For the Monday of their recent York holiday, fbb, Mrs, Julia and David (all varyingly "mature") went on a tour of the Yorkshire Dales in a hire car. There, it has been said; the truth is out; fbb is exposed as a convenience bus user who cynically resorts to a motor car when ...
... public transport is unrealistic. The fbb's chosen route (the red dotted line on the map) was from York to Pateley Bridge, then Lofthouse, Jervaulx, Middleham then across the top to Kettlewell and back via Grassington.
Stops were planned at Pateley Bridge for coffee, Jervaulx Abbey for lunch and Kettlewell for tea.
Pateley Bridge is served hourly on Mondays to Saturdays from Harrogate by Transdev (that's the French Government in disguise!) and additional Sunday Dalesbus journeys ...
... operated by Utopia (as in York service 37, previously blogged) continue via Gouthwaite Reservoir ...
... but the link over the moors from Lofthouse to Jervaulx Abbey is not served by bus. The views, however are superb. The fbbs made a stop to take a look at the Abbey Ruins.
The Abbey is privately owned; and a model of the undamaged magnificence can be viewed in the Abbey tea rooms.
Friend Julia was fascinated by the little building in the bottom right of the model, called euphemistically the "garderobe". The building itself is long gone, but fbb had pleasure in pointing out the evidence for the purpose of that little "shed". fbb showed Julia the "poo-trench"!
Jervaulx is served by Dales and District route 159 running from Ripon to Richmond. North Yorkshire County, enthusiastic supporters of public transport, have typically provided a frame and timetable at the appropriate stop. Jervaulx is served approximately every two hours on Mondays to Saturdays.
The route also serves Middleham where fbb photgraphed the lightly loaded 1423 departure to Richmond.
After a quick visit to Middleham Castle ...
... the party took another bus un-served road across "the tops" to Kettlewell with magnificant views of Great Whernside on the way.
Once at Kettlewell, you join the bus service from Buckden via Grassington to Skipton ...
... whence the fbb's returned to York. The 72 provides a useful connection with the hourly electric train service from Leeds to Skipton.
There is plenty of transport in the Dales, including a wide selection of Sunday only routes advertised under the Dalesbus banner. Ironically, the best source of information for all public transport in the area is published by Metro (West Yorkshire PTE) which administratively and geographically only creeps into the southern fringes. The booklet is simply excellent and can be downloaded or obtained throughout the Dales.
Back to the fbb's first stop at Pateley Bridge. Two positives. One: a delightful "Cafe Delicious" which served appropriately delicious coffee and, impressively, mine hostess came round and offered a top-up. Mind you, fbb is not at all sure what a "way menu" is for him to take!
Two: a really friendly and helpful Tourist Information Centre ...
... where a FULL SET of local timetables was on display. O.K., the full set consists of only two ...
... but it is a 100% score and that is very very rare indeed. Thank you very nice man in charge!
Tomorrow, for a change, we go to hospital in Leicester.
Tomorrow, for a change, we go to hospital in Leicester.
Next blog : Monday 28th May
Thanks very much for the excellent blogs about your York holiday. Full of stories and pictures to gladden the heart of any Yorkshireman !
ReplyDeleteJust one minor niggle about today’s blog – where you say ‘The 72 provides a useful connection with the hourly electric train service from Leeds to Skipton’. This is not quite true on two counts, although there is both good and bad news. The bad news is that the connection is not that useful, as while the 72 arrives as 20 minutes past the hour, the electric train to Leeds departs at 18 minutes past ! However, the good news is that the Leeds trains actually run every half-hour, so there is only 28 minutes to wait – and even better this can be spent in the excellent Skipton Station Café which is run by the Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company.
Alternatively, you could catch the 32 minutes past to Keighley, Shipley and Bradford - all of which have delights of their own !
Thank you for that correction. Once in the past I have connected; but I cannot remember how successful or otherwise it was. I do remember that our journey from Grassington was on a schooltime trip and my chum and I were the only adults on a vehicle crowded with about 900 excited school children (we have to call them "students" now)except for the driver who was about 12! Scary!
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