Wednesday 6 September 2017

The Wednesday Walk 6th September 2017







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            


No comments: