Hope Valley P.S.

Plus A Celebration Report

 

A star gift from No 1 son is illustrated above. Whether fbb will be able to manage its complexity is open for debate. The accompanying card was also very appropriate.

A little artwork from the Dean of Distance Learning at the University of Arts (London) offered another salient comment on the birthdays boy's obsession!

The likeness is truly remarkable!

Now fbb is considering whether the highly detailed Lego bus model might be adapted in some way for use on the Peterville Quarry layout - possibly as a childrens' indoor play area.

Watch this space blog!

Chum Giles sent a fine card emblazoned with a real bus.

Easy to identify, herewith a picture of roughly the same location c/o Gurgle.

On the right is the former LNER opulent office block; behind the York West Yorkshire bus is a section of the city walls of York and in the distance ...

... on the far aide of he river, is York Minster.

And Back To The Hope Valley

Mr Ableman's report postulated interchange "hubs" at all three key Hope Valley stations, Bamford, Hope and Edale.

fbb is uneasy about this. Does a 272 from Sheffield to Castleton connect with trains at Bamford AND Hope?

It can't!

Does the proposed 63/64 Castleton to Edale circular...

... connect at Edale and NOT Hope. And if buses connect at Edale, which direction will be the connecting time.

A bus would need to arrive in time for the xx32 departure to Sheffield ...

... and wait long enough to gather arrivals from Manchester. For comfort, the bus would have to sit at Edale for about 8 minutes. 

But then there is a Connection from Sheffield and to Manchester.

Time for Manchester is xx47 so the bus would need to arrive at, say xx43; then wait for arrivals until xx51.

To cope with both trains a wait at Edale of at least 23 minutes would be needed; impractical and hopelessly inconvenient for any through bus passengers not wanting anything ferroequinological. The only realistic schedule at Edale would be a 63/64 shuttle approx every 30 mins. 

Nobody would countenance the level of funding that would require.

Unfortunately, the report does not provide sample bus timetables.

There is one example showing possible journeys from Manchester to Bradwell using an interchange at Hope station.

Here is the situation as the report was prepared.

And here is how it would be if the report were implemented.

Because no actual timetables are published fbb cannot be certain how the much improved scenario is worked out. There would be 272s every two hours as now plus hourly 173s. 

The report does not say whether buses would run down the lane to the station, or, as now ...

... at the end of the lane. To allow for walking and that footbridge ...

... and crossing the main road, buses would need to drop off at least 7 minutes before the train and pick up 7 minutes after. And how would that work for timings in both directions.

Here At Last Is Hope For Hope

Look again at those timetable extracts.

Joy of interchange joy; trains in both directions are there at almost the same minutes past each hour.

This makes interchange much easier; half the hassle in fact.

There is another possible bonus to be had. Here is the bus station at Castleton.

So 272 buses approaching from the east would call at Hope BEFORE the trains arrived depositing passengers for the Manchester AND Sheffield departures. The bus would nip 5 min to Castleton, do a smart U-turn, set down and pick up Castleton customers then ...

... tada ...

... take a smart nip back to Hope station to collect arrivals.

That would be splendid for passengers to Hathersage, Bradwell, Great Hucklow, Eyam, Stony Middleton and even Baslow. But what about passengers to and from Castleton itself, we hear you cry?

The 63/64 shuttle to Edale could be timed to take folk from Castleton to the departing trains and to collect Castleton passengers upon arrival.

Seemples.

But you might need bigger buses.

Variation of the 63/64, 173 and 272 cycles could be made to balance demand with capacity.

Then all you have to do is build a proper staffed station at Hope (with lifts and toilets) and a high quality bus terminal ...

... and you would have a superb and workable Hope Valley hub.

You might even call it a mini-Switzerland.

Would the Peak Park planning people promote the proposal? They ought to, because it is all about increasing bus and train usage and reducing car cloggage of the carefully conserved countryside.

The environmental cost of a proper hub ought to be a small price to pay for the benefits to accrue.

Not sure about the swans, though!

It would be interesting to see a full set of worked-through timetables. Such a skill is way beyond fbb's pay grade and mental acuity!

Anyone want to volunteer?

Friday's blog was unplanned as today's was put to bed on Wednesday late evening. Today fbb has his six-monthly eyeball examination (no stabbing these days) plus the funeral of a church chum and attender at the fbb's fellowship meetings. So Friday's  blog uncertain!!

  Next unplanned blog : Friday 27 Feb 

Mini-Switzerland - Part 4

Modesty prevents your blogging bloke from revealing whose birthday it is TODAY!

Interested In Interchanges?

In a previous posting in this series, fbb has highlighted the quality and availability of Swiss bus/rail interchange. 

We already also know that possible Interchanges in the Hope Valley fall far short of Swiss style and connectivity. But, if the Ableman report is to be implemented, you might expect transfer from rail to bus (and vice versa) to increase substantially.

That is the aim of mini-Switzerland, surely.

So here is the geography, running from East to West.

We begin with Bamford. 

Some years back the "interchange" was built, being a lay-by used by buses in both directions. It is opposite one of the station entrances which, certainly in the most recent visit by Google, is not very well signposted ...

... in fact not signposted at all. The blue sign directs folk to Bamford village, some distance away.

The immediate access is a ramp opposite the bus shelter ...

... which leads down to the westbound platform for Manchester. 

Walking along the footpath towards the distant village, you next come to steps, again for westbound trains ...

Next north are the steps down for Sheffield trains ...

... both sets of steppage serve as the station footbridge. A little further north is a lane, sort of flat, also leading to Sheffield trains. 

Every effort had been spared to make the interchange easy and attractive.

The station is bereft of facilities with the exception of platform shelters and a ticket machine.

Welcome to the Hope Valley!

And welcome to the station plan!

Next week go to Edale. 

There is a creepy footpath on the north of the tracks leading to the eastbound platform (for Sheffield) ...

... but the main entrance is on the south side.

Needless to say, buses do not venture in to the car park area to get as close as possible to the trains. Buses lurk on the main access road and obviously out of sight of the station exit!

Wot, no footbridge?

Correct. The station has a subway with both ramp and stepped access.

It also boasts some Midland Region replica hot dog shaped station signs.

Apart from those two excitements, the station has the same un-lavish facilities as Bamford.

Finally there is Hope.

It is just off the main road, with buses stopping at te end of the lane. Nothing omnibological venture down the lane.

At the station itself there is a car park, and a footbridge to cross the line. There are no lifts, making it the least helpful station of the three for the less ambulant.

You can see the footbridge hiding in the trees ...

... located about as far from the station entrance as it is possible to get without trespassing on the tracks,

Once again, facilities are "limited"!

The station matches the other two in lack of almost everything.

And here, for completeness is the plan.

Clearly the existing facilities fall way short of anything you might expect in Switzerland.

But Hope might offer some hope!

Tomorrow, fbb will speculate on how bus/rail interchange in the rose+tinted world of the Ableman report ...

... might actually work.

If only somebody had the necessary bags of money!

   Next mini-Switzerland blog : Thurs 26 Feb 

Mini-Swirzerland - Part 3

So What's The Plan?

As with so many of these reports, it's aims are far reaching, noble, and, of course, absolutely superb for the environment. Surely they will also be a contributor to increased social mobility and the revitalisation of the countryside.

fbb once worked for a boss whose opinion was that any proposal that filled more than one side of an A4 sheet of paper was a waste of time as no one would ever read it. fbb thinks those strictures did not apply to reports that the boss himself wrote!

The mini-Switzerland proposal for bus services in the Hope Valley is packed full with noble aims ...

... ideas which are hardly revolutionary.

But the "concepts" flow thick and fast. (click on the panels for an enlargement).

Brilliant.

Odd that nobody has thought of those ideas before!

If more people use the buses, the cost to the public purse will be lower.

It's Mao's red book all over again; but this time, blue with swans! Here are some happy immigrant agriculture workers from the Hope Valley, rejoicing over the Abelman report and the improvement it will bring to their journeys to and from the fields of waving corn.

The picture on the report itseilf is based in a view of Ashopton Viaduct from the road leading to Derwent ...

... but the "Northern" DMU in the contrived picture is on a non-existent track which, in reality, runs about six miles south at Bamford.

Unless, of course, someone has built a railway line across the Snake Pass since fbb lived that way

But we can postpone the excitement no longer. 

fbb can now reveal the details of the mini-Switzerland bus plan. What he cannot reveal is any actual timetables or details of how and where connections will be made.

Such information is not given.

On the following diagrams, routes are colour coded by frequency as follows.

Here are the routes from Sheffield, now ...

... with the 65 from Sheffield and 66 from Chesterfield continuing via Eyam to Buxton and thus not technically "Swiss'! 

Here is the Abelman plan.

The 272 from Sheffield has become hourly rather than an incorrect every 90 minutes. It has been hourly, roughy, for ages!.

The only real change is that the 257 adds a double run to Eyam. The pink shading claims to be a bus every 20 mins - but it isn't!

Next comes the 173, now ...

... and new.

It doubles in frequency to a bus every hour. The 256 between Bradwell and Castleton is from a past timetable. fbb is not sure what it is doing there now. The grand plan appears to withdraw the 272 from Bradwell, a route variant that dates back to an age so old that it predates fbb.

And so to Castleton, now ...

... and proposed.

Today's 62 from Buxton to Castleton is curtailed at Edale station, so a frustrating and retrograde change would be necessary according to the Red Book (whoops, the blue report).

Completely new is an hourly 73/64 link shown on the diagram as running between Hope station, Edale and Castleton via Mam Tor or via Castleton, Mam Tor and Edale.

Sadly the road via Mam Tor was closed permanently in 1977 for reasons which are fairly obvious if you take a stroll that away. Perhaps Mr Ableman is expecting Derbyshire to rebuild it!

The proposed 63 and 64 are almost circulars, as shown by the yellow roads on this map.

The route is via Barber Booth and not Mam Tor!

There is one bit of white road for the 63/64 to use and that is the super smashing and utterly glorious Winnats Pass, shown cartographically above "Peveril Castle".

Wow! That almost looks like a mini-Switzerland!

Is the plan viable?

fbb will offer his modest opinion in tomorrow's  blog.

Spoiler alert : it isn't!

  Next mini-Switzerlabd blog : Weds 25 Feb