Commuting on the first Monday since clock change

[mjr]

I went to school in the dark in the winter even though I lived in the SE and we had clock changes.

What time did your school start? Sunrise is no later than 0811 here in King's Lynn, about 100 miles north of London, which I think is as far north as anyone would reasonably call "south east" so most places further south have longer days in winter, and I think schools start 0855, so unless you're more than 7 miles from school, you're travelling in daylight, albeit dull sometimes.

I grew up in the midlands countryside, going to a secondary school with a lopsided catchment (close to a county border) and 7 miles was the furthest village it served. The map says I lived 3 miles away and from memory, I left home by 0830, or 0820 if I was calling in at a friend's house on the way. I remember having to ride home in the dark for a few weeks either side of Christmas when it got dark before 4pm, but not ride in in the dark unless I wanted to be there early for some reason (stowing things in my locker before classes or so on).

[iviehoff]

I went to school in the dark in the winter even though I lived in the SE and we had clock changes.

What time did your school start? Sunrise is no later than 0811 here in King's Lynn, about 100 miles north of London, which I think is as far north as anyone would reasonably call "south east" so most places further south have longer days in winter, and I think schools start 0855, so unless you're more than 7 miles from school, you're travelling in daylight, albeit dull sometimes.

I left the house just after 7. By the time I arrived at school, usually just after 8, it would be light, or nearly so. But the significant part of the journey was walking from our house to the bus terminal, and catching the bus, which would be in the dark. Although I arrived rather early for the school's 0840 start, if I delayed 20 mins for the next timetabled bus, road congestion worsened, the bus journey time became rather uncertain, and there was a serious risk of being late. This sometimes happened anyway as the bus didn't always turn up, or the bus driver would contrive to not let you on - after all you were only school brats, and no one had heard of child protection in those days.

[mjr]

Although I arrived rather early for the school's 0840 start, if I delayed 20 mins for the next timetabled bus, road congestion worsened, the bus journey time became rather uncertain, and there was a serious risk of being late.

School buses were the reason I started cycling to school but at least if the bus was late, we weren't marked as late by the school - a practice that I took advantage of at least once when I had an awkward puncture on the way in.

I wonder if they're still that bad. Surely they can't be. As you say, "child protection" and all that.