100 British Bus Routes: Route 38
Stirling to Falkirk
3 March 2024
ABOVE: McGill's Scotland East 8969 (YX62 BKO), an ADL Enviro200 in Midland Bluebird livery, passes through Plean on its way to Falkirk on route 38.
Photo taken on Monday 11 September 2023.
Photo taken on Monday 11 September 2023.
Runs: Daily
Operator: McGill's Scotland East (Midland Bluebird)
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: six buses
Off-peak journey time: 47 minutes
Estimated route length: 11-12 miles
Operator: McGill's Scotland East (Midland Bluebird)
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: six buses
Off-peak journey time: 47 minutes
Estimated route length: 11-12 miles
I'm back at Stirling bus station, having just completed a round trip on route 59 to Callander. Whilst that route had always been an intended member of my "100 Club", the journey I am about to undertake is more of an accidental member; my having stumbled onto it purely on the basis of "where shall I go now"?
ABOVE: Four McGill's buses are in evidence at Stirling bus station on Monday 11 September 2023. Nearest the camera is 8943 (SN66 WGJ), an ADL Enviro400 MMC in 'CitySwift' branding for route X36 to Glasgow. Then we have 2901 (SV08 FYB), a Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini, awaiting departure time on route 59 to Callander. Next, 0455 (SN65 OJF) on service 56 to Cowie, and, finally, a Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295, for route X10 or X10A back to Glasgow, the long way round.
And where I go now is onto a smart ADL Enviro400, on route 38, which runs towards Falkirk every 20 minutes (half-hourly on Sundays). The bus carries the livery of Midland Bluebird, an operation that is part of the McGill's Scotland East company. The Midland Bluebird name dates back to 1991, but the operation seems to have been through a few iterations and owners before ending up with McGill's.
This is going to be a pretty straight-forward run, broadly south-eastwards, and we start with a near-300 degree rotation of Craig's Roundabout.
ABOVE: Craig's Roundabout in Stirling, on Tuesday 5 September 2023. We will be heading down the road to the extreme right, where another route 38 bus is emerging.
Curiously, there is a road, Wellgreen Road, that is inexplicably cordoned off at both ends. This would provide a short-cut that would remove the need for the bus to circumnavigate the roundabout at all, although it has to be said that doing so would create a tricky right-turn requiring us to cross two lanes of traffic.
ABOVE: Just beyond the city centre of Stirling, McGill's Scotland East 2810 (SP54 CGK), a Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini, turns into St Ninians Road whilst working local route 57 (Raploch to St Ninians) on 11 September 2023.
We get a glimpse of the grand building that houses the Stirling Council Offices.
About a mile to the south of the city centre is the community of St Ninians. The battle, in June 1314, between the forces of Sir Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray and Sir Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford, at the start of the Battle of Bannockburn (more of the Battle anon), is believed to have taken place here.
There's a curious bus stop here, right across the junction of what has become Main Street and Weaver Row. It is controlled by its own traffic light to avoid what would otherwise be a precarious merging into traffic.
ABOVE: Bus stop across the junction of Main Road and Weaver Row in St Ninians (the car on the right is turning into Weaver Row). Note the separate traffic light to enable buses to safely re-join the traffic. And there are TWO motorcycles heading down the road, even though the angle of the picture makes it look like one rider has climbed on top of the other! Taken on 5 September 2023.
We join a section of the A9. We'll be with it for most of our journey now, although we will barely scratch the surface of this 273-mile long road, known as the "Spine of Scotland". This is the longest road in Scotland, and the fifth-longest A-road in the UK. It runs from Falkirk to Thurso, on the northern coast of the mainland of Scotland.
ABOVE: McGill's ADL Enviro400 8968 (YX62 BFU) heads along Bannockburn Road, near the Cornhill Crescent stop, with a service towards Falkirk, on 11 September 2023.
The 38 continues to follow a direct route through the outskirts of Stirling and on towards Bannockburn. Not every bus on this route is a double-decker, though...
ABOVE: The odd stray single-decker seems to be a fixture on route 38, as demonstrated by an ADL Enviro200 MMC which is on its way to Stirling on 5 September 2023. This is near Broom Road, south-east of the St Ninians Roundabout on the edge of Stirling.
We're now coming to Bannockburn, named after a stream that flows through the town called the Bannock Burn ('burn' meaning stream). Sounds peaceful, doesn't it. But maybe not...
Land in the vicinity of Bannockburn was the site of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. This was one of the pivotal battles of the 13th / 14th century Wars between the kingdoms of Scotland and England. The wars were caused by the attempts of English kings to establish their authority over Scotland, while the Scots fought to keep English rule and authority out of Scotland.
The First War of Scottish Independence began in 1296. In 1313, Robert the Bruce demanded that all supporters still loyal to ousted Scottish king John Balliol should acknowledge Bruce as their king or lose their lands. King Edward II took the largest army ever - up to 25,000 soldiers and 2,000 horses - to invade Scotland. But it was Bruce's much smaller army of around 6,000 that won the day (so to speak; the Battle actually lasted two days). This was regarded as the turning point of the War. The battle is one of the most celebrated in Scottish history, and two good articles on the subject can be viewed on Wikipedia and the BBC's Scottish History website.
ABOVE: The Allan Church, Bannockburn, on 11 September 2023
The modern Bannockburn is pleasant, with stunning scenery to be had. The Alva Glen Hills are to the north-east, and we're less than four miles to the west of South Alloa - the point where the River Forth empties and widens to form the Firth of Forth. From there, it's downstream all the way to Edinburgh!
Passing through New Road, Bannockburn, on 11 September 2023, is McGill's 0466 (SN65 OJT), a Wright StreetLite DF. It is working route 56 from Stirling to the nearby village of Cowie. The Allan Church can be seen in the background.
Once through the built-up part of Bannockburn we come to the open countryside again, with clear views across to what I believe are the Alva Glen Hills.
ABOVE: Looking north-east from Bannockburn, on 11 September 2023
The Walk Highlands website describes the Alva Glen as "a steep-sided cleft scored in the southern front of the Ochils range". The upper part of its recommended walk "involves a steep ascent with precipitous slopes and ends at a viewpoint overlooking the Smuggler's Cave in the floor of the gorge". It includes detailed walking advice and accompanying photos. Advice on how to reach the start point by public transport isn't quite so comprehensive; it just says: "Bus to Alva"!
Route 38 passes into the village of Plean and then skirts the edge of Torwood (population 245).
It's very rural here, but we're actually in an area, of about 12 square miles, that is enclosed by three motorways; the M9 running broadly parallel to us on the A9, the M80 on a straight north-south trajectory to the west, and the M876 to the south.
You wouldn't know it, though. Beyond Torwood, there's a golf course to the south-east and the ruins of a 16th-Century castle, Torwood Castle, to the south-west. And other than that, it's all open countryside. (I love it...!)
Things change as we cross the M876 and enter the environs of the town of Larbert.
ABOVE: McGill's 4102 (YX19 OSN), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, is working route 2A to Bo'ness (just under seven miles east of Falkirk), when seen on the Stirling Road near the Forth Valley Royal Hospital, on 5 September 2023
We briefly leave the A9 for a double-run into the Forth Valley Royal Hospital (FVRH as it appears on some bus displays). There's a small bus station here servicing no fewer than 10 bus routes.
ABOVE: Forth Valley Royal Hospital on 11 September 2023
ABOVE: McGill's 8967 (YX62 BMY), another Enviro400, passes the Forth Valley Royal Hospital on a Stirling-bound journey on route 38, on 5 September 2023
We come to Larbert itself. The town sits 100 feet above sea level. The explorer James Bruce was born at Kinnaird, just outside Larbert, in 1730. He travelled through much of Africa, and traced the origins of the Blue Nile.
The actor James Finlayson, best known as a foil for Laurel and Hardy, was also born here, in 1887. It is said that Finlayson's comic drawn-out "Dohhhhhhh!" response to frustration or insult inspired actor Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, to develop his "D'oh!" utterances, to fill what was once recorded in a Simpsons script as "annoyed grunt"! (And of course, Peter Glaze, of Crackerjack fame, used the phrase!)
We pass under the railway line - the line from Perth and Stirling divides just south of this point to serve routes to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Motherwell.
ABOVE: Passing under the railway on 5 September 2023
The bus passes the Midland Bluebird depot and we come into Camelon, a large village of over 4,500 people. Bronze Age items have been recovered in the area, suggesting human settlements have existed in this area for a very long time.
More recently, in the early 20th Century, W. Alexander & Sons set up a coachbuilding business here, which became Walter Alexander Coachbuilders, and survives today as part of Alexander Dennis, which still has a bus-building factory here. Route 38 doesn't quite pass the factory gates, but perhaps its buses started their lives here?
I published a photo of the factory in an earlier article, which I took when I stumbled across it by accident. But here's another one - just not so interesting as the first one...
ABOVE: New buses - mostly Enviro400 City models, plus an Enviro200 MMC - take shape at the ADL factory on 11 September 2023. Most have not had liveries applied, so their likely destinations are anyone's guess, with the exception of one vehicle that looks like it might be heading for morebus in Bournemouth, and something behind in suspiciously London-like red.
Even though we make a conscious left turn here, we're still on the A9!
ABOVE: McGill's 8966 (YX62 BNO), another ADL Enviro400, passes through Main Street, Camelon on 5 September 2023, heading for Stirling. I wonder if it started its life down the road at the Falkirk ADL factory? It's certainly been around in its career, having started with London United.
Just over the Forth & Clyde Canal and into Falkirk itself is the Rosebank Distillery. Its story on this site began in 1840, when it acquired the maltings of the Camelon Distillery, which were on the opposite bank of the canal. It was mothballed in 1993, but the derelict site was acquired in 2017 and is now being "revived".
ABOVE: Rosebank Distillery, 11 September 2023
And, after just over three quarters of an hour, we reach the centre of Falkirk, and the striking St Francis Xavier's Catholic Church.
ABOVE: Taken on 11 September 2023
Falkirk is a town of some 35,590 people, similar distances away from Edinburgh (to the south-east) and Glasgow (to the south-west). It is famous for the Falkirk Wheel, the world's only rotating boat lift, which connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal.
And finally we reach our terminus. Normally, one assumes this would be Newmarket Street in the heart of town. But the street is closed for roadworks...
ABOVE: Newmarket Street, Falkirk, on 5 September 2023
...So today, we're terminating in the next street, Garrison Place, outside an Asda store, where waiting space for passengers is extremely tight.
ABOVE: On 5 September 2023, McGill's 8972 (YX62 BMV), another ADL Enviro400, is seen at the temporary terminus of route 38, in Garrison Place, Falkirk.
The one advantage is that it's marginally closer to Falkirk Grahamston station than the normal terminus - just across the road, in fact.
Grahamston station is convenient for the town centre in a way that the other station, Falkirk High, is not. It's a mile to the south-west and, as the name implies, it's uphill all the way! There are lovely views of Falkirk to be had from the train at Falkirk High, but, if going one way by train and the other by bus, I would suggest coming in by train.
And so ends my journey on route 38 - a delightful drive through the Central Lowlands of Scotland. As you will have gathered, from the differing dates on the photos, I enjoyed the ride so much that I went back six days later to do it again (in the opposite direction). So that's twice I've been to Falkirk and I still haven't seen the Wheel!