ANOTHER MYSTERY TOUR FROM GLASGOW:
Part Two - The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks
19 November 2023
ABOVE: First Greater Glasgow 67853 (SN13 EEU), an ADL/TransBus Enviro300,has just arrived at Balloch in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, at the end of a long run from Glasgow on route 1A. The intending passenger has spotted that he's on camera! All pictures in this article were taken on Thursday 7th September 2023.
It's 1300, and I'm back in Glasgow. Following the no-show of my intended bus from Neilston to East Kilbride, which I have recounted in a previous article, my whole day has gone awry. There are 16 bus routes listed at the stop in Oswald Street, and a check of the timetable suggests that the service 1A to Balloch will be a good bet. It's a 90-minute-plus trip so will surely go somewhere interesting, won't it?
This is another First Glasgow service, so I can tap on and get off wherever the fancy takes me. It's a busy service leaving the city centre, and we start with a non-stop run out of town via the A814 "Clydeside Expressway".
The Expressway runs along the northern bank of the Clyde, past the modern OVO Hydro Arena. Capable of holding 12,306 seated customers, or 14,500 where standing is permitted, it really makes an impression (though I'm not sure what that impression is - it looks like a cruise ship which has run aground and had the top covered over)...
There are several variants of route 1 running along this corridor. I'm on the 1A, which seems to differ from the 1 only in terms of small routing variations. There's also a 1B (of which more later), which runs to Helensburgh. Between them, these three services, each half-hourly, are offering a 10-minute service interval along the core part of the route into Glasgow.
There are 1C & 1D variants that stay closer to Glasgow city centre, and a 1E (all the way to Balloch) that only sees a handful of journeys in rush hours. So the combination of services can probably justify the "up to every 5 minutes" statement that appears on the branded buses.
We're off the Expressway and back to a normal stopping service at Whiteinch, about three miles out from the city centre. As we head towards Clydebank, I spot an aged Dennis Dart Plaxton Pointer belonging to Avondale Coaches, which runs four local bus routes in the western suburbs of Glasgow. A relatively rare beastie now, the Dennis Dart, although Avondale has half a dozen on its books.
ABOVE: An Avondale Coaches Dennis Dart Plaxton Pointer in the western suburbs of Glasgow.
We reach Old Kilpatrick, a village of 4800 people. This represents one end of the Antonine Wall, a Roman defence wall that stretched across the central belt of Scotland, from here to Carriden in Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth.
It's as we reach the town of Dumbarton that I realise that I had been intending to come this way, on this route, in a couple of days' time. So I've inadvertently trampled over a future day's plans, as well as having had today's turned upside down!
Incidentally, the town is called Dumbarton, with an 'M', but it's in the county of West Dunbartonshire, with an 'N'. According to the West Dunbartonshire Council website, old charters sometimes referred to 'Dunbriton', and later forms such as 'Dunbertane', but the spelling 'Dumbarton' came about, over 300 years ago, "probably because it shows how the name was said"; the County of Dumbarton used to be, simply, 'Dumbartonshire'.
It was not until the early 20th century that some influential members of the County Council had the name changed to what they regarded as its more ancient form, Dunbarton. When Dumbarton District Council ceased to be in 1996, it was decided to revert to the 'Dunbarton' spelling for the new West Dunbartonshire Council.
Alexandria isn't as far from here as one might think... Not the Egyptian city, obviously, but the Scottish town of Alexandria is just three miles from Dumbarton. It just sounds very exotic.
ABOVE: Crossing the River Leven via Bridge Street, Alexandria
We're about 10 minutes late into Balloch, where the 1A terminates. I'm not sure where we have lost the time, though. It certainly wasn't in the middle of roadworks a few miles back, with temporary traffic lights at each end, where a couple of people were waving for the bus to stop. The bus stop was closed, of course, and the bus could not stop.
Balloch probably means the village on the loch ("baile" being a Gaelic word for village). It sits at the foot of Loch Lomond, which is perhaps one of the two most famous lochs in Scotland - if I was asked to name three Scottish Lochs, I would flounder after Loch Lomond and Loch Ness!
It's here that I stumble across route 207. The West London 207 (Hayes By-Pass to White City) is the bus route I know best in the whole country (I have written about it in the past). There are only seven route 207s in Britain, according to both BusTimes.org and traveline, so it's rare for me to find another one.
This 207, operated by McColl's (not to be confused with McGill's), is a local service from Bonhill, in the suburbs of exotic Alexandria. It terminates at the delightful-sounding "Lomond Shores". The terminus is only four minutes away, but I've arrived just too late to discover this bus before I've seen it driving away, and it only runs once an hour.
ABOVE: McColl's YJ66 AEY, an Optare Solo SR, is on Balloch Road in Balloch, on route 207 to Lomond Shores
Having missed the 207, and with no idea of where I'm going next, I explore the village centre. On a Thursday afternoon, even in September, it's crowded out with tourists, and there's no chance of getting onto the tour boat that is about to set out to explore the Loch.
It's a very pretty spot:
ABOVE: Looking north into Loch Lomond, although technically this is still the River Leven here in Balloch village centre
Of course, these bonnie banks have been immortalised by the traditional song:
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond,
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.
The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond, Traditional
A beautiful song it may be, but it's also a very sad one. Opinions differ, but it may be about a soldier, awaiting execution in a foreign land. The "low road" may be a reference to the Celtic belief that, if someone died away from his homeland, then the fairies would provide a route for his soul to return home.
ABOVE: Just a ninety-degree left turn from the previous photo, looking at the Balloch Village Ferry Landing. Balloch railway station is just out of sight to the left, on the other side of the river (and the other side of the road).
In a happier context, the village of Luss, on the western shores of Loch Lomond, about six miles from here, was the location for the TV soap "Take the High Road".
I wander past the railway station to a bus stop near Craiglomond Gardens. I have no idea what my next move is; will that change when I reach the stop?
ABOVE: The view looking west from the Craiglomond Gardens stop in Balloch
It's wonderful to see a full set of timetables for the four (infrequent) routes that serve this stop. I'm also rather amused that this stop is served by, amongst others, the 207, that I have already mentioned, and a route 306 from Alexandria to Helensburgh.
Why amused? Well my local 207 in West London has a couple of common stops in Acton Vale with London route 306 (Acton Vale to Fulham, Sands End). So to find a stop, right out here in the lowlands of Scotland, served by the 207 and the 306 feels surreal!
What's even more surreal is that there's a 306 to Helensburgh due in less than 10 minutes! There are five journeys a day, at two hour intervals, and I have stumbled across one quite by chance! This is the joy of a random bus ride when things don't go to plan - I just can't envisage a scenario where I would have planned a ride on this route, and it's quite possible that I wouldn't even have discovered its existence.
There are nine route 306s in Britain, according to BusTimes.org, and this one, another McColl's service, is only 26 minutes from end-to-end. It comes a couple of minutes late, but is a smart, almost-new (72-reg) ADL Enviro200 MMC.
There are six passengers already on board. I sit on the left-hand side, as is my normal approach on a single-decker (better view out the front). Most of the other passengers are sitting on the right-hand side - they've worked out that the best views of the Loch are going to be from that side - I haven't!
There's a curious sign on this vehicle:
The sign says: "If you are not issued a ticket by the driver, please call us in confidence". Does this highlight concerns about fraud, perhaps? I've never seen a sign like it before! Anyway, I'm pleased to confirm that I am given a ticket.
There are roadworks on the approaches to Helensburgh, and they slow everything down. We lose a few more minutes here and reach the town 10 minutes late.
ABOVE: McColl's YX72 OJS is an ADL Enviro200 MMC, and has just dropped me off in Helensburgh. The one bus will provide the full service on both route 306 and fellow route 305 (Alexandria to the aforementioned Luss).
Helensburgh sits on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, at the mouth of the Gare Loch. We've crossed from West Dunbartonshire into Argyll and Bute. We're 25 miles from Glasgow now, and across the water is Greenock, which I had passed through just the day before (see this article).
ABOVE: Helensburgh Parish Church overlooks Colquhoun Street in Helensburgh town centre
It's still warm but has become overcast.
ABOVE: Looking out across the Firth of Clyde, from Helensburgh
My unexpected deviation into Helensburgh gives me the chance to ride the longest of the 1-series of routes from Glasgow - the 1B, which starts here.
Whilst waiting, I see a bus from local operator Wilson's of Rhu. This is not an operator I have come across before. And no wonder - it's a family business with 14 vehicles in total - mainly coaches. BusTimes.org lists just five buses in the fleet, operating two services.
ABOVE: Wilson's of Rhu Optare Solo YJ59 NNX is working a route 316 short to Garelochhead, when seen in West Princes Street, Helensburgh
But the 316 looks like a route that is worth doing (so a shame that I am only finding this out after the event)! It runs north alongside Gare Loch to the top of the loch, in the town of Garelochhead (I don't think I need to look up the derivation of the name of the town)!
Some journeys then run around the top of the loch and continue south down the opposite bank to Rosneath - only two-and-a-half miles from Helensburgh as the crow flies, but that's over the water. The 316 then continues around the next bit of the bank, and heads north again along the bank of Loch Long, to the village of Coulport. It looks fascinating and is definitely "the one that got away" on this trip! It's now on my "to-do" list!
The 1B turns up four minutes late, but leaves with a healthy load - probably not surprising for the scheduled 1635 departure. The first part of the journey towards Dumbarton is a straight-forward drive down the Cardross Road. This is, at times, right on the bank of what is by now the River Clyde, and some decent views are available on the right-hand side. But of course I am sitting on the left-hand side as usual.
The bus catches up with a 1A in Dumbarton and the two run together for a short time, before the 1A sets upon its minor deviation from the main route. Some intending passengers waving down the bus at a stop in Dumbarton town centre are inexplicably ignored by our driver.
ABOVE: Another Enviro300, on route 1A to Balloch, passes us as we navigate the Dunglass Roundabout, between Bowling and Milton
We're never far from the River Clyde from this point on, as we retrace our steps towards Glasgow. The Clyde dominates the skyline at Erskine - yes, I did say skyline. As a means of providing a way across the river at this point, nearly nine miles from Glasgow itself, a river crossing was constructed here. And, goodness me, the bridge is spectacular.
ABOVE: A view of the Erskine Bridge, taken from the Dumbarton Road in Old Kilpatrick
The bridge, opened in 1971, is a multi-span cable-stayed box girder bridge. It stands 148 feet high. It's 4337 feet long and 103 feet wide. And from down on the ground, one can appreciate every inch of this huge engineering marvel, although the residents of Erskine - especially the older ones - may not agree with me.
ABOVE: Another view of the Erskine Bridge, taken from the 1A service heading towards Dumbarton and Balloch. In the foreground is the Erskine Ferry Road Swing Bridge across the Forth and Clyde Canal.
We finish, as we started, with a fast run along the Clydeside Expressway, and reach Glasgow City Centre on time at 1815.
As is the case with many buses outside London, drivers keep a tally of how many people are on board, via their ticket machines. The transactions count people on, and the 'tap-off', or a quick manual button push by the driver, counts them off again (this informs those "service quiet / busy" displays that one sees at some bus stops). Well this driver has not been very diligent on this point, as I can see his display saying we have "27 passengers on board" for the last stop, when there are actually only seven of us.
I've enjoyed my afternoon exploring the route to Loch Lomond and its environs (skirting around parts of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park). It just goes to show that an unplanned trip can work out into something spectacular too. I only wish I had known about the 316, as I would have liked to try it. Another time?
O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye,
But me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.
The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond, Traditional
The roads we have covered today are shown in the following map, which also marks the route of the 316 - discussed above but not (yet) sampled...
