The Cambridgeshire Guided Buses began running today, carrying fare-paying passengers (and those with passes for free bus travel) through RSPB Fen Drayton Lakes. Some buses had standing-room only, filled with people wanting to be part of this locally historical day.
(photo by Steve Dobromylski)
I wonder how many of the passengers were getting their first views of Fen Drayton Lakes. How many will get off the bus at our request stop next time, and have a walk to explore a little more of our wonderful wetland? Will they come on a guided nature walk, or bring children for some of the activities we have planned during the school holidays?
I spoke to several people who had just come to see some buses go past. One man’s son had been on the last train that ran along the route about 40 years ago. A lady had spent childhood days in the fields here, helping her father make hay and herd cattle, in the days before they were dug out for sand and gravel.
Nostalgic times for some, and a taste of the future for others.
From tomorrow (Monday 8 August), buses will be running to timetable. Six an hour in each direction through Fen Drayton Lakes every day except Sunday, when there is an hourly service, with another company running a bus on a 2-hourly Sunday service. www.thebusway.info has all the timetables.
What will the commuters be doing on the guided buses? Using their laptops, their MP3s and smart phones, or gazing out of the windows, looking at landscapes and wildlife?
I cycle to work, so have time to notice the wildlife around me, and I can easily stop to hear or look more closely, but if I was commuting on the bus, I’m sure I’d be trying to identify trees by their shape, looking for patches of wild flowers, and trying to identify birds as the bus speeds by.