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A Perfect September Saturday
 The English climate turned up trumps for the Lynsted with Kingsdown Society’s late summer outing on September 15th. Promptly at 9 a.m. David Powell could be seen carefully guiding his 1948 Vintage motorbus through the Lynsted Lane roadworks. By the time the ‘bus left the Jubilee Pump at Greenstreet thirty three members and friends were happily seated and looking forward to a trip through the rolling Kent and Sussex countryside to Rye via Tenterden. In little more than an hour we dismounted in Tenterden where the party split up temporarily. Half the people opted to explore the coffee houses and shops of Tenterden whilst the remainder walked the short distance from the car park to Tenterden Station to catch a Kent and East Sussex Railway Company steam train to Northiam and Bodiam. Once settled in the Buffet Car we enjoyed a leisurely chug through Sussex where the noise of the train and the smell of the smoke evoked memories of past holidays for many of us. When we reached Bodiam we alighted for ten minutes and several members could be seen running up the platform with cameras poised as the steam engine was shunted from one end of the train to the other for the return journey. One member was so enthralled by the whole experience that he has now enrolled to be a volunteer on the trains.
Click on the projector button (above) for movie footage - you will need a good broadband connection to view it live - or download the file (right click on the button and “Save To” your preferred location) to watch from your PC.
Soon after noon the two parties successfully met up again at Northiam station (much to the relief of the organiser!). David then guided us into Rye and where we went our separate ways exploring the historic buildings, fascinating shops and cobbled streets of this picturesque Cinque port. It was surprising how often during the afternoon we kept ‘bumping into’ other members of the party and exchanged information about what we had seen and what we recommended doing. The time passed far too quickly.
It really was a perfect day with sunny skies throughout and it left all of us, I think, wanting more. However, those cobbled streets are hard on the ankles and I was quite glad to climb back on the ‘bus for the relaxing journey back home.
Our sincere thanks go to David for sharing his ‘bus with us once again.
Norma Baxter
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