#busride - Bury St Edmunds to Haverhill (and a highways officer with a classical education)

The 12.15 route 15 bus to Haverhill

Provisioned with some Diet Coke and a packet of Fruit Gums (healthy, eh?), it was time to continue my westwards odyssey, with the next stage, as far as Haverhill, in the south-west corner of Suffolk.

Haverhill has a somewhat harsh reputation as a London overspill community (some of my Suffolk work colleagues call it 'Haverhole') but, on a recent visit, I noticed that the main street isn't as black as it's painted and that what hurts it is the plethora of 1950's and 1960s architecture which, to be frank, never did much for me, or for most other people, for that matter. But it is another hub town for buses, and that's what the purpose of my day was.

There was a catch though, in that my bus was due to arrive in Haverhill as my next bus was scheduled to leave. The driver was vaguely reassuring though, advising that he's usually early, and that the next bus left Haverhill from bay 5 of the bus station.

So, I handed over another £5.10, made myself comfortable, and settled back to see what West Suffolk has to offer in terms of vistas. Admittedly, the route is pretty enough, although it sticks to the main road apart from a detour to serve Chevington, as the deceptively rolling countryside offers up some pleasant scenery. But, again, the bus doesn't pick up, or drop off, that many people, and most of those that it does are elderly, non-fare paying ones. Presumably, the journeys are self-financing, as the service isn't subsidised and still runs, but you wonder whether or not it would be viable without effective cross-subsidy.

Bus travel through villages is a challenge, in that roads are narrow, sight lines for drivers are poor, and people park in such a way as to make it difficult for a bus to get past. At one point, our driver stopped the bus, got out and moved some obstruction before continuing on his way. Villagers forget about infrequent buses, you see.

I have already criticised Haverhill's 'architectural legacy', but was somewhat surprised to turn into a housing estate on the edge of Haverhill entirely named after famous Romans. Janus Close, Tiberius Close, Marcus Close (leading to Antonia Close), Claudian Close, even a Flavian Close. Somebody had fun with that one, I can tell.

Sadly, the sun had stopped shining by the time we reached Haverhill (slightly ahead of schedule, as promised) but my connecting bus was still parked up. It was time to leave the safety of Suffolk...

So, £14.30 spent, two bus rides negotiated...