Sheerness horror train crash remembered 50 years on
Published: 06:00, 26 February 2021
It was the story which shocked Sheerness and put the Isle of Sheppey on the front page of every national newspaper.
A runaway train packed with 80 passengers ploughed through the buffers, demolished the ticket office and burst out of the railway station before coming to a halt on a taxi.
Sheerness train crash photo taken by John Gamble
Incredibly, only one person died in the rush-hour disaster but 11 were injured.
We sift through the cuttings and meet some of the survivors who remembered the night the train didn t stop at Sheerness 50 years ago this week.
Londonist Missing Travelling By Bus? Some Of The Best Things You Can See From The Top Deck (When Lockdown Lifts)
Author and top deck lover, Martin Collins, shows us some fascinating things you can spot from the top of a bus in central London. But please save your trip until travel is no longer essential-only.
The 15 bus offers interesting sights along Fleet Street. Image: Shutterstock
Comedian ‘Mrs Shufflewick’ used to relate how tired and drunk she climbed the stairs to go to bed, took off all her clothes, only to find she was on top of a bus. When it is cold and raining outside, the top deck of a bus packed with people, the windows steamed up can actually be very warm and comfortable.
Bertand Aznar
Zero-carbon power outstripped fossil fuel in the UKâs electricity mix in 2020 for the first time since the industrial revolution. Back then, Thomas Edisonâs Holborn Viaduct coal plant â opened in 1882 and the worldâs first coal-fired power station â could light 1,000 lamps. Today, a single rotation of a wind turbine off Scotlandâs coast can power a home for a day.
The challenge of green power is that while we humans are creatures of routine â we get up, travel and cook at the same time, creating predictable peaks and troughs in demand â wind and sunshine can show up at unexpected times or not at all. This causes fluctuations in power that our engineers at National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) must smooth out by balancing supply and demand in real time.