Glossop to Holmfirth
PART TWO
South Pennine 351 travels a road otherwise unserved by bus. It runs along the southern bank of Torside Reservoir leaving the Woodhead Road unserved on the north bank.
The light coloured gently curving line is the former Woodhead rail route, now a footpath at this point. The "village" shown in the timetable as Torside ...
... is hardly a huge settlement. There was a level crossing ...
The main "Torside" location is where leisure facilities are provided for water activity on the reservoir. There is just one house on the main road.
fbb guesses that there will not be many customers for the Saturdays only 351!
After a short bumble along the A428, it is a left fork for Holmfirth ...
The Derbyshire map (above) runs out and we do not get any cartographical confidence until we are almost the Holmfirth. This is blasted heath moorland territory and greets the bus passenger with gorgeous moorland views.
Holme Moss TV transmitter soon looms into view. almost on the county boundary.
We have left Derbyshire (well signed!) ...
... and are now in West Yorkshire (unacknowledged).
We soon arrive at Holme. (As in Holme Moss, Holme, Holme Bridge and Holmfirth!) where we meet a "proper" bus, running every hour ...
... a frequency which seems very generous for the territory. There is a turning circle south of the village of Holme.
Note the shelter well placed near the bus stop pole and flag. NOT!
The complex block of services between Huddersfield and Holmfirth ...
... is branded Holme Valley Connection woth bright red livery appendages.
As we join the West Yorkshire PTE map ...
... we join the Holmfirth local H5 at Holmbridge. It is run by Stotts Coaches Monday to Friday only.
This is the excellent scenic run enjoyed by Sheffield correspondent Roy, departing from Glossop ...
... and arriving at the dinky bus station nicely created in the centre of Holmfirth.
There are four stands, and, according to Roy, at least one of them was somewhat unkempt.
Roy has not told fbb what he did after arriving - or, indeed, how he got back to Sheffield. T M Travel's 29 would get him at least as far as Chapeltown.
The 29, incidentally, calls at Dunford Bridge, once an important "happening" on the Woodhead rail route ...
... alas now just a hole in the ground.
Assuming Roy came straight back on the 1015, he might have had just time for a bevvy and a bun in "Sid's Cafe" just across the road from the bus station.
Sid (John Comer) and Ivy's (Jane Freeman) watering hole ...
... was once a paint store for the hardware shop "next door". It was converted into the famous cafe for Last of the Summer Wine.
So many people came looking for the iconic caff that the owners decided to open it for real.
But fbb doesn't know exactly what Roy did - maybe he is still there!
Boxes And Noah's Ark
Of course you got the link! No?
Ark comes from the latin for "chest" or "box".
The "Ark of the Covenant" (as in Raiders of the Lost ditto) ...
... was a rather posh box!
It seems highly likely that Noah's "Ark" was NOT a boat because it was not going anywhere. The Bible says it "drifted on the surface".
Whether there was a world-wide flood or just the inundation of the world of the Bible people, the "box" that Noah (and possibly a few chums) built is much more realistic - and believable - than the "pretty" versions we use for the kiddies story.
Next Leicester blog : Wednesday 3rd November
It's worth pointing out that service 29 is now the only one linking Sheffield with anywhere in West Yorkshire, with one departure for Holmfirth on Mondays to Saturdays, and a through return journey only on Saturdays. At least that's the Travel South Yorkshire version - FBB's GoTimetable Sheffield tells a different story, which I don't think is correct.
ReplyDeleteLong gone are the days when Sheffield's Central Bus Station saw regular departures throughout the day for the likes of Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield.