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Information taken from HARGRAVE - A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE.
May 2004

Whilst East Anglia’s road network may be considered to be inadequate to the demands being placed upon it at the dawn of the new Millennium, Hargrave has its fair share of minor links within the local network. This is evidenced by the reasonably large number of heavy lorries that regularly route through the village, to the concern of many residents.  Routes to the neighbouring towns and villages are reasonably direct, and as Hargrave has no shops or school, residents need to travel to reach such facilities. The majority of workers also travel out of the village to their workplace.

The nearest railway station is located nine miles away in Bury St.Edmunds, which provides access to a service on the Peterborough to Ipswich line. Cambridge and Stowmarket are both twenty-four miles away by road, from which stations inter-city trains for distance travel to the north or south of the country can be obtained.

The nearest airport is located at Stansted some forty miles away. However, many international journeys would require travel to Heathrow airport which is over ninety miles away by road and two and three-quarter hours journey by rail.

Hargrave’s dependence upon the private car was highlighted by residents’ response in our recent survey -  ‘that very few experience transport difficulties in regard to shopping or travel to work’.  The average ownership of motorised transport (cars, vans and motor cycles) is 1.8 per household. Car ownership amounts to 1.5 (average) per household and 68% of these are used for journeys to work or education outside Hargrave.  Taxis are used, weekly, by less than 1.5% of our residents.  The school bus service which is provided by the County Council is well used, but the use of a car by some households for transport to school, indicates that the service is not fully comprehensive.

Our survey also indicated that the majority of our residents are resigned to the use of their cars for work, or for shopping and leisure, despite the present national concern to find alternatives to the car. Almost half of our respondents to a question regarding the desirability of improvements to the bus service, stated that they had no opinion on the matter, and most of those that did indicate interest, wished for improved time-tabling. One bus is routed through the village each morning, except on Sunday, for travel to Bury St. Edmunds, and this service is increased to two buses during school terms. A further bus service, also to Bury St.Edmunds, is available from the southern edge of the village each morning.  This rather meagre service reflects the national problem of the financial viability of rural bus services, and does not provide a viable alternative to the private car.