The Oaks

In the olden days, we used to go up on the hill on Derby Day, sometimes on Oaks Day too, every year. A serious business involving several visits followed by a long walk up the hill, through the tunnel to the hill proper.

A visit to the archives suggests that these outings came to an end in 2011 (reference 1) and that things have rather dropped off, if not fallen away, since then. A couple of earlier notices are offered at reference 2 and 3 and diligent readers can no doubt find more.

On this occasion, the weather looked to be fair for the Oaks and bad for the Derby, so we settled for the Oaks - although I did manage a visit to Wetherspoon's the day following, as noticed at reference 4.

A cool and overcast start to the day, so light raincoat and folding umbrella. As it turned out, it did not rain on us, but I was glad enough to have a coat on.

Wetherspoon's was busy, with lots of young people in fancy dress. Three piece suits for the men, dressing lite and fancy for the women. Quite a lot of hair gel and combing in evidence - something that I have never gone in for, despite its being the fashion from time to time.

They had cracked out the plastic glasses for the occasion, cunningly designed so that they pack very tight. A cubic metre of cardboard box would no doubt hold a very large number of them. Thousands? We assumed that they were washed and reused, possibly repacked for the next occasion. Maybe the efficient looking manageress whom we see there from time to time would tell us if we caught her on a quiet moment. The day following would not have been good - she looked pretty tired by mid-morning. Up and running, but tired.

From to Waterloo Road to pick up a bus, with Edwards having got the job this year. A company I know well, having passed both their premises and their buses many times - but it was not until I look up their website today - reference 7 - that I am reminded that it is not Edwards at all, rather Edward Thomas (and son). A company which is a couple of years older than I am.

On this day, following my conversation with Gemini about paint jobs on trucks noticed at reference 8, I wondered about the smart paint job on the double decker. Then had Thomas - more a coach than a double decker operator - bought it from new or at auction?

[to be continued]

PS 1: the purchase of the raincoat mentioned above was noticed at reference 5 below. And again at reference 6. I am pleased to report that the search indexes to the blog archive seem to have been put back together again (by Windows, in the background). On the other hand, the find from RPPL noticed at reference 6 has not survived the culls of the intervening decade. Not bad for a coat. Still got the stockman's coat mentioned at reference 2 too, although I can't remember when I last wore it. Don't tend to be out in heavy rain these days.

References

Reference 1: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2011/06/21st-birthday.html.

Reference 2: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2009/06/derby-pickings.html. A branch of the restaurant mentioned here has now opened in Epsom. It does excellent bread too.

Reference 3: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2012/06/fags.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/06/fake-200.html. I forgot to mention a young man in what looked like a real kilt, that is to say he was wearing his kilt.

Reference 5: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/2016/01/mainly-schubert-1.html.

Reference 6: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/2016/01/mainly-schubert-2.html.

Reference 7: https://edwardthomasandson.co.uk/.

Reference 8: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/05/gas.html.