Craic On

Highways England have written to me as part of a consultation about a proposed Motorway junction improvement scheme. That is to say, the letter began “Dear Resident”, so I don’t imagine they will be crying into their tea when they don’t hear back from me. Not having a car seems a belief too far for some people. How can anyone live without one? “I don’t believe you don’t have one,” said the woman sitting next to me. “I’m a devotee of the bus,” I explained with the usual blah blah qualifier about not being about to blah blah. Her objections were two fold: the inconvenience of public transport, the inconvenience of the public. I take her point on both counts but all life is on the bus and mine is the richer for it. Twenty years ago I was sitting on the bus minding my own business when the woman sitting next to me leant over and asked, “are you Anna?” She was the Mother of a long lost school friend. I phoned her. We caught up. “Actually, I won’t take your number as I’ve got enough friends,” she