Micky's Pembrokeshire
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Carew coach left stranded in
Timsbury Cricket Club car park!
The story after the game
Carew may have rolled over Timsbury in the National Village Cup competition on Sunday 26th but the home side were to have revenge of a sort as a comedy of errors saw 47 people spend 19 hours in a bus!
The game was finished and in true Carew fashion both players and supporters made their way to the local pub, singing and laughing, but unbeknown to the intrepid travellers, back in the car park the Carew bus was leaking fluid.
At 10:15pm everyone returned to the bus to make the four-hour trip home – but it was not to be because after the engine started the words of "oh damn" from the driver let us know that we were going nowhere. The bus had lost its power steering and so an hour of fun began as the novelty of breaking down became apparent with screams of "PUUUUUUUB!!!" However after an hour it began to dawn on everyone that we were in fact not getting anywhere very fast. We waited and waited and drank and drank but still no sign of rescue. Valerie Hicks was reportedly down to her last few ham rolls but spirits remained high as the singing went on late into the night, as did the cricket because youngsters were still to be seen playing 'car park cricket' at 3am on Monday morning!
The first sign of rescue
At 3 o’clock on Monday morning the rapid rescue team (who didn't really live up to their name) appeared as everyone watched in hope that the problem could be fixed. The bus version of the Thunderbirds tried hard for an hour to get the steering fixed but could not save the Rooks. So there we were, still in a car park in Timsbury, as time dragged on and many were trying to take days off work. The only choice was to try and get some sleep until the next recovery came. Many began to doze off but it was difficult to get comfortable as the singing and joking continued. Russell Knox was seen lying in the luggage compartment to get some peace whilst Haydn Shapcott appeared to have gone into some sort of coma. We simply sat and talked and the voice of doom in Tim Hicks was heard to say "At least it can't get any worse"
Monday 27th July - It got worse!
The hours passed by as the sun began to rise over Timsbury CC. Many were waking and some had simply sat awake watching 4am, 5am and 6am roll by. At 5am the neighbours opened curtains to see that we were still in their car park and one Timsbury man crossed the road to open the club for a hugely welcomed cuppa, served by Val, June and Beryl. It was clear that many needed this as it seemed that not everyone was feeling fresh. Rhys Davies was offered tea or coffee but is quoted as saying "I don't like tea or coffee....do you think they will have water?" Back in Carew, voice messages were being listened to whilst in Africa they had supposedly set up a charity and all donated their pound coins to send food packages! In the Timsbury car park the news was that the shop was open and Carew became one of the only clubs to clear a Somerset village of their cider, their hot pasties (which became breakfast), and take over their cricket club.
As breakfast was being served and another 30 degree day was coming to form there was a welcome arrival from a man calling himself the 'Hose Doctor'. After an hour he had finally fixed the bus and it was all aboard what would become known as the 'Death Bus'.
The death bus/all aboard Hankeys hot tours
We set off from the car park at 8:30am, all hopeful that in three hours our ordeal would be over. That certainly didn't happen. We were soon to hit the centre of Bristol...at rush hour. We had learnt on our trip up that the heaters were stuck on full but we hadn't bargained on it being another 30-degree day. As we hit what was practically a stand still there was heat coming from the radiators and nothing coming from the air con. Sky lights were opened but with no movement there was simply a dead, dry heat swirling in the bus. Many were thinking about giving up breathing just to preserve oxygen and others considered getting out and just walking alongside the bus.
Things looked even more gloomy as Rhys Davies was heard asking, "Can I have a bin bag? I'm feeling rough!" and when we passed two funeral directors we thought we were destined to remain on the 'Death Bus'.
But all 47 of us just about made it back to Carew Club after the option of a cooler bus was offered to us. Everyone was back by 1:15pm on Monday 27th July with memories of a trip that will never be forgotten!
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