SW's Winter Holiday

SW’s Winter Holiday in Bristol -  21^st February

The Bristol Ice Rink is a rather unimposing place tucked away among small streets and large buildings. However what it lacked in glamour it made up for in cheerfulness and, although the ice was cold, there was great warmth of spirit.

Twelve TARS took to the ice and displayed varying levels of competence from Titty style “No. No. No. Don’t touch me”, to Dick and Dorothea hand-in-hand skating, whilst our lady chairman did her Nancy impression. We were joined by a large number of folks of all ages and abilities, all good humoured, considerate and having a good time.

All the skating TARS, more or less in one piece, plus the support team, were then escorted by Derek P to the waterfront, pausing on the way to admire the statue at the Horse Bazaar. This little known site behind Brunel House was the centre for horse dealing and is commemorated with a fine bronze statue of a workman and his horse.

We clambered on to the ferry to cross the water for lunch at the dockside café. During the meal we met up with several more TARS and were particularly pleased to welcome visitors Roger and Jacquie James from Cardiff and Dawn Power and her son Neil from Penarth. Eight year old Neil has read all AR’s stories, some of them more than once! So there is hope for the nation’s future.

Whilst queuing to enter the site of the SS Great Britain, we informed the young couple behind us of the wonderful world of TARS and urged them to look at the web site. The ship itself is awesome, as is its history.

Thank you to Gill Clifton for organising such a lovely day, especially the sunshine.