A Transport Of Delight

During the recent general election campaign the twin themes of austerity and repairing our society were at the forefront of political debate. I contended at the time that rather than being broken, our society simply needs to get to know itself again. The best strategies to acheive this are the very simple ones. Yesterday, I paid my £3 to buy my Route 76 bus ticket and for this small amount of money I was able to participate in a day of social remodeling.

I live in the old market town of Denbigh in the vale of Clwyd. Denbigh boasts at least ten pubs and most of these are "wet" houses which don't offer food. As such, most of these pubs are struggling to remain open since many are tied to breweries whose exorbitant rents and beer prices make earning a living virtually impossible. This is also the plight of the pubs in the surrounding villages. By contrast, however, many of the latter are owned by the landlords and also have varying standards of food provision. The Achilles heel of the country pubs though is a combination of low local populations and the drink driving laws.

So yesterday I paid my £3 and participated in a brilliant piece of innovation. In conjunction with the local council, a group of six country pubs organised a "mobile" beer festival. The bus route is tailored to drop off and pick up at these six pubs for the duration of the day. The narrowness of some of the country lanes requires a smaller bus to be employed and each bus had a bouncer aboard just in case revelry got out of hand.

The first bus to go past my bus stop was full to bursting so couldn't stop! The second one not far behind, I managed to board. From the outset, the atmosphere on that bus was tremendous. Any talk of a lack of community spirit or social cohesion were way off the mark. The high spirits, people talking to their neighbour, laughter and courtesy were a joy to behold. In all honesty, I felt so privileged to part of it, I would have gladly paid double. At one point, at a bus stop in Hendrerwydd for the White Horse Inn, a random dog hopped on and promptly alighted at the next stop to the delight of all the passengers. We had singing on our bus and as we came to stop at the town bus stop in Ruthin, the strains of "Calon Lan" were so loud that the expressions of those waiting to alight were an absolute picture.

I began my festival at the Three Pigeons at Graigfechan because it was the furthest pub from Denbigh. It seems my cunning plan had already been thought of! The Three Pigeons was heaving and it took nigh on half an hour to buy a drink. But nobody cared about waiting because the atmosphere was so friendly and happy. As I wove my way home bumping into old acquaintances along the way, each pub was absolutely full and many had live bands, hog roasts and the like.

Far from having a sore head this morning, I feel enlivened and have witnessed what can happen when heads get together to solve problems. I also reflected how many of those revelers of yesterday on those little buses will be back behind the wheels of their cars on Monday morning with no company except for the radio. Yesterday I caught a glimpse of community spirit and it first depends on people getting out of their cocoons and sharing time with each other. To the organisers of Route 76, my sincere congratulations - do it again soon!