Heather – West Linton Scottish Borders
Having had to wait a few months after turning seventeen to begin driving lessons Heather was very excited to begin driving lessons. I had already had the pleasure of helping her brothers a few years earlier so she was going to be the last one to get on the road. Living in West Linton having a driving licence brings so much freedom as the local bus routes and times are limited.
After going out a few times Heather seemed to pick things up quickly and with the help of her mum and dad started to practice with them outwith driving lessons. This really sped the progress up and because Heather’s mum and dad had been out with her brothers they knew exactly what standard they were trying to achieve. I often passed Heather out on the road practising with her dad while I was on other driving lessons which was good to see how often she was getting to go out.
Heather was lucky enough to find, sit and pass her theory test at the end of 2020 meaning she could book her driving test when she felt ready. As the second lockdown happened in Scotland Heather had to limit her driving practice as she was technically no longer allowed into Edinburgh to practice. She kept things local and got to drive on some of the essential journeys around the West Linton area. Heather booked a driving test for the very end of April which at the time sounded great as nobody knew how long the second lockdown would last. Heather was then very unlucky with this as restrictions lifted at the end of April with tests starting on the first week of May. Missing the test dates by one week Heather had to try and find another test date which was going to be a challenge. She managed to get a date for the start of August which she settled on. We went out on driving lessons here and there between April and her test in August, and Heather continued practising with her mum and dad regularly.
On the day of Heathers driving test, I was really confident that she would manged no problem at all, around 30 minutes before her test it started raining in Edinburgh, not just regular rain. Rain was bouncing off the road and causing massive puddles and starting to flood areas. It was horrible but Heather handled it well. Fortunately, it only lasted around 15 minutes so then when Heather did her driving test the weather seemed a bit more stable. Heather went on to pass her driving test on her first attempt which was really exciting and now gives her the freedom to come and go from West Linton when she wasnts.
