Jacksons Boat

Up in Manchester for a family visit. I came from Manchester but Torquay is home now. Not much happening on Monday so I went down Memory Lane just for the fun of it. This is the Jacksons Boat pub on the boundry between Sale and Manchester on the River Mersey.

It used to be a place to spent the old Sunday out. The River Mersey and Chorlton medows made a change from the Urban Jungle we used to live in. Also the fact that there was a Sewerage Farm 200 yds along the river added to the attraction. That's gone now and the electric pylons that marched over the landscape also have gone.

The other interesting thing about this place is that it was the first pint of beer ever place and it was nice to go back to where it all started.

This is the River Mersey which used to be one of the dirtiest rivers in the North of England.

One time when I went down there, there was a car that some one had parked neatly in the middle of the river. But you can see it is much nicer now.

An other success story

When we get to our destinations at Newton Abbot and Brixham one of the things we have to do is reset the destination blinds. The destination blinds on the number 12 buses are electronic and can be reset fairly easily. In Newton they show in smaller letters TORQUAY and PAIGNTON and in larger letters BRIXHAM. This indicates that the bus goes first to Torquay, then to Paignton and on to Brixham. This helps if you are a stranger to the area and are not sure where the bus goes.

In Brixham they showed TORQUAY in smaller letters and NEWTON ABBOT in larger letters. This did not let holiday makers know we were going to Paignton. Last summer we spent a lot of time reasuring passengers that we did go via Paignton. One time a couple of weeks ago, when I went into Brixham I arrived when the bus in front of me was just pulling away. I notice a little old lady sitting at the bus stop looking a little worried. I got off the bus and asked her which bus she was waiting for. "The Paignton bus," came the reply. When I told her that the bus that had just gone went to Paignton she said that it didn't say so on the front and she had let two other number 12's go. I asked her why she had not asked the driver and she said,"Where I come from you don't ask the bus drivers questions." I took her to Paignton.

When I go back to control I wrote a memo asking that Paignton be included in the list of places we stop at and a few days later there was a man from head office changing all the blinds. I am thinking of putting in a memo to have the blind include,

"Please Tip Driver Generously"

Coach in the Way

Some one has converted this old coach into a motor home and parked it on the main road between Paignton and Brixham.

As you can see there isn't enough room to get the bus past if there is any thing coming the other way. As this is a busy road there tends to be some thing coming the other way most of the day. Some years ago an armoured personnel carrier was parked in the same place. It also caused problems getting the bus past it. It stayed there all summer and the police said they could do nothing about it. So it looks like we are stuck with this coach until the end of summer or until some one tells the police that it is Obstructing the Highway.

Car hits Motor Cycle.

A car and the motor bike came into contact in Torbay Road, Preston.

I usually carry my camera with me and if I get a chance to take a photo I will. Not all of then are quite as grim as this one though.

Rain

I was woken up this morning about 6 am. Thunder, lightening, Rain and the
dustbin cart were the culprits. It was raining so heavily that the drains
could not cope. In the street the water was coming up out of the grids and
in the back where our main house drain is, there was and ever growing pond,
almost a lake.

We sat there and watched the water almost make it to the back door and
consoled our selves the garden needed the rain. Fortunately it eased off
before the house got flooded, still it's good for the garden.

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