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|
 |
| Hants &
Dorset were famous for their coach
holidays which they had run for
many years. The coach drivers
were carefully selected to look
after the customers and the tours
stayed at top class hotels. Even
the daily newspaper was included
in the price for tours in Britain. |
|
| As well as
holidays in Great Britain there
were holidays and short tours
on the continent. I once saw a
Hants & Dorset coach in Luzern
and on another occasion nearby
in Alpnachstad. |
|
| The kiosk
under the Eiffel Tower sold only
non-alcoholic drinks. I tried
an alcohol-free beer and it was
horrible. Looking round for somewhere
to get rid of it I saw a Hants
& Dorset coach driver. Job
done. And as we were catching
the same car-ferry home from Le
Havre that night, he let me put
my luggage on the coach so that
I did not have to carry it round
all day. That afternoon I went
to Longchamp and lost twenty francs
on the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. |
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|
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| In
September, when most of the holidays were
over, the company let us have a coach for
the weekend. We supplied the driver, space
on the ferry was already booked in case of
a holiday tour, so we only had to pay for
the fuel. One year we had a tour of Normandy,
staying overnight in a hotel in Lisieux. The
guy behind the bar got drunk so we had to
pour our own drinks and work out how to use
the till. I don't know what time the bar was
supposed to shut but I went to bed at one
o'clock and people were still drinking. |
|
| The 1972 timetable advertises |
| 3 days Lincolnshire
Tulip Fields |
| 4 days Isle of
Thanet and Canterbury |
| 5 days Norfolk
Broads and East Coast |
| 6 days Buxton
and Peak District |
| 6 days Devon and
Cornwall |
| 6 days Harrogate
and Yorkshire Dales |
| 6 days Welsh Highlands
and The Lakes |
| 7 days Wye Valley
and Pembrokeshire Coast |
| 7 days North Wales |
| 7 days Edinburgh
and Trossachs |
| 8 days Edinburgh
and Loch Lomond |
| 8 days John O'Groats
and Loch Maree |
| 9 days Western
Highlands and Isle of Skye |
| 4 days Normandy
(Carteret) |
| 4 days Normandy
(Rouen and Honfleur) |
| 10 days Rhine
Valley |
| 10 days Switzerland |
| 11 days Austrian
Tyrol |
| 11 days Italian
Lakes |
| 12 days Austria |
