I also counted the cars parked in and close to The Knapp today, and spoke to people getting onto the buses.
I had an interesting conversation with one local resident – an eldery man using a stick whose wife was blind and needed to get to the hospital that day. He had put cones around his disabled space to get his car close to the house at the time of the appointment because he couldn’t park there overnight and safeguard his space – why? Because his car had previously been broked into and the disabled car badge had been stolen! And the advice the police gave? To remove the badge at night… Not a good idea to expect an eldery person using a stick to go out daily on a cold, icy night/morning to retrieve/replace a disabled badge! Consequently, the residents using disabled spaces don’t display them, which makes it hard to see if they are being used legitimately or not.
I also chatted to the people getting on the connecting buses to and from Bedwyn – there were no bus passengers from Marlborough to connect to the 9:36am train, but two got on to Hungerford and four back to Marlborough – all elderly local residents who don’t use the trains because they have a free bus pass.
One lady told me that when she moved to the village there was one bus a week! So the regular daily service to the station is really great for local residents.
What I counted
Overall there were 78 cars in and close to The Knapp (including residents), and about 12 parked in the Wharf.
From the main street downwards – 17
In the first close – 4
In the next road – 6
Station roadside from round the bend – 28
In the parking bays – 22
On the grass – 1 – local resident waiting for a disabled space for over a year
Better Bedwyn Buses 