Sarah Todd: A pony ride home sets off nostalgic journey back in time

While his big sister is more into action, like jumping, there's nothing he likes more than an old-fashioned hack. There was nearly embarrassment when he got on though, as his school trousers proved rather tight for leg-ups.

My gran telephoned the evening of the school ride and reminisced about her mother collecting her from the classroom in "the pony and trap". This was only on rainy days mind, the rest of the time it was a walk of a good many miles. Isn't that interesting? She's in her 90s now, but that really isn't all that very long ago. How transport has changed.

My other grandmother talks fondly of cycling from York to Scarborough as a girl. Together with a friend she stopped off near Malton for a drink and something to eat, sometimes having a swim in the River Derwent, then carried on to the coast for a dip in the sea.

She's the first to admit that the roads back then were nowhere near as busy. But still she is amazed by our cotton wool world, where letting children bike a mile to school recently got some parents in the news.

Sadly, we won't be making a daily habit of riding to school. It was a one-off, a bit of a treat. Our road is just too busy at school pick-up and drop-off time. The pony is wonderful in traffic, plodding along regardless.

It's human beings who are the worry. If we had a pound for every time a driver squeezed past us as we overtook parked cars – rather than waiting an extra moment or two for us to get past – we'd have been able to buy a drink at the pub on the way home.

This, incidentally, is the young jockey's absolute favourite pastime.

To go on a ride that involves a stop-off at the bar for a bottle of juice and a packet of crisps.

Talking of bottles, it was interesting to hear talk about resurrecting the return of empties for cash refunds.

As well as supplementing youngsters' pocket money, the scheme helped keep litter down, raised thousands of pounds for charity with volunteer litter picks and encouraged green habits long before it became trendy.

Those of a certain age will remember fondly the profitable pastime of taking empty pop bottles back to the shop to collect cash refunds.

Now David Cameron is considering bringing back deposit refunds on bottles and drink cans, telling the House of Commons that he is supportive of the proposal by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Supermarkets and other stores aren't keen, but hopefully their won't be sufficient opposition to brush such a good idea aside. Incidentally, we counted 12 bottles and cans in the hedge bottoms on our ride home from school.