A Traveller’s Tale
I feel like I’ve just lost the use of my right arm. Not literally of course but the car’s in for service at the moment and I couldn’t arrange a courtesy vehicle so I am without motorised transport and it feels VERY odd. Just shows how totally dependent we become on our wheels.
Having dropped the car in first thing in the morning to Guy Salmon’s in Stratford-upon-Avon, I investigated the possibilities of getting back to Kenilworth – a mere 15 miles away. Options were (in order of preference)
- Lift
- Public transport
- Taxi
- Walk
Option 4 was quickly dismissed, nobody was available for Option 1, Option 3 would have been too expensive (and I’d have to put up with the inane banter and undefinable fragrances that seems to be de rigeur with taxi drivers), so that swiftly lead to Option 2 – public transport.
What a laugh.
I thought the quickest way would be to walk along to Stratford railway station, hop on the Warwick Express and arrive a few minutes later. This would indeed be close to the case IF I managed to catch the right train. The quickest one – which seems to run only every 2 hours(!) would get me there, directly, in 28 minutes. However, if I missed that one (which I would have done because of the timings at the garage) the next train would take 1 hour and 59 minutes and involve a change at Birmingham!
So… discounting the time taken to walk to the station in the first place (about 20 mins) and the time waiting for the train to arrive, I’d now be well over 2 hours into the journey and still be 6 miles away from my destination. But I’d have arrived in Warwick.
Next stage – bus.
Even more fun. Again, if I managed to miraculously be in the right place at the right time, I could catch one which would take me directly to Kenilworth in about 30 minutes including time for stops and people rummaging for the correct change in their collective pockets / wallets / handbags. BUT, if I missed the direct bus the next one would take me on a Magical Mystery Tour via Leamington and the delights of “Stud Farm A” (wherever that is!) arriving possibly next week.
(Just as an aside to this sorry traveller’s tale, the last time I saw a bus with “Stud Farm A” on the destination display, it was full of pensioners. Goodness knows what they get up to there but perhaps retirement is more fun that I think!)
Anyway… back to the story. The point is that to cover the relatively short distance of 15 miles it would take me at best about 1 hour 20 minutes and at worst about 4 hours. And this is just one way, don’t forget I’d still have to repeat the journey the other way!
Thus I decided to spend the day in sunny Stratford-upon-Avon, backpack and fleece on, looking like a proper tourist. I’m currently holed up in a well-known coffee shop enjoying free wifi access and coffee refills to accompany my blueberry muffin. I may be here sometime…
What this has proved to me (as if I didn’t already know) is that it’s pretty obvious why we have become so dependent on our cars. Convenience. Speed. Reliability. Comfort. Go anywhere, anytime.
When public transport works it’s great. Look at the London Tube network. Fantastic, and it really is the best way to get around in London. But for the most part, anyone trying to get between rural destinations is pretty much forced to look elsewhere. Before whichever government currently in power taxes personal transport off the planet, perhaps they should consider viable alternatives? Ones that could actually get you somewhere for a given time.
And then back again.
