News from Creeting St Peter: public transportation to Little Stonham and beyond!

As I mentioned in the climactic ending to my posting last week, our village noticeboard contained some exciting information. Yes, there is public transport out of Creeting St Peter!

I'm a Londoner, transplanted to mid-Suffolk on a part-time basis since I married Ros, and as a non-driver, I am occasionally twitchy about my reliance on Ros to get around. Needham Market and Stowmarket are both reachable in an hour on foot, but I'm an old(ish) man, and not as fit as I might be. I was aware that we have a bus every Thursday morning - route 453 from Stowmarket to the Creetings and back the same afternoon - part of a network of bus routes designed to convey people from outlying villages to a market town whose market is a mere shadow of what it once was.

So the news that we indeed have a regular service was the cause of great excitement and then confusion. Confusion because the timetable referred to a taxibus, whatever that might be. Best of all, the bus appeared to run from Stowmarket to Little Stonham, but not back... Luckily, the Internet came to my salvation, and I came across this useful explanation and allied leaflet . Yes, the bus does run to Little Stonham, where it connects with buses to Diss and Ipswich. Also, you can pre-book it to take you to Needham Market or Stowmarket, all for the cost of a regular bus fare. The only unexpected element is that it actually is a taxi, although you won't hear me complain.

And so, the world is my oyster. I can get to Sudbury, Diss, Bury St Edmunds or Ipswich by bus, or go to lunch in one of the various gastropubs in the area, and all without having to rely on Ros. A man should retain some degree of independence, after all...