been the first thing to consider-years ago when the campaigners in RAGES fired their opening salvos. But there you are. Financial cut backs means hard choices but in the case of Reston Station and its hourly service to East Linton this is an easy one. So Mr Minister pull the plug and throw it away.
If you can bear to read the article in full you will come to the usual supporters for madcap if locally populist schemes. Mr Lamont will loudly back anything that might add a vote or two to an already healthy majority and as for Big Dim Jim-dim does not necessarily apply in this case, the developer's faithful friend has a nice acre or two down Coldingham way-railhead at Reston, commuter housing at Coldingham. Oh but isn't that good farming land? Yes. And look at Big Jim's record of support for building on farming land.
And much will become clear
Labels: Big Jim Fullarton, Criminal wastes of money, RAGES, Reston Station
Thursday, January 15, 2009
SIR, - It’s great news that the construction of the Waverley route in the Borders is to be speeded up by at least a year.
writes a Mr Colin Maclean from Embra. And goes on:
However, folk in the east are still waiting for the proposed Edinburgh/Berwick hourly stopping service. This is to provide a local, seven day a week, 18 hours a day, service from Edinburgh serving Longniddry, Dunbar, East Linton and Reston with its abundance of car parking space for an eastern Borders rail parkway. These proposals have been on the cards for years, yet all we get is endless, expensive and time wasting consultation, surveys and meetings.
Pressure must be speedily put on our MSPs and MPs to deliver the railway we all want before our scheme is hijacked into an Edinburgh/Newcastle stopping service. This seems to be the thought in London.
Not many folk wish to travel to Beal, Belford or Widdrington. It’s Edinburgh we all want.
And do 'many folk' not wishing to call at Beal, Belford or Widdrington realy want to be bothered with Reston, East Linton, Dunbar and Longniddry
Especially if
'It's Edinburgh we want'
(The image is of Longniddry Station. Nice name, nice station but nothing to detain us, if it is Embra we want)
Labels: Berwickshire Railway Stations, RAGES, Reston Station
Thursday, August 07, 2008
RESTON STATION THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
Nothing much seems to have changed on the 'reopening' of Reston Station since we moved to the Borders over 11 years ago. The first house we looked (rather a crummy one but dirt cheap) was in Reston and the selling point was that the station was to open 'imminently' Even if no ham sandwich bar was on offer. Since then it has been a photo opportunity for a number of local politicians wanting to ride a (locally) popular bandwagon The latest jaunt by the highheidyins of RAGES (Rail Action Group Eastern Scotland) plus the MSP- John 'Photo-op' Lamont and more promisingly the Scottish Transport Minister, who proudly announced that this was his first visit to Berwickshire.This historic event is fully covered in the e-Berwickshire-front page in the hard copy as well in the absence of a cute -collie-eats-lamb story.
All the usual warm words were said about how nice it would be for Reston and East Berwickshire to have its own station-saving driving all of 12 miles into Berwick or a bit more to Dunbar. And surprisingly the SNP minister made no reference to the idea of having Scotland's Immigration and Passport control next to the Sandwich Bar on the up platform (17) But once the well wishers and publicity seekers had been chauffeured away the whole glittering vision boils down to the Berwickshire's own headline:
ECONOMIC CASE FOR RESTON STATION NEEDS FURTHER WORK
You can say that again.
So I will
ECONOMIC CASE FOR RESTON STATION NEEDS FURTHER WORK
(The image is an artist's impression of platform 17 at Reston Station. The train awaits immigration clearance-thanks to Hutton Think Tank Vision and Media section)
Labels: John Lamont, RAGES, RESTON, Reston Station
Monday, December 24, 2007
Reston Station. The Dream Continues
One of the supporters of RAGES-amongst whose wilder aims is the restoration of Reston Station has anonymously ctiticised Huttonian's opposition to this project and implying, as I am 'retired' and do not therefore need to work in Embra, or any other railhead, everyday, then my views are of no value on this issue. Well actually not being retired just differently employed and needing to go to Ould Reekie quite a lot, never mind Lunnon, I would love a more convenient station than Berwick: Hutton, old School, would do very nicely. And of course the denizens of Reston, working hard to drive the Berwickshire economy to new heights would greatly appreciate a station of their own, complete with Costas,no rubbish bins and video security. Convenient certainly; necessary? I wonder.
Sparsely populated Eastern Berwickshire can hardly justify a station. Reston is slightly less from the middle of nowhere than Hutton, or dare one say it, Paxton. How many commuters would Reston serve. 20 a day? And would they be economically active commuters? But say RAGES, put a station into sleepy Reston and watch the regeneration!
Yeah Right. Watch the property prices rise for a start. Build em, Flog EM and Scarper, By Appointment Developers to the Landed Gentry and Indigent Farmers, would be there in a flash and you would have two new Orchards and Three Kanes Closes before you could say ' Help!It's Not in the Local Plan'
And who could afford these new houses. Local people? Really? I doubt it. The bog standard commuter? Not at those prices. Who then:
The Affluent Retired. Those drones, put out to grass. Invisible, inactive; views not worth a damn. But they would really appreciate a station. Only one stop to the nearest Cremetorium.
Come on Anonymous. Do you really want a station?
One of the supporters of RAGES-amongst whose wilder aims is the restoration of Reston Station has anonymously ctiticised Huttonian's opposition to this project and implying, as I am 'retired' and do not therefore need to work in Embra, or any other railhead, everyday, then my views are of no value on this issue. Well actually not being retired just differently employed and needing to go to Ould Reekie quite a lot, never mind Lunnon, I would love a more convenient station than Berwick: Hutton, old School, would do very nicely. And of course the denizens of Reston, working hard to drive the Berwickshire economy to new heights would greatly appreciate a station of their own, complete with Costas,no rubbish bins and video security. Convenient certainly; necessary? I wonder.
Sparsely populated Eastern Berwickshire can hardly justify a station. Reston is slightly less from the middle of nowhere than Hutton, or dare one say it, Paxton. How many commuters would Reston serve. 20 a day? And would they be economically active commuters? But say RAGES, put a station into sleepy Reston and watch the regeneration!
Yeah Right. Watch the property prices rise for a start. Build em, Flog EM and Scarper, By Appointment Developers to the Landed Gentry and Indigent Farmers, would be there in a flash and you would have two new Orchards and Three Kanes Closes before you could say ' Help!It's Not in the Local Plan'
And who could afford these new houses. Local people? Really? I doubt it. The bog standard commuter? Not at those prices. Who then:
The Affluent Retired. Those drones, put out to grass. Invisible, inactive; views not worth a damn. But they would really appreciate a station. Only one stop to the nearest Cremetorium.
Come on Anonymous. Do you really want a station?
Labels: Merse, RAGES, Reston Station
Sunday, October 07, 2007
RAIL RAGES
The relentless John Lamont, the Tory MSP for these parts, not content with converting the former LibDem MSP, Eaun Robson's informative 'Mound Notes' in the Berwickshire into a party political puff, has now climbed onto 'reopen Reston Station' Bandwagon, or should that be cattle truck. Apparently the re-opening of this ancient pre-Beeching halt will be a 'huge boost to the economy' and to the Eastern Borders 'infrastructure'. The sort of argument that RAGES regularly trots out with very little factual justification. How the pleasuring of 5 commuters from Reston and three more from the next hamlet will be such a huge boost to the GDP of Reston and environs has never been quantified and the thought that industry will rush to the area to take advantage of workers not having to travel by rail from Berwick or Dunbar is frankly bizarre-but Mr Lamont must think there are votes in it. Perhaps he is influenced by the chairman of RAGES claiming that Reston Station has a catchment area of 10,000. Before JL rushes off to shake them all by the hand and thrust pamphlets into unresisting hands he should consider if this statistic refers to people
Or to sheep.
Meanwhile we await with bated breath the clarification of STAG1 -'Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance' No doubt followed by STAG2. Then we will be able to have a very small party. Unless there is a change in his circumstances JL will be very welcome to bring a bottle-yes the one used by Mr Gordon Brown
The relentless John Lamont, the Tory MSP for these parts, not content with converting the former LibDem MSP, Eaun Robson's informative 'Mound Notes' in the Berwickshire into a party political puff, has now climbed onto 'reopen Reston Station' Bandwagon, or should that be cattle truck. Apparently the re-opening of this ancient pre-Beeching halt will be a 'huge boost to the economy' and to the Eastern Borders 'infrastructure'. The sort of argument that RAGES regularly trots out with very little factual justification. How the pleasuring of 5 commuters from Reston and three more from the next hamlet will be such a huge boost to the GDP of Reston and environs has never been quantified and the thought that industry will rush to the area to take advantage of workers not having to travel by rail from Berwick or Dunbar is frankly bizarre-but Mr Lamont must think there are votes in it. Perhaps he is influenced by the chairman of RAGES claiming that Reston Station has a catchment area of 10,000. Before JL rushes off to shake them all by the hand and thrust pamphlets into unresisting hands he should consider if this statistic refers to people
Or to sheep.
Meanwhile we await with bated breath the clarification of STAG1 -'Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance' No doubt followed by STAG2. Then we will be able to have a very small party. Unless there is a change in his circumstances JL will be very welcome to bring a bottle-yes the one used by Mr Gordon Brown
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
RAGES RAGING
Huttonian has inadvertently upset a member of RAGES (RAIL ACTION GROUP EAST OF SCOTLAND)by a supporting a correspondent in the Berwickshire who opposed the reopening of Reston Station.
RAGES wish list includes the following objectives:
To improve the rail service between Edinburgh, Dunbar and Berwick upon Tweed.
·
To have East Linton and Reston stations re-opened for active use
·
To consider the implications with regard to car parking and bicycle storage at Stations between Waverley and Berwick upon Tweed.
·
To keep under scrutiny the standards of passenger facilities at stations between Waverley and Berwick, including North Berwick, and to draw the attention of the relevant bodies to shortcomings which arise.
·
The group, being environmentally minded, will actively strive to encourage rail travel within its geographical area.
I am sure that it would be very convenient for the people of Reston to have their station reopened but beyond that the idea seems to involve a lot of expense with very little return to any one else-just adding further delay to those many people who regularly commute from Berwick to Embra. Indeed a major improvement in time and motion for this intrepid band would be the closure of Dunbar station. Admittedly there are good environmental reasons for getting people out of cars and into trains and on those grounds alone there is a case for opening many more stations and indeed building more branch lines as well. Hutton Think Tank has long been involved with GAT
ATT (AQ) Get A Train Along The Tweed(And Quickly)to serve the Paxton, Fishwick,Hutton conurbation,expanding Horndean, Coldstream (The First Toon in Scotland-or the last) Kelso, and then connecting with the proposed Waverley Line. Just think how many global destructive cars that it would get off the road never mind the fume inducing (and empty) No 32 Bus.
So the time has come to push on two fronts and I suggest that GATTAT (AQ) merge with RAGES-being subsumed into the latter would save a number of Capital Letters. It would only need a tiny tweak to RAGES' objectives. If this happens the full power of the Blog will be thrown behind the organisation and victory is sure.
So RAGES.
What about it?
Stopping at Reston, Granthouses, Ayton, Haddington, Dunbar,North Berwick, Museum of Flight, East Linton, Preston Pans, that nice shop at that caravan site on the old A1, etc etc would be a dreadful nuisance for Huttonian commuting to Embra. But with the planet at stake.
What the Hell. Go for it
Huttonian has inadvertently upset a member of RAGES (RAIL ACTION GROUP EAST OF SCOTLAND)by a supporting a correspondent in the Berwickshire who opposed the reopening of Reston Station.
RAGES wish list includes the following objectives:
To improve the rail service between Edinburgh, Dunbar and Berwick upon Tweed.
·
To have East Linton and Reston stations re-opened for active use
·
To consider the implications with regard to car parking and bicycle storage at Stations between Waverley and Berwick upon Tweed.
·
To keep under scrutiny the standards of passenger facilities at stations between Waverley and Berwick, including North Berwick, and to draw the attention of the relevant bodies to shortcomings which arise.
·
The group, being environmentally minded, will actively strive to encourage rail travel within its geographical area.
I am sure that it would be very convenient for the people of Reston to have their station reopened but beyond that the idea seems to involve a lot of expense with very little return to any one else-just adding further delay to those many people who regularly commute from Berwick to Embra. Indeed a major improvement in time and motion for this intrepid band would be the closure of Dunbar station. Admittedly there are good environmental reasons for getting people out of cars and into trains and on those grounds alone there is a case for opening many more stations and indeed building more branch lines as well. Hutton Think Tank has long been involved with GAT
ATT (AQ) Get A Train Along The Tweed(And Quickly)to serve the Paxton, Fishwick,Hutton conurbation,expanding Horndean, Coldstream (The First Toon in Scotland-or the last) Kelso, and then connecting with the proposed Waverley Line. Just think how many global destructive cars that it would get off the road never mind the fume inducing (and empty) No 32 Bus.
So the time has come to push on two fronts and I suggest that GATTAT (AQ) merge with RAGES-being subsumed into the latter would save a number of Capital Letters. It would only need a tiny tweak to RAGES' objectives. If this happens the full power of the Blog will be thrown behind the organisation and victory is sure.
So RAGES.
What about it?
Stopping at Reston, Granthouses, Ayton, Haddington, Dunbar,North Berwick, Museum of Flight, East Linton, Preston Pans, that nice shop at that caravan site on the old A1, etc etc would be a dreadful nuisance for Huttonian commuting to Embra. But with the planet at stake.
What the Hell. Go for it
Thursday, June 21, 2007
RAGES RAGES ON
The letter columns of the Berwickshire continue to simmer over the vexed question of the reopening of Reston Station. Below is the latest volley:
Sanderson Jr, (June 7 and May 24) in his attack on RAGES, displays breathtaking arrogance, for he lacks both knowledge of the Reston project or, it seems, empathy with the people of east Berwickshire.
The reintroduction of local services for a population of 20,000 in Berwickshire is vital to allow access to services, further and higher education and employment opportunities and, let us not forget, family and friends, on an equitable basis to our counterparts across Scotland. Tourism should also be a winner.
I have not seen the STAG appraisal commissioned by the council, but census data reveals east Berwickshire ward has a similar average distance to place of work or study (23 miles) as North Berwick Coastal ward and Dunbar and East Linton.
We also have a similar number of people in employment or studying (all circa 5,000). However, while North Berwick (7.4%) and Dunbar/East Linton (5.7%) have good utilisation rates for trains as the main means of travel, in east Berwickshire it is just 2.1%, with just 99 using trains daily, as of 2001.
Matching the North Berwick figure would raise us to circa 350 or matching Dunbar would mean 275 passengers per day. A lot has changed since then and with new housing I think these figures could be surpassed.
Given the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (£600 million and rising), and the £500 million tram project that effectively only replaces one of the best bus routes in the city, will the people of Edinburgh fund these new services themselves?
If not, why then should taxpayers in our community help fund Edinburgh's grandiose projects, while denying us a basic service on a line that already traverses our beautiful landscape without a single station?
Undoing the damage done here by Beeching would cost less than 0.5% of the capital cost of Edinburgh's status projects and help relieve congestion.
SNP canvass returns from east Berwickshire (population 10,300) were enlightening. We gathered hard data from the Eyemouth area (population 3,000), that indicates that 16% of voters responding stated that they would be regular users of a new service, and 56% stated they would be occasional users. In addition, almost 16% supported the project even if they would not use it themselves. In fact, of those responding, only 12% did not support the Reston proposals.
We in the Berwickshire SNP back the aims of RAGES and will gather further data from voters in the area to build a robust evidence for our use in lobbying our colleagues in the Scottish Government.
PAUL WHEELHOUSE
I humbly wonder what would actually happen if Reston station were to reopen? Would all 20,000 Berwickshirers rush to catch the 8.05 from Reston-all of 5 minutes by train (and 15 minutes by road) from Berwick-thus making that village-twinned with Mecca (where, remember, you can't get a ham sandwich-Reston I mean, not sure about Mecca)the hub of Eastern Berwickshire? I suspect that they would continue to do what they have done since Dr Beeching wielded his big axe in the 1950s.And go to Berwick.From Hutton I can get to Berwick quicker than to Reston and this would apply to many other settlements in Berwickshire.
But here is the nub.
The trouble for Berwickshire SNP is that Berwick upon Tweed is in England.
They want a station in Scotland. And being Berwickshire SNP. In Berwickshire. No matter if it makes bad sense and is a gross waste of taxpayers money.
But it could be visionary forward thinking. Come THE DAY that Bravehearts get their independent republic Reston International Station will come into its own: Passport and Immigration control going north and exit stamps going south. Now, a conundrum. Which platform will be more crowded? The Up
or Down?
The letter columns of the Berwickshire continue to simmer over the vexed question of the reopening of Reston Station. Below is the latest volley:
Sanderson Jr, (June 7 and May 24) in his attack on RAGES, displays breathtaking arrogance, for he lacks both knowledge of the Reston project or, it seems, empathy with the people of east Berwickshire.
The reintroduction of local services for a population of 20,000 in Berwickshire is vital to allow access to services, further and higher education and employment opportunities and, let us not forget, family and friends, on an equitable basis to our counterparts across Scotland. Tourism should also be a winner.
I have not seen the STAG appraisal commissioned by the council, but census data reveals east Berwickshire ward has a similar average distance to place of work or study (23 miles) as North Berwick Coastal ward and Dunbar and East Linton.
We also have a similar number of people in employment or studying (all circa 5,000). However, while North Berwick (7.4%) and Dunbar/East Linton (5.7%) have good utilisation rates for trains as the main means of travel, in east Berwickshire it is just 2.1%, with just 99 using trains daily, as of 2001.
Matching the North Berwick figure would raise us to circa 350 or matching Dunbar would mean 275 passengers per day. A lot has changed since then and with new housing I think these figures could be surpassed.
Given the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (£600 million and rising), and the £500 million tram project that effectively only replaces one of the best bus routes in the city, will the people of Edinburgh fund these new services themselves?
If not, why then should taxpayers in our community help fund Edinburgh's grandiose projects, while denying us a basic service on a line that already traverses our beautiful landscape without a single station?
Undoing the damage done here by Beeching would cost less than 0.5% of the capital cost of Edinburgh's status projects and help relieve congestion.
SNP canvass returns from east Berwickshire (population 10,300) were enlightening. We gathered hard data from the Eyemouth area (population 3,000), that indicates that 16% of voters responding stated that they would be regular users of a new service, and 56% stated they would be occasional users. In addition, almost 16% supported the project even if they would not use it themselves. In fact, of those responding, only 12% did not support the Reston proposals.
We in the Berwickshire SNP back the aims of RAGES and will gather further data from voters in the area to build a robust evidence for our use in lobbying our colleagues in the Scottish Government.
PAUL WHEELHOUSE
I humbly wonder what would actually happen if Reston station were to reopen? Would all 20,000 Berwickshirers rush to catch the 8.05 from Reston-all of 5 minutes by train (and 15 minutes by road) from Berwick-thus making that village-twinned with Mecca (where, remember, you can't get a ham sandwich-Reston I mean, not sure about Mecca)the hub of Eastern Berwickshire? I suspect that they would continue to do what they have done since Dr Beeching wielded his big axe in the 1950s.And go to Berwick.From Hutton I can get to Berwick quicker than to Reston and this would apply to many other settlements in Berwickshire.
But here is the nub.
The trouble for Berwickshire SNP is that Berwick upon Tweed is in England.
They want a station in Scotland. And being Berwickshire SNP. In Berwickshire. No matter if it makes bad sense and is a gross waste of taxpayers money.
But it could be visionary forward thinking. Come THE DAY that Bravehearts get their independent republic Reston International Station will come into its own: Passport and Immigration control going north and exit stamps going south. Now, a conundrum. Which platform will be more crowded? The Up
or Down?
Labels: Independent Scotland, RAGES, SNP
Thursday, June 07, 2007
An organisation called RAGES has been agitating for some time to have the long abandoned Reston station reopened on the Berwick to Embra East coast section of the London-Scotland route. Recent correspondence in the Berwickshire has been rather one sided with the case against the revived station being stated( by one individual) with no response from the RAGES lot. The latest effusion is below:
I was most disappointed when no reply was forthcoming to the simple question of why does Reston need a train station and confirmed my thoughts that it simply does not.
Oh well was my initial thought when suddenly headlining again was this ill thought out idea. It got better, 100 houses are being built, this will possibly double the population, er! now excuse me, but the current concensus is less than 400.
I also noticed that East Linton was also being lined up to be re-opened, well it is two minutes from Dunbar, so my advice to anyone travelling to Dunbar from East Linton is don’t go to the toilet, you will miss your stop.
Reston Mart category B, visitor attraction(s) and park and ride are then thrown in to the equation .
Another ill thought out idea, why? Parking cars in an unmanned station is an invitation for crime, more so the village has not got any visible police presence, this is a serious issue which has to be dealt with before any park and ride scheme takes place.
I could name so many reasons for not having a station, The Berwickshire News would have to insert a supplement special.
I for one do not want this suggestion of a station at Reston to go through.
God knows what next if it did, an airport perhaps, Reston International, all passengers boarding the 15.15 flight to Malaga please check in now.
Of course that is stupid, but no more stupid than a railway station, not bad for a village where you cannot buy a ham sandwich
Hutton Think Tank have long ago lost the file about the possibility of a local loop line -Berwick-Canty's Brig (change for Paxton House- onto the 32a Bus shuttle)Paxton(change for Fishwick-abandoned at any early stage as the bus could not be relied upon to get through)Hutton, Broomdykes, Chirnside, Duns and back again to the main line heading north.It was thought that this would take some pressure off the main route in a very congested section. Interestingly enough (given the sentiments expressed in the letter above) there was also the idea of an airport for the Merse at Winfield which used to be an RAF fighter station so the conversion would be no problem. That really would put the Borders on the map with tourists being able to fly in to our heartland from as far away as Newcastle and Embra. There could also be a rail link from Paxton to Terminal One. I think the Borders Party and the Tourism Highheidyins should look into all this-the possibilty of well heeled Americans searching for Reiver roots flying directly from New York to Winfield is an attractive one but we need the infrastructure to handle these huddled masses yearning for duty free.
Our letter writer should be cautious about the food availability criterion. Telaviv is a proper place with an an international airport.
But ham sandwiches?
And don't even think about trying next door
In Riyadh
I was most disappointed when no reply was forthcoming to the simple question of why does Reston need a train station and confirmed my thoughts that it simply does not.
Oh well was my initial thought when suddenly headlining again was this ill thought out idea. It got better, 100 houses are being built, this will possibly double the population, er! now excuse me, but the current concensus is less than 400.
I also noticed that East Linton was also being lined up to be re-opened, well it is two minutes from Dunbar, so my advice to anyone travelling to Dunbar from East Linton is don’t go to the toilet, you will miss your stop.
Reston Mart category B, visitor attraction(s) and park and ride are then thrown in to the equation .
Another ill thought out idea, why? Parking cars in an unmanned station is an invitation for crime, more so the village has not got any visible police presence, this is a serious issue which has to be dealt with before any park and ride scheme takes place.
I could name so many reasons for not having a station, The Berwickshire News would have to insert a supplement special.
I for one do not want this suggestion of a station at Reston to go through.
God knows what next if it did, an airport perhaps, Reston International, all passengers boarding the 15.15 flight to Malaga please check in now.
Of course that is stupid, but no more stupid than a railway station, not bad for a village where you cannot buy a ham sandwich
Hutton Think Tank have long ago lost the file about the possibility of a local loop line -Berwick-Canty's Brig (change for Paxton House- onto the 32a Bus shuttle)Paxton(change for Fishwick-abandoned at any early stage as the bus could not be relied upon to get through)Hutton, Broomdykes, Chirnside, Duns and back again to the main line heading north.It was thought that this would take some pressure off the main route in a very congested section. Interestingly enough (given the sentiments expressed in the letter above) there was also the idea of an airport for the Merse at Winfield which used to be an RAF fighter station so the conversion would be no problem. That really would put the Borders on the map with tourists being able to fly in to our heartland from as far away as Newcastle and Embra. There could also be a rail link from Paxton to Terminal One. I think the Borders Party and the Tourism Highheidyins should look into all this-the possibilty of well heeled Americans searching for Reiver roots flying directly from New York to Winfield is an attractive one but we need the infrastructure to handle these huddled masses yearning for duty free.
Our letter writer should be cautious about the food availability criterion. Telaviv is a proper place with an an international airport.
But ham sandwiches?
And don't even think about trying next door
In Riyadh
