Monday, 9th November 2015
One of the dilemmas faced during the planning stage was what to do if a bus that followed a route very close to the edge ran less frequently - and less conveniently - than a more regular service that allowed better progress to be made but which was less true to the ethos of the exercise. Just how much delay and inconvenience should I put up with to follow "the edge"?
Fortunately I was spared from making a decision today as the one bus a day on Stagecoach service 113 from Gloucester to Arlingham via a string of Severnside villages left 15 minutes after my train from Lancaster arrived. It should have been 45 minutes after, but a slower freight train had been put in front of our express on the West Coast Main Line at Shap and the consequent delay caused me to miss my connection in Birmingham. (How widespread are the ramifications of "control" decisions on the railway!)
This bus journey required a spot of negotiation with the driver, as when we arrived at the Arlingham terminus I needed to stay on board and ride on the return journey, which followed a different route along the A38, so that I could join my next bus at Whitminster. This proved to be not a problem and in fact someone else boarded en-route wishing to stay on and return that way to Gloucester. It struck me at the time that the statistics for that journey would show two passengers alighting at Arlingham and two boarding there, whereas in fact the actual number wishing to go there was nil!
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| A view of "the edge" from the 113 at Epney. |
The 113, a Stagecoach service, follows a complex route through the suburbs of Gloucester at Quedgley, where most of the passengers alighted and which involved at one point a reverse at the end of a cul-de-sac! Most of the housing was of recent origin and I soon gave up trying to follow the route on my 40 year-old OS map. After leaving the city behind we meandered through a succession of small settlements containing houses named "The Old Shop" or "The Old Post Office" etc coming within sight of the Severn estuary - and "the edge" at Epney.
After reversing at Arlingham the bus returned to Gloucester via the A38 and dropped me off at Whitminster, where I'd noticed there was a large garden centre. As I'd hoped, it included a coffee-shop in which to while away the half-hour or so until the next bus as the bus shelter on the side of the A38 was not a particularly nice place to wait for a bus.
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| Whitmister: not the nicest place to wait for a bus |
I was pleased, and a little surprised to see another passenger waiting for my next bus, the 62 to Dursley, which had come direct from Gloucester along the A38 and which I would have had to use had I not been in time for the 113. It duly arrived bang on time at 15.06 and dropped me at Dursley "Bus Station" 21 minutes later. I was initially disappointed that it was yet another Stagecoach single-decker (I prefer doubles!) but there was a welcoming atmosphere on board with people who mainly knew each other chatting away whilst returning from town laden with early Christmas shopping.
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| Dursley's minimalist bus station |
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| A bit more to see in Dursley itself! |
I had 35 minutes in Dursley, just enough for a walk around the quiet edge-of-the-Cotswolds town before the last bus of the day (for me): yet another Stagecoach single-decker on the 88 to Bristol. This turned out to be very much a bus-of-two-halves. Part meandering rural route to Sharpness ("the edge" again) and Berkeley and then a fast run down the A38 and motorway network to Bristol. I was a bit unsure about the motorway as the trip is supposed to be by "local" bus, but the alternative was very convoluted and would have omitted Sharpness and in any case it was dark so I wouldn't miss any of the views.
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| Bristol Bus Station: a bit more to it than Dursley's |
The motorway was very busy with commuter traffic coming out of the city, but we were going the other way and were only 5 minutes behind time at Bristol Bus Station at 17.10
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| 24-hour / 24 days music in the Temple church. |
After checking-in to my hotel and finding somewhere for a meal I came across the "Old Duke" a famous jazz pub in the city that kept me entertained for an hour or two. On the way back to the hotel afterwards I passed the Temple church - an unrestored victim of World War II bombing which was holding an event where for 24 days they were hosting a 24-hour a day music and arts performance. I stuck my head in for 10 minutes or so and saw a poet and a not-very-good folk singer!
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