We caught a bus into the centre of Oxford, bought a Guardian, and then boarded a bus to Swindon. We finished the crossword in 15 minutes and so we had to talk to each other! But it has been a relaxing day as our tape has run out on the camcorder so what Manju called the 'tyranny of the camera' is over for today at least. She is getting her own back because yesterday I accused her of giving in to the 'tyranny of the mobile'. It was an incredibly efficient journey. As every bus arrived at the bus station, the one we wanted to catch was on the next stand. We changed at Swindon, Calne and Chippenham on the way to Bath. Boring countryside to begin with but beautiful as we approached Bath. Our last driver, Pat from Chippenham, was the first one to examine our passes and comment on the fact that they were issued in South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. So we told him about our journey. He introduced us to the other passengers and then gave us a commentary on the route. This included the 'fact' that Dickens wrote the Pickwick Papers in the The Three Pigs and the Hare and Hound in Corsham. He pointed out the beautiful stone archways of the Great Western railway as it goes through the Box Valley. He then dropped us as near as he could to Bath railway station where we were being met. He's not allowed to take his bus into the temporary Stagecoach bus, which is next to the railway station, because they wont allow competitors in.
This evening we were taken to a BBC studio in Bath to do an interview for the Radio 4 World Service. I found it a disappointing interview. They seemed to be intent on getting us to say that the bus service is rubbish, which it is not. Manju said she was just enjoying herself.
One thing Manju keeps commenting on is the neatness of the countryside and the towns and the front gardens of houses. And she is right. This seems to be a quintessentially English trait.
Another English (?) characteristic is that 90% of passengers, old and young, thank the bus drivers as they leave the bus. However, we haven't seen any groups of school children yet.
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1 comment:
Wonderful stuff. Very few people will ever have seen so much of England at such close hand as you two !
My only disappointment is the lack of news items in the Guardian about you - especially after all your praise for the Crossword. So come on Grauniad - lets see a full page spread or a G2 feature next week !
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