CHOIR OUTING - WESTON
Author Unknown
We had glorious weather all day, which was a great deal to be thankful for in this cheerless summer of dripping skies. We were thirty-one in all when we were marshalled on the platform of the Midland Station at Evesham. What a joy travelling by train is! First seeing the old familiar landmarks gliding by, then the swift advance into unknown regions, with the occasional station whizzing by, varied by the shooting past of bridges, and, best joy of all, the headlong plunge into the tunnel, and the eager watch to see the first glimmering of returning day. All this we enjoyed to the full. We didn't miss much of what was to be seen. We glimpsed Gloucester Cathedral Tower, the Wellington Monument, and Clifton Suspension, Bridge, as well as the less pretentious but none the less interesting coal mines, gasworks and ironworks round Bristol. We admired, too, some magnificent specimens of engines, both Midland and Great Western. A change at Bristol set us exploring the compartment, comparing it, a G.W., with our previous one. Ventilators, racks, communication cord, blinds, seats, everything we scrutinized and criticized.
Then, at Weston, what a pleasure it was walking down unfamiliar streets, with strange unknown names staring at us from the shops. But, alas! one great disappointment awaited us - the tide was out, very much out, in fact almost out of sight. And we had made up our minds that if we could not bathe, at least we would paddle; but this was denied us. A splendid dinner, however, cheered us up, and we went back to the sands determined to make the best of things and have a good time. And what with pierrots, fearsome rides on donkeys, football (that never-failing source of joy to the boys of Badsey) and kite-flying, we were quite ready for tea, The tea, consisting of bread and butter, jam, shrimps, cakes and swiss rolls, we did full justice to - especially the shrimps. (N.B. - So did some of the older ones.) After tea Mrs. Allsebrook gave us sixpence each, and off we went in a body to the Old Pier, and had about two hours of fierce dissipation with Houpla (whence we won prizes galore), bicycle racing, shooting, and other wondrous delights. None of us ventured down the water shoot, but we heard afterward that four of the men did. How we should have liked to have seen them at it!
We made our way back to the station in plenty of time, and soon were speeding home, singing until we could sing no longer. We marched home from Evesham together, escorted by Mr. G. E. Jones's bicycle lamp. It rather reminded me of a caravan traversing a desert, only never having seen a caravan, or a desert I can't be sure how true a likeness that is. At any rate, we marched, up to Badsey with a merry whistle and, scattering, were soon safe in bed. The Midland Railway people were most kind in their arrangements, reserving compartments and saving us changes. I saw Mrs. Hands talking to various officials, and no doubt that accounted for a great deal.