The Plan
Ringstead
Bay to Osmington Mills
Who Turned Up
Ros, Wendy,
Sue, Trisha, Diane and Tony, David
The Walk
Today we
saw a driverless car in action. No kidding. It was parked in a car park at
Ringstead, between two other cars. We saw it edge backwards and then stop,
unaware that this was a car with a mind of its own. Then it backed out
completely and we watched it in amazement because we could now see that there
was no one on board. No driver, no passengers, no one. It was reversing back
towards other parked cars and would have showed them what for if it hadn’t run
into a water-filled ditch. That stopped it in its tracks. And still there was
no sign of a driver, passengers or any human with some sort of control over the
car. It had acted purely under its own
willpower. Amazing. But, what about the walk, you ask. Ah yes, the walk. We
drove to the viewpoint overlooking Ringstead Bay, left our cars there and
walked down the lane to the wooden church. A younger, fitter-looking bunch of
walkers had got there ahead of us and were busily enjoying their packed lunches
while admiring the view over the bay. Undaunted, we trudged on to Osmington
Mills where we had our own lunch.
Afterwards,
the entire group walked back to the snack shop at the bottom of the hill back
up to the viewpoint. Four hardy walkers elected to stay here while three others
tackled the hill. Brave souls. That was when we saw the self-drive, unmanned
car in action. Eventually, we were collected by Ros and driven back up the
hill. We were all glad of a cup of tea, for which thanks go to Wendy. Thanks also to Diane for the photos.
The Pub
The
Smugglers at Osmington Mills. We’ve eaten here before and always enjoyed a good
meal. The only criticism was a surfeit of leaves on one walker’s plate.
Next Week
Meet
in Wimborne at 1030
