Trivia: Largest settlement not served by any buses

[johnnychips]

I am sure there has been a thread similar to this before, but despite various searches, I cannot find it.

In the comedy novel Ancestral Vices by Tom Sharpe, the main character visited a settlement named Buscott, population 4500, which the locals named ironically ‘Bus Stop’ as it had no bus services at all.

I thought that this was a bit far-fetched, but I wondered if any members had any suggestions?

Of course, any thread like this will lead to semantics, but I would suggest that school services do not count, nor services that operate less than once a week.

Demand Response services throw a cat in the pigeons, so I will leave it to you, though I really expect someone will find a similar thread that I couldn’t.

Edit: I will throw in the hamlet of Clifton near Doncaster whose population was 374 in 2011. There used to be a weekly bus number 305(?) which has since been withdrawn. However, if people walk to the B road about a mile away there is a roughly half-hourly service to Doncaster or Maltby.

 

[GusB]

I am sure there has been a thread similar to this before, but despite various searches, I cannot find it.

In the comedy novel Ancestral Vices by Tom Sharpe, the main character visited a settlement named Buscott, population 4500, which the locals named ironically ‘Bus Stop’ as it had no bus services at all.

I thought that this was a bit far-fetched, but I wondered if any members had any suggestions?

Of course, any thread like this will lead to semantics, but I would suggest that school services do not count, nor services that operate less than once a week.

Demand Response services throw a cat in the pigeons, so I will leave it to you, though I really expect someone will find a similar thread that I couldn’t.

Edit: I will throw in the hamlet of Clifton near Doncaster whose population was 374 in 2011. There used to be a weekly bus number 305(?) which has since been withdrawn. However, if people walk to the B road about a mile away there is a roughly half-hourly service to Doncaster or Maltby.

I think this might be the thread you're referring to:

Trivia: Largest town/city not serviced by any of the major bus groups (excluding NI)?

With the dominance of First, Arriva, Stagecoach, and Go-Ahead in much of the UK, I wonder what the largest place in the country is (not including Northern Ireland) that lacks any sort of bus service operated by any of these four companies? The first place that popped into my head as a potential...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[NorthOxonian]

Ardley in Oxfordshire has a population of 750 and has no buses - it used to be on a Bicester - Banbury route. Another would be Uffington which has a population of 780.

Until recently Horspath (population 1,400) had no service, but Oxfordshire County Council recently started funding a connection between Cowley and Wheatley so that no longer qualifies.

 

[johnnychips]

I think this might be the thread you're referring to:

Trivia: Largest town/city not serviced by any of the major bus groups (excluding NI)?

With the dominance of First, Arriva, Stagecoach, and Go-Ahead in much of the UK, I wonder what the largest place in the country is (not including Northern Ireland) that lacks any sort of bus service operated by any of these four companies? The first place that popped into my head as a potential...

www.railforums.co.uk

I think you are right. In which case mine is a separate question, and I see someone has already trumped Clifton! Thanks for looking it up.

 

[vlad]

St Bees (population 1800) doesn't have any buses, although one would assume that there are some that serve the public school. It does have a station, however.

 

[johnnychips]

St Bees (population 1800) doesn't have any buses, although one would assume that there are some that serve the public school. It does have a station, however.

Unfortunately, the school has closed. While you are in that area, I heard that Millom, which I remember being a town no longer has buses but does have a train. Any ideas? I thought there used to be a bus to nearby Haverigg Prison.

 

[Busaholic]

Unfortunately, the school has closed. While you are in that area, I heard that Millom, which I remember being a town no longer has buses but does have a train. Any ideas? I thought there used to be a bus to nearby Haverigg Prison.

Did that bus issue return tickets, I wonder?

 

[sk688]

not sure if itll count but Furzton and Emerson Valley in Milton Keynes have no timetabled bus services at the moment.

Could argue that large swathes of the town , like eaglestone etc aren't served by bus since the subsidsed routes were withdrawn

 

[Ken H]

Unfortunately, the school has closed. While you are in that area, I heard that Millom, which I remember being a town no longer has buses but does have a train. Any ideas? I thought there used to be a bus to nearby Haverigg Prison.

There used to be a Barrow-Whitehaven bus. No more.

 

[Megafuss]

Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight, with a population of around 3500 has no bus service. I assume a victim of low bridges and Southern Vectis having mostly deckers

 

[Typhoon]

Unfortunately, the school has closed. While you are in that area, I heard that Millom, which I remember being a town no longer has buses but does have a train. Any ideas? I thought there used to be a bus to nearby Haverigg Prison.

It is still shown on the Cumbria interactive map (dated Dec. 2017) so its demise must be fairly recent. That part of Cumbria is pretty much a bus free zone .

 

[neilmc]

Looks like the Millom bus has gone. For a town with a population of over 5,500 to have no bus at all is very bad, but that's Cumbria for you. Of course, having a train service immediately puts you amongst the privileged few in Cumbria so it may well not be a priority for the next unitary council when it arrives, which chances are will be sooner that the next bus.

 

[philthetube]

St Bees (population 1800) doesn't have any buses, although one would assume that there are some that serve the public school. It does have a station, however.

Unfortunately, the school has closed. While you are in that area, I heard that Millom, which I remember being a town no longer has buses but does have a train. Any ideas? I thought there used to be a bus to nearby Haverigg Prison.

There is a boarding school, not many buses needed there though.

 

[LUYMun]

Just recent is part of Reading Buses' route 7 between Spencer's Wood and Fleet, with Swallowfield left with a Tuesday-only service to Wokingham, and Hartley Wintney with two return trips on Stagecoach's (also confusingly numbered) route 7 to Aldershot. Perhaps if Hampshire County Council continues to pull the plug on funding, Fleet itself might get isolated from the bus network...

 

[317 forever]

I'm sure there was a bus from Watchet to Minehead, previously First then run by an independent which collapsed. The service has as far as I know not continued. So there may be villages inbetween unserved by buses now.

 

[S&CLER]

Millom's station is at least central for the town, which compensates for its lack of buses. Broughton in Furness, on the other hand, has to make do with Foxfield, quite a walk away. Even when there were buses, they were poor; the man in the Tourist Info Office told me some years ago that he spent a third of his time apologising for the bus service, another third apologising for the state of the public toilets, and the rest giving out information.

 

[stuu]

I'm sure there was a bus from Watchet to Minehead, previously First then run by an independent which collapsed. The service has as far as I know not continued. So there may be villages inbetween unserved by buses now.

The 28 bus runs half hourly between Taunton and Minehead via Watchet. Do you mean Porlock perhaps? First have stopped running that bus but it is run by another company

 

[317 forever]

The 28 bus runs half hourly between Taunton and Minehead via Watchet. Do you mean Porlock perhaps? First have stopped running that bus but it is run by another company

Now I look at a map, I meant that I seem to recall route 14 from Bridgwater to Nether Stowey continuing to Watchet - probably via Kilve - and possibly with a different number. I just don't know of a route serving Holford, Kilve and West Quantoxhead now. I should have been this specific in my original post really.

 

[Pinus contorta]

Looks like the Millom bus has gone. For a town with a population of over 5,500 to have no bus at all is very bad, but that's Cumbria for you. Of course, having a train service immediately puts you amongst the privileged few in Cumbria so it may well not be a priority for the next unitary council when it arrives, which chances are will be sooner that the next bus.

The local press suggested the bus to Haverigg was axed because in 2018 (?) the new tender presented by the County Council for one of the school bus services was now separated from that of the Haverigg to Millom Town bus. Leaving it as a standalone contract made it uneconomic to operate according to the bus operator.

 

[Gloster]

Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight, with a population of around 3500 has no bus service. I assume a victim of low bridges and Southern Vectis having mostly deckers

The population of 3,613 given for Havenstreet includes Ashey and Haylands. The latter is really a part of Ryde and has an hourly bus service.

EDIT: The Ryde town (one-way) circular (37) that serves Haylands also passes within a couple of hundred yards of Havenstreet village and there is a stop.

Unfortunately, the school has closed. While you are in that area, I heard that Millom, which I remember being a town no longer has buses but does have a train. Any ideas? I thought there used to be a bus to nearby Haverigg Prison.

It is still shown on the Cumbria interactive map (dated Dec. 2017) so its demise must be fairly recent. That part of Cumbria is pretty much a bus free zone .

There is a boarding school, not many buses needed there though.

The school closed in 2015 but reopened in 2018. It doesn’t have many pupils, although some are day ones.

 

[Typhoon]

The population of 3,613 given for Havenstreet includes Ashey and Haylands. The latter is really a part of Ryde and has an hourly bus service.

EDIT: The Ryde town (one-way) circular (37) that serves Haylands also passes within a couple of hundred yards of Havenstreet village and there is a stop.



The school closed in 2015 but reopened in 2018. It doesn’t have many pupils, although some are day ones.

Sorry, I was referring to the bus route in Millom rather than the school. However, I know of at least one public school near me and several public schools further away that use their own minibuses to pick up pupils. They are operated by ancillary staff such as caretakers. It means that they can rearrange the school day whenever they want and for whatever reason without outside recourse to others as well as ensuring that those involved in after school events/ societies/ teams can get home.

 

[Ken H]

Sorry, I was referring to the bus route in Millom rather than the school. However, I know of at least one public school near me and several public schools further away that use their own minibuses to pick up pupils. They are operated by ancillary staff such as caretakers. It means that they can rearrange the school day whenever they want and for whatever reason without outside recourse to others as well as ensuring that those involved in after school events/ societies/ teams can get home.

Kirkby Lonsdale school (private) has a shedload of buses to get the kids to and from school. But its a big school. Must be loads of non boarders.

 

[Typhoon]

Kirkby Lonsdale school (private) has a shedload of buses to get the kids to and from school. But its a big school. Must be loads of non boarders.

Thanks. I think it is probably pretty common. Unfortunately this form of transportation does nothing for the communities in which the school is situated.

 

[Citistar]

Thanks. I think it is probably pretty common. Unfortunately this form of transportation does nothing for the communities in which the school is situated.

This is where more joined up thinking would be beneficial. Sadly modern legislation and enhanced partnerships are making it progressively more difficult to use vehicles for both home to school transport and local bus services. It isn't the school transport which loses out as a result.

 

[Ken H]

This is where more joined up thinking would be beneficial. Sadly modern legislation and enhanced partnerships are making it progressively more difficult to use vehicles for both home to school transport and local bus services. It isn't the school transport which loses out as a result.

During Covid a lot of school services became schoolkids only when previously they were also open to the public. That is quite a loss of amenity. That sort of thing should stop now, but I bet it hasn't.

 

[volvob12]

Now I look at a map, I meant that I seem to recall route 14 from Bridgwater to Nether Stowey continuing to Watchet - probably via Kilve - and possibly with a different number. I just don't know of a route serving Holford, Kilve and West Quantoxhead now. I should have been this specific in my original post really.

HPC have been paying for SPS to run a free bus ‘for the local community’ along the route between Bridgwater & Minehead. It’s been going quite a few years now.

http://netherstowey-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Bus-timetable-wef-7-May-2018.pdf

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

HPC have been paying for SPS to run a free bus ‘for the local community’ along the route between Bridgwater & Minehead. It’s been going quite a few years now.

http://netherstowey-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Bus-timetable-wef-7-May-2018.pdf

Hard to remember all the trials and tribulations but.... the 14 had a Sunday service (!) til 2011 when the funding was cut. I can't recall when First came off the route completely (2012?) but it was Webberbus commercially until 2016 when they went pop with their bonkers commercial and competitive strategy. It then passed on an emergency tender to Buses of Somerset, as I remember having a trip on it not long afterwards. However, I think it was pulled soon after. Somerset Passenger Solutions (SPS) operate the Hinckley Point C staff transport so HPC decided to get some local brownie points by running a service outside the peaks.

 

[nw1]

St Bees (population 1800) doesn't have any buses, although one would assume that there are some that serve the public school. It does have a station, however.

Really? (Not denying it. but interesting to know)

I used the bus there in 1991 on a service from Whitehaven (it was a two-digit number but can't recall the exact number - perhaps 21 or 25 - but, notably, a coach was operating it). Furthermore the service was quite regular, perhaps every hour to two hours or so.

But it does have a station, it seems.That must be even more unusual, to have a railway station but no bus.

Just recent is part of Reading Buses' route 7 between Spencer's Wood and Fleet, with Swallowfield left with a Tuesday-only service to Wokingham, and Hartley Wintney with two return trips on Stagecoach's (also confusingly numbered) route 7 to Aldershot. Perhaps if Hampshire County Council continues to pull the plug on funding, Fleet itself might get isolated from the bus network...

Hartley Wintney is quite a big place, isn't it? (I've only gone through the place once, at night in late 1979, but it looked fairly sizeable - large village which much modern housing - even then). To have such poor public transport in a well-populated area of southern England is pretty bad, particularly as it must logistically be easy, being on the junction of two A-roads. Would a regular hourly Aldershot-Fleet-Hartley Wintney-Hook-Basingstoke service, for example, not work? That would serve a lot of populated areas.

Mind you it doesn't surprise me about HCC. In the last 15 years or so the bus provision in the county has gone down the plughole.

In the 80s it was, IIRC, on the 200 from Camberley to Basingstoke (which sounds like it's completely non-existent now) and also, I think, on the 112 Aldershot to Reading. <irony>Progress and all that...</irony>

 

[Hophead]

During Covid a lot of school services became schoolkids only when previously they were also open to the public. That is quite a loss of amenity. That sort of thing should stop now, but I bet it hasn't.

Eh? I'm not aware of any services which remain as schoolchildren only. Which is not to say there are none, but I'd have expected operators to be pretty keen to get as many passengers on board as they can. Though I doubt that a schools service has much general appeal.

 

[route101]

Really? (Not denying it. but interesting to know)

I used the bus there in 1991 on a service from Whitehaven (it was a two-digit number but can't recall the exact number - perhaps 21 or 25 - but, notably, a coach was operating it). Furthermore the service was quite regular, perhaps every hour to two hours or so.

But it does have a station, it seems.That must be even more unusual, to have a railway station but no bus.



Hartley Wintney is quite a big place, isn't it? (I've only gone through the place once, at night in late 1979, but it looked fairly sizeable - large village which much modern housing - even then). To have such poor public transport in a well-populated area of southern England is pretty bad, particularly as it must logistically be easy, being on the junction of two A-roads. Would a regular hourly Aldershot-Fleet-Hartley Wintney-Hook-Basingstoke service, for example, not work? That would serve a lot of populated areas.

Mind you it doesn't surprise me about HCC. In the last 15 years or so the bus provision in the county has gone down the plughole.

In the 80s it was, IIRC, on the 200 from Camberley to Basingstoke (which sounds like it's completely non-existent now) and also, I think, on the 112 Aldershot to Reading. <irony>Progress and all that...</irony>

I always find it strange the bus services don't link up to Reading too well from Basingstoke. I suppose there is the train.