Bus Trippers Photos July-Dec 2018
Alresford Market - Thurs 6th Dec 2018
We'd been looking forward to our last trip of the year to Alresford Market imagining a street full of unusual gifts and irresistible products in a beautifully festive setting. Were we disappointed? DISAPPOINTED!?!?!?!? "Disappointed" might be the very kindest description if you were in extremely good humour, perhaps having won the lottery, or heard that Poldark's Aidan Turner had joined the U3A and wanted to be a Bus tripper. Alas, this was not the case. Possibly the 4 or 5 street stalls could be described as "festive" in a Dickensian-Christmas-Day-in-the-workhouse kind of way with added atmosphere from the smell of the fish stall. However, Bus trippers are resilient and, together with the news that an earlier bus home was only a couple of hours away, tea rooms, cafes and pubs were sought out and spirits were lifted. The happy chatter on the bus journeys confirmed the old adage that, sometimes, to travel hopefully is better than to arrive.
Kung Fu Restaurant, Fareham - Tues 27th Nov 2018
Perhaps it's one of the unwritten rules of the universe, or possibly, on this occasion, one of the sayings of Confucius, that if one person rises to the occasion, another must fall. On this trip, 22 Bus trippers braved the Fareham wind and rain in order to take advantage of the incredibly good value and quality of the all-you-can-eat Thai/Chinese/Japanese £7.99 buffet. During our journey, the nearside wing mirror of the No 3 had a slight altercation with a bus stop. The driver was struggling to push the mirror back into place but Bus tripper Brian immediately responded to a request for help and was able to rectify the situation. Well done Brian! Unfortunately, the co-ordinator totally failed to take any photos to record any part of the day.
Winchester Christmas Market - Thurs 22nd Nov 2018
Several new members joined the group on the Winchester Christmas market trip. As always, Winchester looked lovely with stalls all through the high street. The Christmas Market was delightful as always and made a nice start to the Christmas season. We were so lucky with all the buses being on time. All in all, a perfect Bus trippers' day out!
Terry O'Dwyer
Winchester City Walking Tour - Tues 11th Sept 2018
What a good trip for 3 new people to select as a Bus trippers' taster session. Fascinating surroundings, good weather and an excellent Guide. Just a slight hiccough when a ROAD CLOSED sign blocked our No 37 bus route, much to the surprise of the driver. Luckily, it only took about 10 minutes to confirm the alternative way with the bus company. Even more amazingly, it was possible to drive a double decker along the block-paved road of the new estate through which we had been directed. Accepting the necessity of curtailing our coffee stop in Petersfield, we opted for takeaways from 3 or 4 different establishments and continued our journey on the No 67. At this time of year, the overhanging tree branches seem to be at their largest and strongest, and the road at its narrowest. In the spring and summer, the branches are quite whippy. In the winter, they are quite hard and snap easily, but at this time of year they thwack very loudly and threateningly across the top deck windows. It is totally pointless but virtually impossible not to duck.
Our Guide Andrew began the tour with the news that Alfred was THE man and that the Romans and Vikings were rubbish and never did anything for us. What a novel, but attention-grabbing, way to begin. We were hooked and have pledged to book at least another dozen tours with him tout de suite. We've also gained 3 new Bus trippers.
Little Woodham 17thC Village - Mon 30th July 2018
Group co-ordinators are only human so it's always good to know that when they fail, there are group members willing to step up and step in. Following a No. 8 bus ride down to The Hard and a trip on the Gosport Ferry, we boarded the No. 9 to take us to Little Woodham, the co-ordinator asking the bus driver to let us know when to get off. Bedazzled by the Rowner scenery, the co-ordinator failed to notice that a 17 minute bus ride had already taken 35 minutes. Luckily, Margaret had been paying attention and had a word with the driver. Suffice to say that we had to get off and wait for a bus to take us back along the route. Having alighted at the correct stop, and the co-ordinator having not a clue where the site was, Bus trippers set to work interrogating the locals but without success. Finally, a family on their way back from Little Woodham stopped, and a 7 or 8 year old was able to tell us the way, adding the useful tip that the blackberries were delicious. Great place to visit, loads to see and very knowledgeable craftspeople to chat to.
THE KILN IS THE ONLY WORKING 17thC ONE IN THE WORLD.
Woolbeding Gardens - Fri 6th July 2018
Terry wrote: We had a lovely day. VERY hot!!! But everyone enjoyed it. All the staff were so helpful, the Woolbeding minibus driver even dropping us off near our bus stop coming home. We agreed another visit would be good - perhaps in the Spring. Evidently it is beautiful then. It's a delightful place. It has a lovely intimate feeling, not formal but full of colour (amazing in this extremely hot weather). You never know what you will find around each corner - even a swimming pool which looked very tempting!!! There is a river and some extremely old trees, a church, a ruin, a folly and a very attractive house which is sadly not open to the public. A really lovely place to visit and I would definitely like to go back. We had an eventful journey home. The No. 92, a pretty ancient bus, expired in the heat!!! After a rest, the driver coaxed it back to life but it meant we just missed our connection in Petersfield and so explored there for an hour.