When I retired earlier this year one of my resolutions was to take more advantage of
my bus pass which had, up to then, been mainly restricted to weekend use. Despite
further recent reductions in the service to Kings Langley, I have been pleasantly
surprised as to what is achievable.
The newly introduced 51 which runs from the Two Brewers to Hemel Hempstead on Tuesdays and Thursdays fills in a useful gap in the current two hourly 352 service and has fitted in perfectly for some of my U3A meetings in Boxmoor. I have been able to vary my walking activities by catching buses to various places such as Flaunden (51) Sarratt (352) Rickmansworth (R4) and Hunton Bridge (319) and strolling back across
the fields and undertaken shopping trips to more faraway places such as Aylesbury and
London. I recently walked a section of the Ridgeway from Princes Risborough to the
other side of the M40 with the aid of public transport from the village and all for free!
Further trips to exotic locations as far away as Oxford and Henley-on-Thames are also
in the pipeline. We have the added flexibility in Hertfordshire of being able to use our bus passes before 9.30 (Green Line excepted) and for those who do not qualify for
such passes, there are various options available, such as the Explorer tickets which
allow unlimited travel in the county.
I have found our local buses to be reliable and the drivers friendly and helpful. They
are not used as much as they should be, possibly because of a lack of publicity. Check
out the Intalink website: www.intalink.org.uk for up to date information. I urge all villagers to give it a try – you may be pleasantly surprised.
John Hopkins