Passers-by were briefly surprised yesterday by the appearance on Mansfield Place of a double-decker London bus.
The Routemaster (1962 vintage) was supposedly destined for Tooting Broadway in South London, and appeared lost.
Closer inspection showed that it was, of course, an exhibit at the Vintage Wedding Show within the Mansfield-Traquair Centre. One of two based in Edinburgh, it was last seen on Princes Street in December when it served as a pizza restaurant.
Now, for the gratification of anal retentives everywhere, we will point out that in fact the bus's number and destination do not match. The real No. 88 runs between Camden Town and Westminster via Mornington Crescent. This correspondent knows because he once fell off the back of it.
Spurtle suspects the present combination has more to do with a link between the Bingo call of 'Two Fat Ladies' and the generous breadth of the vehicle's central aisle – a way suitable for broad persons full of pizza or those in voluminous bridal dresses.
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