Thursday 26th September 2024
Here’s another one of those community involvement success stories. It’s from the Lake District where a volunteer-led community group called Sustainable and Integrated Transport for Ullswater (SITU) has set about organising and funding two additional bus routes to supplement Stagecoach’s successful and well used bus network through the National Park.
Key to these routes’ success this year has been the active support of local businesses and organisations which have pledged financial backing for the two routes in the event income from fares is insufficient to meet the costs Stagecoach incurs in running the routes.
SITU organised a pilot Ullswater Bus service last summer and encouragingly it’s back again this year with an extended route and timetable running from 23rd March through until 3rd November.
The two Ullswater Bus routes run at weekends and bank holidays and are “being provided as part of our drive for more sustainable transport and reduced private vehicle traffic in the Ullswater Valley; improving connections between where people are and where they wish to be within the valley.”
Those behind Ullswater Bus explain they’d “like to run a more extensive service but it has to make financial sense. We consider our priority at the moment is to build awareness of the service and to accustom people to using the buses to travel around Ullswater. Additionally, Stagecoach informs that in general buses are more used on weekends and bank holidays.”
There are two routes. Route UB1, which also ran last summer, connects holiday accommodation around the valley with destinations such as Pooley Bridge, Howtown and the Ullswater Steamers. It’s the only bus route running along the eastern side of Ullswater which has been unserved by public transport for as long as I can remember not least as the road is narrow and a dead end.
New for this year is route 509 from Penrith to Keswick taking in Lowther Castle, Pooley Bridge, Aira Force, Glenridding, Dockray and Troutbeck.
Route UB1’s timetable comprises four return journeys…
… and route 509 provides seven journeys each way between Keswick and Aira Force with four continuing via Pooley Bridge and Lowther Castle to Penrith and three heading south to Glenridding and Patterdale.
Stagecoach includes timetables for both routes in its popular and well distributed timetable book for The Lakes as well as including the routes on its colour coded map.
I popped up to the Lake District on Saturday to see how both routes are doing, 27 weekends into their 33 week run for 2024, and obviously now being post peak season.
Two buses operate new route 509 and I caught the first departure of the day from the terminus outside Penrith railway station at 08:03.
Except it didn’t arrive until 08:12 and I’d tentatively begun planning a back-up Plan B although reassuringly spotted it was on its way from Stagecoach’s bus garage in the town on its app.
I was the only passenger boarding at the railway station (the driver explaining to two hikers wanting Keswick to catch the direct X4 bus behind) and there was no custom from the bus station where we regained five minutes of the lost time due to generous running time. Two passengers joined us at the last bus stop as we left Penrith and then we headed down the A6 via Clifton to take in a loop working via Lowther, Lowther Castle and Askham.
Except Askham is out of bounds for Keswick bound buses at the moment due to repairs to a bridge on a sharp right angled bend over the River Lowther.
Penrith bound buses are able to safely make the turn (as shown above) so use the route in that direction although this isn’t made clear on the SITU wbesite.
After Lowther Castle we therefore headed back to the A6 and retraced our route to Eamont Bridge and then via Tirril to Pooley Bridge where we arrived on time at 08:48 and I left the bus and its two passengers to continue to Aira Force and Keswick.
After an hour’s pleasant breakfast pause I caught the first UB1 journey of the day at 09:50 heading over to Howton and The Hause down the east side of Ullswater
The bus had come from Aira Force at 09:15 and four passengers alighted with one staying on and two boarding with me.
As you can see it’s operated by a Stagecoach EVM Sprinter minibus in plain vanilla livery which the driver told me is used on contract work for Sellafield in the week and is just right for the UB1 due to very narrow roads on the route, particularly the east side.
We picked up two more passengers at one of the many holiday parks on the east side of Ullswater and they and the two who got on at Pooley Bridge alighted near Howton obviously heading off on a walk.
The only other passenger on board alighted at the terminus but complained to the driver he should continue further as “The Hause is further up the hill, not here”.
The driver explained this is the terminus by the cattle grid as advertised in the timetable but she still got in a huff about it as she set off on what I guessed was going to be a long walk anyway.
As you can see it’s one of Britain’s remotest termini with nothing but mountains, hills, greenery and water. And walkers.
After a few minutes break we headed back up to Pooley Bridge and then down the other side of Ullswater to Aira Force – a 55 minute run.
You get some wonderful views along the way not only of Ullswater itself – and very tranquil it was on Saturday morning…
… but also the surrounding scenery.
Confirming the usefulness of the route, a party of ten people (six adults and four children) boarded at the Park Foot holiday park on the east side of Ullswater all travelling to Aira Force.
After Pooley Bridge the route deviates off the A592 to serve Bennethead and more holiday parks where at the “Quiet Site” we picked up eight more passengers (six adults and two children)…
… who may have been encouraged by a prominent blackboard advertising bus departures at the bus stop.
It was great to see a very busy bus (overfull – but children were sitting on adult laps) and popular. Everyone got off at the terminus at Aira Force to take a walk on the restored paths by the National Trust and marvel at the waterfalls.
The bus turned round and after another short break headed back to Pooley Bridge and The Hause on its second of its four return journeys.
I enjoyed a short walk to enjoy the waterfalls and great scenery and had originally planned to catch a 509 to Keswick via Matterdale End but as I’d travelled that way some years ago on a route (numbered 208) that Stagecoach used to run on Saturdays between Keswick and Patterdale…
… I opted to return to Penrith so I could see the full route via Askham in the reverse direction.
This arrived with seven on board, four of whom alighted at Pooley Bridge where the aforementioned UB1 having gone via Bennethead was just in front, and from which I saw six alight and two remain on board as the bus headed over to The Hause again.
We headed off towards Askham and Lowther with three on board and to my surprise picked three up in Askham who were bound for Penrith, especially as buses from Penrith aren’t serving the village, but they’d obviously been out enjoying a walk.
One passenger from Keswick alighted at Lowther Castle and another boarded for Penrith proving the route’s potential. Indeed, we’d passed the other bus on route 509 heading for Keswick just after Pooley Bridge and there were around eight passengers on board.
Sadly on my travels I noticed some key bus stops omitted details of departure times for the 509 and UB1 and I hope Westmoreland & Furness Council make a better effort next year to add both routes to its database. For example there was no reference at Penrith station to the 509 either in the rather mucky large case in the bus shelter…
… or in the smaller case attached to the lamppost…
… nor at Aira Force to either the 509 or UB1.
But there was information posted at Pooley Bridge.
Encouragingly from my limited observations on what was a Saturday heading towards the end of the season I’d say the routes are proving their worth and SITU deserves much praise for overseeing this initiative.
The UB1 now in its second year is an undoubted success and I’m sure given another year and heightened awareness the 509 will also make an impact.
This success is all the more heartening in that SITU “is run by a group of residents from the Ullswater parishes in the Lake District. The group wants to see a sustainable and integrated transport system for the Ullswater valley which will benefit residents, local businesses and visitors in keeping with the World Heritage status of the Lake District.” (taken from its website where you can find more information and background to the projects the group is promoting).
Roger French
My thanks to Stephen Joseph who tipped me off about SITU and its support for these bus routes.
Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS.
Comments on today’s blog are welcome but please keep them relevant to the blog topic, avoid personal insults and add your name (or an identifier). Thank you.
BusAndTrainUser 
I need to explore the Lakes more thoroughly in 2025 …. hopefully these routes will return.
I was in Kendal in September, and found the timetables posted there, especially the large Council posters, were confusing and contradictory, such that I had to rely on bustimes for accurate information.
If Westmoreland are to provide them (hooray!), then they need to do the job properly, and ensure they are always correct …. only 5/10, I’m afraid.
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This might be the first time a timing point called ‘cattle grid’ has ever appeared on a bus timetable. What an excellent initiative, let’s hope the likelihood of more normal fares in 2025 does not kill it.
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Re obscure termini, there used to be one on the Moorsbus network called Square Corner, with a grid reference shown in the timetable book!
Richard Delahoy
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My experiences of the delightful Lake District have been enjoyed by both public and private transport. In 1973 and 1975 using an All Line Rail Rover I rode the wonderful Windermere aboard the delightful former LMS Motor Vessels. Gladly I have a book containing pictures of the wonderful “Teal”! In 1973 I needed to walk both ways between Windermere Station and the pier and in 1975 with a friend only managed to do the downhill section by Ribble Route 519 bus. I felt sorry for my much heavier friend as we walked back to the railway after our Windermere cruise. Those were the days before ATMs and Guarantee Cards, so I needed to pay my bank (Barclays) a 2/6 (25P) fee to cash a cheque at the Bowness Branch whilst they telephoned Hersham Branch for authorisation. On one of my two (consecutive) Honda CD-175s I ventured into where Roger has been recently – up from Kendal, via Windermere and the A592 stopping to take in the scenery of Kirkstone Pass and a fuel stop at Watermillock before a late afternoon cathedral call at Carlisle and then bed for the night at Lockerbie.
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Just a very tiny point – 2/6 equates to 12½p, being ⅛ of a pound.
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Always good to see more public transport. There is huge latent demand for good bus services in this country. The large family groups will have benefited from the £2 fare. I hope it stays in some form.
mikeC
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Anon at 8:31. 2/6 was 12.5p. Either you cheated your bank or they cheated you. Seen any far cats recently? John
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Living in Cumbria and having to rely on buses, there is a major issue.
Stagecoach do not spend any money in Cumbria and the buses are second hand from places like Manchester. They do not repair the buses properly and there are never enough drivers. So you can never rely on a bus to actually run in Cumbria.
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There is a disconnect in the Stagecoach Cumbria offer. There are some good initiatives and the buses are well presented, but reliability is poor and attention to detail is lacking.
Stagecoach seem to allocate buses with more comfortable seats quite randomly, with routes with long passenger journeys having bus seats but town services having coach seats.
Gareth Cheeseman
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I agree – I also have to rely on the buses in Cumbria. The Lakes network looks good on paper and the Windermere area (555/599) has buses which look good (though they often get very overcrowded) but try travelling down to Barrow/Ulverston from the Lakes and the service can be a complete mess. The X6 could be a reliable route but in reality it can be horrendous. I’ve seen buses depart Kendal very late, very early (and half the passengers don’t realise it’s gone) or just skip Kendal bus station altogether. Or they just never show up. Then they sometimes wait at Grange for a very long time (I’ve seen over 40 minutes), which makes them very late, and there’s clearly not much slack in the timetable at the Barrow end as they often have to be off again within minutes. Last time I did Ambleside-Barrow by bus it took nearly 5 hours due to buses not stopping/not turning up and running very late. The Stagecoach Lakes network all feels a bit style-over-substance, which is a pity because the Lakes really needs a good bus service to try and counter all the car traffic which gets very heavy around Windermere and Keswick.
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That could be because historically Cumbria County Council would not subsidise any bus route. Why should Stagecoach invest if fares collected would not cover the purchase or leasing costs of new buses? Stagecoach do though operate new buses on the Lancaster, Kendal, Windermere route.
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The eastern shore of Ullswater was served by Stagecoach around twenty years ago. I am not near my old timetable collection at the moment so can’t be more precise. My recollection is it was route 109 from Penrith and it ran via Dalemain and Pooley Bridge. I used it often in the few years it ran as the Eastern shore was inaccessible otherwise for a public transport user.
Regrettably I have only used the UB1 once, opportunities being very limited in the last couple of years. My only trip on the 509, back in April, suggested it would be well used.
Caroline Mitchell, Carlisle.
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I’m having an idle morning, so thought I’d look at Google Maps and see how much further the UB1 bus could’ve gone . . . well, I suppose another mile or so, as far as Martindale, St Peter’s Church. There is a turn available, but frankly, even for a minibus the road looks to be rather severe, with hairpin bends and no passing places.
It’s a shame that the lady passenger couldn’t be more appreciative of the service itself, instead of picking a fault and having a pop at the driver, but I suppose that’s indicative of society today.
Definitely one for 2025 . . . !!
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Hopefully you will get a driver willing to go up to Martindale Church, mine did last year as did a friend’s this year. Most passengers wanted to go to or from there, so seems daft not to. The best part of the route by far !!!
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Meant to add that the roads up to the church are easily suitable for the minibus used, but the driver said they don’t go up in rain as the roads get too slippery. Indeed the section between Howtown Pier and The Hause is less suitable, with the bus grounding badly on the hump bridge both ways.
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I recall travelling during the early eighties on the Penrith – Martindale Postbus which travelled a little further west.
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Howtown and the Martindale valley was one of the pilot Royal Mail Postbus routes in the late 1960s.
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The Penrith to Martindale Postbus started 30th October 1967 and operated until 5th June 2006. It was the third of the experimental services. The vehicle also operated an evening journey taken over from Stagecoach from Penrith to Patterdale 4th June 1993 to 13th June 2006.
Editor – Ride the Royal Mail Postbus
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One interesting observation in my Lake District travels is that the weather, often very wet, never seems to dampen passenger loadings as in other locations. And whilst I realise Sprinters are the only suitable vehicle for the UB1, it only takes a group of Walkers or a large Family to board and they become full up and can create “issues” when people often require to return en masse later in the day. A similar situation sometimes occurs on Saturday only Country Bus 271 (Newton Abbot-Widecombe) in Devon.
Have never personally encountered missing buses in the Lake District, but obviously there are still staffing problems. A long way from the days when Stagecoach deliberately over-staffed in order to loan to other less fortunate subsidiaries.
But a great initiative and better than nothing.
Terence Uden
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I had a ride last year to The Hause, it was a separate UB3 route then. The bus continued up to Martindale Church, without doubt the most spectacular part of the route, but easily acessable by the minibus. Everyone on board wanted to go up to the church, and we picked others up there. I asked the driver why the timetable only showed The Hause Cattle Grid, and he explained that in wet weather it was too slippery to go any further, so presumed they deliberately did not want to advertise Martindale Church in case they could not reach there that day. A friend rode on this year’s UB1 earlier in the season and it too went up to Martindale Church, despite being a wet day. So whether it is down to individual drivers, or there really is a wet weather problem, remains a mystery. Maybe your contact could explain better. But it really needs to go up to the church to be much use.
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I reckon the trick with more indirect rural routes that link two major places (here, Keswick and Penrith) is to still advertise them as through buses, raising passenger numbers. Obviously, don’t mislead if someone needs a direct bus – as the driver in Penrith clearly did. But you could imagine someone with an advance ticket on a particular train from Penrith, if the timing was right, might enjoy using the 509 as a different way to leave the Lakes…. (CH, Oxford).
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Better wording: “Obviously, don’t mislead if someone needs a direct bus – as the helpful driver clearly supported in Penrith by pointing out the much faster X4” (CH, Oxford)
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