100 British Bus Routes: Route 68
Blackpool to Preston
22 October 2023
ABOVE: Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire 15908 (PE13 LSO) is a Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400. It is seen here on a busy Corporation Street in Preston, heading away from the Town Centre on route 68 to Blackpool. All photos in this article were taken on Saturday 17th June 2023.
Runs: Daily
Operator: Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: 10 buses
Off-peak journey time: 90 minutes
Estimated route length: 20-23 miles
Operator: Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: 10 buses
Off-peak journey time: 90 minutes
Estimated route length: 20-23 miles
It's on a rather dull Saturday morning , in the middle of a summer heatwave, that I find myself standing outside Blackpool North station. It's relatively quiet, as it's still quite early. The number of people trying to get through the barriers at the station has seemed large in proportion to the number of people who were actually on the train.
It's several years since I have been in Blackpool Town Centre. I did catch a couple of Blackpool Transport buses when I was in the Fleetwood area in 2022 (see article), but I missed Blackpool itself on that occasion. I would love to stop at Harry Ramsden's for some fish and chips, but it's not even 10am!
ABOVE: Blackpool Transport buses run under the "Palladium" brand name. Here. a trio of its ADL Enviro200 MMCs pass along Talbot Road heading in various directions. 586 (YX20 OFR) is an 11.5m-long version working route 18 (Blackpool Town Centre to Mereside Tesco). It is followed by a similar vehicle on route 2 (Blackpool Town Centre to Poulton). Bringing up the rear is a what is likely to be a shorter version on route 4 (Cleveleys to Mereside). Hard to tell from this angle, but the shorter 9.6m model is usually used on route 4.
I'm here to ride the Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire service 68 to Preston. Geographically, Blackpool is slightly out on a limb, and many roads out of town lead to Preston. I presume we're on the "South Lancashire" part of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire's operations!
Blackpool doesn't need much introduction, I suspect. It's a hugely-popular - and huge - holiday resort on the Fylde Coast in the north-west of England - a unitary authority that is traditionally part of Lancashire.
I once had the privilege of working with an actor who was born in Blackpool (she was temping between acting jobs). Despite having been born here, she claimed to "hate the place with a vengeance".
Personally, I think anyone can find something that they would like here, although snobs like me may prefer to move away from the town centre and seafront, which are popular for stag and hen parties and all that that implies...
Way back in time, someone had the idea of creating a six-mile long free lights show along the Promenade, presumably as a means of extending the summer holiday season. The Blackpool Illuminations season used to run to the beginning of November, but I discover that it has now been extended to the end of the calendar year. Where else in Britain can you find a seaside summer season that runs until Christmas?!
There's also the Pleasure Beach, of course. This huge amusement park has been entertaining locals and visitors alike since 1896. And Blackpool Tower, standing 518 feet tall, has dominated the seafront since 1894 and is the 125th-tallest freestanding tower in the world. The Tower Buildings underneath the Tower comprise the Tower Circus, the Tower Ballroom (where BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing holds its "Blackpool Week" - clue's in the name), and roof gardens.
I have been to the top of the Tower, and I even surprised myself by braving the walk across the glass floor in the viewing gallery!
ABOVE: A view of Blackpool Tower, taken from the Promenade underneath a plethora of tram and illumination wires.
Route 68 picks up in Market Street, one road inland from the Promenade. We're right in the heart of the Town Centre and, as I take my seat on the top deck, the Tower is right in front of me.
I'm on the 1020 departure with a select group of others. Like most of the buses on this route, it's a Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400, unfortunately with a dirty front window.
The bus ventures onto the seafront briefly, passing the Tower Buildings and then heading along part of the "Golden Mile". This is actually 1.6 miles long, and is the stretch of the Promenade between the North and South Piers (there's a Central Pier between them as well)!
ABOVE: 'Golden Mile Amusements' sits on the junction of Blackpool Promenade and New Bonny Street in the heart of the Town Centre. In front is Blackpool Transport 434 (SN17 MHM), an ADL Enviro400 City, on a private hire.
Blackpool is also well-known for its tram network, which opened in 1885, and kept going even when other tram networks fell out of fashion / use. It was upgraded with new trams in 2012.
ABOVE: Bombardier Flexity 2 Tram number 008 serves the Manchester Square stop on Blackpool Promenade, en route to Fleetwood Ferry
But, although the main route was upgraded with new trams a decade ago, the 'classic' models are still to be found regularly on the streets, as I discover as the 68 moves off the Promenade and into Lytham Road.
ABOVE: English Electric Balloon tram 700 in Lytham Road, Blackpool. Built in the 1930s, it was modernised in 2012 to make it more compliant for operation alongside today's Flexity 2 trams. This is not part of the tram route itself, but the way from the route to the traditional depot in Hopton Road. A new depot, at the Starr Gate terminus, opened with the modernised tramway in 2012.
Route 68 continues down Lytham Road, running almost parallel to the southern end of the Promenade. It's much quieter here; even accounting for the relatively early hour, one could not imagine that Blackpool Pleasure Beach is less than half a mile away.
ABOVE: Looking south down Lytham Road, at the junction of Broadway (left) and Woodstock Gardens (right)
The bus stop flags are a bit run down - rather surprising as this is one of those areas where the bus is generally well-promoted.
ABOVE: A bus stop flag near the Farmers Arms pub (no apostrophe) at the junction of Lytham Road and Highfield Road. Despite the run-down appearance, all of the information does appear to be correct - even that for route 18, which is so complicated that it is going TO Blackpool when everything else here is heading OUT of town!
At the end of Lytham Road we pass Blackpool Airport. This seems to serve mainly private charter flights, and a number of flying schools are based here.
We're driving along Squires Gate Lane (no apostrophe), and soon cross the single-track railway line from Blackpool South, at Squires Gate station. Squires Gate Lane marks the boundary between Blackpool and the rest of Lancashire. It's curious that, whilst most of the Squires Gate locale comes under Blackpool, the station does not!
ABOVE: What looks like a pair of Class 156s pull away from Squires Gate station with the 1035 service to Preston (the 1030 service from Blackpool South).
The 68 comes back to the coastal road now, immediately south of Starr Gate, where the tram terminates. We're heading south towards St Anne's. The snob in me thinks that this is probably the posher part of the Fylde Coast!
ABOVE: Clifton Drive North in St Anne's
We turn inland here and stand for a few minutes in St Anne's Square, for timekeeping purposes.
ABOVE: Just around the corner from the previous view is St Anne's Square, where we find Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire 15470 (PX09 AWZ), another Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400, heading back to Blackpool on route 68 (you'll have to take my word for it, as the destination isn't showing up in my photograph).
It's interesting to note a number of roads in this area that are named after Saints. We have St Anne's Road (perhaps obviously), St David's Road (split into West and East), St Alban's Road and St Patrick's Road (also split West and East) at least.
ABOVE: The Catholic Church, Our Lady Star of the Sea, sits on St David's Road East
This is a busy residential area that generates quite a bit of custom for the 68.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 15242 (YN65 XET), another Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400, is branded for route 125 (Preston to Bolton) as it heads along Church Road, between Lytham St Anne's and Ansdell on route 68
A few minutes further through these residential areas and we come to Lytham itself. This boasts a busy and attractive town centre. Bobby Ball (1944-2020), actor and comedian, lived here from the 1990s, and a statue to commemorate him was erected in the Lowther Gardens here in 2022.
ABOVE: A Blackpool Transport ADL Enviro400 City is parked in Market Square, Lytham, early in its return trip into Blackpool
We're about halfway through our journey at this point, and this may be the most attractive bit of the route. There are plenty of people about, and the warm, if overcast, day is encouraging people to head down to the beach, where there's even an historic windmill / local museum to be found.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 15823 (PX12 EFD) is another Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400. It is seen here in Clifton Street, Lytham. Again, you will have to take my word for it that this bus is on route 68 to Blackpool.
The whole Lytham St Anne's area is well-populated and it has taken us a long time to work our way through it! But we are finally driving through open country. At Warton Bank, we pass a large building housing the Land Registry. It seems like a slightly random place to have sited such an office, on the edge of town.
Warton Bank itself is the start of another residential area.
ABOVE: Preston Bus 20705 (PN08 SVR) is an Optare Solo SR. It is seen in Warton Bank working route 78 (Great Eccleston to St Anne's) which, although operated by Preston Bus, doesn't go anywhere near Preston itself. The next 68 can just be seen in the background.
We pass the Warton Aerodrome. This was opened as an aircraft factory and airfield in 1943, and served as a satellite for the RAF Coastal Command Station at what is now Blackpool Airport.
It's getting built-up again and it's impossible to tell where Warton Bank ends and the next village, Freckleton, begins. Even part of the Aerodrome's runway is officially in Freckleton!
An horrific tragedy occurred here on 23 August 1944, when a United States Army Air Forces plane crashed into the centre of Freckleton during a test flight, killing all three crewmen aboard the aircraft and 58 individuals on the ground, including 38 young children (the debris struck the infants' section of the local school).
A memorial garden, funded and constructed by American Servicemen, can be found in the Village Centre.
ABOVE: Freckleton village; the memorial garden for the children killed in the accident of August 1944 is behind the clock
A little more open countryside passes before we enter the environs of Preston City Centre. There are major roadworks underway here, but they don't delay our service.
ABOVE: Edith Rigby Way (on the left) is a new road that will link the A583 Blackpool Road with the M55 motorway. Construction is well-advanced as we pass through.
We're now entering the city suburbs, many of which are very leafy and enticing.
ABOVE: My notes have not established exactly where this is, but it's very pretty! It might be on or near Tulketh Road in Preston, a couple of minutes before the next picture below was taken.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 15569 (PX59 CUO) is seen on route 68 in Tulketh Road, Preston
There's a lot of traffic as we approach the heart of the City Centre. Having been on time the whole way from Blackpool, we get delayed at the last hurdle and reach the Bus Station 10 minutes late, at 1200.
ABOVE: An array of buses - all seem to be Stagecoach or Preston Bus - lined up in Preston Bus Station
Preston Bus Station is quite a sight! There are about 40 bays available (although not all in use). Preston Bus, the Blackburn Bus Company and Stagecoach are the main operators. When I visited a couple of years ago, social distancing made it a very difficult place to move around, but it's much easier now that all of those barriers and one-way systems inside the passenger waiting area have been removed.
The 68 terminates in Stand 4, right next to fellow Stagecoach route 61, which runs to Blackpool via a completely different route - handy if you want a round trip!
Me? I want a cup of tea, and there's a café right here within the Bus Station that will sell me one!
ABOVE: From left to right, Preston Bus 20175 (BD20 OCM), a Wright Streetlite WF, on route 44 (Preston to Cottam); Preston Bus 40716 (BD20 ODF), a Wright StreetDeck Micro Hybrid on route 100 (Farringdon to Larches); Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire 15241 (YN65 XES), a Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400 in route 125 (Preston to Bolton) livery but actually working route 61 (Preston to Blackpool); and Preston Bus 30052 (CX64 EMS), a Scania K230UB OmniLink, pulling out onto route 6 to Brookfield and Red Scar.
Route 68 isn't as rural a run as one might expect. It's surprisingly built-up through much of the way, making it good bus operating territory. My bus, though quiet to start with, generated good business, and other buses on the route were doing well too.
It's a lovely drive along the Fylde Coast, whether you prefer the posh bits (like me) or the less-posh bits (I won't say "common" for fear of sounding like a snob - oh wait)...