Britain’s Top Ten Quirky Bus Routes 5: Cumbria Classic Coaches 572

Tuesday 15th July 2025

It’s the middle of the month, so time for another Quirky Bus Route.

Cumbria Classic Coaches is based in Ravenstonedale, Cumbria about four miles south east of Kirkby Stephen. The company has a small collection of vintage vehicles for use on private hires, especially weddings.

It also has a few more modern buses which it has been using for some years to run one-return-journey-a-day shopping trips on Mondays to Fridays linking nearby locations including Brough, Tebay and Shap with Penrith and Kendal.

‘Nothing quirky in that’ you’d rightly be thinking and you’d be correct. The quirkiness comes from Wednesday route 572 which during the six months of summer (May to October) is operated by one of the vintage fleet and is hugely popular with a loyal local following as well as attracting bus lovers from far and wide.

Route 572 starts at the depot in Ravenstonedale at 10:00 before picking up at Kirkby Stephen station, then Kirkby Stephen itself followed by Brough, after which it continues to Barnard Castle arriving at 11:20. The return journey leaves there at 14:30.

On the first Wednesday of the month the modern bus allocated to the route provides a supplementary journey commencing in Shap at 09:20 then via Orton, Tebay, Cross Keys and Barnaby Ridge acting as a feeder into the main service.

Even better, on the first Wednesday of summer months, when the vintage bus is operating, the feeder bus continues after Brough on to Barnard Castle as normal using the direct route via the A66 as per the aforementioned timetable, while the vintage bus takes passengers through spectacular scenery over Lune Forest and Lune Moor between Brough and Middleton-in-Teesdale, on the B6276 (see map below) arriving into Barnard Castle 40 minutes later than the direct bus, at around midday.

The detour also includes a welcome 10 minute ‘natural break’ in Middleton-in-Teesdale.

Passengers boarding the feeder journey can choose to stay on the modern bus for the direct route to Barnard Castle, or swap over to the vintage bus in Brough where both vehicles pause before going their separate ways.

When I took the journey on the first Wednesday of last month the vintage bus was the company’s 1946 Leyland Tiger, but when I’ve done the trip previously a real treat was riding on the 1959 Bristol Lodekka offering amazing views from the upper deck. Sadly the Lodekka was poorly the day I travelled last month.

It’s a very popular route, indeed when I boarded the Dennis Dart at Kirkby Stephen station with three other passengers who’d also come up by train from Leeds to enjoy a day out last month, the bus was already well loaded with regulars who’d boarded at various points from Shap through to Ravenstonedale. We picked up even more in Kirkby Stephen itself with standing room only – 34 on board in all.

Luckily when we got to Brough where more regular passengers were waiting to board and take the direct route to Barnard Castle, we met up with the Tiger and some of us swapped buses leaving the Dart with a full load going direct and 22 of us on the Tiger to enjoy a wonderful scenic odyssey for the next hour and 20 minutes.

The wonderful scenery along the road to Middleton-in-Teesdale is made even more spectacular by the road’s constant twists and turns and steep inclines up and down…

… and, of course, all the more pleasurable to enjoy it by taking a step back in time on a vintage bus.

We arrived into Barnard Castle just after midday and the Leyland Tiger parked up alongside the Dennis Dart in Morrison’s car park to await the return journey at 14:30…

… which I noticed was even displayed at the bus stop timetable.

Both buses return to Brough, Kirkby Stephen and Ravenstonedeale via the direct A66 route providing a quicker journey home for those on the vintage bus.

The Dennis Dart then continues to Shap to drop off those who boarded at the other places served.

A ride on the 572 comes highly recommended. The fare is £11 single and £15 return on the vintage bus but it’s well worth it for the ride and concessionary passes are valid. No wonder it’s so popular. And if you want the bonus of the spectacular ride on a vintage bus via Middleton-in-Teesdale make sure you’re travelling on the first Wednesday of the month.

And if boarding at Kitkby Stephen station, probably best to wait on the main road, as the day I travelled the bus didn’t come up to the station yard as it normally does, as the gate had been shut to keep out gypsies heading to the annual horse fair at Appleby.

Roger French

Did you catch the previously featured Top 10 Quirky Bus Routes? 10: White Bus route 01, 9: Borders Buses route 477, 8: TfL/Transport UK route 969, 7 Tavistock Country Bus route 112, 6 Royal Parks RP1.

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