2010 – Issue 3 of 4

More documents

Recommendations

Info

open days. One more modern double-decker had been refurbished to house a collection of exhibits such as uniforms and model buses. Later that day, a return visit to the Wensleydale Railway led on to a trip along Swaledale. If you haven’t seen the Julia Bradbury programme of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk, you may not be familiar with this, one of the finest Yorkshire dales. The road through it comes close to my favourite – the Mid Wales one from Abergwesyn to Tregaron. Former Alexander Tiger CWG 286 at Kirkby Stephen An overnight stay in Kirkby Stephen brought me to the village of Ravenstonedale early enough to reach Cumbria Classic Coaches’ bus depot (aka a large shed housing half a dozen elderly buses) at Bowber Head. Outside, about to start off, was CWG286, the Alexander C35Fbodied former W. Alexander & Sons Leyland Tiger PS1/1. Getting out of the car, the first person I saw was Gordon, the cheery conductor whose company I had enjoyed so much last year. It was good to see him again. We bumped and bounced along the road from Bowber Head towards the main road and a little while later turned off at the 6
Lamb and Flag Inn where we spent a couple of minutes parked alongside a brand spanking new 09-registered ultra-luxurious Setra ‘Grand Tourer’ of Shearings. I’m sorry now that I didn’t get off and photograph the two together. The contrast between them must have been almost laughable, yet the passengers on our bus seemed to be quite happy to stay aboard our 59-year old conveyance! Our driver was a lady – Alison. There being no glass between her compartment and the front end of the bus, both she and Gordon were able to greet the local passengers and the visitors coming aboard. I wondered whether she found the controls and the clutch in particular, heavy, but when I asked her about this later she said no: it was quite light compared to that on the Lodekka ‘which tends to fight against you’. No jokes about lady drivers, please. Alison drove just as competently as the other drivers. Soon we were off down the road to Kirkby Stephen and turning into the yard of the Kirkby Stephen station on the Settle & Carlisle railway line. The train was a little late arriving but a couple had let the Cumbria Classic Coaches people know that they wanted to transfer from train to bus and this they duly did. Integrated transport rules in the high fells! Part of the road to Hawes parallels the S&C for a couple of miles or so and the views are well worth enjoying. There’s comparatively little traffic so that the leisurely speed of the Tiger meant that we didn’t cause any unnecessary hold-ups for following traffic. Arrival at Hawes brought us into this busy little town – it was market day – and the looks on people’s faces were a joy to behold: from total indifference to amazement and smiles of nostalgic pleasure. Parked in the station yard was what I’d hoped to see: LHN 823, the red Bristol L/ECW B35R that brought back memories of seeing the last of the United Welsh single-deckers at work. Last year, we’d had the MW, but now we were heading even further back in time. The journey to Redmire and back and then on to Garsdale station was even better than last year’s given the bus’ characteristic sound, and the volume of traffic through the narrow streets of Hawes meant that we arrived at Garsdale just a few seconds before the train appeared. Swiss timekeeping on a Bristol L! On our return to Hawes, I found that the MW had been parked away at the far end of the car park and a little while later a heavily loaded convoy 7
Page 1 and 2: FREE TO MEMBERS £1 TO NON MEMBERS
Page 3 and 4: CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE: It seems that
Page 5: WENSLEYDALE WANDERINGS - 2 by Berwy
Page 9 and 10: there was scaffolding around one wi
Page 11 and 12: Those who wished could visit the ad
Page 13 and 14: 13
Page 15 and 16: was a truly magnificent sight. Afte
Page 17 and 18: OOPS (3) Western Welsh 1093 was inv
Page 19 and 20: UH7175 as Southern Vectis 709 with
Page 21 and 22: WHY SABRINAS? Can’t see the simil
Page 23 and 24: PAX 466F The Massey bodied Leyland

2010 – Issue 3 of 4

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?