(13 Sep 2013, 9:36 am)eezypeazy wrote Even in the heydays of the 1950s, public transport in Hexham's 'hinterland' was very thin. Anyone who lives beyond Allenheads or Bellingham has never had a bus service that would enable them to commute into Newcastle, for example (though it's perfectly possible even today from Newbrough, Allenheads and Allendale Town). So people who are "forced to drive into Hexham" have never had another option, so it's not a question of being 'forced'; it's a question of knowing that if, for whatever reason, you live somewhere remote, you might suffer from isolation if you can't drive (an issue that the HoC Transport Select Committee is currently considering).
If you really want to get into semantics....
Of course they are forced - there is no other option, either now or in the past from some of the of the outlying villages into Hexham.
If there is no bus from my home to work, then (required by circumstances) I am forced by virtue, into choosing an alternative mode of transport to get to work.
If there is a bus, but it doesn't get me to my destination directly, I am forced into changing.