This is something that I must write today (Monday 3rd December) because it is an experience that I cant explain particularly because I had been reading The Metro while journeying on the top deck of a bus that had totally filthy windows all around and was also steamed up and so had not been fully observant of the progress of the journey.
So it all began when I had made my way to the bus stop very close to my home and there I have the choice of taking the same number bus but in either direction because the stops are almost opposite each other and I can take the first one that comes along. My final destination requires taking two buses anyway, just by different configuration of routes.
I had crossed the road to take the bus that goes directly into town via the train station and on passing the stop on the other side, called out to a young lady standing there with her child in a buggy to ask if a bus had already recently passed by and she replied yes ten minutes ago. So I decided to wait, expecting one to arrive soon. So standing out in the rain with an umbrella to keep dry because the council has the knack of placing bus shelters where a post or shrubbery block the view of oncoming buses.it is necessary to request that they stop. By continually looking in both directions I saw a bus approaching on the other side of the road so made a mad dash to cross and run to the required stop in time to catch it. The time was 09:20. se it was going in the opposite direction but that was OK because then I would take a bus from the terminal which is the final destination of said bus where it returns and eventually takes the rout directly into town which is in the direction that I had originally intended to take.
This bus however would journey to a smaller shopping Centre and then continue onwards to the bus terminal and much larger shopping Mall.
So this is where it became both interesting and confusing because I had been consumed in reading the Metro newspaper and when I first looked out of the very dirty window I saw that we had arrived at the first shopping centre and noticed the fenced off area used for selling Christmas trees. However the second time that I had peered through the window I couldn’t fathom where we were but eventually realised that we were at the train station which was on the route directly into town which was on the rout that I had originally decided to take but changed my mind when I saw the bus going the other way as already explained. The thing about this was that it was 09:50 by this time which was just 30 minutes from first getting on the bus and it takes that long to arrive at the bus terminal at the Mall so if it had continued and returned it would have been about one hour later. Another thing is that this bus arrived exactly on time at just before 10:30 which would be the case for a bus leaving from my originally intended bus stop and on getting off I had intended to ask the driver if he had journeyed to the Mall after all but he had already left the bus in exchange for a new driver at the previous stop so I will never know what happened and it will always be a mystery.
The experience seemed so surrealistic.
My reply to a comment several days later:
This was something that I had considered but it is not something that I can make a claim to because I was unaware of and did not see what actually happened. The confusion came about because we had arrived at the train station in the same time that it takes to travel to the Mall. The train station is only about four stops away from my home in the opposite direction towards the centre of the city.
The journey to the small shopping centre only takes in the region of 8 minutes from my bus stop and then a further 25 minutes to reach the Mall. Only a few people got off there and there was no mention that the bus would not be continuing on to its final destination at the Mall. Also usually on arrival at the Mall the bus is always emptied, being the last stop, and more often than not the driver takes a short break before making the return journey which goes all the way to the centre of the city.
One thing that I did not mention in the original post because it was an extra strand which I felt a bit lazy to get into was that I was totally engrossed in reading the news item on the Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder boxing match. It was of interest because my Grand Father’s brother was a bare fist fighter or pugilist who had a reputation in Bristol and who used to go into Irish pubs to upturn tables to goad them into challenging for a fight. He was also a wrestler and fought for a title but was beaten by a Scotsman, so Dad mentioned.
My father had told of this and a Foreman at Rolls Royce Engine Division had asked me if I was related to Jack Hole because of certain circumstances and for some reason I had replied no. However I was interested to know about this and while selling 10p church booklets outside of the main Post Office in Wells in 1977 I saw a man go in who looked like he had a battered face and so when he came out asked if he ever heard of Jack Hole. He replied that he did and that he was known as the Turk.
So I tend to tie this in with my total absorption into the newspaper but the other point is that the subject is not a very heavenly one and this was made clear by an aunt who knew him and who said plainly in just as many words that he was a horrible man. A second aunt passed on the remains of his birth certificate to me when inquiries were made to her about what she knew of the family which turned out to be very little.
