Well, here we are one week already into the New Year. Yesterday we woke up to MORE snow, although thankfully it had thawed by evening. Even so, it was enough to be, once again, an inconvenience to early morning travellers.
Years ago, back in the early sixties, before the onslaught of ‘health and safety’, we endured as kids many hair-raising winter trips to school on the designated bus. The buses were owned by a local company and driven by the patriarch. Although the main purpose of the service was to ferry ‘big kids’ (between 11 and 15) to school there was always room inside to squeeze in the odd ‘paying’ traveller. It didn’t matter how full the bus was if there happened to be a potential fare paying customer waiting, room would be made!!
Kids would be made to sit three to a seat designed for two people, or even stand up for ‘their elders and betters’ as the familiar cry of ‘come on move up there, there’s plenty of room at the back’’ rang out. This was still the age of some chivalry, when people considered others and held open the occasional door!
With a bus full to overflowing we would trundle our way through the Shropshire lanes to the local Secondary Modern School! Some of the lanes en route were hilly and as the bus slithered its way towards another day of learning we would often end up half way up a slope at a standstill.
That was a sign for able bodied ‘boys’ to be required to help! This assistance came in the form of all of them disembarking and pushing the bus from behind! I don’t ever remember, unfortunately, not getting to school, so this juvenile muscle must have been sufficient to get us moving again. Imagine the horror and uproar that would cause today. After their exertion, the boys would get back on the bus blustering and ‘looking important’ as we all proceeded on to another day at school!
I was amazed yesterday by the appearance of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker at my bird platform. He was beautiful. I have seen him before at a distance in the oak tree in the adjoining field, but there he was helping himself to the peanuts!
And this week I have enjoyed the Stargazing Live programme hosted by Professor Brian Cox which has been on one of our BBC channels. I have learnt where to look in the sky to find the Pole Star and Orion and was just amazed at how much there is actually ‘out there’! How insignificant we are, not even a dot in the order of things.
Anyway that’s about it for now. Take care. Speak soon!
The Bumpkin Rambler xx
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