BRIGG SATURDAY REFLECTIONS: TRAIN OF THOUGHT LEADS TO CASHPOINTS, MARKETS & LOCOS

It was heartening to see a demonstration that many Brigg shoppers are still using cash. This was evident last Saturday when gremlins struck three town centre cash machines at the same time, meaning they weren't offering up any banknotes. 

Word soon got round the town! Normal service had been resumed by Monday morning.
Hopefully, all outlets will be in working order today (Saturday, December 12).
A side-effect of the Coronavirus emergency in Brigg is that greater use is being made of contactless and credit cards to buy goods and services.
Brigg Blog is among many in this 'move with the times' category; these days we make few cash payments, although money still has to be tendered at some local premises such as The Garden 'chippie' on Grammar School Road.
The same applies to some takeaway meals delivered to the door by other outlets.
Many people - particularly those aged over 60 - still opt to use cash for most, or all, of their transactions.
So shops and banks need to bear this in mind. If the UK ever becomes a cashless society, it will create severe hardship for people who surely have every right to stick with notes and coins which have served them so well for decades.
Last Saturday saw a Brigg Indie Market held  and it was pleasing to see positive comments on social media about this welcome addition in the town centre.
We suggested that Brigg could do with more of these, and other people clearly share this view.
Make a note that the last of three special Christmas shopping nights will be held on Thursday (December 17) with many premises staying open until 7pm so people can buy festive gifts for friends and family.
Brigg has a Saturdays-only passenger train service - three to Sheffield (via Retford) and three to Grimsby and Cleethorpes (via Barnetby). These are being helped by line cleaning undertaken for Network Rail, whose Rail Head Treatment Train is coming to the Brigg line.
The campaigning Independent Brigg Line Rail Group tells us it "popped in a request to Network Rail a few weeks ago, asking for this after wheelslip issues at Kirton in Lindsey and Hibaldstow."
Some non-passenger trains still use the Brigg line midweek; we glimpsed one passing behind bungalows on Burgess Road a few days ago - heading towards Barnetby.
On the back of what we presumed to be an engineering train was a veteran Class 37 diesel - a survivor from the 1960s. This was nostalgic as Brigg trainspotters recorded the numbers of many such locos in the latter half of the 20th century when the Sheffield Darnall and Immingham depots had large allocations. However, Class 37s are now a very rare sight on our local line. They were originally known as English Electric Type 3s - a very successful design with a number still in use today.

And finally... Thanks go to the person who sent Brigg Blog an unsigned Christmas card, received in the post yesterday, which said thanks for all our posts and included a bank note by way of an anonymous donation.

PICTURED: Lloyds cashpoint on Wrawby Street, Brigg Indie Market last Saturday, and an English Electric Type 3 diesel (Class 37) hauling a freight train towards the town's Bigby Road level crossing in the 1970s.