Comic Strip - Four go to Llandeilo


Three in Bucknell ...


and in Llandeilo


It was a mad idea, dreamt up by Brian and our nephew James. “Let’s take Grandma on a train to the middle of Wales for lunch.” That’s how the four of us (Brian, his


mother, James and I) came to be standing on Bucknell station at 9.30 on a drizzly early Sep- tember morning. Promptly at 9.40 the train appeared in the distance. Bucknell isn’t a scheduled stop so James waved the train down enthusiastically, but I think we had al- ready been spotted. It wasn’t going very fast. And it wasn’t very big. The driver gave us a cheery “Good morning” as we climbed aboard. We found seats, Grandma and Brian on one side of the aisle, James and I on the other. We were surprised that there were so


Don’t jump, James!


many other passengers, and a man with a trol- ley selling tea and coffee. Brian had booked the train in advance and


had 21 tickets (four out, four back, eight seat reservations, four for payment and one with his address on it). After an uneventful journey through the


wet Welsh countryside we arrived at Llan- deilo. A taxi was waiting for us, booked by Brian who had also arranged lunch. The taxi took us to The Plough in Rhos-


mean, a large blue-painted self-styled bou- tique hotel in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It was surreal. A smart receptionist greeted us, a smart waiter took us to our smart table in the smart dining room, and we spent


Bye bye train ...


the next two hours happily eating our way through a very good three course lunch in a room full of other happy lunchers. We caught the train with time to spare and


rattled back through the wet Welsh country- side, this time with a table. When the ticket inspector came by Brian laid out his 21 tickets and invited him to “pick a card, any card”. The ticket inspector’s lips didn’t even twitch. And so we arrived safely back in Bucknell


and agreed that we had had a very nice, if rather unusual, day out.


Follow Brian’s blog http://wigleyorchard.blogspot.com/


Big Ron lifts trophy


The last race of the West Midlands Lawn Mower Racing Associa- tion’s eight-race championship took place at Stanford Bridge on 10th September. In a thrilling finale to the season John Griffiths’ team Big Ron Racing, who started the day needing nine points to overtake the leader, finished in first place to take the winners’ tro- phy. Neil Sparey, racing as Son of Bucko, who had been leading the championship since the start of the season, had a bad day and finished third, with Rob Silver, racing as Fat and Co, coming second in a field of 29. John and his team, Andy Tandy and Paul Clarke (aka our gar-


dener Blonty), have been racing since 2004 but only gained their first podium place at the end of 2010. They are delighted to have finally come out on top in their eighth season, and are looking for- ward to building on their success in 2012. The Association, which was formed in 2008, has raised £4,000


for the Air Ambulance and Severn Area Rescue Association during the 2011 season. Our photo shows (left to right) John, Andy Tandy and his dog and Blonty on the podium.


Don’t forget ... Buy your tickets for the West Midland Safari Park from us at the discounted price of just £10 each and save up to £4 per person!


Wigley Orchard Caravan Park, Stoke Bliss, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire WR15 8QH


Telephone 01885 410331 email: enquiries@wigleyorchard.co.uk www.wigleyorchard.co.uk ◆ ◆ ◆


St Michaels Caravan Park, St Michaels, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire WR15 8TW Telephone 01885 410331 email: stmichaelspark@btconnect.com www.stmichaelscaravans.co.uk Member


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