Bus Rides Bought from Bawtry [1]

An Old Nottinghamshire Folk Song goes something like this ...

Oh dear, what can the matter be?

When are the buses from Bawtry to Mattersey?

What are the times from Monday to Saturday?

And what will I pay for the fare?

... although some may know other words. 

This is Bawtry, located on the south eastern tip of South Yorkshire but with the boundary of Nottinghamshire literally a few hundred yards south of the town centre.

It is from this stop that an exploring fbb would catch a bus to Mattersey. But why?

Border towns give fbb the opportunity to compare information provision from bus operator, South Yorkshire PTE and Nottinghamshire County Council; because, oddly in this electronic bits and bytes world, they all present timetables differently.

So let's, first, take an introductory tour of Stagecoach service 27 between Bawtry and Mattersey Thorpe.

The service appears to be a particularly parlous provision which we will examine in more detail tomorrow. Three peak time trips and nowt else. For now, we sally forth to Scaftworth which, astoundingly still has a bus service, despite being, well, small. It does have the King William pub ...

... a manor and a few cottages. The turn from the Bawtry direction is anonymous, just behind the lorry.

Whereas approaching from the east there is one tiny sign.

It must have been fun, way back, before the hamlet was bypassed, as here in the 1930s map extract.

The bypass is long standing (post WW2?) and has been turned into a whizzo dual carriageway bit of the A631.

fbb would have expected nothing but a layby on the dual carriageway; but buses venture into the village.

We move on to Everton, where most journeys stop on the A631 at the Sun Inn ...

... although daytime journeys running between here and Retford nip up to the village centre, just off to the left, mainly for the convenience of an easy turn. Onward we go to Mattersey itself, where we miss the pretty bit ...

... as we turn right ...

... for the "double run" to Mattersey Thorpe. An initial glance suggests that the peak time journeys on the service 27 timetable are about the lot. But, as Jimmy Cricket would say ...

... there's more.

Take a look at those as yet unexplained notes.

Black Blob : covers schoolday variations

Letter E : is for buses that dive into Everton Village

The Star : refers us to Service 27A "Phon-a-Bus"

And the 27A provides two extra journeys from Bawtry via Everton available by pre-booking via the "phon". So maybe things are a little better than they might first appear at the delightful Mattersey Thorpe.

The village consists of a few "done up" cottages enhanced (?) by a substantial excrescence of dormitory property.

Tomorrow we will see. And, astoundingly, there will be a few words of congratulation for Travel South Yorkshire. But fear not, regular aficionados of TSY and the fat bus bloke, there'll be a laugh or two as well.

We go in search of the elusive service 27A

 Next Blog : due Tuesday February 21st