OT: when this area makes the news it's always something bad

suzyb
suzyb Posts: 3,449
edited April 2010 in Commuting chat
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8596056.stm :(

Being someone who made the annual pilgrimage to Alton Towers (different school though) I know how excited those kids would have been about the trip. So horrid it ended this way.

Comments

  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Is that a regular thing from up there then? I thought it sounded a long way to go personally.

    Terrible news though.
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Just saw this on the news. Awful.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • Fireblade96
    Fireblade96 Posts: 1,123
    Commiserations to the parents and friends of the girl who was killed :-(
    Misguided Idealist
  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    CiB wrote:
    Is that a regular thing from up there then? I thought it sounded a long way to go personally.

    Terrible news though.
    It is a long way but it's the closest decent theme park to Scotland (or was when I was at school) and If you leave early enough (~4am) you can make it down there for park opening and get a full day there without having to leave to early to make it home that same day.

    In the school I went to the trip was a tradition. The yearly trip down to Alton towers on the Friday of the September weekend. The only trip open to all years that ends up with 8 buses full of pupils.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    suzyb wrote:
    CiB wrote:
    Is that a regular thing from up there then? I thought it sounded a long way to go personally.

    Terrible news though.
    It is a long way but it's the closest decent theme park to Scotland (or was when I was at school) and If you leave early enough (~4am) you can make it down there for park opening and get a full day there without having to leave to early to make it home that same day.

    In the school I went to the trip was a tradition. The yearly trip down to Alton towers on the Friday of the September weekend. The only trip open to all years that ends up with 8 buses full of pupils.

    Same world different planet almost. We grew up about an hour away from AT & my grandparents used to take us there occasionally, when the main attractions were the huge gardens. The fun park - such that it was then - was a bit of a side show on a par with something like Wiksteed Park, which was the annual trip that we did look forward to going on. Having to go to Sunday School did have some benefits.
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    I'm with CiB on this one. I remember AT when it was just some gardens and some wildlife dotted about - I even remember the seals in the outdoor pool.

    Mind you, until I moved last time I was about 20 mins from the place and there is a girl in the office here who lives in Alton.

    We used to (ahem) pop over on Wednesday from school and sneak in (back in the days when you paid by the car load)

    How terrible is it though? I remember how excited we would be even if it was a sneaky through the hedges run... tragic end :cry:
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Just dreadful.

    It does make me wonder, though, what with the severe weather warnings and all that, why they didn't just postpone the trip.
  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    Just dreadful.

    It does make me wonder, though, what with the severe weather warnings and all that, why they didn't just postpone the trip.
    That's the question that is being asked of the council and teachers. Especially since the mother of one pupil who was supposed to go on the trip kept him home because she thought it was too dangerous.

    But imo it isn't up to the council or teachers to decide, it's up to the driver of the coach. If he felt it wasn't safe he should have said so.
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    suzyb wrote:
    Just dreadful.

    It does make me wonder, though, what with the severe weather warnings and all that, why they didn't just postpone the trip.
    That's the question that is being asked of the council and teachers. Especially since the mother of one pupil who was supposed to go on the trip kept him home because she thought it was too dangerous.

    But imo it isn't up to the council or teachers to decide, it's up to the driver of the coach. If he felt it wasn't safe he should have said so.

    Hmmmm, I agree that it's not for the council to decide, but I would have expected the teachers/people who organized the trip to make the decision to call it off or postpone it.

    I agree that the driver should have said if he felt a certain section of road wasn't safe rather than ploughing on regardless, but they perhaps shouldn't have left in the first place - the way I understand it works is that the teachers are responsible for the pupils' safety so the onus is on them, but NB I went to a boarding school so it may work differently.
  • Nobody wants to be the one to spoil the fun. I remember my kids' faces when we had to turn back from going to their Grandma's on Christmas Eve due to horrendous snow.
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    It's terrible..... Such a tragic accident. I think everyone has an element of responsibility - parents, teachers and drivers. The parents would probably trust that the teachers and driver knew best, there may have been some chat and they decided to go, then conditions got worse. Very sad.
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    Or as someone on another forum said it could just have been a freak accident in which no one is to blame.
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    suzyb wrote:
    Or as someone on another forum said it could just have been a freak accident in which no one is to blame.

    Someone, unfortunately, is almost always to blame. Especially in the compensation culture we all participate in.