Epic bus trip to aid church

3:01pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

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Adventurous Halesowen pensioners are set to travel more than 180 miles from Halesowen to Bournemouth using their free bus passes.

Mary and Roy Croft's epic journey to Bournemouth will take around four days with stops on the way and will involve getting on and off a succession of buses.

But the travel will not cost them a penny as they will use their free over 60s passes.

Grandparents Mary and Roy, who are both aged 78, are undertaking the journey later this month to raise cash for Carters Lane Baptist Church's £300,000 revamp.

Mary, a retired medical secretary, said: "We thought it would be a little adventure to see if we could do it then someone suggested we get sponsorship for the church project.

"I'm not really a very good coach traveller but this will be okay because we will be getting on and off buses.

"The longest single bus journey is from Birmingham to Worcester which is one hour 45 minutes.

"We will be using our free senior citizens passes and won't spend another penny on transport even if we have to walk."

Mary and retired local government officer Roy will set off from the bus stop by the Royal Oak pub, Manor Lane, Halesowen.

They will travel to Birmingham then to Worcester, Evesham and on to Tewkesbury. They will stay overnight in Tewkesbury.

The next day they will travel to Cheltenham, then to Swindon, Pewsey, and on to Salisbury. The couple will spend a day or two in Salisbury and enjoy a trip to Stonehenge.

Then they will get back on their travels and board the final bus to Bournemouth. They will spend a few days in Bournemouth before getting the National Express coach home, which takes all of five hours.

To sponsor Mary and Roy call Phil Turley from Carters Lane Baptist Church on 0121 4227395.