Carfree

After nearly 25 years of essential car ownership I have just made the leap to become carless!I didn't learn to drive until I was thirty and then had access to the family car once I did. I have an ambivalent attitude to driving, especially having waited so long to learn. It's complicated and I do trace it back to my own mother's lack of navigation skills when she had to learn to drive because my father was working abroad.I was designated navigator and at the age of nine it was sometimes traumatic.I like public transport and the chance meetings and interactions that result in bus and train journeys. I'm not a car person, though I do regret that I no longer have the VW Karmann Ghia my former husband and I owned back in the 70s. In the last few months I have found myself unintentionally jobless and homeless, fortunately not for long. That wasn't part of the moving back to the city plan. But thinking about managing without a car was and yesterday I took the plunge. It was tempting to keep it for emergencies,or to trade it in for another secondhand car, but the truth is I wasn't using it and didn't need it. I get free bus travel to work, I live near to the shops I need and it's a short walk and an even shorter bus journey into town. I get trains if I'm going any distance. I am finally well connected. I realised when I worked in Manchester that people were managing work and bringing up a family without a car. A social life was possible and entertainment was accessible without one. In Bakewell a car was necessary for access to work, to shops and to enable my children to have friendships and interests. I could get to concerts and gigs in Sheffield or Buxton by bus, but I couldn't get home. The nearest railway station was a car journey away, with bus links to it cut in the last few years. I remember signing up for the doctor's surgery in Eyam when I first moved to Bakewell. They were happy to supervise the home birth of my youngest. Only a few miles from Bakewell, I assumed there'd be a local bus service for my appointments when I didn't have the car. Once a fortnight on a Monday! That's one bus there and one back. I don't think even that exists any more. Community transport initiatives took up some of the slack for special groups, but not for the general public. Time of course was a factor. The school and playgroup runs before and after work, the dashing about to manage it all. So now when my time is more my own, I can factor in the choice of walk or bus journey, or even a taxi. It's an experiment. I don't expect to be carless for ever, but I do want to be convinced I need one before I go looking. I am also in the fortunate position of being able to borrow one occasionally if I need to. I'm told there's a car club in Sheffield and I'd like to find out more about that too. But for now I'm car free and carefree. Bye little Smart Car. It's been fun!