Each day brings its wonders to the Merse. Not so much the glimpse of sun this morning after three days of Mirk and gloom; no wonder one of Scotland's most successful Pop groups is known as Wet, Wet, Wet, but the sight of 5 people waiting for the No 32 bus in Paxton Bus Shelter. A slight misnomer this as it is too small to shelter any vehicle and indeed if a sixth person had turned up he/she would have got very soaked. I could raise their dampened spirits a trifle by reporting that the bus had just left Hutton -no new fangled electronic signs in these parts, thankyou very much-but it was very pleasing to see, suddenly, a demand for this very under utilised form of public transport. I have never seen more than one person in the Bus Shelter at Hutton and one gentleman to whom I made a cheery comment about the bus, denied indignantly that he was waiting for one-just scouring the notices he said.
We should really use the no 32 more frequently but its times are not convenient and the service dies mid afternoon. I am also scarred by the experience of trying to get off in a hurry at Berwick Station with my train due in two minutes and the ticket yet to buy. I was impeded by an old lady in the aisle standing up with a large case and blocking the exit. I hurried her off the bus after some resistance having managed to get the suitcase out of her hand and on to the pavement. It then transpired that(a) she wanted the next stop where a friend was meeting her
and (b) my train had been cancelled . It was a bad start to the day made worse by having to wait 21/2 hours for the bus back. The guide book to the town has a section called 'Two hours in Berwick' The last half hour is the killer
