This is a cruel trick to play on me Cardiff Bus! I thought this was a straightforward challenge I was undertaking but Iโve already been surprised by the existence of the Nos.1A, 2A and 4 buses and now we have the No.14 This is a rare bus indeed, just one per day that starts in Caerau and goes to the Heath Hospital. Not only that but it leaves at 7am! Iโm not a morning person at the best of times. I used to wake up at 6.45am and have an hour drive into work but those days are long gone.
Given the pain I was about to go through by rising early I wanted to minimize the chances of things going wrong. Iโd spotted the No.14 on a bus tracker app a few weeks previously when I happened to wake up early so I knew it existed. The No.14 is meant to start from a stop called Amroth Road, close to the junction with the A48 but when I looked on Google Street View there was no sign of a bus stop on that side of the road. I decided to visit in advance thinking that Street View may be out of date. Unfortunately there is indeed no bus stop sign there. The No.17 was due which is also meant to stop there. It came around the corner, I stuck out my hand and the drive gave an apologetic shrug of his shoulders and drove past. I guess it used to be a bus stop but probably caused traffic congestion being so close to the junction. I walked down the road 150yds and found another bus stop. This was strangely advertising the No.15 even though there isnโt a Cardiff Bus No.15. Maybe there was once upon a time.
On the day of this adventure I was up at 6am and struggled through the pain barrier. It was still dark and a heavy frost lay on the ground. I arrived at the Bromley Road bus stop. I donโt know why but I was surprised how busy the area was; cars, vans, cyclists and dog walkers all out and about. And what should appear, dead on time, but the No.14. Needless to say I was the only one on it. I sat the in a chilly bus wondering if anyone else would get on between here and the Heath Hospital. Astonishingly a lot of people did. Itโs a popular bus. By the time we got to the hospital at 7.45 it was full! I walked up to the main concourse and almost got flattened by the hundreds of people arriving. It must be shift change-over time. I asked at reception if they still had my tonsils Iโd had extracted in the 1970s. They said probably not but instead gave me a leaflet on counseling.
I realised this was not the place to go for a quiet coffee. Instead I headed for the Park Side cafรฉ which I had spotted from the bus as we approached the hospital. Breakfast was therefore a plum Danish and a cappuccino. It was lovely. I sat there and read my book, The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Japanese author Michiko Aoyama that has been described as a feel good book. My criticism would be it has been translated into American-English rather than British-English, but luckily I speak American. You may be wondering (probably not) how I chose this specific book in the library. Well, as Iโm on the No.14 bus, I counted 14 books along from the left and picked it up. Surely thatโs what most people would do?
To walk off the Danish I went for a walk around the frosty Heath Park. A good adventure all round.
Cardiff Capers 