Saturday 25 May 2013

Sunny Saturday in the village

The weather today has been glorious, the complete opposite to yesterday when it was blowing a gale, raining and cold. Today it's been teeshirts and shorts. It was a pleasure to walk round my village, a typical sunny Saturday morning is people bimbling up and down the High Street, collecting their weekend newspapers, and popping in the Post Office or the Cafe. Everyone was in a happy mood, everyone said Good Morning, and stopped for a chat if they weren't in a hurry. It's amazing how the sun lifts the spirits. I only hope we get good weather next weekend when we have our Village Fete.
It was nice to see a lot of people in their finery, gathered outside the church. A wedding has taken place, and everyone was being organised by the photographer so he could do his stuff.
Are you all ready now, everyone say cheese.
These three little doggies made me laugh, sorry the pic's not up to scratch, they live opposite the church, and were in their garden when the bells started ringing. It was so funny to hear them singing along.
Standing to one side of the wedding party were these two lovely people, their bus drivers badges caught my eye, as I have one of these. I asked if they are still used, and was told they had been discontinued in 1991. They wear theirs when they are out in the vintage bus. It was lovely to have a natter and swap stories about the good old days of bus driving, Barbara passed her PSV test five years before I did mine. They work for a company in Halifax who hires out this bus for weddings.  
Isn't it beautiful, I love it. .

It wasn't long before the guests started climbing aboard. The bus was their transport to the reception, which was taking place at Carlton Towers, about 20 miles away. I would love to have had a ride with them, in fact, I would have loved to drive it. It is very similar to what I used to drive for Stevensons of Uttoxeter, Stevensons Rockets we called them, ha ha. My goodness, they were right bone shakers.
This is my badge, of which I am very proud. There are a lot for sale on ebay, collectors items, but I wouldn't part with mine. The letters DD, means it was issued in the West Midlands area.
Toodle pip.

13 comments:

  1. Lovely photos Iona. Like the ones with the dogs peeping through the fence lol. I live about 10 mins walk away from Carlton Towers. lovely place I hope they had a lovely time.

    Sue R

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  2. My dad still has his badge like that - he's 84 this year but it is like a memento for him of his many years in the coaching business.

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  3. Interesting post...love the dogs singing along...the bus and drivers are a treat...

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  4. Lovely day out! And love that bus :)

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  5. Nice day you had :) I love the idea of the bus for the wedding. It is a beauty!

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  6. What a wonderful old bus, not so old that I can't remember riding on them, though :-) and a really good idea for a wedding, useful transport to the reception and totally unique.

    I think it's right that you keep your badge, a wonderful reminder of a good career.

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  7. How lovely. My little dog used to howl along with the church bells too - I always wondered why. It used to make us laugh though. Looks like another nice day today, have a good one. Debbie x

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  8. Another lovely and interesting post Ilona.
    I like the idea of having a wedding bus to take the guests to the reception. Here everyone drives their own vehicle resulting in a long line of cars.
    The church bell dog chorus must have been fun to listen to.

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  9. Nothing like a village fete- so delightfully British!

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  10. Hi, found your blog through somebody else! You are right about sunny days making everybody happy. We live near to a tank museum and they hire out a white tank for weddings. The pictures of it look amazing. It's nice to do something different isn't it?

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  11. I loved the 'ding ding ,fares please' bus! The churchyard looks very well taken care of...I'm guessing the wedding party were glad of the sunshine...I wonder if they heard the doggy choir?
    Jane x

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  12. Nice bus, i thought it might have come from the museum at Sandtoft. Good idea and the happy couples names on the destination board is a nice touch. Good to see classic motors earning their keep.

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  13. Another old post that i have been looking through!,I am loving all these...,i hope you dont mind...and i have realised now,that i can ask you something and it doesnt have to be published.Thanks for that.I just wondered something,did you say on one of your post that you worked for Stevenson Buses?,My step grandad,Arthur Charlesworth used to work on them.I just wondered if you knew his name?,Debi.Leicx

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