Across the Midlands for a Play
Act Two
17 March 2024
ABOVE: Trent Barton 171 (YX20 OJO), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, arrives at Alfreton Bus Station in Derbyshire, at the start of a run on the rainbow one service to Nottingham. All photos in this article were taken on Wednesday 31 January 2024.
THE STORY SO FAR: Your intrepid reporter has embarked on a three-day bus trip across the Midlands - all built around a trip to the theatre in Nottingham. In Act One, he set out from Birmingham and made a (reasonably) direct journey to Derby.
ACT TWO
Derby Bus Station, the following morning...
CURTAIN UP
It's no surprise that Derby Bus Station is a busy place at 8.00 on a Wednesday morning. Adults and schoolchildren jostle for space, and some services in particular are very much in demand...
This is the queue for the Trent Barton express service to Nottingham, the red arrow (all in lower case, as is the way with this operator). The coach (it is a coach even if it operates like a bus) will carry passengers virtually non-stop to Nottingham, in 45 minutes (peak hour timing).
But not all of the people waiting here will make it onto the 0815 departure - the coach is full, and a handful will have to wait for the next one. Even though the service is advertised as "every 10 minutes", the next departure is actually at 0830, as for some reason departures between 0815 and 0900 reduce to quarter-hourly; right at the time when it looks as though the 10-minute frequency might be most justified.
ABOVE: Trent Barton 87 (YX65 ZHT), a Volvo B11RT Plaxton Elite, loads up at Derby Bus Station on the red arrow service to Nottingham.
As it happens, I am heading for Nottingham as well, but I'm going to take a slightly longer-way around, as I don't need to get there for eight or nine hours...
There are more than 20 stands at Derby Bus Station, so information on what buses depart from where is essential. But there's no printed material that I can see, and the departures board, whilst designed for multiple departures, has developed a fault and is only showing a couple of services, multiple times:
ABOVE: A fault with the departures board at Derby Bus Station. Note also the discrepancy between the two boards regarding the stand for route 22 to Chaddesden and Oakwood
Nottingham, my destination, is north-by-northeast of here, so naturally I'm heading south-by-south-west! I'm having a ride on Trent Barton's hourly 'swift' service to Uttoxeter. Unfortunately, with the fault on the departure board I have no choice but to walk along the row of bus stops to find out which one my bus goes from - information also not shown on Trent Barton's website, incidentally...
I find my stand in good time for the 0820 departure, which arrives at a quarter-past, in the form of a Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban, which is fully branded both inside and out. We leave with about a dozen passengers on board.
I talk about heading south-by-south-west, but the 'swift' actually starts out to the north-west, heading up the main A52 road (Friar Gate / Ashbourne Road) out of the city. I'm quite surprised that a major road into and out of the city seems to have, for much of its length, just one hourly bus service. I do acknowledge that there are other services that dig deeper into the surrounding residential streets, but it all feels a bit inadequate.
After we cross the Markeaton Island junction with the trunk A38 road, we're heading into the countryside. There's a horrendous queue of traffic heading towards the city. Whilst unsurprising given the time of day, there is just one solitary bus - another 'swift' - to be seen within that lengthy queue, which runs for more than a mile, past the city boundary. I'm glad to be leaving town!
The traffic is all forgotten by the time we reach the village of Kirk Langley, and we're properly into the countryside. A few miles further along we cross into the Derbyshire Dales.
'swift' branding is evident not only on the buses themselves, but on bus stops and shelters, even in remote areas. It does Trent Barton credit.
ABOVE: "swift" branding is presented throughout the route - even in rural spots such as Yeldersley.
We make a sharp descent into the town of Ashbourne - of which more later. At this point we make a sharp turn towards the south-west and our intended destination of Uttoxeter. We're onto much more minor roads now, skirting the border between Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
In the village of Rocester, a woman gets on the bus, by herself, and pays for herself, and her daughter - who is "at the next stop round the corner". (Why? And is she certain?) The daughter is indeed amongst a number of people boarding "round the corner".
To be honest, I could fil this article with pictures just of the section between Ashfield and Uttoxeter - it's delightful! Here's just one, though, taken as we cross the River Churnet, at the edge of Rocester.
ABOVE: Churnet Bridge, Rocester
We reach Uttoxeter Bus Station, Staffordshire, at 0943, a few minutes later than scheduled. This has been a busy run all the way through. The bus is now doing a circular run to the town Tesco Superstore. There's a decent crowd waiting for the bus to return from there and head back to Derby, which it will do in a few minutes.
ABOVE: Trent Barton 738 (FJ09 BXC, a Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urban, leaves Uttoxeter Bus Station on the "Swift" route, heading for the Tesco Superstore - the last bit of the long run from Derby.
It's another long-established town, Uttoxeter, with an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, and apparently "at least 79" (very specific - not "eightyish") different spellings of its name since then. Olympic Gold Medallist Adam Peaty was born here, and actor Peter Vaughan (best-known as "Grout" in Porridge, although he did so much more besides) attended the Grammar School here - a fine actor, who was still working into his 90s.
The bus station is convenient for the centre of this market town. There are toilets next to the bus station with a sign advising: "no food or drink to be consumed on these premises". Is that a problem here?
ABOVE: Market Place in Uttoxeter town centre, with the War Memorial centre foreground, and the imposing St Mary's Church behind. The Steeplechase pub reflects that this is also a racing town; the racecourse is less than half a mile away.
After a tea break I return to the bus station. I'm intending to retrace my steps now, as far as Ashbourne, on the next 'swift' service.
ABOVE: Uttoxeter Bus Station, with Select Bus 38 (YX65 RJH), an ADL Enviro200, awaiting departure on Town Circular service 406. Behind is a Diamond Bus East Midlands Scania L94UB Wright Solar (in old Midland Classic colours) on service 401 to Burton-upon-Trent.
This is another busy run. In the village of Denstone, we pass what looks to me like the old railway station (have a look on Google Streetview and see what you think). We reach Ashbourne on time, at 1120.
Ashbourne had just over 8,000 residents at the time of the 2011 Census, and was granted a market charter in 1257. The town hosts the two-day Royal Shrovetide Football Match each year, on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. This sounds like a remarkable event that doesn't resemble football as we know it. To give you a flavour, the rules include the following statements:
- Committing murder or manslaughter is prohibited;
- Unnecessary violence is frowned upon; and
- The ball may not be carried in a motorised vehicle (eh?).
The game is described in detail on Wikipedia, where it is also suggested that Shrovetide football played between "two towns" in Derby might be where the term "local derby", where two local teams play a match, comes from.
ABOVE: The heart of Ashbourne, with the Henmore Brook flowing through below.
Back down to earth, and the "bus station" here stretches the definition, being just two bus stops next to each other on a public road, King Edward Street.
My next destination is Matlock, and I'm aiming for the 1140 service on route 110, provided by Hulley's of Baslow. The bus, an Optare Solo, turns up in good time.
It's here that something unusual happens. Given how far I travel, and how many different buses of different operators I travel with, for the first time on my travels, I recognise a lady driver whom I am sure I have travelled with before.
OK, I do sometimes meet a driver more than once, when it's logical. I took a number 64 from Skipton to Ilkley a couple of years ago, then almost immediately boarded a 62 to Keighley, which turned out to be the same driver. And something similar happened recently in Hemsby, Norfolk. But those were buses of the same companies, in the same area, on the same day - that will happen.
But today, I'm recognising a driver who, I'm sure, drove me from Glossop to Sheffield, on a pouring wet September evening a couple of years ago. The journey was the since-withdrawn route X57, over the Snake Pass - a beautiful, scenic hill pass across the Pennines, but less exciting after dark!
I remember the driver because she was a very good driver, very friendly, and very apologetic for the fact that she was 35 minutes late! She apologised when I boarded and again when I left. My recollection may be wrong, but the X57 was a Hulley's service, so why not?!
Driving across a hill pass in the dark, in the rain, needs a certain type of driver, and this route also needs a careful driver. We leave Ashbourne with three passengers plus a pram. Out of town, we quickly leave the main road and start exploring villages off the beaten track, on roads that are hardly wider than the bus...
ABOVE: A country lane somewhere near Bradbourne
We twist and turn through country lanes that would never be discovered even by a casual driver exploring the area. At Carsington, we are within sight of Carsington Water, a reservoir which is also open for walking, cycling, bird-watching and water sports. At its highest level, the reservoir can hold 7,800 million gallons of water!
Then Godfreyhole, a tiny hamlet that is currently top of my list for the most unusual placename for somewhere I have passed through this year (so far).
We come to Wirksworth, a market town and the source of the River Ecclesbourne. Soon after, as we head towards Cromford, we descend the "one-in-eight" gradient Cromford Hill. Looking north, we have a view across the Peak District, towards Matlock and beyond. A photograph taken through the front windscreen cannot do it justice, but it's the only one I have...
ABOVE: Cromford Hill
And we arrive in Matlock, on time at 1240. I've enjoyed the drive, and say so. The driver is gushingly modest - "you're welcome / all part of the job", etc. She's a credit to the company.
ABOVE: The Hulley's of Baslow Optare Solo that has just brought me from Ashbourne. It is seen in Bakewell Road, Matlock
I have over an hour to pass here. It's a lovely spot. It's the county town of Derbyshire, on the edge of the Peak District National Park, and it's full of quaint buildings, with lots of individual local shops (OK, I know there's a Marks & Spencer in my view above, but lots of the shops here are local businesses). The bus station isn't much to write home about, but most buses don't seem to use it anyway, so we'll gloss over that.
The River Derwent flows through the town centre:
ABOVE: The River Derwent, photographed from the Matlock Derwent Bridge. It's hard to think what else a bridge over the Derwent in the centre of Matlock could be called...
I wonder whether I should be taking my break a mile down the road in Matlock Bath, which seems to be the tourist base of the area, with lots of interesting-looking shops, restaurants and tourist attractions, including the Heights of Abraham, which I visited in the 1990s. But Matlock Bath will have to wait for another visit.
My extended stay (by my standards) gives me the chance to look at a couple of the familiar routes I have used in the past, such as the 6.1 (not a typo - it's another Trent Barton service):
ABOVE: Trent Barton 845 (YJ14 BUE), an Optare Versa, passes down Dale Road in Matlock, on the 6.1 route to Derby (one of "The Sixes"). If it had been the 61 (the side display looks like it is from this angle), it would easily have made it into my 100 British Bus Routes.
I can also reacquaint myself with the X17, which has featured in a number of my journeys over the last few years. At it's fullest extent, it runs from Wirksworth via Matlock, Chesterfield and Sheffield to Barnsley, although it's not always possible to get a through bus from end-to-end (and it could take three hours or more to do if you do find one).
ABOVE: Stagecoach Yorkshire 11120 (SK68 LUJ), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, on Bakewell Road in Matlock, on an X17 journey towards Wirksworth.
Meanwhile, I'm heading for the 140 service to Alfreton. This is one of various services that provide public transport access to the Crich Tramway Village (which I would recommend for a great day out) and surrounding villages, which are rather off the beaten track. Various operators have provided these services over the years. I took a picture of two buses in 2011 operated by yourbus of Heanor, which you can see here.
Nowadays, these services are provided directly by Derbyshire County Council. It's a tricky moment when the bus becomes due, as a delivery van for Marks & Spencer has parked in the bus stop (the Food Hall is adjacent), and things get quite congested when three buses on various routes all turn up more-or-less at once.
Based on previous experiences of County Council-operated services (North Yorkshire and Monmouthshire both spring to mind), I'm expecting a very small vehicle for this run (and Derbyshire CC has a few), so am pleasantly surprised when an Optare Solo turns up. We leave on time for this 1406 departure with half a dozen passengers on board, most of whom seem to know each other.
We initially retrace the steps I have followed on my incoming trip, back through Matlock Bath (to rub my nose in it?), before we head for the hills (of the Derbyshire Dales).
It's another scenic ride through the countryside, but this trip isn't especially conducive to good photography, especially on a fast-moving bus. We do slow down as we approach the Crich Tramway Village, giving me the chance of a brief picture:
ABOVE: Just to show that I was there (for a moment)... Crich Tramway Village. You can tell that this picture was taken from the bus because of the notices on the window!
We reach the bus station at Alfreton at 1452, a few minutes ahead of the official 1457 arrival time. The bus will continue to the railway station, after which (as the driver has imparted to an earlier passenger) a school run beckons before the day is done.
ABOVE: Derbyshire County Council 902 (MX56 NLO), an Optare Solo, at Alfreton Bus Station. The livery is that of fellow community operator CT4N.
I'm back with Trent Barton for my final ride of the day - the rainbow one service that is finally going to take me to Nottingham. This is a smart, modern 11.8m ADL Enviro200 MMC.
In Act One, I promised you "the worst example of a route naming of a Trent Barton service", and here it is! There seem to be three different rainbow ones. All buses run from Nottingham to Eastwood, every 10 minutes. Then two buses an hour continue to Alfreton, but by two different routings (Selston or Jacksdale), whilst the other four buses continue to Heanor, and two of those four go on to Ripley. See the route overview here.
If you go to the website for a timetable, the first thing you'll be asked to do is to "choose your rainbow one route" (Ripley or Alfreton). This request doesn't recognise those who just want to look at the Eastwood to Nottingham section, although the full timetable for that section seems to be available via either choice (and the full timetable is shown on the Ripley option but not the Alfreton one).
Trent Barton is (rightly in my experience) regarded as a high-quality operator, but it could be even better if it simplified this nonsense. All we need is a rainbow one (Ripley), a rainbow two (Alfreton via Jacksdale) and a rainbow three (Alfreton via Selston), all of which could still be marketed as rainbow if Trent Barton insists.
We leave two minutes late, at 1502. It's a busy departure and the bus remains busy throughout, although we somehow manage to avoid a flood of schoolchildren. The bus itself has displays counting down the time to the end of the journey. It's a nice ride, although the light outside is starting to fade now.
We pass a "Bed & Biscuit" Pet Hotel (lovely name). At Eastwood, the real-time information on one of the bus stops shows our service as "Selston, Nottingham", but we've already been through Selston. The next two departures, which will be from the Ripley direction, just show "Nottingham".
Eastwood was the birthplace, in 1885, of author D H Lawrence, best known for "Sons and Lovers", "Women in Love", "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and "The Rainbow". Is this why this route is known as the rainbow? Nice touch if it is.
It's dark by the time we reach Nottingham, even if it's only 1620. I just have the chance to try some night photography in the city centre:
ABOVE: Nottingham City Transport 532 (YN22 BNE), a Scania N280UD ADL Enviro400 City CBG, loads up in Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham, on a route 56 Lime line service to Arnold.
And now I come to the reason I embarked on this ludicrous trip in the first place; a trip to the theatre - the Theatre Royal, no less. Nothing as highbrow as D H Lawrence; I'm going to see a farce by Michael Frayn - "Noises Off". And what a wonderful evening I spend in an almost full house, watching Liza Goddard, Simon Shepherd, Paul Bradley, and lesser-known but equally talented actors. I might not have come here by the most direct route, but it's been well worth it for this show!
Tomorrow I am going to finish my bus journey across the Midlands, in the same way as I have proceeded over these past two days, and equally illogically. I can't wait to share Act Three with you.
But what's that, in the shadows, outside the Theatre?
Exit, stage left, pursued by a bus.
END OF ACT TWO
CURTAIN DOWN
CURTAIN DOWN
BELOW: A diagram showing broadly the journey covered in this article
