From John Pitcher, Dover:

The Island is a great place to visit

Superb coastal scenery, even white cliffs. Hundreds of foot passengers arrive every day on the ferries, and thanks to transport integration, onward journeys by train or bus couldn’t be easier.

I arrived at my destination about 8.30pm and though the information office was closed, copies of bus timetables were thoughtfully left outside.

Though there have been cut-backs in rural areas, there are frequent buses between the main towns which run until late evening, including Sundays, and some services, I’m told, run even on Christmas Day!

Litter and dog-mess are rare and public toilets, though some have closed, are still adequate in the main centres.

It sounds quite like my home town of Dover, but only in some respects.

But at least we have our high-speed rail service, of which I’m sure the IW and everywhere else are highly envious. And our coast and countryside can compete. Also thinking of the great selection of pubs and eateries at our disposal, I suppose there are a lot worse places than Dover after all, so I shan’t be emigrating just yet.

I may be being frivolous, but let me explain.

When foot passengers from Calais arrive in Dover, they don’t have an easy time. The bus taking them from the ferry to the railway station was withdrawn about three years ago and the port is not served by local buses either.

People have to find their own way across town to the railway station or main bus stop about a mile away. In short, arriving in Dover as a foot passenger should not be undertaken by the feint-hearted.

New bus timetables are available on line, for those who can find them, but in print are in short supply or non-existent, even now, a month after they should have been provided.

In the evenings and on Sundays, services are few and far between, with large urban areas, as well as rural communities, having nothing at all.