Tuesday 27 September 2011

A Delightful Derbyshire Derwent Diversion [4]

Grovelling apology department : added at 0940 on Tuesday 27th.
When this blog was prepared, the published timetable for buses via Bamford was incomplete; so fbb reported NO Sunday service. This has now "appeared" and is available by clicking on the appropriate heading below. The incorrrect comment has been removed from the blog!
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 fbb's quirky snippet department:
This from Ian Allan's latest (e-)mailing:-
Honk, Honk : Honky-Tonk : Honk Kong?
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Back to the blog ...

By Bus to Bamford, still!

By 1981, buses via the A57 to Derwent and Bamford were almost moribund. This was the winter timetable ...
... with a barely noticeable improvement on Sundays in summer, namely a couple of journeys to the Snake and on to Glossop. An increasing emphasis on leisure activities based on a much improved dam-side visitor centre at Fairholmes ...
...combined with funding from Derbyshire County Council, stopped the rot. On Sundays, Bank Holidays and summer Saturdays, cars are banned from the road north of Fairholmes; so it's walk, cycle or take the specially provided shuttle bus.
So the timetable today offers two Monday to Saturday service 241 journeys via Bamford to Bakewell.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Travel South Yorshire leaflet if it didn't have a few weird bludners, so the map for the Bakewell journeys seems to think some of them go a different way; or maybe a spooky, unadvertised gi-normous one way loop. 
None of them go via Baslow according to the timetable, or do they?; but that's what happens when you rely on expensive Swedish software. Cue for an investigation by Kurt Wallander?
Then there's a "mixed bag" of mainly 242 trips via Bamford to Castleton. The 51A is basically a schoolday bus for Tapton School which, despite what the timetable says, does stop at Crosspool near the Post Office.
On Sundays, the timetable provides additional links from Chesterfield and to Derwent.
The keen and omnibologically savvy reader would be forgiven for expecting the whole lot to be expunged from history from 30th October; an ideal case for the dreaded cutbacks.

Needless to say TSY is, as yet, telling us nothing; except for the following "future" changes ...
...from September 5th 2011. Shouldn't that be past changes, TSY?
Even the usually efficient Derbyshire appears to be struggling with its data management this time.
Traveline Yorkshire is equally trappist on the matter.

But the fearless fbb has delved into the dark and dismal depths of Tr*v*l*ne **st M*dl*nds and can reveal, the surprising good news, that the service is actually improved. Notable is a return journey to Derwent Monday to Saturday; and four journeys on Sunday, three via Derwent.

Full timetables from 30th October are available here:-


and for completeness 


You read it here first!

Always happy to to give a helping hand to Travel South Yorkshire; boy do they need it!

And for incompleteness, the 272 [Sheffield to Castleton via Fox House] is not included above because the only noteworthy change is the withdrawal of the 0640 journey from Sheffield. Blog readers may amuse themselves spotting the other change, namely the difference between Sunday evening journeys before and after 30th October.
Presumably there is a good reason for the 2 minute change at Hunters Bar on Sundays; SIX whole minutes for the 1.1 miles from there to Ecclesall? Must be because of the hill?

Next blog : Wednesday September 28th  

2 comments:

  1. A few points:

    None of the changes to be made at the end of October were included in the consultation that Derbyshire made at the beginning of the year.

    One that was is the withdrawal of their share of funding of the Derwent Dams shuttle service, which is less frequent since July, as it is now one bus instead of two. This remaining service has continuing subsidy from the Peak Park.

    Derbyshire's timetable page now makes more sense, but the new timetable for the 273 group is still unavailable. I hope that Traveline EM version is wrong in that it has the Monday-Friday calls at Fairholmes as "pick up only", in both directions!

    Derbyshire's "forthcoming changes" page includes withdrawal of 373 and 473, Sunday services across the Snake Pass. I think these have been advertised to operate during the winter in previous years - it will be interesting to see if they re-appear at Easter.

    Finally, talking of bludners, your version of 218 has departures from Bakewell at 9.30 and hourly to 18.30, but note that the 16.40 is different. What 16.40?

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  2. Whoops! Should be 1630 : correction a.s.a.p. : Thanks

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