THERE were two special passengers aboard the Tavistock Country Bus returning from Exeter last week.

A young couple from Japan discovered the Tavistock Country Bus website when planning their Christmas and New Year holiday in England.

Keiko Kurita and her English husband Ian Eccleston used the service to travel to the Two Bridges Hotel, Dartmoor, where they had planned to stay while they explored the area.

The couple had booked a train to Exeter St David’s station in order to meet the bus on its return trip to Tavistock and made advanced arrangements — by telephone all the way from Japan — to be collected at the station.

Volunteer for Tavistock Country Bus, Ray Stenning, was driving on the day. He said: ‘Tavistock Country Bus is the only transport covering the exact journey they had planned and the timing fitted well with their schedule.

‘The bus duly arrived at the station at the appointed time and found that the two travellers had already been met by the company’s retiring chairman Douglas Humpries and his wife Joanna who had taken the booking in November.

‘They had decided that passengers who chose the bus when planning their trip from across the world definitely deserved very special treatment. They helped Keiko and Ian to a sheltered waiting area and saw them aboard with their heavy baggage using the bus’s special ramp and settled them into their seats – only to find that the bus had been trapped at the bus stop by a taxi, a very large coach and a private car all disgorging passengers.

‘A good deal of toing and froing was requited before the bus could get underway and it was getting quite dark as it set off on the windy and very wet route home via Moretonhampstead. It transpired that Ian had moved to Japan to work seven years ago and had married Keiko quite recently. They had spent Christmas with his family in Birmingham and were now spending some time seeing other places in England before returning to Japan via London.

‘The new passengers were keen to hear the stories of the moor from the driver and other passengers who told them about the prison, the Sherlock Holmes tales —especially The Hound of the Baskervilles — which they had heard of, and the Hairy Hands – which they hadn’t. They saw the waters of the River Teign rushing under Steps Bridge in the gathering gloom and helped keep a weather eye out for animals on the road during the journey.

‘Having heard some grimmer tales of Dartmoor they were delighted when they saw the welcoming lights of the Two Bridges Hotel and they were greeted by members of a wedding party there who were in a very happy mood. One young lady was keen to have her photo taken with the pair when they heard of their journey from Japan.

‘Goodbyes were shouted, more photos taken as we departed and then they were free to settle into the hotel whilst the rest of us headed through the rain back to Tavistock after a very interesting and eventful trip.’