Minehead spoons/Lloyds bar.

[bcfczuluarmy]

Having arrived in Minehead it's obvious that there is a whetherspoons and a Lloyds bar so should they be two separate bars? I think they should be as there is two points of entry and differing opening times after checking in to my accommodation in whetherspoons. I can party till 2.30 in Lloyds and 2 in spoons. I've recced the venues and they are two separate places even the staff apologise for Lloyds being a noisy nightmare for whetherspoons residents.

[Bucking Fastard]

You have taken the time to visit the establishment,so what you are suggesting seems very fair to me. Unusually the 'spoons has not been visited (yet) by Aqualung,but his input maybe useful to clear up why there are two seperate operations here.

[bcfczuluarmy]

I've texted my dad to ask what he did when he did it. Reading some of the literature in the hotel room this morning implied only open weekends and doesn't open till 10 pm so not worth adding. First spoons I've encountered it. I'll be counting it as an extra pub though.

Re Aqualung. He's recently been to most of the ones in the south west so surprised he didn't come here.

[Aqualung]

You have taken the time to visit the establishment,so what you are suggesting seems very fair to me. Unusually the 'spoons has not been visited (yet) by Aqualung,but his input maybe useful to clear up why there are two seperate operations here.

There are a few Spoons around with different bars that don't necessarily open at the same time. You'll know one, the George in Croydon!
I think adding it twice would just make things very confusing. I certainly don't make a point of getting a drink from both bars where there is more than one.




Re Aqualung. He's recently been to most of the ones in the south west so surprised he didn't come here.

Not so at all! Manchester and the South West are my weakest areas (apart from Ireland of course). I didn't plan it that way, it just happened. I'm going to this one in a few weeks time. I reckon I've got 145 to go now.

[bcfczuluarmy]

South West may be too large of an area but my subscriptions to Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset has seen lots of emails generated due to you spooning in the area recently.

[Aqualung]

South West may be too large of an area but my subscriptions to Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset has seen lots of emails generated due to you spooning in the area recently.
I went to the last four in Bristol yesterday and have completed Gloucs and Wilts. Still a few in Somerset but Devon is awkward as apart from Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay they are all over the place and there isn't much more than the single main railway line.

As a resident, do you have any thoughts you would like to share about transport (public or otherwise) in the City of Bristol?

[Blackthorn]

As a resident, do you have any thoughts you would like to share about transport (public or otherwise) in the City of Bristol?

I'm sure myself or Jon would be happy to help, but as you say you've done the last four 'Spoons in Bristol, what exactly is it you'd like to know?

[Aqualung]

I'm sure myself or Jon would be happy to help, but as you say you've done the last four 'Spoons in Bristol, what exactly is it you'd like to know?

I was more after opinions as it seems to me that public transport in the City of Bristol is a disaster compared to other UK cities. There is no Metro, no Tram system, few rail lines and the buses are dominated by the disastrous First who are so poor they no longer run any London services that I know of. I got a train from Lawrence Hill to Bedminster (change at Temple Meads). There are no ticket machines or anything at all at either station. The train from BTM was late as was the one back from Bedminster. I travelled for free as nobody checked the ticket on any of the three trains used.
On my previous visit to Bristol I got stuck in a huge traffic jam on a bus coming back to BTM so missed my booked train. Luckily they didn't check the ticket on the train.
I know travelling on London's Transport system in the rush hour is a horrible experience but at least you can get around.
They could do with building an Underground rail system there rather than wasting all those billions on HS2.

[Blackthorn]

Well, yes, I think you're pretty much spot on with all your observations. Other than London I don't really have any experience to compare with other cities, but it is generally considered pretty dire. First, or Worst as they're known locally do have a monopoly and seem largely incapable of running any services on time. Although to be fair, that must in part be down to the local council doing everything they possibly can to impede traffic flow around the city.

As you know, there are some local train services but whether they're of any use to you is very dependent on which part of the city you're travelling to. Like many other places, the network was much more extensive before the Beaching cuts. They are currently in the process of (allegedly) re-opening the Portishead line, but that's been going on for years and years. Current estimates are somewhere around 2020 I think, despite it only needing two or three miles of track as it was re-opened as far as Portbury Docks for freight a few years back. There is currently a metrobus project underway at an absolutely phenomenal cost, something like £200m I think, and for that we're getting a bus, not a tram, that is basically going to go from one side of town to the other. So if you live anywhere else not on the route, tough.

I guess we're so used to the poor service we no longer even notice!

[Aqualung]

Other than London I don't really have any experience to compare with other cities, but it is generally considered pretty dire.
Nottingham, Sheffield and Croydon have trams. Even Brum has a new tram going out to Wolverhampton (one day I'm going to see if there is an epic crawl to be done on it). Liverpool and Newcastle have good Metros and Glasgow has a limited one but linked to a good rail network. My embarrassing admission of the week is that I only discovered Glasgow Central Low Level on my last visit!