It’s Portsmouth Harbour, and veteran journalist Peter Gruner is about to climb aboard the 700 Stagecoach bus to the glorious South Downs and then to Chichester for a matinee of the musical Oliver! Here’s what happened next.
The journey didn’t cost us a penny. Why? Me and my wife Maggie are pensioners, with free bus passes. What’s more, the bus runs every half hour.
You’ve got to be 66 or over in England for a pass. Have you got one? Hang on to it because in the current political climate you don’t know how long it will last.
We come from the Isle of Wight, which costs £34 return (cheaper than the usual fare because we block-book tickets) every time we use the ferry to the mainland, usually to visit family. Like a lot of oldies we need to relax and have a break from island life. We’re fed up with the usual struggles over health (what’s a doctor?) and wealth (er, we got none).
Like many, we hardly use our bus passes – until a day in September when the car was on the blink, though even without that problem it costs an arm and a leg to bring one across the Solent. Trains? Can be costly and often something on the line (trespassers, leaves, water), signal problems or whatever.
I love sitting upstairs at the top of the bus, close to the window. Hooray! I’m pretending to be driving. Well, I am only 77. The seat is comfortable and we’re looking out at places of interest. There’s Portsmouth University, and the house where Chas Dickens was born, and the endless shops and stores of the great city. I even began to sing a song from the show, ‘I’d Do Anything’ until Maggie looked at me and whispered, ‘Shut up.’
Half an hour later we arrive at Havant, a popular market town, good for fish, cheese and olives along with bags, carpets and babywear. I thought about humming ‘Who Will Buy’, and then thought I’d better not. Then on to the harbourside village of Emsworth, once home to famous actor Albert Finney (remember him in the film Tom Jones?) who died aged 82 in 2019. Finally we arrive at Chichester, a town with a pedestrianised shopping precinct, a lovely cathedral, a comfortable modern theatre and loads of restaurants.
For the musical we took our son, his wife and our granddaughter. They came by train. Tickets for Oliver! were £41 each – not cheap, but good value, possibly better than London’s West End prices.
Oliver! first came out more than 60 years ago, in June 1960, and the Chichester production (now going to London) captured all of its charm. It was a great afternoon. Some us of knew all the words to the songs, and travelling there and back free by bus made it all the more enjoyable.
Oliver! The Musical was at Chichester Festival Theatre from July to September this year. It will open again at the Gielgud Theatre, London on December 14.
Image “Julian Smith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons” re-used in line with a Wikimedia Commons public domain licence.
