With all this wet weather I was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms from taking trips so I spotted signs of a good day on Monday this week. Originally the forecasts said it would be good for the whole of the north so I considered a long-standing Lancashire trip, later the forecasts said I should stay east of the Pennines so I opted for one around Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. By Sunday evening the forecast said I shouldn’t have bothered – but it was too late so I carried on anyway…
Sunrise, a bit later than last week due to the clocks going forward, found me in Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. Not the most beautiful town but some charms and an attractive shopping centre slightly outside the historical town centre saw me with some breakfast. Today was to involve quite a bit of Stagecoach East Midlands, an operator with one of the worst records at the moment for cancellations, so I had carefully researched from their website and BusTimes which journeys got cancelled most regularly and kept the most up-to-date Twitter information loaded on my phone. My first leg was to Retford and BusTimes showed that the first 95 journey reliably provided a double decker, presumably with school traffic. So it transpired, with an 06-plate Dennis Trident on this remaining portion of the long-standing 95 route from Lincoln to Sheffield. We headed off with a few on board round a number of reasonably attractive villages, when we hit North Leverton there were at least 30 school children waiting, hence the decker. They seemed well behaved and we continued our roundabout route into Retford.
The second leg was to continue west to Worksop, again with Stagecoach East Midland but this time from Worskop depot. The vehicle was a Scania K230UB single decker, one of a batch originally used on the 19/A from Worksop to Rotherham but now used on a variety of other work around the area since the 19/A now see only deckers. This journey took us past Ranby prison and the long way round through the industrial and distribution parks of Manton, conveniently located for the A1, before heading through an uninviting estate on the edge of Worksop and into town. There was still custom for these logistics warehouses and the fact that the service starts up at 4.45am suggests there is a demand for public transport to them. In Worksop I could have headed straight on towards my next destination as the previous departure was just loading at the stand but I waited and strolled around the town centre for a short while, unremarkable but the priory, gatehouse and Memorial Gardens are worth a few minutes.
My next leg was to Rotherham on the Stagecoach 19/19A. I had done this before as far as Dinnington but not to Rotherham. My BusTimes research on this journey showed it ran reliably but with great variety as to what vehicle worked it, sometimes coming off an earlier departure or sometimes off other routes but usually not straight off the 19 due in immediately before. The departure board showed it would be about 10 minutes late which tied up with the late incoming working but I did keep an close eye on the buses parked up at the other end of the bus station. Sure enough a driver came over and invited us to board for Rotherham at a stand at the far end from the correct one and we left, by this time 15 minutes late so I was beginning to wish I had taken the earlier one. This bus was a double deck Scania which had fairly recently come in as a 77. The driver was very positive, without being aggressive, and we caught up to within a couple of minutes of our schedule before falling slightly further back as we picked up heavy loads on the last section into Rotherham. We went through Dinnington where I had visited in about 1990 on a Northern Bus Bristol RE extravaganza day; I have no recollection of the place, just the splendid collection of immaculate REs and in particular charging flat out on the M1 on a Leyland engined one – great times! Passing through Thurcroft we met two 19/A buses in quick succession, the first one out of service being the departure before mine which I had turned down and which hadn’t made it all the way to Rotherham, although it had made it to the suburbs from where alternatives would have been available on First to get into town. Given the regular cancellation of certain journeys this would have given a three hour gap on the 19A heading south through Woodsetts in the morning and a three hour gap heading north during the afternoon – very poor. The very last section into Rotherham past the hospital was very busy, it seems the 19/19A are the main routes serving the hospital so the previous short-working would have led to a long wait for some. Looking at it now I am surprised how few buses there are in the south east corner of Rotherham.
Although there had been breaks in the cloud right from the start during the morning it had been quite overcast, but by the time we got to Rotherham the sun had broken through and it stayed the predominant weather feature for the rest of the day, although the wind had quite a chill to it. I had been to Rotherham in January last year so this was not new here, although that was even colder and I enjoyed alighting at the top of the town centre and walking down past the Minster and some reasonably attractive streets to the interchange.
Although nearly all of the sections of route on this trip were new to me, I had been to all the places before except for the next one, Conisbrough. From Rotherham I took the X78 towards Doncaster and alighted in the very attractive former mining community of Conisbrough. An attractive church in the village centre and a splendid medieval castle. It wasn’t open for viewing but is majestic in its position on the side of the hill overlooking the adjacent valley. After a few minutes here I continued to Doncaster on the next X78, both journeys being 12-plate Volvo B9TLs in the smart red and yellow colours.
A short stay in Doncaster with a quick walk around the central shopping streets but, since my next leg was on the legendary Northern Trains, I did not want to risk a cancellation and being unable to complete the intended circuit, so I went to the station and took the train on to Goole. Almost no way to take a bus over this section now, although you could take the bus to Thorne and then a train on from there to Goole. As a result I had an hour and a half in Goole, which is probably an hour more than necessary, although a google search sees it described as Yorkshire’s best kept secret! Best to leave it secret then I think but I was able to relax for a while and just sit by the river having taken in the sights in the first few minutes, There is an impressive church, fine floral arrangements by the pedestrianised street and some very attractive houses along the river frontage, although such a high embankment has been created to prevent flooding that I suspect the river cannot actually be seen from the houses. The dock area is industrial with no public access and the shops – pound shops and charity shops - the less said the better.
My bus onwards was with East Yorkshire, well away from their main operating area, being the 361 to Scunthorpe. This route is some distance from the Elloughton base and there must be significant empty runs at the start and end of the day and long breaks between journeys at the Scunthorpe end while I imagine drivers interwork with the town services and maybe even the infrequent 55 from Hull. It would appear that the tender – for I am sure it is tendered – envisaged it being won by an operator at the Scunthorpe end, such as Stagecoach with a base in the town, but East Yorkshire have run this for a few years, invariably with double deckers. Mine was no exception, an 09-plate Volvo B9TL. The route starts crossing the River Ouse by the docks, then runs alongside it for a while, then heads across utterly flat landscape, although with distant hills visible to the east across the Trent. I have no doubt that on a dull grey day this is depressing, but on a glorious afternoon with the sun behind us it was quite charming, especially the sections alongside the river with distant views of Goole church, old windmills and even a lighthouse. Quite a number of attractive old houses in some of the villages too. Very few passengers mind you, I feel the service is lucky to survive especially as it crosses between East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. Just before Scunthorpe we met the other bus which had a number of college students on board, but this didn’t appear to be a double-decker load. Crowle looked reasonably attractive but I didn’t have time to get off and explore the town. Not much to see in Scunthorpe but there was a reasonably modern statue celebrating the town’s steelmaking heritage.
My final leg was on the Stagecoach East Midlands (aka Lincolnshire) 100, one of the strategic InterConnect routes from Scunthorpe to Gainsborough and Lincoln, run by modern E400s. Quite a few on board with others joining around the town centre, the route included surprisingly attractive villages such as Scotter and diversions off the main road to both east and west. Back at Gainsborough there were plenty of people enjoying the early evening sunshine now the clocks have gone forward and the town looked considerably better than in the morning. Just in a few minutes I saw a number of elderly Tridents heading back to the depot after their afternoon’s work, including the one used on my first bus of the day which had been out on a school run south of Lincoln: in fact Gainsborough have a number of old Tridents as old as 02-plate.
I really enjoy the variety of the trips I do. They can’t all be gorgeous mountain scenery or attractive coasts, one should not leave out the gritty and less celebrated towns and villages. This trip did not score on scenery or attractive towns, although Conisbrough was a delight and the flat countryside south east of Goole was charming in the afternoon spring sunshine. The trip made the best of the decent weather as I didn’t have the time to go any further north, it had been on my ‘to do’ list for some time and was most enjoyable.
Some photos:
Retford
Rotherham
Conisbrough castle
Goole
The river at Goole
Goole from across the river
The river and lighthouse at Ousefleet
Scunthorpe
Gainsborough
Sunrise, a bit later than last week due to the clocks going forward, found me in Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. Not the most beautiful town but some charms and an attractive shopping centre slightly outside the historical town centre saw me with some breakfast. Today was to involve quite a bit of Stagecoach East Midlands, an operator with one of the worst records at the moment for cancellations, so I had carefully researched from their website and BusTimes which journeys got cancelled most regularly and kept the most up-to-date Twitter information loaded on my phone. My first leg was to Retford and BusTimes showed that the first 95 journey reliably provided a double decker, presumably with school traffic. So it transpired, with an 06-plate Dennis Trident on this remaining portion of the long-standing 95 route from Lincoln to Sheffield. We headed off with a few on board round a number of reasonably attractive villages, when we hit North Leverton there were at least 30 school children waiting, hence the decker. They seemed well behaved and we continued our roundabout route into Retford.
The second leg was to continue west to Worksop, again with Stagecoach East Midland but this time from Worskop depot. The vehicle was a Scania K230UB single decker, one of a batch originally used on the 19/A from Worksop to Rotherham but now used on a variety of other work around the area since the 19/A now see only deckers. This journey took us past Ranby prison and the long way round through the industrial and distribution parks of Manton, conveniently located for the A1, before heading through an uninviting estate on the edge of Worksop and into town. There was still custom for these logistics warehouses and the fact that the service starts up at 4.45am suggests there is a demand for public transport to them. In Worksop I could have headed straight on towards my next destination as the previous departure was just loading at the stand but I waited and strolled around the town centre for a short while, unremarkable but the priory, gatehouse and Memorial Gardens are worth a few minutes.
My next leg was to Rotherham on the Stagecoach 19/19A. I had done this before as far as Dinnington but not to Rotherham. My BusTimes research on this journey showed it ran reliably but with great variety as to what vehicle worked it, sometimes coming off an earlier departure or sometimes off other routes but usually not straight off the 19 due in immediately before. The departure board showed it would be about 10 minutes late which tied up with the late incoming working but I did keep an close eye on the buses parked up at the other end of the bus station. Sure enough a driver came over and invited us to board for Rotherham at a stand at the far end from the correct one and we left, by this time 15 minutes late so I was beginning to wish I had taken the earlier one. This bus was a double deck Scania which had fairly recently come in as a 77. The driver was very positive, without being aggressive, and we caught up to within a couple of minutes of our schedule before falling slightly further back as we picked up heavy loads on the last section into Rotherham. We went through Dinnington where I had visited in about 1990 on a Northern Bus Bristol RE extravaganza day; I have no recollection of the place, just the splendid collection of immaculate REs and in particular charging flat out on the M1 on a Leyland engined one – great times! Passing through Thurcroft we met two 19/A buses in quick succession, the first one out of service being the departure before mine which I had turned down and which hadn’t made it all the way to Rotherham, although it had made it to the suburbs from where alternatives would have been available on First to get into town. Given the regular cancellation of certain journeys this would have given a three hour gap on the 19A heading south through Woodsetts in the morning and a three hour gap heading north during the afternoon – very poor. The very last section into Rotherham past the hospital was very busy, it seems the 19/19A are the main routes serving the hospital so the previous short-working would have led to a long wait for some. Looking at it now I am surprised how few buses there are in the south east corner of Rotherham.
Although there had been breaks in the cloud right from the start during the morning it had been quite overcast, but by the time we got to Rotherham the sun had broken through and it stayed the predominant weather feature for the rest of the day, although the wind had quite a chill to it. I had been to Rotherham in January last year so this was not new here, although that was even colder and I enjoyed alighting at the top of the town centre and walking down past the Minster and some reasonably attractive streets to the interchange.
Although nearly all of the sections of route on this trip were new to me, I had been to all the places before except for the next one, Conisbrough. From Rotherham I took the X78 towards Doncaster and alighted in the very attractive former mining community of Conisbrough. An attractive church in the village centre and a splendid medieval castle. It wasn’t open for viewing but is majestic in its position on the side of the hill overlooking the adjacent valley. After a few minutes here I continued to Doncaster on the next X78, both journeys being 12-plate Volvo B9TLs in the smart red and yellow colours.
A short stay in Doncaster with a quick walk around the central shopping streets but, since my next leg was on the legendary Northern Trains, I did not want to risk a cancellation and being unable to complete the intended circuit, so I went to the station and took the train on to Goole. Almost no way to take a bus over this section now, although you could take the bus to Thorne and then a train on from there to Goole. As a result I had an hour and a half in Goole, which is probably an hour more than necessary, although a google search sees it described as Yorkshire’s best kept secret! Best to leave it secret then I think but I was able to relax for a while and just sit by the river having taken in the sights in the first few minutes, There is an impressive church, fine floral arrangements by the pedestrianised street and some very attractive houses along the river frontage, although such a high embankment has been created to prevent flooding that I suspect the river cannot actually be seen from the houses. The dock area is industrial with no public access and the shops – pound shops and charity shops - the less said the better.
My bus onwards was with East Yorkshire, well away from their main operating area, being the 361 to Scunthorpe. This route is some distance from the Elloughton base and there must be significant empty runs at the start and end of the day and long breaks between journeys at the Scunthorpe end while I imagine drivers interwork with the town services and maybe even the infrequent 55 from Hull. It would appear that the tender – for I am sure it is tendered – envisaged it being won by an operator at the Scunthorpe end, such as Stagecoach with a base in the town, but East Yorkshire have run this for a few years, invariably with double deckers. Mine was no exception, an 09-plate Volvo B9TL. The route starts crossing the River Ouse by the docks, then runs alongside it for a while, then heads across utterly flat landscape, although with distant hills visible to the east across the Trent. I have no doubt that on a dull grey day this is depressing, but on a glorious afternoon with the sun behind us it was quite charming, especially the sections alongside the river with distant views of Goole church, old windmills and even a lighthouse. Quite a number of attractive old houses in some of the villages too. Very few passengers mind you, I feel the service is lucky to survive especially as it crosses between East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. Just before Scunthorpe we met the other bus which had a number of college students on board, but this didn’t appear to be a double-decker load. Crowle looked reasonably attractive but I didn’t have time to get off and explore the town. Not much to see in Scunthorpe but there was a reasonably modern statue celebrating the town’s steelmaking heritage.
My final leg was on the Stagecoach East Midlands (aka Lincolnshire) 100, one of the strategic InterConnect routes from Scunthorpe to Gainsborough and Lincoln, run by modern E400s. Quite a few on board with others joining around the town centre, the route included surprisingly attractive villages such as Scotter and diversions off the main road to both east and west. Back at Gainsborough there were plenty of people enjoying the early evening sunshine now the clocks have gone forward and the town looked considerably better than in the morning. Just in a few minutes I saw a number of elderly Tridents heading back to the depot after their afternoon’s work, including the one used on my first bus of the day which had been out on a school run south of Lincoln: in fact Gainsborough have a number of old Tridents as old as 02-plate.
I really enjoy the variety of the trips I do. They can’t all be gorgeous mountain scenery or attractive coasts, one should not leave out the gritty and less celebrated towns and villages. This trip did not score on scenery or attractive towns, although Conisbrough was a delight and the flat countryside south east of Goole was charming in the afternoon spring sunshine. The trip made the best of the decent weather as I didn’t have the time to go any further north, it had been on my ‘to do’ list for some time and was most enjoyable.
Some photos:
Retford
Rotherham
Conisbrough castle
Goole
The river at Goole
Goole from across the river
The river and lighthouse at Ousefleet
Scunthorpe
Gainsborough
Other than that, the area is great. After neglecting it for a bit, I've had a few trips round there in recent years (think I had three last year) and whilst some of the towns are really challenged, the people are fantastic and the countryside delightful.
Seriously, it is subjective and I do appreciate that it's not as if there is nothing to like in Hastings; the funicular, the pier, the old town are all pleasant enough. I'm just not as keen on it as you 
