Scenic route wasn’t pretty (From Penarth Times)

Scenic route wasn’t pretty

7:10am Thursday 12th January 2012 in Letters

HAVING lived in Penarth for the past ten years, and finding it picturesque and a superb place to live, I nonetheless find myself getting maudlin about the hills and countryside of the valleys I grew up in.

So I believe that I have found the solution for myself and other similarly schmaltzy people...

Simply attempt to do a round trip from Cogan to Bridgend on a Sunday when the ‘rail replacement bus’ is in operation.

On Sunday gone, the usual 1hr 35min round trip to pick up my children from Bridgend station turned into a 3hr 57min journey through Hades itself – but, you’ll get to see enough countryside to last you six months at least!

The first part of the journey required me to stand by the driver and direct him from Grangetown to Cogan and on to Eastbrook, where another passenger took over.

This was endearing, reminding me of a more simplified way of living, before sat nav, before GPS, before maps. In the communal spirit we battled on through the Vale towards Bridgend.

Not all entered into the spirit though. One young shaver was so put out by the driver almost missing his stop that the wax nearly fell out of his T&G haircut. Another youth brushed his hair even further forward across his face, possibly to hide the tears of his external despair.

After an hour and forty minutes, I welcomed my kids aboard the ‘fun bus’ and spent the journey home explaining the red light system several times to my four-year-old and dealing with chronic travel sickness from my nine-year-old.

The moral of the journey?

That train companies should not charge the same for an alternative journey that is both uncomfortable and takes longer; and that the next time my kids are to see their valley relatives, then the latter can come here to sunny Penarth instead.

Dean Scurlock Dock Street Penarth