Dial a Bus Service 60

Today I went for a ride on the Number 60. This service is run by a bus company with the name of Dial a Bus. The service 60 runs from Daddyhole in Torquay to Paignton. It does not take what could even vaguely be call a direct route. I was actually heading for Occombe Farm which is a visitor friendly farm on the outskirts of Paignton. The lady who created the Willow Man beside the M5 in Somerset in 2001 went there yesterday and created, which the help of students from South Devon College a Willow Cow which I went to see. ( I wonder if the students will help me with my 50 foot bus, once I get planning permission?). However I was so interested in the route this bus was taking I stayed on and went all the way to Paignton. Actually a couple got on the bus on Torquay Strand and asked the driver if the bus went to Paignton. It does but the driver pointed out it was much quicker to catch a 12 but they decided to come along for the ride. The 12 takes 20 minutes, the 60 takes 55. Some of the views of Torbay, Paignton and Preston are worth a ride on this bus. By the way it is renumbered the 61 for the journey back because quite often the inward and outward buses take the same twisting route. I shall catch the bus tomorrow and get of at Occombe Farm and let you know what I think of the cow; and the farm.
A story I did hear while I was down on the Strand, I also heard it a bit later in my travels concerns a couple who got on a bus in the area. Now I would like to point out that there are 4 different bus companies running services in the area, Stagecoach, First, Country Bus and Dial a Bus who I mentioned earlier. So this couple could have got on any of them, I ain't saying which. Anyway they presented their concessionary bus passes to the driver (it was after 9:30) but the driver politely refused them travel. Why? Because he was a polite driver, oh yes, and because the passes were Welsh. Now English passes aren't accepted in Wales so in a spiteful, childish, tit for tat reaction that two old friends like England and Wales should be ashamed of, we here in England don't accept theirs.


I am sure the driver explained this but anyway the couple complained to the bus company concerned. The person in charge of the depot was upset that these poor visitors to our wonderful country were left feeling so unwelcome that it was decided that the driver would be called into the office and asked, with extreme prejudice to explain this act of unfriendliness. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on the style of your sense of humour) before the driver ended up imitating a vacuum cleaner, that is on the carpet (having a slight snigger I expect) someone managed to mention to the person in charge about the existence of this minor step towards devolution mentioned above or as I prefer to call it, a bit of stupidity by our government. There are so many rules and regulations you can’t expect a person to know all of them can you?

The tit for tat arrangement we have with our next door neighbours in Wales also extends to our neighbours to the North, we do take their bank notes though, we aren’t going to look a gift horse in the gob if it‘s got money in it‘s hand, are we?