Gravesend welcomes replica Columbus flagship
Since its launch in 2018, the ship has toured ports across Mexico, the United States and Europe - including Jersey and London.The ship, which was constructed in Spain, weighs about 180 tonnes, is 29m (95ft) long, and 8m (26ft) wide.The original Santa María was the largest of the three small ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first expedition across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492.It sank on the return leg of the journey, after running aground off the north coast of Haiti on Christmas Day the same year.
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BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Basildon miniature railway reopens after six-year absence
A miniature railway line has reopened to the public after being closed for six restored the track at Wat Tyler Country Park in Pitsea, Essex, and the first passengers rode on the carriages on Harrison, 51, who owns the Basildon Miniature Railway company, hopes to run a service every day of the school holiday this summer."When I took it over, it was in a deplorable state, you could hardly see most of the track," explained Mr Harrison, who has spent about £50,000 on the refurbishment. "It was overgrown and there were lots of rotten sleepers - there was quite a lot to do!" Trains began running on the one mile (1.6km) railway in the 1980s, but the line was closed in of hours of work have gone in to refurbishing the track between the main station area and the marina within the extensive work is needed before the northern loop line towards the main entrance can team have two locomotives and several carriages. Mr Harrison, who works in financial services, said being driven to the railway as a child was one of his earliest memories, and he went on to volunteer for the previous owners in 1986."I was originally involved in laying some of the track, and seeing it getting into a state and knowing it had been closed down - I just wanted to get involved in bringing it back to life," he said."I think there's been a lot of keen interest [in the railway]."People who live around here will be very much aware it's been closed for quite some time and there's a level of excitement growing." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Air traffic outage live: Flights resume after technical fault grounds 150 planes and triggers airlines' backlash
Flights have now resumed at UK airports after a technical glitch in the National Air Traffic Service (Nats) systems caused more than 150 cancellations yesterday. Nats said the radar-related issue was detected at 4.05pm and resolved within 20 minutes by switching to a backup system. More than 100 flights were cancelled after the 20-minute air traffic control outage grounded planes and suspended take-offs across the UK. Nats has said its systems are fully operational again and air traffic capacity is returning to normal - but there was a backlog of flights following the outage, with many delayed. 'This was a radar-related issue which was resolved by quickly switching to the back-up system during which time we reduced traffic to ensure safety,' Nats said, adding that there was 'no evidence this was cyber-related'. Thousands of passengers were left stranded across Europe after planes were diverted, some returning to their departure cities. Travellers stranded on planes told The Independent of 'terrible communication' from airlines and 'chaos' in the airports. Gatwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Heathrow, and Manchester Airports were all among the airports across the UK affected by the outage. Flights resume at UK airports after technical glitch Flights have now resumed at UK airports after a technical glitch in the National Air Traffic Service (NATS) systems caused more than 150 cancellations on Wednesday. NATS said the radar-related issue was detected at 4.05pm and resolved within 20 minutes by switching to a backup system. Despite the quick fix, airlines and passengers faced major disruption during one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Ryanair's chief operating officer, Neal McMahon, called the incident 'utterly unacceptable' and demanded the resignation of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe, blaming 'continued mismanagement' and a failure to learn from the August 2023 outage. EasyJet's David Morgan also criticised the repeat failure, saying: 'It's extremely disappointing to see an ATC failure once again causing disruption to our customers.' Although flights are departing again, airlines have urged passengers to check with their carriers before heading to the airport. NATS has confirmed the issue was not cyber-related and stressed that safety procedures were followed throughout. Maroosha Muzaffar31 July 2025 05:00 Airlines demand answers from air traffic controller Nats As of 10pm on Wednesday, 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled at UK airports, with London's Heathrow experiencing the highest number of disruptions. Several incoming flights were also rerouted to cities across Europe, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. EasyJet's chief operating officer, David Morgan, expressed frustration over the situation, saying: 'It's extremely disappointing to see an ATC failure once again causing disruption to our customers at this busy and important time of year for travel. While our priority today is supporting our customers, we will want to understand from Nats what steps they are taking to ensure issues don't continue.' Airlines are seeking answers from UK air traffic control provider Nats after a technical glitch led to over 150 flight cancellations, causing major disruption for thousands of passengers on Wednesday. Maroosha Muzaffar31 July 2025 04:30 In pictures: Travellers stranded in Heathrow Airport Alex Croft31 July 2025 04:00 Man fears missing brothers wedding after flight cancellations A man whose plane was cancelled from Heathrow Airport after air traffic control provider Nats suffered a technical issue, said he was worried he would miss his brother's wedding. John Carr, a chiropodist from Stourbridge, was on his way to Norway with a group of friends to help set up his brother's wedding, for which he is best man, when he found out after checking in his flight was cancelled. The 35-year-old told the PA news agency from outside Terminal 3 he was stressed. He said: 'I'm pretty gutted. We've got loads of stuff in the suitcases to set up the venue, because we're obviously flying to Norway. We've got the wedding rehearsal to do. It's quite stressful.' His friend James Hedges, also from Stourbridge, added: 'We found out today; we'd already checked in and gone through the security checks. 'We were in the departures lounge, and we were literally sitting down having a burger when it came up on the (screen). Our flight was still showing as if it was leaving, and they were waiting to give us a gate and that that would be given at 4.45pm. When that time came around, it then switched to cancelled.' Alex Croft31 July 2025 03:01 Ryanair calls on Nats CEO to resign after system failure Ryanair has called on Nats CEO Martin Rolfe to resign after a system failure has caused flight delays across the UK. 'It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe's continued mismanagement of NATS. Yet another ATC system failure has resulted in the closure of UK airspace meaning thousands of passengers' travel plans have been disruptedm' said Ryanair COO Neal McMahon. 'It is clear that no lessons have been learnt since the Aug' 23 NATS system outage and passengers continue to suffer as a result of Martin Rolfe's incompetence. 'If NATS CEO Martin Rolfe fails to resign on the back of this latest NATS system outage that has disrupted thousands of passengers yet again, then UK Transport Minister Heidi Alexander must act without delay to remove Martin Rolfe and deliver urgent reform of NATS's shambolic ATC service, so that airlines and passengers are no longer forced to endure these preventable delays caused by persistent NATS failures.' Alex Croft31 July 2025 02:01 Alex Croft31 July 2025 01:00 Knock-on effects of air-traffic control shutdown at London City, Luton and Southend airports The Independent's travel correspondent Simon Calder writes: Passengers on later flights on Wednesday face long delays as a result of the air-traffic control shutdown. For example, the afternoon flight from Lyon to Luton diverted to Paris CDG as a result of the UK airspace shutdown. It eventually arrived at 8.50pm, three hours behind schedule. The subsequent trip to Jersey was delayed three hours, with a correspondingly late return – instead of arriving at Luton from Jersey at 8.30pm, the expected time is close to midnight. At Southend, easyJet's flights from Faro was diverted to Bordeaux. An incoming plane from Gran Canaria ended up on the island of Jersey, and a round-trip to Amsterdam was cancelled. London City airport was badly affected, with one British Airways flight from Glasgow returning to its starting place, and links to Rotterdam, Palma and Amsterdam cancelled. Alex Croft31 July 2025 00:44 Continued disruption expected, says transport secretary We've heard from transport secretary Heidi Alexander, who said on X that she is aware of the technical issue which shut down air traffic control operations. 'I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice,' Ms Alexander added. Alex Croft30 July 2025 23:59 More than 150 flights cancelled to and from UK airports Flight analysts Cirium have said 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled across UK airports on Wednesday, This brings the total 155, the BBC reported. Most of these cancellations were at London Heathrow, with 29 departures and 17 arrivals. But Cirium does not give a cause foe the cancellations in its data, so some may not have been related to the power outage. Alex Croft30 July 2025 23:48 'It's going to be chaos': Briton's flight turns back to Oslo mid-air A Briton who was on a flight from Oslo to London - which has turned around mid-air towards the Norwegian capital - is expecting 'chaos' when the plane lands. Tanya Goldhaber said she was two-thirds of the way to London when the pilot informed passengers that the flight would be turning back to London due to a radar issue - and lack of fuel. 'My child went into meltdown for a little while which wasn't great but she's sleeping now,' Ms Goldhaber told The Independent. 'It's a plane full of Norwegian and British people so it's actually very calm and stoic, but basically we have zero information from anyone about what's going to happen when we're on the ground - but I'd imagine it's going to be chaos when we get to Oslo,' she added. 'They're suggesting the plane will land and go back at 7pm but I'm not sure anyone believes that. So we may or may not be back in the UK this week, we'll see - I would not recommend doing this with a four-month-old baby." Alex Croft30 July 2025 22:59
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Airlines demand answers after Air Traffic Control failure
Airlines have demanded answers from the air traffic control (ATC) provider NATS after a system outage grounded flights across the UK. NATS, which has apologised, said it had taken 20 minutes to resolve the issue by switching to a back-up system. It resulted in more than 150 flights being cancelled and thousands more being grounded on Wednesday. EasyJet said the error was "extremely disappointing" while one of Ryanair's bosses called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign. According to NATS, the issue was "radar-related" and it reduced flight traffic to ensure safety. It added there was no evidence the incident had been government said it was "working closely" with NATS to understand what had gone executive Neal McMahon said it was "outrageous that passengers were once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe's continued mismanagement" of to a previous incident two years ago, Mr McMahon said it was clear "no lessons" had been learnt and passengers continued to "suffer" as a result of Mr Rolfe's "incompetence". In August 2023, more than 700,000 passengers were affected by the cancellation of more than 500 flights at the UK's busiest airports due to a major outage. EasyJet's chief operating officer, David Morgan, said: "It's extremely disappointing to see an ATC failure once again causing disruption to our customers at this busy and important time of year for travel.""We will want to understand from NATS what steps they are taking to ensure issues don't continue," he added. Frustrated passengers "I'm feeling pretty angry," said Sarah McPherson whose son was meant to compete with England's under 15 boys international touch rugby team in Ireland. "He is so very disappointed and at this stage we don't know if there will be another flight," she Carr from Stourbridge was trying to get to Norway for his brother's wedding. He told the BBC it was "stressful" that his flight was cancelled but he hoped to arrive in Bodø late on Thursday. "It's really frustrating," said Julia Lo Bue-Said chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership. "We need to ensure there's sufficient resilience built into critical infrastructure that doesn't impact businesses, that doesn't impact travellers." According to flight data firm Cirium, 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled across all UK airports. That equates to 3% of all departures and 2% of all addition a number of flights had to be diverted to European airports, it does not attribute causes for cancellations, so some may not have been due to the air traffic outage.
