THE HESTERCOMBE EXPRESS!

This was my first outing with Crosville Motors this year, and a reasonably easy job. Crosville have linked up with The West Somerset Railway to provide a link on Wednesdays from Bishops Lydeard Station to Hestercombe estate. Thus June 17th found me at Crosville’s depot in Weston super Mare. My friend, BusmanJohn had done this trip previously with a Bristol L single deck bus but as the weather forecast was promising, I had been allocated an open top Bristol FSF. This old girl is quite a rare breed! the longer FLFs proved much more popular with bus operators and not many examples of the shorter version were produced.

891 VFM at Crosville’s Weston depot

First job is making sure your bus is ready for the road, and here came the only really embarrassing moment of the day. I couldn’t find the battery isolator! It wasn’t where I expected it to be, so I had to find a mechanic and ask. Turned out it was in a really obvious place, but with the gloom inside the depot, I didn’t see it.  That sorted, I headed south.

Now I know other heritage drivers use the M5 but I try to avoid this. Not so much because being slow, you stand a good chance of being rear-ended by someone, but more the case that in the event of an accident, the authorities think nothing of shutting the motorway for a few hours and trapping you in the middle. Thus I kept to the A38 for most of the journey. This bus has a five speed box, so you can maintain a reasonable rate as you trundle along but even so, it was over 90 minutes before I rolled up at Bishops Lydeard Station. Then a minor embarrassment! I arrived at the eastern end of the station, near to the car park. Someone in WSR uniform saw me and came over. “You’ve never done this job before, have you?” I wondered how he knew! Turns out I should have taken the western entrance, the one with two no-entry signs either side of it! Yes, I saw these signs, but missed the rider underneath, except for buses! So with his help, I turned the bus around and entered the station by the correct route, and parked the bus up to the side of the bus stop, not on it, or I would have obstructed the service bus.

The station at Bishops Lydeard

Then time for a cup of coffee in the station cafe, and chat with the friendly staff there whilst I waited for the train to arrive. The train was due in at 11:33 but was running a couple of minutes late. Then it discharged its passengers, and I wondered how many had bought tickets for the Hestercombe excursion. No need to round up my passengers, I’d left the bus in full view of the platform, and slowly, they gathered by it, waiting for my ok to board.

Despite the weather, which wasn’t that bad, most settled for the lower deck. I called these passengers, the wimps! They seemed to like that description. Quick head count, so I knew how many to bring back, and a brief greeting to them informing them when the bus would leave for the return journey. Then off into the unknown!

891 VFM parked up at Hestercombe Estate

I had been told there was a coach route into Hestercombe, as Somerset is noted for its narrow country lanes, and it was easy to find and follow. A358 back into Taunton where Hestercombe was signposted on a brown tourist sign. It’s only when you get near to Hestercombe that the road narrows but I didn’t encounter any problems and drove into the estate 25 minutes after leaving Bishops Lydeard. I now had a rather long break. Three and a half hours! The estate had kindly offered me free entry into the grounds, and a £5 voucher towards the cost of my lunch! Not the most sunniest of days, but pleasant enough to spend wandering around the grounds, and a quick look into the various buildings on the estate. The site is on a hilltop and the views across the valley are breathtaking.

Well, time for the return to Bishops Lydeard. By the allotted hour, they had all managed to find their way back to the bus. I had issued a dire warning that the bus would leave at 3:45, whether they were onboard or not! Although I had allowed a little leeway for stragglers. Then I moved off, retracing my route back to the station. A bit more traffic this time. School’s out! But no real hold ups, and I made it into the station yard, by the correct route this time, and disembarked my passengers so they could catch their return train. Usual banter with the WSR staff, including the chap who’d put me right earlier, “Didn’t know they put sat-navs in Lodekkas”!

Safely back to Bisops Lydeard Station, by the right entrance!

Then the long drive back to Weston and the Crosville depot where I parked up the bus, completed the paperwork, and thought about driving back home!