Many people may wonder "Why oh why...!" ( as these things invariably start) "Why does this family need a car? They live in the country! There should be winding lanes and village shops and thick green hedges and lashings of ginger beer DAMMIT!"
Well this did exist.....around about the same time as Eynid Blyton 1st editions where being printed.
Face it, in this day and age it is by FAR safer to be car-less in the town or a city than it is in the country.
IN the towns the cars all go at 30 miles and hour or less, the amenities are closer, there are even (sit down now!) BIKE LANES where cars are not allowed!
The country however is a very different beast.
The trouble is that most villages have ceased to be quaint dwelling places for the farm workers and millers and shop owners, they are now almost exclusively populated by commuters.
The whole point of being a commuter is to ...Commute to your place of work...quickly.
They long to live in the country but they bring the worst of the towns with them.
Although there is a (blatantly ignored) 30 mile and hour limit through the village itself, outside the village it is the national speed limit of 60 miles an hour, which, on these long stretches of road, are often exceeded, even around blind bends.
This has always been the reason we have kept a car before, the shear fear factor of being splattered across the road, not to mention with children cycling with you.
Husband bought a bike a few weeks ago and has now though found most of the safer routes to the next town, so we feel a little more confident.
There is a daily bus that takes you to the town (3 miles away) but it leaves at 7.30 am and returns at 6pm, so not handy for a trip to the local cost cutter.
There is, however a a weekly bus that takes you all the way to the BIG town (15 miles away) which (once the kids are back at school) we can use to do the things we can't do online, and believe me, we will make great use of Mr Tescos internet shopping.
Most things can be delivered to your door nowadays and surely still remains a more eco-friendly way of shopping against having to drive into town every few days.
Alas the village shop here is no more, but this is no bad thing, when its raining and you fancy some chocolate, the thought of a long weary bike ride suddenly makes those cravings VANISH!
Hmm, I could lose some weight yet!
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