Enigma Variations [1]

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Interesting Ivybridge Information : an update
Results from the previous blog (read again).
 Plymouth Citybus 
The service 88 leaflet arrived by snail mail yesterday.
 First Devon & Cornwall 

An apologetic e-mail received mid afternoon on Wednesday from Natacha.

Dear Mr White,
I am sorry to hear that you experienced inconsistent information from our customer service department. 
We have just centralised the department in order to provide longer opening hours and as a result of that process, we have recruited more staff. The staff, whilst very keen to help our customers, are still getting to grips with all the ticket and timetable information in the area. We believe this lead to the problems you faced.
Please find attached the pdf documents of the new timetable for service 88 from Plymouth to Ivybridge. If you would like me to post you a copy, please let me know.

 fbb comments  For the third time, I didn't ask for a timetable; I wanted the leaflet!
More information can be found at our Travel Shop in the Bretonside bus station in Plymouth. The shop is open Monday - Friday from 09:00 to 17:30 and Saturday from 09:00 to 14:00.

 fbb comments   It's a long, long way from the Island; and, yes, they did have my home address!
Thank you for getting in touch with us.

A blog comparing the new Ivybridge services and their publicity will appear next week. It was a desire to contrast and compare the publicity that caused me to ask for a leaflet. Of course one did appear on-line and has been dowloaded to provide the source of  fbb's first First investigations. But a hard copy is so much easier to cope with.

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Snd now for something completely different?
On Safari to Paradise.

On the Saturday of fbb and Mrs fbb's visit to stay with No. 3 son at Watford, the threesome had a spiffing day out here ...

... although it's changed a bit since this pic was taken in 1961! The specific visit was to look at this ...

... and these:-

On the way back, fbb donned his pith helmet, assembled a team of native porters and set off for Paradise as, retorspectively, illustrated at the top of this blog.

As everyone knows, (?), Paradise is a district of Hemel Hempstead; and the centre of Paradise is marked by a piece of  road transport history of inestimable importance, namely this:-

One of one once-proud nation's two remaining "ring junctions"; a huge roundabout consisting of a ring of small roundabouts thus allowing you to go round the wrong way or the long way if you so desire. What fun, especially at peak times.

Just up the road from Paradise is the faded paradise of Hemel Hempstead bus station.

C'est magnifique - NOT!

But what did fbb espy on arrival? Yippee, a Travel Office ...

... where the chubby one could collect a set of Arriva leaflets as the excellent Hertfordhire timetable books are no longer produced; in case people start using the buses. But, as a positive step forward in the drive to give Hearts folk the heart for bus travel, they don't produce books any more and ...

... Arriva can't be bothered to help anyone on a Saturday either. The bus station was, euphemistically, "tired" with very basic facilities, namely a few shelters, clean toilets and the aforementioned closed office. In an equally "tired" piazza (?) behind the bus station, fbb was able to obtain a bottle of Irn Bru and a dark chocolate Kit-Kat to sustain himself for his chosen journey into the Hertforshire bushlands (of which more anon).

For those less familiar with day excursion possibilities from Watford, the fbbs went to Bletchley (as in the City of Milton Keynes complete with little-used rail flyover) ...

... visiting Bletchley Park ...

... including the under-publicised and truly magnificent ...

... hence the "teaser" illustrations above.

So, tomorrow, we complete our brief omnibological expedition to Paradise with a bus ride from Hemel to Watford. The building in the first picture on this blog, located in Pardise, of course, was the UK Headquarters of Kodak. Following the demise of that internationally famous film and camera company, the block has been tastefully refurbished ...

... reclad and reborn as yuppie flats with a significant cinematographic sculpture "thing" attached. It was to this building, a huge number of years ago, that the Mrs fbb to be came for an interview.

And whilst on a story of exploratory and nostaligic introduction to Hemel Hermpstead, this a picture of vintage buses on a recent "running day", grazing peacefully in the autumn sun at the beautiful bus station.

Those were the days?

"Enigma Variations" continues later next week.

 Next Bus Blog : Saturday 29th September