The BBC have given us more film so we are back on camera. Took a morning off to meet friends with whom we had lunch at the Pump Room. Then the 1405 to Wells. I slept most of the way whilst Manju filmed the lovely countryside and villages. When I woke up she was talking to half the bus passengers, as usual. Visited Wells Cathedral, our third on the trip. We should say that as non Christians we are amazed at the splendid things human beings have done in the name of religion. Then a lovely ride through Glastonbury and Street to Taunton where we were met by a photographer from the Western Daily Press.
We really must emphasise how reliable, regular and comfortable the English bus system is. The only unpleasant aspects of this trip have been some very cold and draughty bus halts.
Manju's grandson, Dara, goes to a nursery in Horwich. The staff have set up a notice board to following our trip and now everyone in the nursery is fascinated by Nani's exploits.
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Monday, 7 April 2008
Day 6: Oxford to Bath
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.
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.
Sunday, 6 April 2008
day 5 Leicester to Oxford
Its good to know that the internet cafe has not come and gone without our noticing. We found one in Oxford so we are able to enter our blog without bothering our hosts to give us access to their computers.
Snow everywhere when we woke up but no problem with the roads. We were worried about today because it depended on getting three X buses (presumably short for express) as nobody seemed to be clear about whether they could be regarded as local buses. Manju rang Stagecoach who said yes. The PTE rang Stagecoach who said no. In any case, we climbed nervously on to the X5 at Leicester and presented our passes. The driver said we would have to pay ....... but he was only joking. Great bus to Northampton. There we had 30 minutes to wait and it was freezing and the bus station was pretty miserable. No services of any kind and no staff as far as we could see. EXCEPT in the ladies toilet we found a source of heat - a little radiator in the Nappy Room - so we draped ourselves around this for a while. X4 to Milton Keynes arrived on time and almost immediately we boarded the X5 to Oxford. At Buckingham, a friend of Manju's, Al, joined us till Oxford. They hadn't seen each other for two years but he had found out about our journey from the BBC website and wanted to be part of the action. We have interviewed him with our camcorder. This whole bus journey only took three and a half hours.
We are still carrying the camcorder lent to Manju by BBC North West Tonight. A courier collected our last tape in Richmond and that formed the basis of a clip which you can see at bbc.co.uk/nwt. One clip is called Manju's Mission and one Manju's Jaunt. After they had used our tape they asked if I would do more of the filming because they want more pictures of Manju as she is the north west resident. This means I have been commenting during the day with the camera and yesterday the blog was very short because I had already said it all. For example, we did a lovely interview with a driver at Leicester bus station. Sally told us about her pleasure at her job and that many OAPs are using the pass to do longer journeys than they normally would. I will try to make sure the blog doesn't suffer because of my broadcasting ambitions in future.
We are now going to get the tourist bus because neither of us know Oxford very well. And then to our hosts for the night.
Snow everywhere when we woke up but no problem with the roads. We were worried about today because it depended on getting three X buses (presumably short for express) as nobody seemed to be clear about whether they could be regarded as local buses. Manju rang Stagecoach who said yes. The PTE rang Stagecoach who said no. In any case, we climbed nervously on to the X5 at Leicester and presented our passes. The driver said we would have to pay ....... but he was only joking. Great bus to Northampton. There we had 30 minutes to wait and it was freezing and the bus station was pretty miserable. No services of any kind and no staff as far as we could see. EXCEPT in the ladies toilet we found a source of heat - a little radiator in the Nappy Room - so we draped ourselves around this for a while. X4 to Milton Keynes arrived on time and almost immediately we boarded the X5 to Oxford. At Buckingham, a friend of Manju's, Al, joined us till Oxford. They hadn't seen each other for two years but he had found out about our journey from the BBC website and wanted to be part of the action. We have interviewed him with our camcorder. This whole bus journey only took three and a half hours.
We are still carrying the camcorder lent to Manju by BBC North West Tonight. A courier collected our last tape in Richmond and that formed the basis of a clip which you can see at bbc.co.uk/nwt. One clip is called Manju's Mission and one Manju's Jaunt. After they had used our tape they asked if I would do more of the filming because they want more pictures of Manju as she is the north west resident. This means I have been commenting during the day with the camera and yesterday the blog was very short because I had already said it all. For example, we did a lovely interview with a driver at Leicester bus station. Sally told us about her pleasure at her job and that many OAPs are using the pass to do longer journeys than they normally would. I will try to make sure the blog doesn't suffer because of my broadcasting ambitions in future.
We are now going to get the tourist bus because neither of us know Oxford very well. And then to our hosts for the night.
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Day 4: Sheffield to Leicester and Barsby
A very urban day compared with the last three. From Sheffield to Chesterfield to Nottingham to Loughborough to Leicester, ending in a rural retreat, the village of Barsby. We did go through Sherwood Forest bus couldn't see Robin Hood. A long day. Our first bus at 9.45 am and we arrived here at 7.10. All the buses on time and comfortable. Two female bus drivers - our first on this trip. Spent a couple of hours in Nottingham and visited the wonderful sculpture by Anish Kapoor, a stainless steel concave mirror of the world above it. Beautiful and soothing. The day was a typical April day - showers and sun - and we watched these play across the mirror. The sculpture is outside the Nottingham Playhouse and we had lunch in the bar/restaurant attached and were comfortable in this environment since we both have connections with our local theatres - the Octagon in Bolton and the Crucible in Sheffield. We were very unimpressed with the Broadmarsh bus station in Nottingham. A bit dingy and very inadequate timetable information. An office which says 'public transport' where we queued couldn't give us information about getting to Leicester and told us to go next door to a office called 'Barton Travel' where we queued again and were told they didn't have the timetable for the bus to Leicester. We eventually found it but would have had to wait at this rather uncomfortable place for an hour and a half so decided to do the journey through Loughborough.
We realise we have become rather blase with our bus pass and just wave it at the driver. One of them checked us very politely and said he had to know where we were going to so the company could claim the subsidy for the concession.
After we finished Araucaria's wonderful crossword where every clue is an anagram but the letters which make up the anagrams are run-on across words, we read a piece about a Guardian journalist and his father doing what we are doing but the other way - from Penzance to Carlisle. They don't seem to have had much fun. They did it in four days whereas we are dawdling along. Manju said the only interesting thing in the piece was about us!
Manju's counsin rang to say we are on the front page of a celebrity paper in Mumbai.
I should explain why I, Christine, write the blog. We divided responsibility for planning this trip. I did timetables. Manju did the blog. Because once upon a time I trained as a shorthand typist, I can input from an electronic keyboard at an amazing speed so I type the blog. But nothing gets posted without Manju's additions and approval. She manages the blog in terms of accepting or not comments to be posted.
We realise we have become rather blase with our bus pass and just wave it at the driver. One of them checked us very politely and said he had to know where we were going to so the company could claim the subsidy for the concession.
After we finished Araucaria's wonderful crossword where every clue is an anagram but the letters which make up the anagrams are run-on across words, we read a piece about a Guardian journalist and his father doing what we are doing but the other way - from Penzance to Carlisle. They don't seem to have had much fun. They did it in four days whereas we are dawdling along. Manju said the only interesting thing in the piece was about us!
Manju's counsin rang to say we are on the front page of a celebrity paper in Mumbai.
I should explain why I, Christine, write the blog. We divided responsibility for planning this trip. I did timetables. Manju did the blog. Because once upon a time I trained as a shorthand typist, I can input from an electronic keyboard at an amazing speed so I type the blog. But nothing gets posted without Manju's additions and approval. She manages the blog in terms of accepting or not comments to be posted.
Friday, 4 April 2008
Day 3 Richmond to Sheffield
After a live telephone interview with Radio York, we had a very joyful bus ride to Northallerton. As we boarded the bus on the Market Square at Richmond, the driver was reading a piece about us in the Northern Echo. He welcomed us aboard as ‘his’ celebrities and as we proceeded and collected passengers he – now our friend Alan - introduced us to all of them by their first names. He pointed out sights on the way, kept up a banter of jokes and provided timetables for our future route. We had to sign a timetable for him to show to his mates. Everyone on the bus joined in the general jollity. A woman sitting next to me had been yesterday on a coach to Hadrians Wall with the Northallerton branch of the University of the Third Age and said she was inspired by us to do some long distance travelling on local buses. At Northerallerton, where we had fifteen minutes to wait for the next bus to Thirsk, Alan offered to take Manju to see the local hospital as he now knew she was a doctor. We declined this offer but two passengers overheard the conversation and said they were going to the hospital so he gave them a lift.
An uneventful journey to Thirsk, where we discovered that the timetable has changed and we had an hour and half to wait for a bus to York. The staff of the Tourist Office had seen us on the box so they treated us like royalty and bemoaned the limited bus service. We wandered round the market square (which would be delightful if it wasn’t full of cars), had coffee and finished the crossword. Then we caught our first locally owned bus run by John Smith of Thirsk. All the rest have been part of one of the big conglomerates like Arriva. We felt a bit like kids in a class when the driver asked all ‘the concessions’ to put their hands up. There were seven of us out of 13 passengers.
York was complicated. There seem to be at least three bus interchanges. We were delivered at Exhibition Square, but only after our schoolteacher driver delivered a little lecture about being back by 5pm or we would have to walk home. We walked to the railway station but couldn’t find a bus to Selby. Eventually we found one at Piccadilly. On single decker buses we have started to sit in the back seats because there is more leg room. The problem with this policy is that this is where the kids sit. There were two young girls behaving a bit yobbishly - very loud competing music kit with no head sets, feet on seats, shouting out of the windows. I have recently acquired hearing aids and am still hearing more than I want to, particularly high pitched sounds. I couldn’t put up with this noise for 45 minutes so I pondered what to do. We could either move forward – a nuisance on a relatively crowded bus, I could ask the bus driver to shut them up since all buses have signs saying loud music e should not be played without ear phones, or I could address them directly. I decided on the latter. Very quietly and politely, I asked if they could turn down the sound as it was hurting my ears. They immediately turned off their instruments, apologised and sat demurely for the rest of their journey. Amazing.
At Selby we asked a guy in uniform about a bus to Doncaster. He recognized us and said a note had been sent round to all the drivers about our escapade – his word. Manju, who has now become an experience camerawoman (her work has already been broadcast on North West Tonight), asked if she could interview him. He took off his orange jacket, puffed up his chest and delivered a very interesting treatise on local bus services. We had twenty minutes to spare so took in the lovely Selby Abbey before boarding our bus.
As the bus left, a man in a suit – presumably the bus station manager – came over to shake our hands and wish us luck and told the driver to look after us. I made a phone call which a woman behind me overheard and realised who we were. She was ecstatic about us, our trip and our ‘courage’. She shook our hands and asked for autographs and talked for the rest of her journey about how we women deserve to do things like this. We spend all our lives working and looking after families and now we can have fun. She was going to use her pass to go all over north Yorkshire just travelling for the sake of it.
Great bus station and interchange with the railway at Doncaster and then on to Sheffield.
Since three journalists have now mentioned motorways to me I should explain that local buses never go on motorways although they quite often go over and under them. Only coaches and National Express use the motorways and our bus pass is not valid on these services. Local buses travel on other roads but rarely go directly from one place to the next. They take little diversions into villages or shopping centres, to institutions like prisons to collect visitors or schools to collect children. They provide a local service.
On every bus we have asked the driver how much the fare would be if we had to pay. So far, that is from Berwick to Sheffield, it would have cost £37 each. On the railway, a single standard open with senior railcard costs £37.30 but only takes three hours, not three days!
An uneventful journey to Thirsk, where we discovered that the timetable has changed and we had an hour and half to wait for a bus to York. The staff of the Tourist Office had seen us on the box so they treated us like royalty and bemoaned the limited bus service. We wandered round the market square (which would be delightful if it wasn’t full of cars), had coffee and finished the crossword. Then we caught our first locally owned bus run by John Smith of Thirsk. All the rest have been part of one of the big conglomerates like Arriva. We felt a bit like kids in a class when the driver asked all ‘the concessions’ to put their hands up. There were seven of us out of 13 passengers.
York was complicated. There seem to be at least three bus interchanges. We were delivered at Exhibition Square, but only after our schoolteacher driver delivered a little lecture about being back by 5pm or we would have to walk home. We walked to the railway station but couldn’t find a bus to Selby. Eventually we found one at Piccadilly. On single decker buses we have started to sit in the back seats because there is more leg room. The problem with this policy is that this is where the kids sit. There were two young girls behaving a bit yobbishly - very loud competing music kit with no head sets, feet on seats, shouting out of the windows. I have recently acquired hearing aids and am still hearing more than I want to, particularly high pitched sounds. I couldn’t put up with this noise for 45 minutes so I pondered what to do. We could either move forward – a nuisance on a relatively crowded bus, I could ask the bus driver to shut them up since all buses have signs saying loud music e should not be played without ear phones, or I could address them directly. I decided on the latter. Very quietly and politely, I asked if they could turn down the sound as it was hurting my ears. They immediately turned off their instruments, apologised and sat demurely for the rest of their journey. Amazing.
At Selby we asked a guy in uniform about a bus to Doncaster. He recognized us and said a note had been sent round to all the drivers about our escapade – his word. Manju, who has now become an experience camerawoman (her work has already been broadcast on North West Tonight), asked if she could interview him. He took off his orange jacket, puffed up his chest and delivered a very interesting treatise on local bus services. We had twenty minutes to spare so took in the lovely Selby Abbey before boarding our bus.
As the bus left, a man in a suit – presumably the bus station manager – came over to shake our hands and wish us luck and told the driver to look after us. I made a phone call which a woman behind me overheard and realised who we were. She was ecstatic about us, our trip and our ‘courage’. She shook our hands and asked for autographs and talked for the rest of her journey about how we women deserve to do things like this. We spend all our lives working and looking after families and now we can have fun. She was going to use her pass to go all over north Yorkshire just travelling for the sake of it.
Great bus station and interchange with the railway at Doncaster and then on to Sheffield.
Since three journalists have now mentioned motorways to me I should explain that local buses never go on motorways although they quite often go over and under them. Only coaches and National Express use the motorways and our bus pass is not valid on these services. Local buses travel on other roads but rarely go directly from one place to the next. They take little diversions into villages or shopping centres, to institutions like prisons to collect visitors or schools to collect children. They provide a local service.
On every bus we have asked the driver how much the fare would be if we had to pay. So far, that is from Berwick to Sheffield, it would have cost £37 each. On the railway, a single standard open with senior railcard costs £37.30 but only takes three hours, not three days!
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Day 2 - Gosforth to Richmond
Enjoyed our item on Look North but missed the Tyne Tees piece.
Our hosts were so taken with our trip that they joined us as far as Newcastle and waved us on to a bus to Durham. The journey from Gosforth to Durham took just one and a half hours. We landed in the centre of Durham where there was a small bus up to the Cathedral for 50p (if you have to pay). And we didn't have to worry about parking. The train does the journey much more quickly. I wonder if most car journeys, including parking, would be so speedy. We enjoyed the view of the Sage and winking eye bridge from the top of a double decker and could almost touch the Angel of the North as we sped through the south of Gateshead. The Cathedral is spectacular. Then a bus to Darlington and one to Richmond. All buses running on time and, except for a bit of rattling making our conversations with media people difficult, were all very comfortable. The Northern Echo met us at Richmond as we are now famous! Four separate people approached us - two in Durham, one in Darlington and one in Richmond - to ask if we were the ladies on the bus journey. The taxi driver in Darlington called Manju pet, which she much enjoyed. We both love the Geordie accent. And we are going to be more famous. We have spent the whole day fending off media approaches from local TV and radio and even a London radio show. BBC World Service want us in a studio in Bath next Monday. Tomorrow Asian News are joining us for our journey from York to Selby. We are now completely muddled about what commitments we have now made for interviews etc. so we shall just have to see how we go.
Just enjoyed the delights of Richmond with a walk via the castle to the railway station which has been converted into a community centre with cinema, cafe, exhibition space, etc. All very elegant. This is our second converted railway station in two days as Barter Books inhabits the old railway station of Alnwick.
Our hosts were so taken with our trip that they joined us as far as Newcastle and waved us on to a bus to Durham. The journey from Gosforth to Durham took just one and a half hours. We landed in the centre of Durham where there was a small bus up to the Cathedral for 50p (if you have to pay). And we didn't have to worry about parking. The train does the journey much more quickly. I wonder if most car journeys, including parking, would be so speedy. We enjoyed the view of the Sage and winking eye bridge from the top of a double decker and could almost touch the Angel of the North as we sped through the south of Gateshead. The Cathedral is spectacular. Then a bus to Darlington and one to Richmond. All buses running on time and, except for a bit of rattling making our conversations with media people difficult, were all very comfortable. The Northern Echo met us at Richmond as we are now famous! Four separate people approached us - two in Durham, one in Darlington and one in Richmond - to ask if we were the ladies on the bus journey. The taxi driver in Darlington called Manju pet, which she much enjoyed. We both love the Geordie accent. And we are going to be more famous. We have spent the whole day fending off media approaches from local TV and radio and even a London radio show. BBC World Service want us in a studio in Bath next Monday. Tomorrow Asian News are joining us for our journey from York to Selby. We are now completely muddled about what commitments we have now made for interviews etc. so we shall just have to see how we go.
Just enjoyed the delights of Richmond with a walk via the castle to the railway station which has been converted into a community centre with cinema, cafe, exhibition space, etc. All very elegant. This is our second converted railway station in two days as Barter Books inhabits the old railway station of Alnwick.
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
day one - Berwick to Gosforth
First the crossword. Araucaria has done us proud today. The crossword includes 'national bus pass', April Fool, Cornwall and Umbria. And one clue mentions 'bad girls! We were met at Berwick station by a crew from Tyne Tees Television who actually came on the bus- clearly a rare experience for them - and interviewed and filmed us. But we got our own back. Manju has been given a camcorder by the BBC with which she is increasingly confident. So she filmed them filming us. The BBC should love that. At Alnwick we were met by Look North who trailed around after us for over an hour. We spent some time in the wonderful Barter Books shop which fills the old railway station in Alnwick where we took a call from Jeremy Vine and did a live interview. Both our buses were exactly on time, clean and comfortable. The only unpleasant thing was Alnwick bus station which is cold and has no proper waiting rooms or toilets. The Northumberland countryside of Northumberland is gorgeous and, most of the time, the sun shone. Manju has started to accost strangers and film them describing their experience of buses.
We are completely bewildered by the media interest as they are by us. Their line of questioning is sometimes quite odd. They want to know if we will still be friends after 12 days. We doubt they would ask men that. They say: "aren't you a bit crazy?" So we say yes! They are very ignorant about buses and immediately take photographs when we produce a timetable. One said "wont it be boring on the motorways"!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)