Free bus and rail travel for the oldies from next April ??

Ken68

It'll get into the Guinness Book of Records..Great Yarmouth to Blackpool the quickest way, John'O Groats to Lands End.
OAP gangs causing trouble on school bus's.

[Deleted User]

we weren`t part of the hippy revolution for nothing. We`ve been keeping our heads down while growing children but flower power re-awakens!!!

seven-day-weekend

Yes....could I get from Wolverhampton to Seaford on the south coast, or visit friends in Carlisle, or Newcastle, just by using local transport?

You can get from Newcastle to Carlisle on a local service, it follows Hadrian's Wall and is absolutely beautiful Thoroughly recommend it!

EdInvestor

kittie wrote: »

this is a ripe scenario for someone to build a web site ie put in start point and destination and get the route. It would be a challenge to get about I think because of the hundreds of different bus companies

Stagecoach covers a lot of territory.

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/

Jake'sGran

Quote from Margaret
"Having just updated our car to a 4-year old Peugeot automatic, it ain't going to affect us until/unless we are physically forced to stop driving."

Just had to comment. There are two things that get my husband really excited. One is Indoor Bowls and the other is Cars. We have an amazingly reliable and beautiful looking black Mazda saloon. It is an M reg and this year managed to get to 50,000 miles and also, it passed it's MOT with no hitch.
I would never sell it as the book price is around £500 - rather give it away. But, I have had to give in and agree to our buying a new one. Maybe some of the fellas will understand this.

Biggles

Jake'sGran wrote: »

We have an amazingly reliable and beautiful looking black Mazda saloon. It is an M reg and this year managed to get to 50,000 miles and also, it passed it's MOT with no hitch.
I would never sell it as the book price is around £500 - rather give it away. But, I have had to give in and agree to our buying a new one. Maybe some of the fellas will understand this.

I'm a fella but don't understand that. If it's taken 12 years to do 50k, it must have at least another 12 years left in it. That's about £40 a year at your valuation. Motoring doesn't come much cheaper than that!

margaretclare

Unfortunately our little 'M' reg Fiesta was starting to creak at the joints and it would have needed some attention before it passed its MOT that was due in October. Also, we had been thinking for some time about replacing her with a younger model prior to our planned holiday up the Rhine valley.

However, we part-exchanged her for the Peugeot and last week had an ecstatic phone call from a lady who had bought her for £300 from the same place. She only wants a car to go short distances - when she goes anywhere outside the local area she goes by train, even to London. We were glad the little Fiesta had gone to a good home!

If we are ever physically unable to drive a car then I guess it will be taxis for us. There's a bus stop at the top of the road, but there have been weeks on end when I couldn't even have walked that far. We often said that the cost of keeping and running a car would buy an awful lotta taxi-rides, but the convenience of having it there and not having to plan journeys in advance, has so far outweighed the cost.

Bus journeys, whether free or otherwise, do not appeal.

Margaret

EdInvestor

margaretclare wrote: »

If we are ever physically unable to drive a car then I guess it will be taxis for us. There's a bus stop at the top of the road, but there have been weeks on end when I couldn't even have walked that far.Bus journeys, whether free or otherwise, do not appeal.

Mobility scooters are very popular down my way. You don't have to be disabled to use them and they are quite cheap ( from around 500 quid) and no petrol of course, just charge the battery.

If you want something to run around the shopping centre, they work well and depending on how your town is laid out (bike lanes are helpful), you can often go quite long distances.The more powerful scooters can go on the road.

It's not unusual to see couples out together and to see scooters parked outside the pub at lunchtime (drink drive laws don't apply!)Chaps seem to like tarting their scooters up with flags and pennants.And of course they are quite environmentally acceptable. Definitely a useful and cost-effective alternative for those who have trouble walking.

chesky369

My mum had one of those motorised wheelchairs she used to nip on. It was for use on pavements and in shops but one of my most terror-filled memories was taking her to Selfridges to buy a new coat; she got up a real head of steam and people parted like the red sea before her. Oxford Street and my mother on the pavement - talk about keep death off the road, she was like a maniac. I'm thinking of getting one myself eventually.

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote: »

Mobility scooters are very popular down my way. You don't have to be disabled to use them and they are quite cheap ( from around 500 quid) and no petrol of course, just charge the battery.

If you want something to run around the shopping centre, they work well and depending on how your town is laid out (bike lanes are helpful), you can often go quite long distances.The more powerful scooters can go on the road.

It's not unusual to see couples out together and to see scooters parked outside the pub at lunchtime (drink drive laws don't apply!)Chaps seem to like tarting their scooters up with flags and pennants.And of course they are quite environmentally acceptable. Definitely a useful and cost-effective alternative for those who have trouble walking.

Yes, we would probably get one (two) because we're only a mile from the little market town and there's one bloke who's made himself an imitation number-plate 'Sid1' and he's always out and about on it. Any further, taxis, and if we were still able to drive, we could always hire a car for long journeys. We have family in the Midlands and the North, the furthest away is 250 miles from here.

But at present, it's just too convenient having the car outside the door, being able to go places without a lot of pre-planning.

Margaret