It Brings A Lump To The Eye and A Tear To The Throat
We are used to Christmas wishes from our bus company, usually accompanied by snow, Santa, the occasional reindeer and nothing about Christmas; but Hulley's of Baslow have written their passengers a massive essay. Those that read it will be very weepy.
As we approach Christmas and the end of this year, we would like to reflect back and thank our staff for their commitment and our passengers for the patience and understanding shown.
The public transport industry has arguably seen the most challenging and stressful year, possibly since World War Two. At Hulley's, we certainly have not been exempt from this global pandemic.
The staff here have remained committed and dedicated throughout both lockdown periods, continuing to deliver a professional service as key workers. Despite the very unusual environment and exceptional circumstances, our team have provided a service to our network, and to the most vulnerable members of the society that rely on us. We have remained on the front line throughout and continue to serve the public each day.
Our staff should be proud and assured that their efforts are extremely valued in order to keep the wheels moving. 
If we have let any members of the public down we are truly sorry for this, we appreciate good and bad feedback, so we are able to continue to learn from this. We've seen short notice timetable changes and some confusion as a result.
We would always appreciate it if any queries or reports are made as soon as possible. This allows us to use CCTV and GPS vehicle tracking systems to assist or to identify and authenticate a genuine complaint or concern. We will, however, always put the safety of our passengers, crew and fleet first, meaning some services may be delayed for this reason. 
Technical failures are taken very personally and we will act as safely and as quickly as we possibly can to minimise any delays or disruption. Unfortunately, sometimes we do not have control over unforeseen circumstances that may cause delays such as roadworks, accidents or poor parking.
We are very proud of what we do, and we remain committed to providing the best possible service that we can under the circumstances, with the resources we have available at the time.
We've suffered frequent timetable changes to accommodate revised school finishing times and be able to continue providing for key workers. (AND WE HAVEN'T ALWAYS KEPT OUR WEB SITE UP TO DATE) Also allowing essential travel throughout our network. Fortunately services have returned to almost pre-covid levels and we have launched some exciting additional routes. Whilst not the best of times to launch, these new services were planned many months in advance of covid.
Other achievements include a huge fleet investment programme with many vehicles replaced, repainted and smartened up interiors.
Additionally two double deckers have joined the fleet
to meet capacity needs where required. All are fitted with brand new ticket machines which enable us to take contactless payment and develop a live GPS feed for online tracking in the future.
On a positive note, we will reach our centenary in April 2021 so we would like to thank our passengers and locals for their support over the last 100 hundred years. You are very much part of our community as we are yours. We look forward to continuing to serve for generations to come, just as we have for generations gone. 
We are really looking forward to seeing the end of this pandemic and returning to a normal way of life, until then please stay safe and look after each other.
We would like to take this opportunity to pay our respect and condolences to our fellow public transport colleagues and their families up and down the country who have fallen victim to COVID-19 whilst serving on the front line to help keep essential travel moving.
Finally, thank you to all front line and essential workers.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year from all of us at Hulley's of Baslow.
Perhaps not quite the Christmas we expected?
Appropriate (?) illustrations added by fbb,
But thanks to Hulleys for expressing how they feel; so much better than "Season's Greetings and we've reduced the service!
And Livery Tease Pictures
From First Kernow
from Go Ahead North West
And a Poster that never Happened
A Snippet From Twitter
A radiator is merged with a "keep your dinner warm" cabinet; what a splendid idea!
Things You Never Noticed Before
Late sister with cat, Emily. Contrast and compare with her mother at much the same age.
Jane's mum (right) with he older sister in the 1930s. fbb had never spotted the spooky likeness before.
Next Mini-Blog : Wednesday 30th December
Your ticket machine photo isn't quirky enough for Hulley's! When I first used one of their buses in 1970, they were still using Bellagraphic - never common and rare by then. This was basically a double roll of paper in a box with a hole on top. The conductor wrote the fare on the paper in Biro, turned a handle and the top sheet formed your ticket while the carbon stayed in the machine. I think one-man operation brought in Setrights later in the seventies.
ReplyDeleteA point about the modern operation - they kept their facebook page up to date during the Covid alterations and caught up with the website when convenient.
The Bellgraphic ticket machines, with hand-written values survived for several more years with West Wales (of Tycroes). I received one for a journey from Swansea to Llandovery in 1976.
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