"Previous to the running of the bus service there was no public transport except by taxi and the railway. Bicycles and shank's pony were often used instead. The early buses were very primitive. They were open to the wind and rain and were of the Charabanc type. They improved over the years and eventually took most of the passengers from the railway, which Mr. Beecham closed down."
"Mother and Dad usually went on an outing to see the pantomime at Leicester just before Christmas time. A party of about six people hired one of Frank Hall's taxies to take them to Leicester but we children had to enjoy it second hand, hearing about it from our parents."
"When we wanted to start at a different station, or to go to some village where there was no railway station, we had to find some means of transport. Mr. Olerenshaw, who lived near to the station in Broughton Astley, kept a small pony called Kitty and a Governess Cart, or Tub as we called it. And for a shilling or two he would drive us to our destination. Mr Olerenshaw was short tounged and stuttered badly. "P'od On Titty", he would call out to Kitty when she was not going fast enough for him. So he became known in the village as 'Pod On'. Occasionally we would visit Mother's cousin Eliza at Stockingford, near Nuneaton. To get there we had to catch a train at Croft Station, about two and a half miles away and it was Pod On who took us there. Our journeys with Pod On were usually either to the station in Croft or to the one in Ashby Magna."
"Ashby Magna station was situated near Dunton Bassett, just inside the parish boundary of Ashby Magna. It was on the Great Central Railway line. The name was changed to the London North Eastern Railway. This railway was built in the late 1880s but because of Beecham's Axe it is now closed. It is surprising that after the enormous cost of building a railway line, its life should be ended within 100 years. Now running along side of it is the motorway, the M1, teaming with traffic, and the railway line is overgrown with bushes and just a conservation area. A few hundred yards to the West runs the old Turnpike Road, running between Lutterworth and Leicester. This road was built before both the railway and the motorway but became very crowded with motor traffic. It is still busy today but the M1 has taken a lot of traffic from it."
