⏩ The Gloucester Start: Tuesday December 17th
Home schooling rise | Mega-bridge | Phone robber
Good morning and welcome to Tuesday’s Gloucester Start. Thanks for continuing to follow as we get further into week number four of this being a thing, and a reminder that if you’ve seen something I should be including, you can get in touch with some quick details here.
🚆 Disruption to train services between Christmas and New Year will hit people heading to London. Construction work on HS2 and engineering work between Reading and London Paddington mean Great Western Railway services will terminate at Reading between December 27th and 29th. - Gloucestershire Live
↪️ GWR has apologised after Sunday services to and from London, which have been heavily disrupted for several weeks, were branded a ‘disgrace’ by passengers. - BBC
🌉 Gloucestershire will be able to boast the biggest bridge of its kind in the UK when the A417 Missing Link work is done. The Gloucestershire Way crossing, for cyclists, horse riders and walkers, will be 37 metres wide and is due to be in place by spring 2027. - Gloucestershire Live
🍹 Looking to bring in the new year without breaking the bank? You’re in the right place. Gloucester has been named the second-cheapest city in the UK for New Year’s Eve revelry based on the cost of drinks, food and travel. A night out here will set you back £74.35 apparently, beaten only by Salisbury. - SoGlos
☁️ Today’s weather: Dry until about 5pm when light rain, followed by heavier showers, is set to arrive. Temperatures around 10C most of the day.
👮 More than 100 people - 85% of them men - have been arrested in just 15 days of a campaign highlighting domestic abuse. Threats to kill, breaching bail conditions, assault and sending abusive messages are among some of the offences committed. - Gloucestershire Live
🤝 Gloucester’s political leaders are figuring out what a devolution plan might look like for the city after the government’s plans to abolish two-tier authorities were published yesterday. It means Gloucester City Council, and the five other district councils in the county, could merge with the county council, but the resulting authority might still not be big enough to be granted some powers. - Punchline Gloucester
👩🏫 Home schooling has risen by about 20% nationally in the past year, with the number of children in Gloucestershire being educated away from school approaching 2,500. Reasons for taking children out of school increasingly include worries about their mental health, a lack of support for special educational needs and bullying. In Gloucestershire, 2,370 children were home schooled last year, up 26% in two years. - BBC / Department for Education
🌊 Flood gates need to be installed to protect residents and motorists along Sandhurst Lane. That’s the call to the county council in order to avoid people being stranded or seriously hurt in the area. - Gloucester News Centre, via the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)
🅿️ Free parking after 3pm is on offer at some car parks from tomorrow for three straight days. The Eastgate Shopping Centre and King’s Walk car parks are running the offer to encourage shoppers into the city centre. King’s Walk users managed to get unexpected free parking last week too, thanks to a broken payment machine. - Gloucestershire Live (LDRS)
🚗 Gloucester’s car boot sale will reopen in 2025, people have been assured. Bids to operate a 15-year lease at the Hempsted Meadows site are being assessed while maintenance work is carried out. - Gloucester News Centre (LDRS)
📱 A teenage robber stole a woman’s mobile phone in Matson after deliberately bumping into her while she walked her dog. - Gloucestershire Constabulary