To Hull and Back (Part Three)
24 December 2022
ABOVE: Go East Yorkshire 922 (YX20 OEA), another ADL Enviro400 MMC, drops off at The Stonebow in York, towards the end of its near two-hour run from Hull. All pictures in this article were taken on Friday 2nd December 2022, unless otherwise stated
Links to Part 1 and Part 2 of this article
Links to Part 1 and Part 2 of this article
It’s Friday morning. I’m planning a fairly extensive run round North & East Yorkshire today. First will be the Go East Yorkshire X46 service to York.
I’m not staying in the centre of Hull, but in a northern suburb called Kingswood, so I’ve decided to take a short-cut. The X46 picks up about one mile to the west of the Kingswood Retail Park, on the Beverley Road. The walk is largely alongside a very busy dual carriageway. There is at least a pavement. After turning left onto the Beverley Road itself, I need to cross over. There are two lanes on one side of the road and, on the other side, as the road approaches the junction roundabout, two lanes become three. That’s five lanes of fast-moving traffic to cross.
It’s slightly easier further down, as it’s only two lanes each way. But it’s a very dangerous road layout and I am amazed that the local authority has not thought to put in any pedestrian crossings.
I’m not staying in the centre of Hull, but in a northern suburb called Kingswood, so I’ve decided to take a short-cut. The X46 picks up about one mile to the west of the Kingswood Retail Park, on the Beverley Road. The walk is largely alongside a very busy dual carriageway. There is at least a pavement. After turning left onto the Beverley Road itself, I need to cross over. There are two lanes on one side of the road and, on the other side, as the road approaches the junction roundabout, two lanes become three. That’s five lanes of fast-moving traffic to cross.
It’s slightly easier further down, as it’s only two lanes each way. But it’s a very dangerous road layout and I am amazed that the local authority has not thought to put in any pedestrian crossings.
Here’s the road I have just crossed, looking south towards Hull, with the Downfield Avenue bus stop in the foreground
Putting myself in mortal danger, dear reader, has saved me an hour, as I can catch what will have been the 0810 departure from Hull Interchange; travelling via the City Centre would have meant catching the 0910. That hour will be useful later.
Having survived the road crossing, I am now at the Downfield Avenue stop, where the bus is due at 0827. However, the timetable in the stop is showing 0857. It’s a recent timetable, dated 4th September 2022, but seems rather incomplete. For example, Monday to Friday departures on route 121 (Hull to Bridlington) are not listed, and timings for route 5 (Hull Interchange to Kingswood) are showing as half-hourly, even though this service runs every 20 minutes. Very poor.
There are three routes that link Hull with Beverley – the X46, the 121 and the 23 (Hull to Beverley, Butterfly Meadows). They each run hourly over different routings, and provide a 15-25 minute joint frequency.
I am able to get reassurance that the X46 bus I believe I am waiting for has at least left Hull, from the tracker facility that is provided on the Go East Yorkshire website. But it doesn’t show any immediate signs of turning up at 0827. In fact, it arrives about 10 minutes behind schedule.
It’s a busy service! A smart Enviro400 MMC double-decker, with four sets of seats on the upper deck arranged around tables. There are about 30 people on board, and the first available seat pair for me, unless I want to sit at a table facing backwards, is three rows from the back! The vehicle is fitted with stop-start technology and has ‘next stop’ visual displays and audio announcements.
Interior of the upper deck of the X46, with one of the tables in view
It’s a lengthy non-stop run from where I have boarded to the next stop – about four miles – bringing us to the outskirts of Beverley. A few minutes later and we are in the Town Centre bus station. There is a mass exodus here, and a far smaller number of people to replace them.
If you will permit a short detour here, 25 hours later, I am doing the same journey again – this time from Hull City Centre. The Saturday run seems to be just as busy, if not even busier, than the Friday one.
A woman on the seat behind me is getting increasingly agitated by the length of time the journey is taking, with lots of “oh for heaven’s sake get a move on”-type mutterings every time we stop to pick people up. As the journey progresses the mutterings get a little louder and a whole lot less repeatable. As before, there’s a mass exodus at Beverley bus station, including me on this occasion.
Beverley is a lovely market town and I have arrived on Market Day. A heavy downpour coincides with my arrival and generates a rainbow (and the faintest hint of a double rainbow).
Beverley Saturday Market rainbow, on Saturday 3rd December 2022
The central road that hosts the market is named on my map as “Saturday Market”, so big clues as to what goes on here!
Beverley Bar, a 15th-century gate and a designated Grade I listed building, photographed on Saturday 3rd December 2022
I wander across the town to the impressive Minster. On my way back I see a number 25 bus heading for Hessle – that ride, which I mentioned in Part Two, has completely eluded me on this visit.
Beverley Minster, taken on Saturday 3rd December 2022
Back to the Friday journey on the X46 to York, and I am able to secure the front seat from Beverley.
On Wylies Road in Beverley, looking broadly south-west over to York Road (to the left of the Rose & Crown public house). Turn sharp left and you come to North Bar Within, and the Beverley Bar gate pictured above (from the other side)
We head past Beverley Racecourse towards Market Weighton, which is the PSV Regulations point on the route; in other words, buses show “Market Weighton then York” as the destination up to this point. (Actually, they show “Market Weighton then York via Beverley”, which is a bit confusing, as Beverley comes before Market Weighton!)
The village of Bishop Burton, west of Beverley
Market Weighton (pronounced “Wheaton” on our audio announcements at least) is quiet – just a few people leave and join.
Go East Yorkshire 927 (YX20 OEF), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, is working route 46, which parallels part of route X46 from York to Market Weighton, before heading for Holme-on-Spalding-Moor. This is Southgate in Market Weighton
Further down, though, is Pocklington Bus Station, where a sizeable number of people have joined the queue as we pull in. This pick-up point is part of the station building from the long-closed York to Beverley railway.
Pocklington Bus Station
The final approaches to York seem to take some time – it’s not a slow run; it just seems to cover quite a few miles. We had gained a few of the lost minutes by Market Weighton but have since lost them again, and arrive at The Stonebow in York’s City Centre, where I leave it, at 10.15am, 10 minutes behind schedule. It must slog on for a few more minutes to its terminus at York Railway station.
My next service also arrives 10 minutes late, but it’s worth the wait as it’s one of the very best in Britain. I’m taking the 843 service to Scarborough – a one-and-a-half hour run (actually 94 minutes) through the Yorkshire countryside. This service is provided by Transdev, trading here as Coastliner.
The bus, a Volvo B5, has already made its way across from Leeds. It’s not very busy and I am easily able to secure a front seat. The fare, at £14 single, is quite steep, but it’s a high-mileage service through some stunning countryside, so justified, I think. (It will temporarily be £12 cheaper from January 2023, as part of the £2 bus fare scheme!)
The scenery on this route is simply stunning. We’re crossing the Howardian Hills Area of Natural Beauty, part of the North Yorkshire Moors. The spectacular Castle Howard is only three miles off the route.
The day has started overcast and dull, but the sun breaks cover just as we reach some of the best views on the route.
As we arrive in Malton, the main intermediate town, it feels like a summer’s day...
Malton
...until we turn the corner to the bus station, where one of the waiting passengers is wearing a Christmas Jumper – a sudden reality check that it’s actually December!
There’s a driver change here, but the driver allows the new people to board before packing up – something rarely seen outside London. The lower deck gets busy here but few venture upstairs. There’s quite a rapport downstairs for a while – sounds like some of the people know each other. Christmas Jumper man is talking about snow. He’s quite happy if he “never sees another snowflake for the rest of [his] days”! He goes on to opine that snow “only belongs on Christmas Jumpers and in Scotland”!
Discussion then turns to the World Cup football, which makes me think of summer again. Christmas Jumper man is also wearing a Christmas hat, but apparently he’ll be swapping it for an England hat on the day of the next match. The discussion then drifts on to Cricket. Can I check that calendar again?
Church Street Norton, with an unidentified Volvo B5TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 vehicle on route 843. The destination display is clear and to the point!
Right next to Malton is Norton, and we pass a shop called the Theatre of Light, which sells all sorts of light, lamps and accessories. Sadly, it is closing down, so the Theatre of Light will be fading to darkness soon.
We briefly pull off the main road to visit Scagglethorpe, where a turning circle is provided
St Martin’s Church, Seamer
Progress is steady, and delays are few, but we arrive at Scarborough at 12.55, almost 20 minutes late. We started 10 late, as I recorded above, but I have no idea where we lost the other 10 minutes. Is the schedule too tight?
I have a choice of 10 minutes here, or an hour and 10. But it’s Scarborough! What a waste it would be to leave so soon. I saved an hour first thing and I’m cashing it in now! I spend half of it in a cafe, right at the top of the cliff railway, and the rest in the town centre, where the bright sunshine and brief summer-like feel conflicts with a busker singing Christmas songs!
Scarborough sea front
A selection of local services in Scarborough: On the left, East Yorkshire 281 (YW19 VOG), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, is working clockwise circular route 7 to Eastfield, whilst its (partially-hidden) companion 277 (YW19 VOB) is on the anti-clockwise 7A. Completing the set is North Yorkshire County Council 3048 (SF65 ATV), a Fiat Ducato Mellor minibus on the route 44 Esplanade Circular
At 1400 I am at the West Square bus stop opposite Scarborough’s striking railway station (striking meaning looking very striking; it’s not a comment on industrial relations). I’m after the Go East Yorkshire number 12 service to Bridlington; the 1405 departure turns up punctually.
It’s a 15-reg Volvo B7, old-style, with the traditional very poor legroom at the front. At least the right-hand seat is better than on earlier similar models, but still very tight and the just-over-one hour journey that I am about to undertake will be long enough from that perspective.
Go East Yorkshire 792 (BP15 OLG), a Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2, in Scarborough Road, Filey, en route for Scarborough.
I’ve actually done most of this route before, many years ago. My partner and I stayed at a holiday camp in Cayton Bay, just a few miles south of Scarborough. We took the service 120 (if I recall correctly), which ran to Bridlington via every holiday village between the two – I think there were five of them, and I recall it got very busy by the end.
There was a parallel – and much faster – service (I recall it as the 121) which is presumably what has evolved into the 12. It doesn’t turn into Cayton Bay like the old 120 did, but stops on the main road right outside.
Cayton Bay roundabout, looking out onto Cayton Bay itself. The next land mass in this direction is many hundreds of miles distant, in mainland Europe
In Cayton Bay itself we pass a school. There is a Mum with a couple of children in the playground heading in our general direction. I get the impression that they want the bus, but the driver, viewing things from a lower perspective than me, cannot see them and we are long gone by the time that they will have reached the road.
Unless there is another route of use to them, they will have to wait 40 minutes – the current service runs hourly to Bridlington with an extra hourly service as far as Filey, but the additional service runs 20 minutes in front of ours. I can’t quite square this with the “up to every 30 minutes” statement on the side of the bus.
We pass the delightful village of Muston. There are hints of the coast in the distance, but nothing that my camera can do justice to.
At Filey, a group of about 10 people join the service, and some of them come upstairs, whilst bemoaning the £3.90 fare for their journey forward. “I want a sandwich for that money”, says one. Looks like he’s fairly easily satisfied, though as he spots another feature of this bus: “Ooh, we’ve got tables”!
They stay with us through Hunmanby, and start debating where to get off the bus. “After this stop”, says one lady as we reach the village of Reighton, “I’ll biff the driver”. Sounds quite violent, but I think she just means that she’s going to ring the bell (NB: no bus drivers were harmed in the making of this blog article).
Hunmanby
But some of the group, who have remained downstairs, are ahead of the game. A clear voice floats upstairs: “We’re getting off at the church”. The upstairs group start making out that they didn’t hear: “You what"? The voice again, even louder and even clearer: “I said we’re getting off at the church”!
Go East Yorkshire 790 (BP15 OLC), a Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 2, heads north on route 12 towards Bridlington
It’s a much quieter journey after they do so, and we’re down to five people by the time we come into Bridlington, which is five more than it says on the driver’s ticket machine! We’re about five minutes late.
Bridlington Bus Station is closed at present, and my tight connection into the next bus (should have been 10 minutes) is now looking too tight. If the buses had been in the bus station it would have been do-able. But my next bus, the 121 to Hull at 1525, is just in front of me as the 12 runs down Chapel Street. It's still looking hopeful, until we turn in opposite directions! I’m taken a couple of hundred yards away down Promenade, away from my bus at Queen Street, and out of reach in the time available.
It’s now nearly 1530, and it’s getting dark. The 121 is one of those services that runs with widened intervals to reflect the afternoon traffic, so the next service isn’t until 1635. There isn’t much to do here at dusk on a winter afternoon (the earlier sunshine has faded and, as night falls, so does the temperature), and I can’t think what I can usefully do for an hour. I decide to take what is, for me, the nuclear option, and I head for the railway station.
Just over an hour later (1645 to be precise) and I’m back at Hull Interchange. The bus I missed in Bridlington won’t be here for another half hour, and the one I would have caught doesn’t get in until 1825. Silver linings. I’m well ahead of where I would have been, but have missed out on doing the full 121 route (albeit in the dark). Maybe next visit...
So back to Kingswood. The single-decker bus on Stagecoach route 5, which is normally double-decked, is just boarding as I reach the stop. By rights, I should have missed it by a couple of minutes. I reflect on the fact that only one of my four buses today (the 12) has run to time. Things aren’t going very well on the 5 either by the look of it. Half-way through the journey we catch up with the one in front (which should be 20 minutes in front). I see two together heading in the other direction as well...
I’ve had a lovely couple of days in Hull, and I will be back one day – in the spring or summer when the evenings are lighter. There are so many more rides to do around here, and places to discover.