Thursday 1 September 2011

A picture paints a thousand words, but are all of them true?

The same picture has appeared in both this weeks Teme Valley Times & Tenbury Advertiser showing traffic congestion at the junction of the Old Cattle Market site & Teme Street.

If traffic is always so bad then how do you explain this photo's?

This was taken at 12:40 on 24th August 2011.  I was in town for about an hour, and crossed back and forth across Teme Street several times and there was hardly a car to be seen.

Tenbury seems to get four rushes a day.  Two coincide with school runs and the other I guess is the "rush hour" although the evening one seems to last about 20 minutes.  If the only time you come to town is during these times you probably think it's busy, but at other times, often it's not. (Unless someone puts up temporary traffic lights and doesn't phase them correctly).
Time Stamp Data as requested.
Click to enlarge.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

without a time stamp on the photo how can you say this was at 12:40 on 24th august. all anyone knows this could be during the quiet time and your just saying a rush hour time. maybe you should get some facts first wr15?

Anonymous said...

this is the true image about tenbury its shows it is a dying town

Anonymous said...

I think that Tenbury could become even more empty than this if the Tesco store is not built in Tenbury itself but instead built a short distance away, outside the town - that could be one of their alternative options. I feel that a Tesco store could attract more welcome and much needed trade to the area. It is a shame to see shops closing down in Tenbury, especially such a well established shop as Gwythers. Is this the end of an era? Is it now time to move on?

Anonymous said...

Yes, they are all true.
When it is busy - it is busy.
When it is quiet - it is quiet.
Traffic isn't always bad.
Traffic is sometimes bad.
Traffic is sometimes hardly there at all.
The pictures in the papers were about how bad the traffic can be - not how bad it always is.
If you want it quiet, try 5am on a Sunday. No traffic at all.
But didn't we all knew this already?

DaveC said...

I'm sure the photo is date stamped. In the 21st century we don't stamp the time on the face of every photo, thus ruining it. The EXIF data, which contains the date stamp and much other information is embedded in the jpg or whatever format the camera uses. I often see Tenbury as it appears in this picture as i pass through with ease at various times of the day. And don't forget lots of people are away on holiday during August. WR15 would not need to fake a photo like this, and I for one appreciate his factual rather than fanciful reporting.

Lesley said...

Gawd, and there was I thinking that this was a local blog where people could (respectfully) express their views and share thoughts etc. I didn't realise one had to provide forensic evidence to substantiate anything you contribute!

Anonymous said...

This imahe could be any time of day there is no timestamp to prove its 12:40 and seeing as wr15 didn't reply I will take it as I am right.

Anonymous said...

10am Friday. Just driven through Tenbury and passed 1 Car & 1 Van.

Rugby fan 72 said...

Surely then in light of all the proposed and planned works which are going to "Potentially" impact the town a detailed traffic survey should be done, by an impartial neutral organisation - ie not Tesco, or Futures, or any other body that may have something to gain or loose by it...but one that needs to pick up the pieces if it goes wrong....WCC?

How WCC can plough on without one is beyond me, apparently they have known about the works needing doing for some time...so why didn't they gather the data required for the proposed time of year last year?

And a lack of money is not a satisfactory excuse - it should have been built into the feasibility stage of the project...

Resolving the likely traffic dramas retrospectively will cost far more than the costs of an ATC survey!

Mr. Longbeard said...

Quick he's left the geotag data visible, get onto to the OS website and make sure it was taken where he says it was taken ;)

@WR15 said...

I'm pretty sure they have done a traffic survey. I remember the black tubes across the road by the Market Tavern and half way up Teme Street.

Rugby fan 72 said...

According to Cllr Pollock they have counted vehicles on 2 x consecutive Thursdays, it was a manual count and did not use an ATC...

Anonymous said...

No traffic or light traffic.... but the bridge is knackered .Does not seem to stack up to me .

DaveC said...

Well done for publishing the EXIF data, WR15. I'm just amazed you had to. I can't believe the 'conspiracy theory' mentality of some people.

Lesley said...

WR15, Dave is amazed you had to publish your photo data, well I am amazed you even bothered! Fair play to you, but if one panders to futile comments, there will be even more of them!

Anonymous said...

@wr15 well done hope this will shut them up
tenbury futures want to get their facts right and stop decieving people

OaklandsMan said...

I don't understand this. Any local person must have seen Tenbury when it is deserted. Any local person must have seen Tenbury when it is busy. We all know this.
So why is there a thread saying that there are busy times - and quiet times?
Should we have threads about 'hot' times and cold times?
Dry times and wet times?
It is the way of the world.
4pm on a Friday is busier than 4am on a Sunday.
But you all knew that already.

Confused dot com.. said...

Can't where Futures requested the time stamp data.....why target them?

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to make sure WR15 isn't deceiving people. Anyone can take a picture and say it's at a certain time. This is why they time stamped photos to stop lies. Asking to see the time stamp is not deceiving the public it's just getting the proof to make sure WR15 isn't biased (oh wait he already is)

Anonymous said...

You could say WR15 spent an hour in the town trying to capture a picture of Teme Street with very little taffic .....We all know it's a nightmare most of the time .

@WR15 said...

I could honestly say that I could have taken that picture many times in that hour, and again on several occasions since. The truth is the town is more and more often, very quiet.

Anonymous said...

Whats would you deem to be quiet on Teme Street WR15?
100, 150 ,200 vehicles per hour.

@WR15 said...

No idea, but I drove over the bridge to Cross Street last Thursday morning about 11am and only passed one car and one van. Thought that was quiet.

Anonymous said...

Actually come to think of it next time a video would have been better proof of the so called quietness. Yes you could have waited hours for this to go all quiet, but a video would show the TRUE FACTS. So WR15 go on get out there with a video.

I have already seen proof of the 12:40 on 24 Aug that it WAS BUSY.

Anonymous said...

"WR15 - A picture paints a thousand words but are all of them true". With reference to your photo the answer to this is = NO.

Your photo shows at 12.40 on 24th August 2011 no traffic movement back or forth and that you say you easily crossed back and forth several times and there was hardly a car to be seen. Easy thing to do in between traffic - no miracle there for a spritely man but didn't you see the Robert Wiseman delivery lorry, the small white van and blue truck - not forgetting the red Parcel Force van and the white delivery van in addition to the cars going back and forth between 12.38pm and 12.42pm? You need to go to Specsavers or preferrably our local optician who does a very good job. Oh by the way Lesley in case they make me "prove" it - I can and we could ask Robert Wiseman for his taco. Between 12.30pm and 1pm there were no less than 232 vehicles including 2 bicycles, one motorbike a yellow delivery van, a tractor - is this pointless? Clearly we need an independent traffic survey not one taken by an amateur with a phone who is biased.

Lesley said...

Anon @ 12.56 I am not asking anyone to forensically prove what they are saying. However, you would have a great deal more credibility if you didn't hide behind anonymity on here. I do tire of people expecting me (and others) to take what they say as gospel when they are not willing to give away anything of themselves. Do you anon people have something to hide? In an adult discussion, I personally have no problem in people knowing who I am.

Anonymous said...

Dear "Lesley"
You misunderstand my mentioning you. You seemed to me exasperated that people had to prove by providing "forensic evidence" to substantiate anything that is posted on this blog. Well they don't do they - it doesn't matter. It's completely irrelevent because biased people can make anything look like anything - we all have reasons for our prejudice we all think differently and live differently - thankfully. I know what I posted is true and that is all that matters to me.

With respect to you Lesley and I would have no wish to appear rude or personal but with regard to anonymity I am afraid you will have to "tire" a little longer. I don't expect you or others to take what I say as gospel because often it's just my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree but I would have thought you might understand the reasoning behind anonymity. If you think by calling yourself Lesley people know who you are you are quite wrong. You have no problem in people knowing who you are then who are you? I don't know who you are even though you call yourself Lesley. Is it your first name or second name or is it your mother's name. I know two Lesley's in town but I don't know whether or not you are from town - do I? Are you going to disclose all your personal details so that you are no longer just Lesley. If you do then I will be amazed but please don't I promise I'm not really that nosey. The reason for my post was to redress the balance of the photo displayed - that's all. Credible - again it doesn't matter - I know. That's Life eh WR15. There's always a method in madness. If you like you can call me the Mad Hatter - the clue is in the phrase.

Lesley said...

Anon @ 09.35 I apologise if I misinterpreted your post. Re my comment about anonymity, I do accept that some feel very wary about information on the internet and I respect that. But I have made the point before that even just a name makes it far easier to address individual posters and refer back to previous posts by them etc.. I might add that I personally think it also makes people much more likely to offer a constructive comment in return, as some seem to be put off participating in constructive debate due to what they may perceive as cloak and dagger campaigning by some (please note I said *may perceive*, as I am not making any allegations, just my observations).

My opinion only of course.

I do live in the town and going back to the topic under discussion, in my experience (ignoring road works) the town can turn from the scene depicted in WR15's photo to gridlock within minutes due to double parking of delivery lorries/vans (not their fault really, they have deliveries to make). This is an existing problem that could/should be dealt with irrespective of the Tesco's application. I personally think there should be far more restrictive parking on the street, to enable deliveries to be made and those with disabilities to access the shops, with more and better (free) parking provided elsewhere. I don't think anyone would be put off using or shopping the town by that - we all try our luck along Teme St first before parking at the swimming pool or on the CM if we can't find a space. If I knew I had no chance to get a space on the street, I would probably just walk or come on my bike, unless passing through picking up something on the way home.

@WR15 said...

"WR15 - A picture paints a thousand words but are all of them true". With reference to your photo the answer to this is = NO.

Exactly. No more true that the person who claims their picture of gridlock is the correct and permanent situation.

Sometimes the road is busy, and sometimes it's not.