SIR — I recently spent the most wonderful weekend in Alcombe visiting a childhood friend who resides there.

I would like to thank everyone whose path I crossed in Minehead for their friendliness and hospitality. What wonderful people you are.

Having lived in England for so long - I am almost 79 years of age and rrived her in my early 20s having been born in the former British Guyana in South America - I never thought I would ever meet anyone like Somerset people.

The only thing that let the whole experience down was that on my way from Taunton to Minehead, the bus was late and the driver tried to accommodate everyone, resulting in the bus becoming overcrowded.

I and several other standing passengers had to get off the bus on several occasion to let other passengers off.

In fairness to the driver, I appreciate the fact that he took us all on board since no-one wanted to be left behind - I was told the wait for the next bus was an hour.

Also on my way back to Taunton, the bus broke down 20 minutes after leaving Watchet.

Having caught the bus at approximately 2.40pm to give me plenty of time to arrive in time to catch the 4.31pm train to Paddington, for a fairly new bus to break down was very disappointing.

Thanks to the young bus driver who diverted with the consent of his employers and passengers - he got us to the station with about eight minutes to spare for my train. Unfortunately it was too late for some others who missed theirs.

I would also like to thank the dear gentleman on his way to London for helping me up the station stairs with my suitcase and taking me to my reserved seat.

Patricia Fagbemi,

Croydon,

Surrey.