More From Glossop.
Buses from Manchester to Glossop did, historically extend beyond the centre. One route went to old Glossop ...
... where it reversed under the guidance of the conductor and his whistle. Today the view is little changed ...
... and just round the corner on Shepley Street, when the 125 has just egressed ...
... is a bus stop. But we don't want to give you that - oh. no, dear reader. With the advent of one man operation, conductor-less and whistle-less reversing were considered less than "safe", so buses proceeded along Shepley Street, past the Meadow Mills, somewhat changed from Old Glossop's heritage ...
But bus stop is there none. Buses now come down Hope Street, stop at the stop and turn right into Shepley Street to reach the ever welcoming Arms of the Queen.
Old Glossop lost its bus through to Manchester long ago. Its replacement, the 390 serves Old Glossop with a loop.
Despite the asterisks and the mixture of light and dark blue on Derbyshire's out of date map. All the 390s loop at Old Glossop ...
... and, as usual, the timetable is not shown properly. Why can't you go TO the Queens Arms? Her Majesty's times (0752, 0815, 0854 and so on) should be shown below Old Glossop Buckshaw Road on the lower, outbound table.
High Peak are equally guilty on their own table, slavishly copied by Derbyshire.
Old Glossop, by the way, was Glossop before (new) Glossop existed and (new) Glossop renamed Glossop as Old Glossop.
Thus Old Glossop has lost its connection with Manchester; a change in (new) Glossop is now required.
The original community was just a small village on the edge of the Pennines.
As the industrial revolution spread through the other Glossopdale villages, the "new" Glossop grew and became and important community. The original spread a little further to serve Meadow Mills, but the main residential and commercial growth was with its supplanter! Eventually the upstart added "Old" to its progenitor's name and Old Glossop sank into near obscurity.
The other destination for Manchester buses beyond Glossop centre was "The Royal Oak" a pub on the A57 just before the road climbs up to the Snake Pass.
Here buses from/to Manchester simply swung road, using a wide splay of Hurst Road ...
... parked where white van is resting in the picture above. Maybe an aerial view will help.
Queens Drive has thus ousted the traditional Royal Oak terminus. The route is operated, once again, by High Peak ...
... as 393, linking Hadfield, Padfiield, Glossop and Shirebrook Park, soon to be joined at the latter by Hulleys X56. The printed timetable doesn't really do justice to the services travel opportunities ...
... as you really need Queens Drive and Shirebrook Park repeated at the top of the table. Maybe nobody travels from Shirebrook Park to the 1930s comedy duo of Hadfield and Padfield (a song, a dance and flags of all nations).
Once again, all this interest provoke by just one chapter in the Long Reach Book.
And fbb has not begun to revise and extend his knowledge of the Manchester ...
... and Ashton joint trolleybus network.
And a reminder that "the Long Reach" is available from Manchester Transport Museum reduced from £17 to £14 AND with free postage.
If you know Manchester it is an excellent read, packed with gloriously nostalgic pictures and heaps of useful information. If, like fbb, your detailed knowledge of the greater Manchester network is less than complete, this book is an really helpful and stimulating starter to more detailed study.
It will keep fbb happy for weeks!
--------------------------------------------------
Happily At Hestercombe
The fbb's visit to meet up with friends was a very pleasant time. The grounds are beautiful ...
... if a little frayed at the edges under the present unprecedented circumstances. The French Marigolds were gorgeous ...
... as was the Lutyens designed orangery (now without oranges).
... open daily - only it was closed and, moan number one, this deficiency was not mentioned anywhere and only became apparent when the gang arrived at the doorway of the big house to repair to the said Column Room.
The other moan was the pharisaic and threatening interpretation of the mask-erade rules and recommendations. It was a bit like doing the hokey-cokey ...
Put you face mask on
Go for a pee
Take your face mask off
Put your face mask on
Pay at the the pay desk
Take your face mask off
Put you face mask on
Order your food from the counter
Take your face mask off
Eat the food
Face mask on, face mask off
Do the safety safety
Or end up in the jug.
Etc etc. The aggressive notices conveying this over-reactive nonsense were unpleasant and unnecessary and spoilt the day for fbb. AND they didn't have proper table service!
But, if you can stand the threats, it is a thoroughly pleasant place to go.
But utterly inaccessible by Public Transport.
--------------------------------------------
Next Weekend Variety blog : Saturday 26th September
Wearing a mask makes doesn't make it easy for the bus driver, when a passenger asks for a ticket to Padfield or Hadfield.
ReplyDeleteAs the map key clearly says, (http://www.derbysbus.info/images/glossop.pdf), the light blue and asterisk shows a hail and ride section. I'm not sure what confused FBB there.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, whilst FBB does sometimes have a point on showing loop workings, these are local town services, and not really that difficult to work out that you can travel across Glossop. Or can you? Perhaps they are interworked with another service, and you must change buses to continue your journey? Or perhaps a reader doesn't notice the duplicate entry, and wonders why they can travel from Queens Drive TO Glossop but not back, because they aren't looking for the second entry? Perhaps when a town service runs as a series of continuous loops like this, they should just be shown in one long column so all the possibilities all day are never at risk of confusion? Or each loop shown separately, with no mention that you can travel across town?
It is FBB's *preference* that incomplete parts of loop workings are shown in both directions, it is categorically not *incorrect*, as different users will see their needs differently.