And An Other Road Closed; Two Actually

This morning I decided to got straight to work instead of going down to Rock Walk and taking some photos on the way to work. I had a duty that had a 61 minute break on the Harbour. I could have my lunch and then get a few shots before starting the second half. What a mistake to make. The whole of the Bay was covered in mist, it swirled up the cliff face and would have produced some great shots instead of the shot I got later when most of the mist had gone.


The afternoon went as expected, loose time getting through Torquay, loose time going to and from Newton because of the extra traffic, get some of it back between Torquay and Brixham. Torquay was very busy to day lots of people about, if the traders who have been complaining the work on Rock Walk has been driving trade away didn't have a good day today then they must have been shut or selling crap goods no one wants.Anyway I ended up in Brixham at 17:52 for an 18:01 departure Half a dozen people got on and while I was waiting time I filled in a few squares in a Sudoku puzzle. Dead on 18:01 I pulled out of Brixham. All I had left to do was drive up to Newton, one hour 3 minutes, then back to the depot dead and home. Yer, right. Eleven minutes up the road I went past the Waterside pub, round a gentle bend heading for the Grand Canyon. There's not much grand about it and it isn't a canyon but the road does dip down just below sea level before climbing up to the Leisure Centre. As I was saying, round the gentle bend and stopped, gently. Why? Blue flashing lights. Lots of them. An other crash. I got on the radio and told control and warned all the 12 drivers that there had been a crash. A police officer walked up and told me the road would be closed for at lest an hour as there were people trapped and the Fire Brigade were on their way.I gave control this information and suggested a diversion round the problem, then turned the bus round by doing a left hand reverse into a side road, just like the one you do on your driving test only most people don't use a double decker bus on a driving test. Then round the diversion arriving in Paignton 20 minutes late. The Paignton spare driver had explained to the waiting passenger what was happening so they were understanding as were most passengers I picked up. Remember I was first at the accident and therefore would have a big, 35 minute gap between me and the bus in front. When I got back to the depot one of the other drivers told me there had been a crash on the 32 route that had closed the road for several hours the night before. I have lost count of such incidents so far this year but it must be into double figures by now. Change the slogan, "Come to sunny Devon", to "Come to Dangerous Devon".I finally arrived home 20 minutes late. Again.