Letter: Bus services used to be great, but I'm not so sure any more

It was an opportunity to get my disabled husband of nine years to also apply for one.

It was a new world. The biggest thrill was Phil feeling the independence of being able to keep hospital appointments and go to watch his son play for Bridgnorth Town without begging a lift.

The latter made all the more enjoyable because he was able to explore his birthplace and get the exercise of climbing the bank up to Broseley after walking across the Ironbridge at a fair amount of leisure in order to meet a bus connection that would take us to Much Wenlock, and then a connection to take us on to a stop right outside the Crown Meadow. Sadly, this service was stopped some time back.

You'll be pleased to know that Phil gets a lift when his son doesn't have too many players to transport to home matches. In their wisdom, Arriva has stopped the Number 77 service through Dawley, so that is another stop for Phil. It's a taxi for hospital appointments now. You see, it's not just the expense, he was getting the confidence to go it alone. I have to admit that I don't miss that service as much as other passengers.

It's doing me good to make the one-and-half mile trip across the town park and there is always the Number 22.

I recently met a lady who was about to catch the 88. She told me of the inconvenience of losing the 77. We spotted the bus coming, and there was Jack trotting down the road as usual.

We couldn't believe it! All three of us had plenty of time to eyeball the driver and he went on by. Jack and the lady went fuming up the hill to catch the Number 11 at Portley corner and I resumed my intended journey.

The lady met up with me on the Number 22 and we asked the driver, "What do you have to do to get a bus to stop? Jump in front of it?" He went straight on to the defensive: "Number 88 has nothing to do with us." We came to the conclusion that it was just not worth complaining. This letter is to redress the balance of my previous one.

Lyn Hurdley

Dawley