I’m going to be leaving for Rochester soon, but am having to miss Morning Prayer as I can’t get into my car – the doors are frozen solid. To be honest I was going to drive in later as the road to get off my estate is a shiny slippery which is making driving for my neighbours a real challenge! I am waiting for it to thaw a bit. So in good Christian style … I am letting them go before me, putting myself last, so that they can churn up the ice on the road to make it drivable.

I did consider catching a bus this morning as my car journey is only 10 minutes straight along the A2. Amazingly there is no bus that goes straight along the A2 a major road through the middle of Medway and then on to London. Apparently I have to catch a bus into Chatham bus station and then another from there to Rochester. The whole journey, from leaving my house to arriving at the cathedral, will take around 50 minutes. That is 50 minutes to do a 4 mile journey!

It is not surprising then, why so many people drive to work and ignore public transport. I can be in the cathedral 15 minutes after leaving my house if I drive, or 50 minutes (if I catch the quicker) bus. It’s a shame as I was looking forward to a bus journey and was toying with the idea of losing my ageing car and using the bus regularly. This would have helped the environment as well as my wallet … but it seems the 145 000 mile car that has done me well will have to keep going a good while yet! (before people say – yes I know cycling is an even better option, but my physio won’t allow that yet … maybe soon!)