Why fly when you can holiday in UK?

When our children were young we set off in the car for many days out. We couldn’t afford to go away on holiday, but they’ve seen some of the wonders of England; they’ve seen Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill and much more, including most of the castles and open gardens of south east England. Without a car there is no way they could have seen those things, with us living in Essex or Kent; public transport would not have been an option.

My wife and I have travelled the length and breadth of the country by car; we’ve seen Offa’s Dyke and Symonds Yat on the Welsh borders, the flooded levels of Somerset, Hadrians Wall and Lindisfarne in the north and the Wash in the east.

England, Wales and Scotland have so much to offer, but much of it is only accessible to those with a car; to restrict car ownership or car usage is to deny people access to their own heritage; city dwellers might not realise it but there is such a huge diversity of places in the country, most of which are not in city centres and accessible by train - a car is essential.

And not some limited range and recharge electric vehicle, a car with a sufficient load capacity to accommodate holidaymakers, a car that will eat up the miles and leave you relaxed at the end of the journey, a car that will not leave you sitting in the interminable traffic jams of the M6 anxiously watching your battery power drain away.

In January we helped our daughter move to Newcastle, a 712-mile round trip - we couldn’t have done that in an electric vehicle!

Of course, while criss-crossing the country in our car, what we have not done is flown abroad, not because we are saving the planet but because there is so much to see here at home - so let’s hear it for stay-at-home tourism - and it’s good for the economy.

Orchard Close, Canterbury