Number 25 Route

Now Boy is back at school I am once again free to ride around the buses. Which I have been doing pretty much every day this week. I was trying to discover what exactly it was about the 25 bus route that I found so fascinating. Like all of the routes that run through Norwich it links opposite sides of the city. The buses are usually double decker in pretty good repair. No screaming breaks or banging clutches for the university runs. In fact, some of them are so new they still have that plasticky upholstery smell.

I decided today that the reason I love the route is because it shows off the different sides of Norwich. The leafy village feel of Unthank Road and the University against the bustling, urban, business side found in Prince of Wales Road and the relatively new Riverside development. The city centre holds these two opposites apart with oven gloves, chrome and glass Chapelfield shopping centre butted up against the old cobbled city walls. The greenery of the wealthy, studenty part of town, against the night clubs and kebab takeaways. It's not an entirely comfortable fit, but there's an energy in the opposition which makes Norwich compelling.

Life on the Buses

One of the things I've noticed when travelling round Norwich, is that the bus users are generally quite polite. When the bus stops and passengers get off, most say 'cheers' or 'thanks'. Which I never thought about it particularly until I got on a bus in London. Not only do people ignore each other completely, staring fixedly at the chewing gum splodged on the floor, and avoiding all eye contact, but when someone acts courteously, like giving up a seat for an elderly, or pregnant woman, there is a round of tuts of disapproval.

This week, I saw a harrassed mother to a small child trying to manage said child, collapsable and unwieldy buggy, plus three large bags of shopping. Two other passengers got up, one lifted the buggy out, the other grabbed her shopping, while she convinced her small child that they really needed to get OFF now. The bus driver joked with her as she tried to get to grips with everything; no one looked grumpy, or put off by the small delay. Only when she finally got small child strapped into the re-assembled buggy and drapped her shopping over the handles, did the bus driver pull away. He had wanted to make sure she had got everything. I like living in Norwich.