In praise of the days of the horse and cart

THE other day, as I waited at the bus stop at the top of Wolfreton Lane on Kingston Road, an old horse and trap came down the roadway with a couple of rag and bone men on board. It was a sight for sore eyes to witness.

As it passed a line of cars came up the back with the first one having a very agitated person at the wheel.

Counting the number of cars in the line, it came to 124 in total.

The faces of many of the drivers in the long line seemed to be puzzled as to why they were held up.

On the other side of the dual carriageway a little queue started to form to turn around the gap into the street opposite. Out of the 124 cars only two had the courtesy to allow the cars to cross into the lane and move on.

It was the new way of life – how possibly could an old horse and cart hold a car up?

What came back was the time in the 1940s when I grew up, that horse and carts were the form of transport of the day.

The milkman delivered his milk from one. The farmer used to go round the streets of Edinburgh selling his wares from the back of the cart.

Even horses and carts were used to transport the dead to their graves and that was not many years ago.

You were able to speak and communicate with each other and not be so entombed.

The old way was certainly better.