The mounted troops and some cyclists patrolled daily towards Colenso and the north and the armoured train ran up the line as far as Colenso most days. Captain Hemsley, whose turn it was to take command of the train, invited Churchill to accompany them on 8^th November. They drove up to the outskirts of Colenso and went by foot into the village. It was deserted and the railway bridge was intact, although a section of the railway line had been damaged. On the way back to Estcourt Churchill spoke with a volunteer and “thought him a true and valiant man who had come forward in time of trouble quietly and soberly to bear his part in warfare, and who was ready.” He also rode out to have lunch with a farmer who for fifteen years had sunk his entire efforts and assets into his property. “Now everything might be wrecked in an hour by a wandering Boer patrol. Now I felt the bitter need for soldiers – thousands of soldiers – so that such a man might be assured”.