Decided not to bother taking the steam train to Paignton. Took the bus instead which is a lot cheaper and also doesn't start with a 4 km walk to the quay at Dartmouth. Also it's a little faster.
Actually it's a good job I made that decision yesterday because I overslept this morning and if I'd been trying to catch the train it would have been a bit of a rush.
So I bought a Torbay Day ticket on the bus for 6.50 GBP which is both a lot cheaper than the train and cheaper than the individual tickets for the four buses that comprise the round trip at 3 GBP each.
Now I'm in Paignton having a mocha and and a small lemon pastry in a café that wasn't here last summer. I wonder if it will still be here next summer.
The next stop after the thatch was the Great Western Hotel to drop in and say hello to the woman who owns it. I've stayed there several times over recent years and she is one of very few people who knows me both as Nina and by my given name.
I did wonder when I arrived if she had sold up because there were prominent signs for a piano bar at the entrance but it turns out to be simply a new venture for her to get some evening trade.
We had a lovely chat and she insisted, as she always does, on taking my picture to send to her former business partner.
After the café, called tres. I walked to the Oldway Mansion to see how the renovation is going.
Hard to tell because the whole building is now covered in scaffolding and plastic with a wall topped with razor wire around it. I presume that it's being taken seriously.
After Oldway I made my way to the beach at the Redcliffe Hotel. I thought I might walk along the beach in front of the cliff but the tide was in so I had to back track and go around the hotel on the shoreward side.
I splashed through the water's edge with the seagulls until I reached the western end of the esplanade where I tried to get some Marilyn Monroe style pictures but the breeze was uncooperative
@ninalanyon well, I guess it took a gazillion of tries to get the iconic look plus it was a different kind of skirt. You did well under the circumstances 😎 I had to look it up of course! Quote: But the final version was actually filmed in California Despite 14 takes, the crew still couldn’t get it right, due in part to the incessant noise created by the droves of fans on set. Later that year, the scene was re-shot on the Fox lot in California though the original location shots were used for ads and promos. From this website https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/sep/15/marilyn-monroe-seven-year-itch-dress
@Rickichickie My goodness! That puts it in a different perspective. If a crew of professional film people on a set with control of the air flow have trouble then I think getting any kind of result is an achievement!
@ArishMell It can be. I vaguely remember that when the West Somerset Railway were reopening the line from just outside Taunton to Minehead there were protests from the rail union because after British Rail closed the line the train drivers switched to driving buses. Apparently the union opposed the reopening of the line because it would compete with the buses that their members were driving.
@ninalanyon I recall reading that, and thought, "Oh the irony"!
The Swanage Railway had originally hoped to be able to run trains right through to the original starting station in Wareham, about a mile from its junction with the Network Rail main line, but so far it's seen only occasional special charter trains.
It does though operate a park-&-ride scheme with Dorset Council, from Norden (near Corfe Castle) to Swanage.
There used to be a line from Weymouth to Portland, finally closed in 1965; but its passenger traffic ended I think in 1952. What killed the passenger trade was it having only two stations on Portland, not very useful for most residents, and the greater geographical flexibility and timing availability of bus services.
The irony there was the Great Western Railway which operated it jointly with the Southern Railway in co-operation rare between those two, was the first to introduce the motor-bus, thereby taking their own passengers from their own railway! Perhaps they realised if they didn't, someone else would; and though they could still rely on considerable goods traffic along the line at least the bus-fares were theirs.
In the Upside Bar having a nice pint of farm cider.
I wonder if I have time for another?
Not time for a pint so I'm having a half of Reddaways cider. That's quite a contrast to the previous one. Much more old style farm cider, but a bit sweeter than I prefer.
