The same can be said today about buses. There’s a decent bus service here to the centre of town but there’s a ten minute walk to the nearest bus stop. That doesn’t sound very far but it is when it’s tipping it down and you’ve got shopping to carry. If we’re going up to London we can use the bus and it’ll take us right to the railway station. Great, but after a hard day in London the last thing we want to do is hang around for a bus (if they’re still running) when we get back. Both examples illustrate that the bus could be used but it really doesn’t compare to the flexibility of using the car.

One other thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the pleasure a lot of us get from driving. There are still places where it’s possible to drive for an hour or so and never see another car. The freedom that gives us, and the pleasure of finding a beautiful spot to stop in, have a picnic and maybe walk even further into the countryside, is something not to be sniffed at.

These out-of-the-way byroads are there and should be used - if they’re not I fear there’s a real danger of some of them being axed, just as the out-of-the-way railway lines were axed before them.