Robert Williams Route: Kimbolton to Huntingdon Car Journey: 12 miles (30mins) Bus Journey: £3 return Time: 40mins ONE of the first things I discovered last week is that there is no shelter at Kimbolton bus stop, unless you count the battered telephone box

Robert Williams

Route: Kimbolton to Huntingdon

Car Journey: 12 miles (30mins)

Bus Journey: £3 return

Time: 40mins

ONE of the first things I discovered last week is that there is no shelter at Kimbolton bus stop, unless you count the battered telephone box that no one uses.

I also learned last week that there is no bus stop at the bus stop, either, as I watched the Huntingdon & District vehicle turn off into another street. The driver smiled as I jogged over to where the bus had stopped.

"That bus stop is obsolete. You'd still be here tomorrow if we hadn't spotted you," he told me as his passengers chuckled.

'Put your hand out and we'll stop' seems to be the basic principle of route 401, starting in Grafham and ending at Huntingdon bus station.

Despite my suspicions that the bus company could do more to warn inexperienced customers, the driver was welcoming and friendly.

It was clear he knew the other passengers by name as he chatted to them on the journey. It was a nice change to sit on the bus and talk to other people instead of sitting alone in a stuffy car.

A return ticket from Kimbolton to Huntingdon cost me £3. Not cheap, but certainly not extortionate. It saves trying to find somewhere to park in the town (and the parking charges), and I even managed to get some work done on the way.

The journey was about 40 minutes (about 10 minutes longer than driving by car).

It went so smoothly that I might even dump the car and take the bus next week - if I can find somewhere to get on.