The Heart Of Harthill ...
... used to be the church,
Harthill is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham (part of South Yorkshire, England), on the border with Derbyshire. It lies between Killamarsh and Thorpe Salvin.
Harthill is traditionally an agricultural village, although there is also a history of quarrying whetstones for use in knife-sharpening.
The parish church of All Hallows dates from 1085, when it was commissioned by William de Warenne. The tower is 14th century. The Dukes of Leeds, major landowners in the area, and their families are interred in the crypt.
Harthill has two pubs: the Beehive and the Blue Bell.
Once Harthill's shops were scattered around the central area of the village, as with the former post office ...
... but shopping activity is now brought together in a delightful little arcade. Once the site of the Co-op ...
... this is now McColls ...
... perhaps indicative of the shaky nature of the retail business in what are now dormitory villages.
The bus terminus is at a splendid turning circle on a road called Fir Vale ...
... where sits a typical "economy" Rotherham bus shelter plus bus stop flag and departure list display.
This basic, but adequate, facility is on the very southern edge of the village ...
The shops are over a mile away at Jacky's Lane.
Barely one mile south of the Fir Vale terminus is the unmarked border with Derbyshire.
The camera stands in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire is just beyond the trees. Intriguingly, barely three miles for Harthill is this delightful spot.
Dumb Hall Lane (!?) has brought us from Thorpe Salvin and we stand in South Yorkshire (just!); the ploughed field on the left, past the junction, is in Nottinghamshire, and the grass on the right is in Derbyshire. Harthill is a border town indeed.
So how do you serve a community that is in South Yorkshire but on the road to nowhere very much.
One effort was by extending certain journeys on route 124 (Rotherham to Whiston) significantly further south.
Then there was a route starting in Sheffield, trundling out to Harthill then back to Rotherham ...
... a VERY long way round if you were desirous of getting to Rotherham swiftly!
Then Harthill joined a version of route 74 .,..
... which today serves Brinsworth and thus is very different.
Today you would need to await an X54 from Sheffield ...
... which would take you via Treeton, Swallownest, Todwick and Kiveton Park.
First's on-line timetable is hardly user friendly. The one table includes X5, X54 and X55 which are different routes in many ways.
The X55 trips run "direct" between Swallownest and South Anston, omitting the dawdle via Kiveton Park; whereas the X54 only has two time points in common with the rest, Handsworth and Swallownest. The X54 is a bit of a First Bus con.
Instead of offering a 20 minute frequency X5 as far as Swallownest, the X54 turns a 20 minute even interval departure from Sheffield to just seven of those 20 minutes at Swallownest by virtue of its roundabout route via Treeton.
Sensibly, Travel South Yorkshire shows the tables separately ...
... which is easier on the eye, easier on the brain, uses far less screen space and would use far less paper if First or the PTE were gracious enough to give its customers a printed timetable. But ...
IT'S ALL ON LINE
... except, as of 1330 yesterday, with less than a week to go, it wasn't.
The PTE has published a changed timetable for this service group from this coming weekend; the change is for Monday to Friday only, so it actually starts on Tuesday 31st after the Bank Holiday.
The file emanates from the First bus scheduling team ...
... as shown by the appalling layout full of confusing and unnecessary empty space.
But from the First Bus web site ...
... we are given just timetable end dates for the Bank holiday weekend but no replacements from the following week. A detailed examination of the PTE published pages shows that times on the X5 and X54 have changed, with many journeys running a few minutes earlier.
This secrecy will NOT be very well received by folk hoping to travel when they arrive for their usual bus and find it has gone! WELL DONE FIRST!
It is called "Building Back Better".
This process of welcoming back the passenger can be also seen on service X78!
... which is staying chopped to every 20 minutes rather than returning to every 15, every 12 or every 10 depending on which timetable set you return to. The excuse is "staff shortages" but other timetables are ostensibly being improved, returning yo earlier and better frequencies from this weekend.
But that's not all the depressing impression at Treeton and Harthill - a tale which will conclude tomorrow.
In Praise Of Accountants - NOT!
E Y used to be Ernst & Young when fbb was a callow youth.
Whoops! Corporate accountancy has always been a dark art with Companies trying to give the best possible "spin" on their performance to keep their shareholders filled with blissful joy and, hopefully, a stonking great dividend!
It's no wonder things get a bit cofused.com!
Anyway, fbb is busy factoring geopolitics into his technology strategy! Expect a full report in due course.
It's Not Fair
Young Martin thinks it is wrong to "fine" buses for entering clean air zones as their emissions are much lower, per person carried, than diesel cars and white van man.
He is, of course RIGHT!
Also Tomorrow ...
... we meet 007
Next "Why Do They Do Thgis?" blog : Friday 27th August
Perhaps dormitory towns will have a stronger future with greater home working?
ReplyDeleteAre there lots of dormitory towns in Beds?
ReplyDelete