2012 - and Jeremy Clarkson

I have been waiting until today to write my blog about the end of year. All will become clear later.

2011 has been a record breaking year for K&ESR and it has been great to manage that. We have ended up with passenger numbers over 100,000 for the first time since reaching Bodiam in 2000, and in such times of recession I regard that as a significant achievement by our team.

Regular readers will know about some of our fantastic events in 2011 which have contributed to this, and to finish the year in great style we had a record breaking “Santa” season. I spoke personally to a large number of visitors who enjoyed it, and found the event to be excellent value for money.

A substantial legacy received during the year will transform our finances, but the repayment of the Bodiam Bonds – a £500k liability due for repayment in 2013 – still leaves K&ESR hard strapped for cash and desperate for capital to improve our infrastructure.

In 2011 the carriage shed extension opened for business but it is still in need of 3 individual projects to complete it. We just can’t afford to finish the job without more donations. The fact that we built the extension was, however, another significant achievement.

Now of course, in Olympic year, we face the challenge of “beat that”!
I don’t believe the Olympics will bring to K&ESR (The Leader in Track Events) vast numbers of extra visitors, in fact I suspect the reverse will apply as UK citizens might not choose to holiday in this area in the erroneous belief that it will be stacked out with visitors to the Olympics who are staying in the area. Anyway, how did THEY get tickets?
The numbers of seats for the events at Stratford and the O2 and Greenwich are relatively small and how many of those folk can commute or are staying in London?
I don’t know the answers, and I have yet to find anyone who does, but whilst Kent will not doubt host a good percentage of visitors to the Olympics I would be surprised if tourist attractions show a mega uplift in visitor numbers this year.

What is a software upgrade? I thought this was supposed to improve things. We recently had an upgrade to our ticketing software in attempt to speed up its performance. That may be eventually the case but in the last 2 weeks I have spent so much time on this that upgrade is far from my definition. I probably shouldn’t mention its name here as I will upset somebody but I certainly do not recommend it to anyone. One of their Directors came to visit yesterday and promised to put it all right. This is not for the first time so I can only hope his staff are able to deliver on his promises.


Jeremy Clarkson has been at it again according to BBC Radio Kent. He accuses Kent residents of being comprised of folk who have “arrived in England in the back of a refrigerated truck or clinging to the underside of a Eurostar train."
He says, apparently, that Ranulph Fiennes chose to explore the North Pole because it was too difficult getting around the appalling roads in Kent. Once again he is in trouble but I have to say I think he is very funny provocative journalist. Where has the British sense of humour gone? I actually agree about Kentish roads. Given the choice of trying to get to Hastings along the A21, or trying to drive around a country back road avoiding the pot holes and subsided stretches, or going to the North Pole, I might just opt for the North Pole myself. Whilst on holiday in Dubai in November I can’t remember seeing any potholes – apart from whilst on a desert safari evening. On reflection, I will return there.

The Government announced its intention to proceed with HS2 this week. Here at Slow Speed 1 I was pleased, as I am a fan of quality rail infrastructure, which excludes the Headcorn to Charing Cross line. Today though, I had the absolutely magnificent experience of travelling on HS1 in the loco cab thanks to one of our volunteers and South Eastern Trains. Travelling at speeds of up to 140 mph and being able to compare modern technology with heritage rail operation was something I enjoyed and found extremely interesting and absorbing. We sailed past traffic on the M20 and M2 bound for the interminable jams at the Dartford Toll or in Central London. Ashford to London in 30 minutes including 2 stops shows what can be achieved. I would certainly prefer travelling to the North by train rather than air, which apart from travelling out to airports, involves such a waste of time struggling through check in and security measures. Even if it means going via Birmingham, which Mr Clarkson might prefer to Kent, but I don’t.

Any complaints about the contents of this blog should be directed to Jeremy Clarkson c/o Top Gear.