Shimbleshanks
Member
I spent a very enjoyable evening at Lewes Bonfire night yesterday evening. I've never before, so have can't speak about the situation in past years, but I didn't witness any overcrowding or rowdy behaviour. Maybe the fact that bonfire night is in the middle of the week reduced the numbers, perhaps.
Getting there was hardly easy, though. Not only was Lewes station closed from late afternoon, but so were all stations within a five mile radius - meaning that the only practical way for most people to get there was by car.
Now I can understand why the authorities might want to close Lewes station itself after a certain time; you wouldn't want a train arriving and injecting perhaps up to 500-1,000 people into an already overcrowded town. But why close all the stations in the surrounding area too, like Glynde, Falmer and Cooksbridge? Surely these are far enough from Lewes town centre for any arriving crowds to be well dispersed by the time they have arrived in Lewes itself? And the trains ought to be running into Lewes at the end of the evening to take people away - there is a strong case for running extra services at these times, if that is not beyond the wit of the rail operator. I thought railways were supposed to be good at handling mass numbers?
Me, I managed it by taking my bike on the train to Burgess Hill and cycling the ten miles to and from Lewes - not the safest option for the return journey after taking a few pints of Harveys Best on board, I have to admit. But judging by the number of cars stuffed into laybys on the approach to Lewes, most visitors went by car. Whether the police and other authorities like it or not, people are determined to visit the event, and it would be better for them to go by train rather than create a traffic problem.
Also, by not having late trains out of Lewes, surely that might encourage those people who do go by train to stay and roam about the town all night, until the first trains in the morning.
Getting there was hardly easy, though. Not only was Lewes station closed from late afternoon, but so were all stations within a five mile radius - meaning that the only practical way for most people to get there was by car.
Now I can understand why the authorities might want to close Lewes station itself after a certain time; you wouldn't want a train arriving and injecting perhaps up to 500-1,000 people into an already overcrowded town. But why close all the stations in the surrounding area too, like Glynde, Falmer and Cooksbridge? Surely these are far enough from Lewes town centre for any arriving crowds to be well dispersed by the time they have arrived in Lewes itself? And the trains ought to be running into Lewes at the end of the evening to take people away - there is a strong case for running extra services at these times, if that is not beyond the wit of the rail operator. I thought railways were supposed to be good at handling mass numbers?
Me, I managed it by taking my bike on the train to Burgess Hill and cycling the ten miles to and from Lewes - not the safest option for the return journey after taking a few pints of Harveys Best on board, I have to admit. But judging by the number of cars stuffed into laybys on the approach to Lewes, most visitors went by car. Whether the police and other authorities like it or not, people are determined to visit the event, and it would be better for them to go by train rather than create a traffic problem.
Also, by not having late trains out of Lewes, surely that might encourage those people who do go by train to stay and roam about the town all night, until the first trains in the morning.
