Clyno 13 HP Tourer of 1925 – owned by Roy Surman.
Feeling a bit grumpy – don’t tell me you never fell grumpy, ‘cos I won’t believe you – I penned a letter as follows to the Guardian newspaper . . .
Reference : https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/06/bus-neglect-national-failure-public-policy-motorists
“I would like to suggest to John Harris, and possibly to you too, Mr. Editor, that one or both of you put a few grains of coarse building sand in your shoes at bedtime one night soon, and then go about your business for as many days following as you can manage using only the buses or other forms of public transport. Then, put together another article describing life for the elderly and those in bad health.
Those of us who use the private car are not “addicted to asphalt, petrol and zooming from A to B with as little obstruction as possible”, we are simply trying to get to the Doctor, the Pharmacy, the Dentist or other necessary ports of call. Sometimes I get a referral to the Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, a 50 mile round trip. trip. We are no longer able to walk the distances required from the car park to the Reception Desk, so we go by taxi – another private car, which puts us down at the door and where with a bit of luck we can attract the attention of a volunteer with a wheelie chair. This taxying costs us £75 to £80 – so we are effectually back to the days of ‘private medicine’.
Our neighbours, of the same age group as ourselves, are in the same boat as we are and use their car 3 or 4 times a week. Our other neighbour, and elderly gentleman living on his own, owns a car, but that car has not moved for several weeks so he has reached the ‘stay where you are’ condition.
Public transport is fine for the young, the fit, and the healthy. Once you move outside those parameters you need transport that starts from where you are, and which gets you to where you need to be – public transport ceases to be of any use.
All best wishes . . .”
