2010 – Issue 3 of 4

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
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