Is It A Fable, This Timetable?

 

It is odd how word meanings change over the centuries. A "fable" was always a pleasant but totally false tale, perhaps with a hidden meaning. Somehow, the falseness becomes lost and the hidden meaning changes to "something very special" when we use the word "fabulous" meaning "like a fable".

South Yorkshire PTE's route 18 in Sheffield ...

... could never be described as fabulous in the sense of being "something very special".

It is almost as if First Bus, under PTE influence, have operated a policy, over the years, of placating passengers who have lost their bus service by diverting or extending this "fabulous" service 18.

It starts its hourly trajectory at Hillsborough Interchange ...

... which comes complete with buses, trams, enquiry office and even atoilet! Sadly, not everything ventures into the bus station - there isn't room - so it can be quite a challenge to find your bus if you are changing!

The 18 then takes a magical mystery tour round Sheffield's Northern suburbs.

The Shirecliffe "loop" once had a bus every 15 minutes direct to the city. Now it has none, but buses do link the city and nearby Longley Hall.

This late 1960s development is served by frequent (?) cross city routes 97 and 98 ...

... so the 18 is not alone. Longley Park used to have a popular outdoor swimming pool with diving board ...

... alas now expunged from history.

You might expect there to be a footpath through from Longley Hall to the Northern General Hospital (NGH on map) ...

... but all routes are impassable unless the potential patient has a good level of cross country ot parcour skills.

Unlikely - but when the Longley Hall development was built the Hospital was very much smaller than it is today. It is possible to walk from the 18 but it would be better if it served one or other of the main entrances.

Next our 18 wends it wiggly way to Firth Park, a bus bus interchange point.

Whilst bus stops are well labelled individually, there is no plan of the accumulation of stops. The unwary passenger, seeking to interchange will often struggle.

But the big excitement is at Grimesthorpe.

Margate Drive is a small estate ot flats and maisonette properties designed for the "older generation" so public transport was considered essential by Sheffield City Council.

Once served by two direct buses an hout into the city, the housing now has a very occasional route 5 and an hourly 137. The 18 was originally designed to get the residents a little further afield, e.g. to Meadowhall or even Hillsborough.

The convoluted routes to and from Margate Drive ...

... are a mess because the road system was "improved" making access more difficult for the buses.

For various reasons, however, from next moth, the 18 is withdrawn from Margate Drive!

But worry not, hapless residents. When you are safely ensconced on your sofa in front of "Corrie", "Enders" or "Brookie" and you don't want to go out, the ever thoughtful PTE has tendered the 18a to call round for you in the evening - but not during the day..

Just to encourage usage, Margate Drive is not mentioned in the timetable, so you probably won't be looking anyway.

Margate Drive sits between Darnall and Meadowhell.

The original outer circle ran via Low Wincobank, but old and new became bosom friends from Attercliffe onwards as far as Woodseats..

For reasons unknown to fbb (and probably completely forgotten by the PTE) the evening and Sunday 18a takes a short nip along to Norton Village.

The 18a evening buses ...

... do augment a somewhat cut-back frequency on Stagecoach route 1.

But whether crowds are streaming to the bus stops in Norton Village ...

... later in the evening and all day Sundays such that the 18a is worth its double run must be doubtful.

Usually these unexplained bits of tendered routes are serving areas where a very vocal local councillor lives and where he has a double garage for his family cars

Cynical, moi?

But the main change to the 18 from September is a doubling of frequency over part of the route.

The reason for this will have to wait until the PTE has managed to publish ALL the new timetables!

In the meantime a look at the incomplete western section of of the fbb map.

The much missed Sheffield Transport Outer Circle continued to circle via the posh districts on the west of the city plus the utterly gorgeous run via the Rivelin Valley.

Surely there is a market today to run an open topper that way?

Sheffield Transport buses turned back towards Malin Brige at Rivelin Post Office. Long since closed, this Post Office must have been the most ill-used within the city boundaries.

But even in the happy pre-technology days of Sheffield Transport Department, the managers did sometimes get things wrong.

The label on the doors said, unequivocally, Rivelin BRIDGE Post Office.

The bosses were told, but they never made the correction.

Typical!

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 17th August