Sobbing in Church

Last night to All Saints' Church in Hereford for the launch of the Save Our Buses campaign (SOB). But its not just in Herefordshire that rural buses are under threat. The government's cuts to local authority funding will jeopardise the future of subsidised bus services throughout England (but not Wales or Scotland, which make their own arrangements).
Many boaters make use of buses to get to and from their boats. I often use the excellent Arriva 481 service to Gnosall from either Telford or Stafford as well as the less frequent 350 to Norbury village, both of which are heavily subsidised by Staffordshire County Council. Bus services seem increasingly popular with newly-retired boaters, including many continuous cruisers, who having gained their new free bus passes have become born-again bus users. ("Welcome back!).

The country bus. . .an endangered species?

Herefordshire hasn't announced the scale of its cut-backs yet, but neighbouring Worcestershire is planning to cut its budget for buses by £2.5M (62%) and Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Shropshire have all announced large reductions in funding.
If you are a boater - or even if you're not - who uses local buses contact your local county council to see what they have in store for the services you use and find and support your local equivalent of "Save Our Buses" to help salvage what we can of the rural bus network.