Britain’s Buses: The View from the Top Deck,
​via Church Minshull, West Adderbury and Pott Shriglet

2 November 2021​
ABOVE: Stagecoach Yorkshire 12107 (YN61 BHA), an ADL Enviro400H, in Sheffield City Centre on Friday 1st October 2021.

​I was fascinated to read a recent story on BBC News about a man who travelled from London to Morecambe in 24 hours, exclusively on local bus services.

Why so fascinated?  Because I have spent at least 31 days during 2021 riding local service buses up and down the country, for fun.

There is nothing I like better than to spend the day on the buses. It might be in a local area, focusing on a specific operator. Sometimes it’s a circuit – I’ll talk about Greater Manchester one day. Or it might be a genuine long-distance ‘straight’ line journey, such as West London to Clacton. (Buses rarely follow a straight line of course!)

I estimate that I have covered more than 3,300 miles on the 214 individual non-London bus journeys that I have taken in 2021. Fifty-two different operators have hosted me for more than 200 hours.

I have been north to Darlington, south to Swanage, east to Lowestoft, and west to Rhyl. And yes, I have passed through Church Minshull (served by route 31 between Crewe and Northwich), West Adderbury (route S4 from Banbury to Oxford) and Pott Shriglet (on route 391 between Macclesfield and Stockport, which is a Little Gem in more ways than one).

Who am I? I am a senior manager in a transport role (not buses). I live in West London. When not at work, I am just as comfortable on the number 22 from Ocean Terminal as I am on the number 22 from Putney Common!

In this blog, I will share experiences of my adventures, as well as general opinions about the British bus industry; some positive, some critical.

I do not have any professional connection to, or vested interest in, any part of the bus industry. All opinions are my own.
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Jump on-board – we will be departing soon!