Bus Challenge No 73!!

Have you ever woken up and just known it was going to be one of those days? Well, despite waking to a stunning day (bitterly cold but sparkling blue skies!), I just had that funny feeling… And I was so right!!

My first bus of the day was unusually late, and as we pulled into Bath Bus Station our Plan A connecting bus pulled out! With an hour to wait for the next bus, my Bus Challenge friend suggested we change our plans so we jumped on the first bus we saw which was heading to… Warminster!!

After only 30 minutes of what was a 90 minute bus trip, I knew I couldn’t go any further. A combination of the ricketiest bus ever, and a kamikaze driver made the journey too painful for me, so we had to abandon plan B and got off the bus at Bradford on Avon.

In the end Plan C turned out very well. I love Bradford on Avon, a historic market town in Wiltshire, and never tire of visiting here. We visited the Saxon Church, came upon a Christmas Fair (where I won some chocolates, a bottle of beer and a bottle of wine!), found a lovely new restaurant by the river for lunch, and did a spot of Christmas shopping!

The centre of Bradford on Avon grew up around the ford across the river Avon, which is where the town's name ("Broad-Ford") originates from. The ford was supplemented in Norman times by the stone bridge that still stands today, and which you can just see on the right hand side of the photo.

The bus journey back into Bath went smoothly, but then things went to pot! The traffic in the centre of Bath was at a complete standstill, and it took 30 minutes for my last bus of the day to crawl from the Bus Station to the next stop!!

But I made it home eventually, and I did have a lovely day out and about on a sparkling, crisp day. Strictly is now on the tele, and I think I may sample one or two of my tombola prizes, so things are all good!!

Total bus journey time = 2 hours 40 mins
Waiting time between buses = 25 mins
Total journey time = 3 hour 5 mins