I got an Uber-style minibus to pick me up from a country pub near Bristol for only £2

I love walking the beautiful countryside around Bristol. Whether it be taking paths along winding rivers or clambering up hill forts for amazing views, I’ve found ambling a good way to clear the head.

Each walk takes some planning. I have the Ordnance Survey app on my phone and I can spend longer drawing up a route with points of interest, usually including a pub of course, than actually doing the thing.

But I always face one issue; how do I get to the start from my house, and how do I get back?

Rural bus services the way they are mean I have often have drive my car to the starting the point. That means I need to go on a circular walk. And it means only one pint at that wondeful village pub(s) I discover on my way.

But all of a sudden, there appears to be a new way - and, as I discovered, it’s clever, cheap and, frankly, brilliant.

We’d been sent the press releases on the new WESTLink bus service, and we’d spoken to a woman who managed to save more than £15 getting to Bristol Airport on one of the services - and now I thought I’d try it myself.

Having mapped a walk from Pensford to Stanton Drew, I logged on the WESTLink app on my mobile phone, providing my bank details and confirmed my current location. And just like on an Uber app, I then typed my destination which was Pensford and scheduled the journey for a little over half an hour’s time.

To my surprise, it quickly booked me in, told me the name of my driver and provided me details on the minibus. It then showed me the stop I’d be getting onboard at - a five minute walk from my home. This all felt too good to be true.

Half an hour before the ride, I got a text message alerting me of my upcoming booking. And on the app I was able to see the minibus on a map parked up at the stop as I walked over on foot.

The friendly driver opened the door to the brand new Mercedes vehicle. ‘Just you’, he said after I asked if we were picking any other passengers. Within 20 minutes, I was stepping off the minibus at the bus stop on Pensford Bridge - it was that easy.

I got my phone back out again and booked a return journey from Stanton Drew for an hour and a half later - the walk, I worked out, would take my 40 minutes, and I wanted time for a drink at the Druids Arms in the village.

And so I walked through Pensford, over the old bridge and past the church before joining a footpath along the River Chew and under the huge viaduct. The pathway was busy with walkers and I was rarely alone as I marched through fields away from Pensford.

It was not long before I was walking up a trackway, past the stone circles at Stanton Drew, and on to a village road where I turned left to find the pretty Druids Arms, where dozens of people were stood outside basking in the warm sunshine.

I looked at my watch and I did have time for a drink, and some chips. And then, like clockwork, my phone buzzed to tell me my lift was near. I walked outside and saw him waiting for me up the road. I waved, and amazingly he actually picked me up from outside the pub - what service!

A 20-minute drive home followed - a different way, interestingly - with no passengers to pick up again. I got off and checked the reciepts on my phone. That was £2 for each of the five-mile trips. Quite incredible value, especially considering a colleague paid £20 a head for a taxi from the pub to Bristol recently.

The WESTLink is being provided by the West of England Combined Authority for a two-year period, and there is a possiblity of it being extended. Be it a lack of advertising or cautiousness from the public, it appears not too many people are using it from my two solo trips.

The service currently operates in three zones around Bristol, but also includes areas in the south east of the city as well as Filton and Bradley Stoke. It has 30 buses picking up passengers from more than 1,800 designated stops.

And it’s already got me planning my next country pub walk next weekend.