Bolton Abbey Station Developments

I wish you well with the ongoing plans. My experiences at Bolton Abbey, particulary at gala's are of staff quite clearly seeing me, as a photographer, as someone to be loathed & down right rude towards, sad but true. The most unfriendliest railway towards enthusiasts by a mile in my experiences.

Sorry but its true.

Best wishes

 

That is some accusation!

Loathing is a very strong word to use in this context.

What happened? Was a member of staff rude to you? Were you prevented from taking photographs?

 

Yes I was prevented from taking any photo's & staff were downright rude & have been on more than one occasion at Bolton Abbey for some reason. I've called in on a 'normal' working day just to see what was running & whilst not wanting to board a train wanted to spend some money on lunches, which was not permitted because I wouldn't buy a platform ticket first.

Then at more than one gala, not being allowed out of the car as I wouldn't pay for a rover travelling ticket even though I offered to pay a fee just to park the car. On these occasions I was not trying to free load & was intent on spending some money but staff attitudes to me were less that friend so I just took my money else where!!!

 

Reading the above, I've little sympathy for your argument. The railway needs money to survive and they have every right to charge for platform tickets and buying a ticket as a condition of car parking. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard the 'I'm going to spend money in your shop/buffet so why should I pay' argument. The reality is that most of these people simply want to take their photos and essentially freeload. But we've been hear before. Lots of times.

 

Agreed. Buy a ticket and the problem is solved.

 

What pay £16 to park my car & buy a butty - I don't think so!!!!!

A separate car park fee (as I stated) I would have been happy to pay but my refusing to have the **** taken out of me & the absolute total lack of any flexibility or common sense re a bit of flexibility & charging me a reduced parking fee was ridiculous. I wasn't the only one turning round & driving back out of the place incidentally. My other point was the attitude towards me - because I wasn't prepared to pay £16 I was told in good old fashioned Yorkshire style to 'bugger off' in just about as many words.

Again as I stated I had no intention of free loading but surely some money, even if not £16 is better than no money.........?

I'm not that bothered as such I'll happily take my money elsewhere. I know other enthusiasts have had the same experience & similar opinions as me re the line's attitude towards enthusiasts.

 

If you just want to park and buy a butty, you could do that at Tesco's or Sainsburys.

By the sound of it, you actually wanted to come and look at the provided attractions - so the same entry fee as everyone else sounds fair... you wouldn't turn up at the cinema and expect them to let you into the auditorium because "I've just come for the popcorn and a sit down"

 

When I wrote 'What happened? Was a member of staff rude to you? Were you prevented from taking photographs?' I was tempted to add 'or did someone ask you to buy a ticket?' but I didn't because I didn't want to be confrontational.

For diesel or steam or mixed traction weekends that have involved a cost to the railway to set up, the policy is to charge for entry. In the past this was not the policy and a great many people came to look or photograph but not as many to travel.

You cannot beat a free day out!

Of course, some visitors will have patronised the cafes and shops but, nevertheless, the weekends did not always have revenue that covered the outgoings.

Aside from the charging policy, what does concern me is the perceived rudeness. Was it really that bad or was the intended visitor a bit 'put out' at the prospect of paying and was therefore a little sensitive? I don't think that any of the volunteers who staff the gates are particularly rude people and, of course, they are enthusiasts themselves.

 

Having been to many galas and railway centres, I have observed that there are many more rude photographers than there are rude railway staff. They are particularly prone to throwing their toys out of the pram when they can't have it all their own way.....

Not tarring the majority though and I know nothing about Forty's demeanour other than what he's displayed on this thread.

The cinema analogy above is a good one.

 

Whilst I can see both sides of this one, The YDR needs to think that a car load of grockles can just as easily turn round and go and park up by the river, and not spend a single penny with them.

Within an hour of the YDR there are at least four major railway attractions where this kind of approach to the customer is not in evidence. Why not operate a two tier pricing system - say £5.00 to park for an hour, redeemable against purchases, or tickets, with a penalty rate kicking in for overstays. OK the driver would have to return to the car and change the ticket in the windscreen to all day - but it would be better than turning money away. As for the freeloaders - there's plenty of verge on the A59 as we have all seen.

 

GCR does £5 platform tickets which are redeemable against rover tickets at galas.

 

- Realy? I can only think of 2 major railways within an hour that opperate regular steam and the nearest certanly wouldn't let people in 'just for a look' at a major Gala!

- Agreed, the A59 has a number of Butty Vans too!

PS. Maybe some Posts (including mine!) should be moved to this Thread: http://railways.national-preservati...27-September-2009/page8?highlight=embsay+gala as I believe this was the most recent 'Steam Gala' which I presume the ticket issue must relate to???

 

Guys - I wasn't rude nor was I freeloading. I WAS trying to spend SOME money at the railway is my point.

SOME flexibilty would gain more income surely.

If the railway's policy is all (£16) or nothing then fine their loss as I said I went else where.

'If you just want to park and buy a butty, you could do that at Tesco's or Sainsburys.' - Do I have to explain again that I would rather give the money to the railway than to Tesco's or Sainsbury's?

Thanks TBird for understanding my point,

 

NYMR, NRM, KWVR, ELR - I can do them from Bolton Abbey in an hour, and I don't have to pay the cost of a full line rover to park the car at any of them - and if I'm just a tourist, how many other attractions could I choose to visit instead?

Railways are not just in competition for enthusiasts' discretional spending

 

Blimey Frank I must be slowing down. I am not sure I could make the NYMR in 60 minutes from Bolton Abbey, even using my Italian driving 'skills'.. Must be the extra four cylinders!

 

Autoroute suggests 1 hour 34 minutes from Bolton Abbey Station to Pickering. However, I don't think it allows you to input a Thunderbird. Which one does Frank pilot, in any case? Can't see it being Thunderbird 4, myself.

You could always include Middleton in the four, though.

 

To be fair I wasn't realy considering FREE Museums in my post! However, on a non-event day, £1.00 for a Platform Ticket or £8.00 for a days traveling doesn't sound too bad to me. You can even convert your train ticket into platform access for a year! And parking is free!!!

 

At current petrol prices, if you did chose to turn round and go else where you'd just end up giving the entry fee money to Esso or Shell instead.

 

Did you miss start of this thread?

We're not talking about ordinary days, just maybe 2 or possibly 4 days per year when we may have a gala. We caught a cold with the visit of 78019 where the event did not break even. This, whilst the area was well populated with photographers. Fact. The P'Way travelled to Holywell (served only by trains or by trespass) on the first train with tools only to be greeted by a chap making a video. This video appeared on YouTube. I saw myself on it so it must be true!

Perhaps this sort of thing hardens attitudes but still no exceuse for rudeness.

Pity this thread has veered away from the original theme of what we are trying to do at BA.