I was a school parent governor for a wee while back when my two were at primary school. There were incessant demands that parents shouldn’t drive their little darlings to school, they should walk etc, etc. Which is all well and good, if you have time, but where both parents work, or it’s a single (working) parent family, it’s usually a case of drop kids at school on way to office - we don’t live in the days of “housewives” any more.
The school simply didn’t want to hear it, let alone to grasp the opportunity of making it easier & safer by adopting a scheme I’d seen in the US. The school road was one-way, and the kids were dropped off in a lay-by, on the near side, the parents never got out of the car, no parking at all, and no crossing of roads. Simple, safe, quick & efficient, but unwelcome because it doesn’t fit the politics...
There’s at least two sides to every story!
And, of course, we can blame out-of-town shopping & supermarkets, to use either, a car is entirely necessary. But they are cost effective and hold a vast range, and are clearly seen as a good thing by many, if not most people. But they’ve done for the high street, (long before Amazon et al twisted the blade) and they’ve done something more insidious. When you spent a tenner in the high street, a good proportion of it circulated in the town. If you spend a tenner in a supermarket, only the percentage that goes on wages stays in the town, the rest goes to the suppliers, and the stock market. Sayonara!
Best
Simon
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I punched the rivets and built the wagons, is the interior detail. 
- I'll think I'll be scratch building these in the future.
doh! Compounded by not having built brass kits like this for ages** and the lack of suitable research.
