Bus Challenge No 106!!

OR

Up The Shaft and down The Drung!!

Monkton Combe, nr Bath

“…according to my dictionary of Ancient Wurzelese, the word drung is a contraction of old rung. If one looks at a timber railed wagon way, it does indeed resemble a ladder with the perpendicular sleepers being the rungs, whereas earlier horse-drawn railways had sleepers parallel to the tracks. The Drungway in Monkton Combe was indeed such a narrow gauge horse-drawn wagon way or old rung Way to serve the nearby quarry and mine, courtesy of Ralph Allen hence its neighbour Shaft Road.” ‘This Is Bath’ - www.bathchronicle.co.uk

A beautiful start to another warm day, though the clouds had arrived by lunchtime. A bus into Bath to meet my Bus Challenge friend, then a short hop and a skip on a second bus to the lovely village of Monkton Combe to the south of Bath. A walk up ‘The Shaft’ to the hills above the village, took us to this bench where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and glorious views over the valley below, then it was back down ‘The Drung’ for a stroll around the village and church, before catching the bus back to Bath. Sadly there was no time to visit the village pub, but we’ve already made plans to return another day to this little green haven, an oasis of calm compared to the hustle and bustle of Bath... 

Total bus journey time = 1 hour 23 mins
Total waiting between buses time = 47 mins
Total journey time = 2 hours 10 mins