What fbb was somewhat less f, merely chubby and aged circa 5 or 56, he rode his trike on an imagined "bus route" ...
... whence his virtual passengers could change to a big Yorks bus into town. Don't tell the Parish Council, but he even drew a stylised hot cross bun shape on a few concrete lampposts ...
... with a thick black wax crayon to serve as bus stops. No hail-and-ride operations were considered!
70 years later, even the concrete lampposts have gone and the church bus stop has moved but fbb's interest in bus timetables - the way buses are operated and publicised - still forms a significant part of the old man's life.
You can learn such a lot about a place from its bus timetables and now, with the added richness of Google Streetview, you can explore without the burden of travel.
So what about Goseley Estate, then? Here it is on Midland Classic's excellent network map ...
... which, using the convention of a "cased" blue line, shows a very paltry offering.
Service 4 runs every hour from Burton along the A444, turning left at Stanton ...
... once a non-event of a hamlet but now enhanced by ribbon development along the main road. The "Inn" had become Kate's Kitchen and was for sale again when Google burbled by.
It is now the Blue Burton Indian nosh-house and take-away.
The Methodist Church at the left hand turn looks active, or at least was active before the lockdown ...
... pictured here with an Arriva 29 which follows most of the 4 route ...
... or did until it was "temporarily" curtailed at Swad.
So why the poor service beyond Swad "bus park" (a k a bus station) ...
... on to Goseley Estate.
Note, in passing, the time point at Stanton is shown as "Urban Chef" which is nearer Burton than the original "village". It was a "Little Chef", became a Happy Chef ...
... and now trades as Urban Chef.
Incidentally, we have left the delights of East Staffordshire just beyond the Urban Chef and a step or two nearer Burton ...
... we are now in Derbyshire. A little south of Goseley Estate we pass into Leicestershire ...
... where the boundary runs along the A511 for a couple of miles. In doing so, it passes through a hamlet with a really original name.
Arriva 29 is the bus to take and, at its full length all the way to Burton, it, too passes through the three counties and has a stop at Boundary on the boundary of Leicestershire.
But we digress.
Goseley Estate looks in good condition ...
... with an apparently thriving shop and take-away.
So why so few buses?
Aha! Goseley Estate hides a dark secret! Traveline calls it Hartshorne ...
... and Arriva runs hourly from Swad; service 2 to/from Derby.
But Arriva calls it Goseley Estate.
And Hartshorne?
It is a substantial village a good stride further on from Goseley Estate which, if you need a further descriptor, is at Woodville - and Hartshorne (village) IS served by Arriva 2 ...
... although not a time point.
Thanks a bunch for confusing everybody, Traveline.
So, you can learn so much from an exploration of a bus timetable.
We have experienced the changing face of catering at Stanton, and the apparent successful survival of a small rural Methodist church. We have grasped the border territory geography of the area and discovered, yet again, the failure of Traveline to use sensible place names.
But, more significantly, we have exposed the fault lines in fbb's adulation of the Midland Classic network map.
It is true that it shows a selection of other operators' services ...
... but their noble omnibological altruism does not extend to showing the full service to Goseley Estate (Arriva 2) or the full service, currently curtailed at Swad for the duration, of Arriva's 29 from Burton to Leicester.
Disappointing.
Snippets 1 - the Dolly Stop
Of course you all spotted it straight away?
The Travel South Yorkshire temporary stop is in ...
... Leeds. It is on Town Street, Beeston - outside the church and opposite the co-op, hence first Bus service 10.
Whether it is the stop before moved forwards ...
... or the stop afterwards moved back fbb cannot tell.
In both cases the canopied co-op colonade can be clearly conceived.
Northampton Alan reminds fbb that another dolly stop or two have appeared in Northampton ...
... and nearby Roade,
As a result of contact (round the back of the pub) with some of his less desirable bus people, fbb can now reveal, exclusively in this blog, a picture of ...
... "Dave" the Dodgy Dolly Dealer (cash please - no VAT) off on a "collection" to replenish his stocks for selling on to cash-strapped local authorities and road menders.
It reminds fbb of a song by Slade, never published ...
... in its slightly revised form:-
Thanks to correspondent Colin (from leeds) for the Leeds picture.
Snippets 2 - More Daftness From Supertram?
A close-up of the poster in the frame ...
... telling us that no replacement buses would be running, and, immediately below it ...
... the timetable for the replacement buses.
Beyond belief AGAIN.
Thanks to Jordan from Sheffield for the picture.
The general opinion "on the street" is that Supertram's government funding to run trans every 15 minutes for socially distanced "essential workers" did not include replacement buses. As there was almost no revenue from real tram passengers, there was no Supertram money for running largely empty BL1 buses.
After some behind the scenes argy-bargy (and consequent delay) the PTE accepted its responsibility for providing uneconomic but "essential" services and put the BL1 out to tender; hence Powells and not Stagecoach providing the buses.
So, in a political and economic sense it is nowt to do with Supertram, mate!
GoTimetable adds a little clarification.
Tomorrow, our final visit to Burton upon Trent with the location of Wetmore Park revealed.
Of course you all spotted it straight away?
Northampton Alan reminds fbb that another dolly stop or two have appeared in Northampton ...
It reminds fbb of a song by Slade, never published ...
Lock up your "dollies" right now
Or you'll find they have gone from their place
Lock up your "dollies" somehow
Or you might find there's egg on your face.
Dodgy Dave will whip up a storm
Not get to bed until dawn
Because prices can be very high
You may find your "dollies" all gorn
Thanks to correspondent Colin (from leeds) for the Leeds picture.
Snippets 2 - More Daftness From Supertram?
A close-up of the poster in the frame ...
Beyond belief AGAIN.
Thanks to Jordan from Sheffield for the picture.
The general opinion "on the street" is that Supertram's government funding to run trans every 15 minutes for socially distanced "essential workers" did not include replacement buses. As there was almost no revenue from real tram passengers, there was no Supertram money for running largely empty BL1 buses.
After some behind the scenes argy-bargy (and consequent delay) the PTE accepted its responsibility for providing uneconomic but "essential" services and put the BL1 out to tender; hence Powells and not Stagecoach providing the buses.
So, in a political and economic sense it is nowt to do with Supertram, mate!
GoTimetable adds a little clarification.
Tomorrow, our final visit to Burton upon Trent with the location of Wetmore Park revealed.
Next Rare Delight blog : Thursday 2nd July
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ReplyDeleteIf fbb looks closely at what he has posted, he will see that the timetable for Arriva 2 is dated 21/6/20. This seems a good reason not to show it in a booklet printed a couple of weeks earlier.
ReplyDeleteArriva Derby have, so far, had two phases of coming out of lockdown, on 1 June, when the Mon-Fri times on the 2 were changed, and on 21 June, when the Saturday times were changed. I know that the details for phase 2 were unconfirmed on 16 June. The service is not back to pre-COVID, so I expect further phases.
A couple of other points. The Swad - Derby service traditionally ran along the main A514, with a dedicated Swad - Goseley Estate service on a different route. A few years ago, when Arriva controlled both routes, the Derby service was diverted to provide the midday service to the estate.
Traveline, at least in the East Mids, provide maps for each route showing stops. So, if you dont know what Traveline call your stop, look it up on the map, find what name they give it and then look that up in the timetable. Of course, the locals will call it by something completely different, probably the name of a demolished pub.