Horse's Mouth

May 24, 2012

Dysenni Valley, and nearby

On holiday in midWales. Our last full day - and a glorious one.

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May 23, 2012

Low carbon and other environmental lessons for the Melksham Campus?

Yesterday, I visited the Centre for Alternative Technology in midWales. It was supposed to be a holiday trip, but I found myself looking at various buildings, techniques and features and wondering if and how they might apply to Melksham (and to the Campus in particular), and also what lessond could be learned about what NOT to do.

The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is approached by what is said to be the world's steepest Cliff Lift - operated by water balance as you might expect in a "green environment". But there's more to it that that. Most water balance cliff lifts control their speed by friction braking, loosing energy to heat. In the case of the CAT system, that energy is recycled by a different braking system, and is then used to pump at least some of the water back up the hill to the upper holding pond. As it is, each opertion requires several hundred gallons of water to flow into a tank in the car that's starting at the top, so that it becomes heavier than the car that starts at the bottom, and as the two are roped onto the same drum at the top station, the heavy one descends pulling the lighter one up. When the descending car gets to the bottom, the water is released.

So - we have a system that's purely using the kinetic (?) energy stored in the water at the top on the hill, and has been put there by the Welsh rain (fortunatly holding off this week) from which it is refilled, without any "Cardon footprint" in operation. Yet even so, measures are having to be taken to conserve the other resources it uses.

Speaking with the gentleman operating the system at the top, we were told of no fewer than five braking systems, and of emergency evacuation systems if the cars get stuck halfway. A rare occurrence indeed and, we were informed, almost inevitably caused by one of the braking systems cutting in when it shouldn't. And I noted that there's quite a complex signalling and control system and lots of rules and regs being discreetly watched for and enforced as us Joe Publics used the lift. And staff too - at top and bottom stations.

The picture shows the cliff lift worn, rustic. Grass growing between the tracks. And it gives the place a charm; it's like that all through CAT, with many of the features sprouting growth and looking well weathered and worn. Fair enough - some state "design life 15 years" and have been there for about that period, so you wouldn't expect to find them looking day-one smart, but at the same time I'm not sure about the "hippie" look and whether it's the look and feel we want to create in Melksham.

"Out of order" said a number of exhibits; disappointing, and I wondered if there's a reliability issue with some of the green agenda stuff - or is it that CAT is pushing the technology to the extreme, experimenting, and so must expect failures as well as successes as part of its ongoing operation and learning. Certainly the history of electircity supply has been through a number of stages, each seemingly lasting just a handful of years according to the displays.

So - summarising some of those lessons.

* Need to conserve resourses, not just the carbon footprint
* Need for health and safety, but taking care not to compromise the usability
* Does greener / more environmentally friendly mean more maintainince and staff?
* Leading edge rather than bleeding edge
* Does the environmental approach lead to a scruffy appearance?

But there are other lessons too - that a bright, welcoming, almost spectacular result can be simply achieved. Some pictures, painting 1000 words each!

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May 22, 2012

Looking and Learning - even on Holiday

On holiday in midWales ... some glorious pictures and no content on Open Source, Technology, Hotel, Museum, Cream Teas, Campus, Rail ... or at least not very much of it.

Early mornings, and we are indeed checking out email, ensuring that outstanding questions have been answers, and taking in the scene too.

But then it's off to see the countryside - in this case the falls at Furnace. And to look at the way the community has built its historical water wheel into its heart.

The Corris railway is an example of a project to rebuild a railway that was closed in 1948, and ripped up a year later. The station at Corris is tiny, but neat and the visitor wonders how much has been achieved. The journey to Maespoeth is spectacular, the stock very clearly in excellent condition when compared to others, and we note that the locomotive was built in 2005. Maespoeth, and the gentleman giving us the talk and tour are both impressive - and AFTER being impressed by what we saw, we're taken into the new shed - seen here - where the stock is kept under cover, work done on it, new carriages built, and so on. That was a further layer of being impressed - and my hat off to all the volunteers who have done so much - and plan much more.

Modern builings such as this one have sprung up in various places - including the seasfront at Borth, and I find myself asking what we should be looking for in Melksham - design for the Campus. The buildings on the corner of Lowbourne and Bank Street, built in the 1970s to replace the George Hotel, aren't well loved and we have a difficult challenge to avoid repeating that sort of mistake. I have already heard negative comment about the outline designs for another Campus, likening it to a prison (that may be very unfair based on a 3D walkthough) and we need to ensure that whatever a walkthrough looks like, that ours is welcoming in real life and can stand the test of time.

The dogs are very good trailing around all these human things with us, and welcomed a run on the beach. Billy won't forget being chased by a yorkie (he did rather deserve it!) who was running almost as fast as he was. But I don't think Billy had turned his supercharger on, to be fair.

And so, after an afternoon running away from tiny dogs, Billy sleeps, and so does Gypsy - although you can be sure they'll be ready for further activity at the drop of a hat.

And an opportunity for us to download pictures, review what we've seen, as the sun sets in the valley over Forge, near Macynelleth, on our glorious view. Now - what today?

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May 21, 2012

Go green - business seminar in Melksham

This Wednesday in Melksham - a business seminar entitled "Save Money, go Green" - full flyer and details below. I'm rather excited about this seminar, because it brings business information and presentation to Melksham, and there are all sorts of issues (such as how to recycle business waste cost effectively) which really need to be addressed, and where many of our business owners can really gain from talking to experts. And what better seminar to have in Melksham than a "Green" one, allowing participants to get to and from the seminar with a minimal burn f fossil fuel (and a minimum waste of time travelling too). All rather good.

To book - call or email Elaine at the Wessex Association of Chambers of Commerce - her details are on the flyer. If I've reduced it to too small a font, her phone number is 01225 355553 .

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May 20, 2012

Adoptive homes sought for abandoned babies

A dry winter, followed by a really wet April, has lead to a bumper breeding season for Welsh Dragons. Many babies are now looking for adoptive homes, as dragon mothers are a tough breed who insist on their babies wiping their noses at one week, their bottoms at two, and their shoes as they come in at three. And, alas, some of the slower dragons can't manage the shoes business. The yellow and orange ones never seem to have a problem, but this year especially you'll find at the orphonage in Corris literally hundreds of Purple, Green and Red Dragons.

PLEASE - if you can offer an adoptive home to a Welsh Dragon, let us know. All of these dragons can wipe their noses, most can wipe their bottoms, but few of this lot wipe their feet when they come in. Rather like children, boyfriends, girlfriends, wives and husbands, I understand - so there shouldn't be too much you've not come across before if you take in one of thes waifs.

Oh - and you'll get a double does of "Thank you"s if you're able to adopt a purpple dragon. There are good employment prospects when they grow up for red and geern dragons in the Majong business. But purple prospects are more limited. A few make good garnders, but when they burn the weeds on a bonfire they tend to inhale the smoke which has a strange effect on them. You may have heard of the famours Puff the magic Dragon.

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Postcards from Barmouth

Postcards from Barmouth

Well - not really "postcards" as they're not on card, and I'm not posting them, but the sort of pictures you might see with "wish you were here" written on the back. Lisa told me the other morning that the Lonely Planet had listed the midWales coast as the number one spot to get away to, and here we are on the midWales coast.

Billy and Gypsy on the beach at Barmouth. This was the first time we've taken Billy, who hasn't been with us for six months yet, onto the beach, or indeed to the seaside. You may spot that by the time this picture was taken, he had been in the water!

The beach also offered Billy the chance to run in great cirles - or at one point the whole length of the beach. Does it tire him out? Well, yes to some extent, but it also helps make him very much fitter too, and I think as I write this (next morning), his batteries are recharged and he's all the more ready for a further outing.

A greyhound running flat out towards you (if you don't know the dog) can be a bit daunting, but here on the beach we had plenty of opportunities to make friends and enjoy the fresh air and lovely setting and scenery. Indeed, let me find you some more of that scenery ...

Barmouth's Victorian seaside hotels - built soon after the railway arrived, still stand and help provide an old fashioned quaintness to the town. Truely, much in Barmouth brings back memories of the past - set in previous centuries, yet bustling and active today too. I've visiting Barmouth, sporadically, since my teens and I expect I'll be back.

The Harbour. I can remember evening walks down to Davy Jone's locker after evening meal at the D,B&B, watching the quater past nine trains - the last of the day - rumble past on their way to Pwhelli and Machynelleth.

And the railway, with that great bridge over the estuary, is still very much in use. The trains have gone near-clockface even here, and that means a more frequent service too - every two hour, each way. Really excellent timing for a line serving sparse settlements - the sort of frequency where you'll be happy to move your travel up or down by an hour and still catch the train, rather than looking for an alternative.

You can walk over the Barmouth Bridge too, with views up the Mawddach estuary, in the heart of Snowdonia.

Avalanche shelters to stop rocks blocking the line, that great long bridge, sand blowing across the line, a section snaking through tunnels and along seawalls near Penhelig - truely this must have been an expensive line to build, and remain an expensive line to maintain. But it remains the lifeline for so many, and that "so many" is becoming more too. The trains are not quiet, but they are friendly.

And so, one last view of the estuary from the bridge as we head over to the station at Morfa Mawddach to get the train back to the town (population 2000) where we're staying. More thought from there to follow during the week.

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May 19, 2012

Abstraction

Abstraction - the provision of additional goods or services in a new way, such that they take over goods or services already supplied, in spite of those other goods or services continuing to be supplied. Something I've come across quite a bit, and been thinking on recently. Perhaps my definition is a bit abstract (different use of word) and I should explain further, with examples.

If the West End supplies pub meals in Melksham, and The Bear opens its doors supplying pub meals in Melksham too, there's likely to be abstraction. In other words, some of the customers who've previously eaten at the West End will go to The Bear instead, and that will be trade lost (or abstracted from) the West End.This is the 'natural' way of commercial competition, under which multiple products are on offer, the customers choose which are best, the suppliers modify their offerings to improve them or perhaps cease to provide them. At times, such competition can be hidiously wasteful (multiple setup and marketing costs, businesses that don't recoup their setup costs, and so on). In a truely commercial, it's probably a good model but in a model with a social element it can lead to some very real poor decisions as the loosers who have to pull out or subsidise are doing so at the expense of the public purse. Ooops - I've got a bit theoretical again. Perhaps I should be more specific?

Melksham Campus

I'm helping with this many-million pound project in Melksham - the Shadow Community Operations Board provides a local voice into what we want for the town. The budget may sound high, but it could soon get frittered away and so we want the best bang for our bucks. There are a number of requests / suggestions that say "we would like a new XXXXX" facility, but we look around and see that such a facility already exists. Where it's part of our mandate to replace that facility (Christie Miller and the Blue Pool are life expired, for example), that's fair enough and exactly what we're there for. But where parallel facilities exist and will continue, and people are asking the Campus project to add anew, simply because they hope that the price will be lower, that's a very different thing, and I for one could not support the waste of public money on competing with private, or in some cases different public, organisations.

In the exploration work that's gone on already with regard to the Campus, and is ongoing, we have met many of the user groups of existing facilities. We'll be completing that task and also making sure we're aware of as many as possible ("every" would be ideal) current facility (where the facility is to be lost / replaced) and also we need to have a vision for areas where there is no provision at all at the moment. Part of that work has identified both short term and long term disconnections between current supply and demand. We've been able to alerts the concerned parties to the extent that thay can work together to deal with issues. Those on short term facilities (such as Christie Miller) have to be done without major expenditure, and are outside our remit - in fact, they're someting of a distraction as user groups are looking for answers to the here and now, whereas we're concerned with the longer term, less visible but far less headlined question of what's needed from 2014 for 10, 20 years. Where there are disconnects we have identified on other faciities that have a long-term future, we can (again) facilitate discussions - and we have to be prepared to say to people "No - we're not going to duplicate that provision just because yyyyy needs sorting out".

TransWilts Rail Services

Would an improved rail service - our requested "10 trains each way per day" - simply abstract passengers from other train services? From other public transport? I read an interesting conjecture the other day that it would, almost exclusively, do so.

There's little doubt that immediate traffic on any new piece of transport is either novelty users or abstraction. The novelty users are a leisure traffic, and may indeed generate ongoing traffic too - people who would stay at home otherwise / not travel. Totally new business traffic and commuting will develop over a period, as businesses relocate or move into new work practises and markets which pull in extra visitors, and people move to locations from where they need to commute to work using a a method that wasn't previously practical for them. For this group, the reassurance that the provision will continue in the longer term is paramount, and reliabiity and affordability too are critical - pressing us towards the need for a provision that has a guarantee of quite a number of years. The 15 years of the upcoming franchise is right, whereas a commercial service that could close with just 6 weeks notice is totally unsatisfactory without a fallback alternative for the people who might otherwise be tempted to use it.

So - where would the abstraction come from on the TransWilts? Current Rail users from Westbury / Trowbridge to Chippenham / Swindon travel via Bath, and in considerable numbers too at times. The 19 minute ride from Trowbridge to Chippenham takes 40 or more minutes (it depends on connections) via Bath. Current rail users who are fortunate enough to have a car and who live in Melksham drive to Chippenham, park there, and catch the train. Again the numbers are considerable, and again the time penalty (and cost too in this case) on them is considerable. Visitors by rail to Melksham will usuaully leave the train at Chippenham, and have a lift arranged, or take a taxi.

Interestingly, only the first of those abstractions is really "rail on rail" [or is it??], as the other make for a shorter rail journey and then extract from private car or taxi. And the rail on rail example is pulling passenger off a service which is at times so overcrowded that people are denied boarding (I think extra carriages may have provided a temporary cure at present, but it's growing so fast ...). In fact, by providing a new service to Swindon rather than strengthening the Bath train as usage continues to grow, and having at provide a direct TransWilts service with it, you're providing relief on the overcrowded Bath train by giving some passengers a better option, and the negatives of overprovision associated with abstraction are cured. You have a real winner. You're just tuning the expanding train(s) to make a quicker and more efficient journey - and remember that a reduced journey time is very good economically, and leaves you with a train / seats that can then be used to raise other revenue (such as taking people from Swindon who have arrived from London down to Melksham and Trowbridge for business meetings, and commuting down there to work too).

So what about other abstractions? There's an awful lot of people who drive the "A350 corridor" and who've stated that they would use the train; undoubtedly, some of them have made the statement more in hope than in actuallity, but then we've only reached a tiny proportion of people, and of them only a tiny proportion have filled inthe surveys, so in actuallity threre are likely to be even more than the very large numbers we have identified. Abstraction from bus? Very little. People who are travelling beyond the corridor don't use the bus to get to the station in numbers enough to be significant.

What's interesting is to talk to people too - and to learn that some of this abstraction from other transport goes far wider. Cambridge to Melksham. Would have been train, was actually car. Trowbridge to Edinburgh (Sunday morning, trial service). Would have been by air, was actually train all the way. And these are just samples.

Well House Consultants training courses

We didn't set up a "me too" business. We've set up something different. So competition is somewhat on the periphery much of the time. We specialise in niche courses that others don't offer, and we specialise in training people from a level that others don't cater for. As I write this, I'm away on holiday in Wales, and I return for next Saturday for customers arriving for a "Learning to program in PHP" course that starts on the Sunday. Is there a market for that - err, yes there is. But it's one that others simply don't cater for. We didn't set it up to abstract, but of course in our commercial world there's nothing to stop someone else setting up in competition with us.

Enough ... I'm getting back to my holiday. The welsh sheep are baaaa-ing, and the ground is drying. Looks like a fine day ahead!

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