A fairly early start this morning for the Bus Pass Group as we needed to be at Romsey bus station before 9.15am to catch the TVR to Andover which only runs on summer Sundays. It turns out that those initials stand for Test Valley Rambler and ramble it certainly did.
There were 6 of us joined by other members of the public waiting to board all in happy mood anticipating a good day out. The bus was about two thirds full including some other groups so a lot of chatter. We were soon bouncing along to our first call at Mottisfont Abbey and then back to the main road and continuing through Brook to reach Houghton and Houghton Lodge Gardens. We did a U3A trip there about a decade ago. It all looked far more commercial now than it did then. Forward then to Stockbridge where we drove the length of the high street, admiring the shops and an abundance of quaint tearooms, before making a circuit of a roundabout to return the same route to the town hall to deposit and pick up our first change of passengers.
On our way again along some very narrow lanes seeing cattle and sheep and combine harvesters creating large oblongs of hay some of which had been piled in a semblance of the old haystacks whilst others were just wrapped in black plastic (ugh!). Oncoming drivers of cars and other vehicles must have gulped to see a bus bearing down on them and having to give way with only a couple of inches or so between to allow passing.
Pushing onwards we saw Danbury Hill, the site of an old Iron Age fort, and on to Kentsboro where we took a left hand turn and passed the Museum of Army Flying which had 3 or 4 redundant helicopters on show near its entrance. I understand there are over another 35 aircraft to be seen in the museum itself.
This road took us to Middle Wallop and on to Over Wallop before calling at Grateley and its station. Apparently, the word “Wallop” originates from an ancient word meaning “a spring or stream in a remote valley” so there’s something I’ve learned.
Travelling now to our destination on a variety of roads, lanes and dual-carriageways we arrived in Andover 100 minutes from leaving Romsey. Here we split into two groups and did our own thing, seeking refreshment, mooching around the shopping area or just sitting on a seat people watching. Some went to the Iron Age museum and others found the Foresters Arms, an olde worlde pub, which served a huge Sunday roast at a very reasonable price.
Soon it was back to the bus station but with a longer wait than expected as the bus was delayed having had an argument with a car somewhere in the Stockbridge area: the car seemingly at fault. A minor scrape on the front.
The return journey was without mishap and we were back in Romsey by 16.40.
Thanks to Christine for, once again, sorting out the timetables for us and enabling us to see vistas which we certainly hadn’t seen before. That’s the beauty of a bus ride.
A final reminder that we are on the petanque pitch at 10.15 tomorrow morning (Monday).
Join us. Ken
