Bus Challenge No 56!!

Another glorious day, so an early start and a second attempt at my bus trip to Axbridge in Somerset!

Our first bus to Bristol Airport was on time, where the second bus actually remembered to stop for us this time. All well so far! But then a slight hitch… Our third bus was 24 minutes late arriving, and on boarding the bus, the driver told us that due to road closures, he wouldn’t be stopping in Axbridge!! Fortunately he was able to drop us off only a ten minute walk to the town centre, and as it was such a beautiful day, and the route took us past some lovely old medieval houses, we were quite happy.

“The medieval town of Axbridge hugs the southern slope of the Mendips... An important wool-producer in the Middle Ages, the town has always been at the crossroads, the centre of things, indeed it was a river port in earlier times.

This was reflected in its early royal charters allowing it to hold markets, fairs and become a royal borough. It even had its own mint, with coins showing the town's symbol: the Lamb and Flag.

The layout of the town has changed little over the centuries, a medieval town expanding on a fortified Saxon burgh and today visitors can wander the winding streets that remain at the heart of this charming, still vibrant place, and soak up hundreds of years of the histories of ordinary lives.” www.axbridge-tc.gov.uk

After a wander around the medieval streets, we found a sunny spot outside a coaching inn dating from 1480 to sit down, soak up the scene and have lunch and a glass of local Cider, well we were in Somerset! It would be rude not too!! We rounded off our trip by visiting King John’s Hunting Lodge, a three storey timbered medieval house dating from around 1460, that now houses the local museum.

Apart from missing our sixth and final bus by 30 seconds, and consequently having to wait half an hour for the next one, the return journey went smoothly. An all round successful day out! Oh, apart from the fact that I’d left my memory card in the computer and only had my emergency 32MB SD card with me!!

Bus journey time = 3 hours
Waiting time in between buses = 1 hour 30 mins
Total journey time = 4 hours 30 mins