June 11

Off the road

How lucky I am.  Unlike all drivers, my cost of driving has not soared. It will remain free, ,as for the past three years when I gave up motoring after more than seventy years, switching to a Motability scooter.

The cost, nothing. And with warmer summer days I am enjoying it just as much as car driving.

Not so comfortable, of course, especially when I drive on the road which I now do increasingly as I venture further afield. At top speed, 8mph, I bump along mostly poorly maintained roads as close as possible in the the gutters. I feel safer in the cycle lanes but never venture onto double lane ‘carriageways’.

I have recently become more adventurous , discovering new routes. Yesterday I explored the Cardiff Bay        area which I remembered as the old Ferry Road industrial estate with its car wrecking businesses.

Now transformed into a shopaholics delight, the biggest attraction is the vast discount hyper markets. Even better, the scenic three mile run up from Penarth town centre, through St Joseph’s park - the steepest hilled park I have seen, its smooth surfaced, wide path surrounded by brightly coloured bushes and flowers.

Down to the Penarth Marina and its hundreds of yachts over the lifting bridge across the river past kayakers at the International White Water Centre, under the main, two-lane main road to Cardiff and straight on to my shops.

My longest journey, even more interesting, was direct from Penarth Marina, across the Barrage with its18 kilometres of shoreline and scores of  scudding yachts and magnificent panoramic views of the city. Very similar to other major cities I have visited, Toronto and its island for example.

 My driving may not be comfortable but it is healthy and exhilarating, confirming my view that even at my age life can be full of interest.