Date: Saturday 15 June 2013
It was the second day of our weekend break in Weymouth and as I wake up and clamber to the window on my poorly leg, the weather looks like it will be fine for a day of riding around the Dorset region followed by a night of sampling Weymouth's pubs.
Normally my first night's sleep in strange surroundings means that I don't sleep well on the first night, but the aching leg and long distance travelled yesterday must have helped me get a very good first night's sleep. I wake up and after the initial pain in my left leg and clamber around the room, I get ready and make my way downstairs for some "fresh air" before sampling our first breakfast in The Royal Hotel. Normally when staying away, I go for a walk around the area before breakfast, but due to my leg problems I decide to sit outside the hotel for a while in the morning sun whilst waiting for Mr UKBuses to make an appearance. He soon appears and we make our way to the breakfast room where we take our seats and wait to be served. We do wait a while as it seems everybody has come down for breakfast at the same time, I try and get up to get some pre-breakfast orange juice but as I struggle, Mr UKBuses comes to the rescue and gets it for me. We finally get served and order the full English breakfast, both of us opting for no eggs and beans but we wished we asked for extra bacon as we find out the size of the meal after it has been served to us. We consume our meals ready for the day ahead and after Mr UKBuses has his fifth cup of coffee, we return to our room to get our stuff and out we go.
Mr UKBuses is first out and walks ahead to the King's Statue so he gets a few photographs before our first journey as I hobble up to the bus stops, after purchasing some pop for the journey ahead, I rest in the bus stop whilst Mr UKBuses clicks away. Our first bus arrives early and the driver kindly lets us board and after 10 minutes resting my leg the Damory 09:10 Service 183 pulls away, leaving Weymouth passing through Dolchester and Puddletown (something that Mr UKBuses missed as he was asleep) before arriving at our first destination of Blandford, where there is also a river called the river Stour, at approximately 10:10. We have to wait just under 15 minutes before getting our next bus, which is Wilts and Dorset Service X8, which will take us to Poole, but first we have a ride around Blandford Forum, before arriving in Blandford again to get us to our destination (Mikey, you are taking me around in circles!).
At 11:23 we arrive in the lovely Poole bus station (not one of my favourite locations), we don't have long to wait for us to catch our next bus and after hobbling across the station we finally arrive at Stand G where we can catch "The Purbeck Breezer" service 40, which departs on time at 11:30. We arrive at our destination of Swanage and Mr UKBuses is on the search for two things, chips to feed his hunger (I couldn't have any as I was on antibiotics and had to have them on an empty stomach) and a cap to stop his bald spot getting sunburnt, so we decide to walk down the main high street, as we reach the bottom of the high street we realise that for the last few years, we have been walking the long way to get us to The White Swan, we had no time for a piddle this year and we made our way back to the railway station to get our next bus. At 13:20 we board another Purbeck Breezer, Service 50 which takes us to Bournemouth passing through Sandbanks along the way. We make our way on top to the "open top" and as we board the ferry at Sandbanks and it being a bit windy and cold we make our way downstairs for the rest of the journey before arriving at Bournemouth at 14:25.
I pop into W H Smiths to get a drink (and a free packet of crisps as part of a deal), whilst Mr UKBuses goes missing whilst taking a few photographs. With no bald spot in sight, I make my way to the bus stop for our next journey and Mr UKBuses finally turns up. We are ahead of schedule and decide to catch the earlier Wilts and Dorsets "More" M1 service to get us back to Poole, departing Bournemouth at 14:48. It was a good decision to catch this bus as there was a bit of traffic along the route, so we arrive at Poole bus station close to our original time anyway. Upon arrival in Poole I decide to rest my leg whilst Mr UKBuses goes to the nearby Wilts and Dorset bus depot to get a few more photographs and I get in a "fresh air" break whilst he is around there. Upon his return we decide to get to our stand at the stop in the station as the queue is getting large for our final journey of the day. We board First in Dorset's Service X53 which takes us back to Weymouth, passing through Wareham along the way with Mr UKBuses having a little nap on the journey before awaking and arriving back at our base for the weekend, Weymouth at 17:23.
We make our way back to the hotel so we can have an hours rest of my leg, which is now starting to swell, and a freshen up before having a night sampling the local pubs in Weymouth, oh and some tea of course. We meet up in the hotel bar where we sample a quick pint before making our way to J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry" where we decide to have some food, Mr UKBuses opts for his BBQ Chicken Melt without the "melt" and I surprise Mr UKBuses by having something different for a change, Scampi and Chips. The obligutary Horse Radish Sauce picture is taken, but we have no horse radish and have to choose the mayonnaise instead, but I don't have none wiped around my face this time. With our food eaten and gone down and drinks finished we make our way further into the town but not before trying out the lift again but as I make my way down the lift gets stuck and the staff have to help me get down to the lower level.
I meet up with Mr UKBuses who is waiting outside after my lift ordeal, and all he can do is laugh. We walk down towards Weymouth harbour, with my walking getting easier, it seems I may have got used to the pain threshold and walk a few steps without the aid of my stick. As we are walking we spot a pub that we haven't been in before, which is "The White Harte Tavern", it looks good from the outside so we pop in and we are not disappointed. We order our drinks and we take a seat by the window so we can watch the people of Weymouth walk past, see picture above. Before we leave a visit to the small room is needed and even though my leg seems better, I discover that I cannot cope with stairs very well as with most new pub refurbishments, the toilets seem to be upstairs. Half an hour later I'm back on ground level and we head to our next public house.
A pub visited (and spotted on his pub radar) a couple of years ago with Mr WME but last year I could not find it, so after walking close to the harbour we walk down a back street and lo and behold, the pub is found and we partake in having a drink at "The Duke of Cornwall", see picture right ,a lovely little cosy pub and still seems to attract a lot of custom, Mr UKBuses was impressed with this one. Drinks finished we head for our penultimate pub of the evening and one of Mr UKBuses favourites, luckily it is not too far away, basically around the corner which makes me not understand why we couldn't find the Duke of Cornwall last year. A couple of minutes walk and we make a visit to "The Globe", there are quite a few people in here so Mr UKBuses can't get his usual bar stool, so he couldn't recreate the "Stan Ogden" look. We do find a couple of seats available at a table and get talking to other holidaymakers visiting Weymouth, whilst drinking a pint of Jail Ale.
Pint finished in The Globe, we head around the corner and visit "The Cutter", see picture left, who have all draught beers on tonight. As we near the pub, there is a bit of a commotion going on outside, but as it was last year we still head inside and the argument with a woman follows us inside too. We drink our pints quickly and make a visit to the small room before we leave to head back to the hotel. Mr UKBuses bids goodnight and I have a nightcap or two in the hotel bar, supping whilst looking out to sea before a final "fresh air" break of the day and heading off to bed. As I get ready for bed I look down at my leg and despite it feeling better and being able to put pressure on it tonight, the lower half, ankle and foot are swelling even more, so it is straight to bed to rest it so I can hopefully enjoy the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day the following morning.
Despite my poorly leg, the day was a success especially with the dry weather and nice evening sampling the ales of Weymouth's finest hostelries, lets hope the weather is perfect for the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day for our final full day in Weymouth.
Mr UKBuses is first out and walks ahead to the King's Statue so he gets a few photographs before our first journey as I hobble up to the bus stops, after purchasing some pop for the journey ahead, I rest in the bus stop whilst Mr UKBuses clicks away. Our first bus arrives early and the driver kindly lets us board and after 10 minutes resting my leg the Damory 09:10 Service 183 pulls away, leaving Weymouth passing through Dolchester and Puddletown (something that Mr UKBuses missed as he was asleep) before arriving at our first destination of Blandford, where there is also a river called the river Stour, at approximately 10:10. We have to wait just under 15 minutes before getting our next bus, which is Wilts and Dorset Service X8, which will take us to Poole, but first we have a ride around Blandford Forum, before arriving in Blandford again to get us to our destination (Mikey, you are taking me around in circles!).
At 11:23 we arrive in the lovely Poole bus station (not one of my favourite locations), we don't have long to wait for us to catch our next bus and after hobbling across the station we finally arrive at Stand G where we can catch "The Purbeck Breezer" service 40, which departs on time at 11:30. We arrive at our destination of Swanage and Mr UKBuses is on the search for two things, chips to feed his hunger (I couldn't have any as I was on antibiotics and had to have them on an empty stomach) and a cap to stop his bald spot getting sunburnt, so we decide to walk down the main high street, as we reach the bottom of the high street we realise that for the last few years, we have been walking the long way to get us to The White Swan, we had no time for a piddle this year and we made our way back to the railway station to get our next bus. At 13:20 we board another Purbeck Breezer, Service 50 which takes us to Bournemouth passing through Sandbanks along the way. We make our way on top to the "open top" and as we board the ferry at Sandbanks and it being a bit windy and cold we make our way downstairs for the rest of the journey before arriving at Bournemouth at 14:25.
I pop into W H Smiths to get a drink (and a free packet of crisps as part of a deal), whilst Mr UKBuses goes missing whilst taking a few photographs. With no bald spot in sight, I make my way to the bus stop for our next journey and Mr UKBuses finally turns up. We are ahead of schedule and decide to catch the earlier Wilts and Dorsets "More" M1 service to get us back to Poole, departing Bournemouth at 14:48. It was a good decision to catch this bus as there was a bit of traffic along the route, so we arrive at Poole bus station close to our original time anyway. Upon arrival in Poole I decide to rest my leg whilst Mr UKBuses goes to the nearby Wilts and Dorset bus depot to get a few more photographs and I get in a "fresh air" break whilst he is around there. Upon his return we decide to get to our stand at the stop in the station as the queue is getting large for our final journey of the day. We board First in Dorset's Service X53 which takes us back to Weymouth, passing through Wareham along the way with Mr UKBuses having a little nap on the journey before awaking and arriving back at our base for the weekend, Weymouth at 17:23.
We make our way back to the hotel so we can have an hours rest of my leg, which is now starting to swell, and a freshen up before having a night sampling the local pubs in Weymouth, oh and some tea of course. We meet up in the hotel bar where we sample a quick pint before making our way to J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry" where we decide to have some food, Mr UKBuses opts for his BBQ Chicken Melt without the "melt" and I surprise Mr UKBuses by having something different for a change, Scampi and Chips. The obligutary Horse Radish Sauce picture is taken, but we have no horse radish and have to choose the mayonnaise instead, but I don't have none wiped around my face this time. With our food eaten and gone down and drinks finished we make our way further into the town but not before trying out the lift again but as I make my way down the lift gets stuck and the staff have to help me get down to the lower level.
Cheers from The White Harte Tavern
I meet up with Mr UKBuses who is waiting outside after my lift ordeal, and all he can do is laugh. We walk down towards Weymouth harbour, with my walking getting easier, it seems I may have got used to the pain threshold and walk a few steps without the aid of my stick. As we are walking we spot a pub that we haven't been in before, which is "The White Harte Tavern", it looks good from the outside so we pop in and we are not disappointed. We order our drinks and we take a seat by the window so we can watch the people of Weymouth walk past, see picture above. Before we leave a visit to the small room is needed and even though my leg seems better, I discover that I cannot cope with stairs very well as with most new pub refurbishments, the toilets seem to be upstairs. Half an hour later I'm back on ground level and we head to our next public house.
Despite my poorly leg, the day was a success especially with the dry weather and nice evening sampling the ales of Weymouth's finest hostelries, lets hope the weather is perfect for the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day for our final full day in Weymouth.
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