100 British Bus Routes: Route 41
Preston to Morecambe
1 September 2024
ABOVE: Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire 10021 (PX12 DMV), an ADL Enviro400, picks up at the Claylands Caravan Park stop in Cabus, on a southbound run on route 41 to Preston. All photos in this article were taken on Tuesday 2 July 2024.
Runs: Daily (limited late afternoon service, and no service Mon-Sat evenings, Lancaster to Morecambe)
Operator: Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire
Weekday daytime frequency: Hourly (less regular Lancaster to Morecambe)
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Four buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 116-117 minutes
Estimated Route length: 25-28 miles
Operator: Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire
Weekday daytime frequency: Hourly (less regular Lancaster to Morecambe)
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Four buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 116-117 minutes
Estimated Route length: 25-28 miles
Preston Bus Station isn't what it used to be, and that's saying something! I recall my first visit around 15 years ago, when there were around 80 stands and the only way to access the city was through a bleak underpass. My late partner and I disliked it all so much that we found our way to a bus stop on the other side of town for the return journey, just so we didn't have to go back to the Bus Station!
It's a lot more pleasant now. All of the stands on the western side were taken out some years ago and a piazza was built in its place, which means that the city centre can now be accessed on the level.
It's still an imposing Bus Station, though.
ABOVE: Almost all of the buses in this mid-evening view of Preston Bus Station are Stagecoach vehicles, with just one Preston Bus visible towards the far end and, if you stretch your imagination, a Blackpool Transport single-decker just behind that. Customer stands are on the left and parking bays on the right. The building houses a huge car park above the buses.
There may be almost 40 bays here but something has to go into Bay 1, and, in this case, it's rubbish bins and storage! But my route 41 bus is departing from the first bay that is actually in use for buses - Bay 2.
ABOVE: Bay 1 seemingly permanently sealed off for rubbish bins and storage
I have travelled on the 41 before, and briefly mention it in an earlier account of a trip to Morecambe. In fact, from that day, I always knew that this was going to be the route 41 in my 100 British Bus Routes series - it's just taken me three years to get back here to research it!
My 1545 departure results in a slowish trek out of Preston itself. We're heading straight up the A6 Garstang Road and the school run is in full swing. There seem to be even more people trying to get into Preston as there are leaving, though.
Some of those on the school run might be picking up from the rather striking Abrar Acadamy, an Islamic Boys' College for pupils aged 11 and over, which we pass about a mile into the journey. It's easy to tell that this building has been converted from an old church.
ABOVE: Abrar Academy
We move into the northern Preston suburb of Fulwood. According to Wikipedia, some of the finest Victorian buildings of Lancashire can be found in Fulwood, including the Fulwood Barracks, Fulwood Union Workhouse, and Harris Orphanage. None of these are visible from the 41, though, although there are certainly some nice buildings around here; the Nat West Bank and the Library are located in adjacent detached buildings with 'gardens'.
ABOVE: Preston Bus 20878 (KX14 FJV), an Optare Solo SR, calls into the Parklands stop in Fulwood, working route 45 from Blackburn to Preston. You'll have to take my word for it, as the electronic destination display - in full working order - hasn't been caught by my camera!
We reach the M55 junction at Broughton Roundabout. We're only a mile or so from the M6 as well so this is a busy junction. It has taken about 18 minutes to get here from Preston Bus Station, which is only about three miles behind us.
ABOVE: The busy Broughton Roundabout, with the M55 passing overhead.
Once across the junction, we steer away from the main road to call into the village of Broughton. This busy bus waits here for eight minutes, as there seems to be a slight gap between the timetable and the reality (this journey has an extra five minutes allowed to this point compared to earlier journeys, presumably because of the time of day).
Still, it does give us a few minutes to appreciate the village. Broughton-in-Amounderness Church of England Primary School on Church Lane - just a stone's throw from the bus but hidden behind trees - is one of the oldest extant primary schools in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1590. One of the school buildings dates from 1843 and is Grade-II listed.
The striking Broughton Inn dates back over 150 years:
ABOVE: The Broughton Inn
A by-pass has been built around Broughton so the roads here are nice and quiet.
ABOVE: Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire 15821 (PX62 CCK), a Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400, leaves the A6 at James Towers Way (Broughton Bypass) on route 41 towards Preston.
We're back on the A6 heading north. The M6 motorway is less than a mile to the east and we will be running parallel to it all the way to Lancaster.
There are lots of new homes being developed over these next few miles. We pass a succession of villages. The population of Bilsborrow at the time of the 2011 Census was 632. but the local economy is clearly sustained by restaurants and overnight accommodation... With the Lancaster Canal close by, and miles and miles of countryside, I suspect that this area is popular with walkers.
ABOVE: Bilsborrow
Route 41 is accompanied by fellow Stagecoach route 40 for most of the way to Lancaster, giving a half-hourly frequency over the common section. At the height of the school run, there are also school buses running as services 940 and 941 as well, with two buses on each route setting out from Lancaster within a few minutes of each other.
ABOVE: Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire 10559 (SN16 OOC) is an ADL Enviro400 MMC. Branded for the "Lakes Connection" route 555 (Lancaster to Keswick), it is passing The Hawthorns in Bilsborrow on School Bus 940
The scenery is stunning in this area. We're on the edge of the Forest of Bowland and you can see for miles:
There is a rapid succession of small villages - Brock, seemingly so small that even Wikipedia doesn't have an entry for it; Catterall, where three men were executed in 1716 for joining the Jacobite Rebellion the year before; and Bowgreave, which houses the Garstang Community Academy (a secondary school). Ironically, it is just a few hundred yards from the school that another of the school buses passes by.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 10030 (PX12 DNU), an ADL Enviro400, is in a National Bus Company / Ribble commemorative livery. It is seen here, passing Topiary Gardens in Bowgreave, on schoolday-only route 941.
We're about halfway to Lancaster now and reach the town of Garstang. This ancient town is referenced in the Domesday Book of 1086. Rather more recently, it became the world's first-ever Fairtrade Town in 2000.
ABOVE: The Wheatsheaf pub in Garstang
An Annual Arts Festival takes place here each summer, as well as an Agricultural Show.
Garstang's traditional market day on Thursdays dates back to the early-1300s and stretches the length of the High Street (it looks like the traffic has to squeeze down when the Market is open - there isn't anywhere much else it can go)...
The Market Cross is medieval and is listed as a Scheduled Monument by Historic England. Although some of the structure is post-medieval, it retains its original base and is in its original location.
ABOVE: In the heart of Garstang stands the Royal Oak Hotel, a 17th century coaching Inn. In front of it is Garstang Market Cross, which has stood here since medieval times.
We're joined at Garstang by route 42, another hourly Stagecoach service which runs between Blackpool, Garstang and Lancaster.
As we head further north, there is yet more new home construction underway in the village of Galgate. According to David Mills, author of "The Place Names of Lancashire" (published in 1986), the name Galgate is from Galwaithegate, a road that continues north through Cumbria, and meaning the road to Galloway.
We come to Lancaster University. This is one of the few points where the route of the 41 varies from that of the 40. Whilst the 40 continues straight on to Lancaster, calling only at the University Gates, we, and most other routes here, head right into the grounds.
It's now raining heavily, precluding decent photography, but I am able to get a snap on the return journey later...
ABOVE: Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire 11151 (YX68 UXB), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, heads into the Lancaster University "underpass" on route 1A (Lancaster University to Heysham via Lancaster)
Underneath one of the University buildings is a Bus Interchange - logically referred to as the "Underpass". In addition to a range of local bus services, FlixBus and megabus (small M) both serve the University on their London to Glasgow routes (a FlixBus to Glasgow passes through while we stand here).
ABOVE: Stagecoach 11151 again, in the Underpass interchange at Lancaster University
Despite the rush hour traffic, we reach Lancaster Bus Station on time at 1721. It seems as though virtually the entire bus load is leaving us here (and it has been a busy run).
Sitting on the River Lune, the city of Lancaster is the county 'town' of Lancashire (although the County Council is based in Preston, and has been since its formation in 1889). Archaeological evidence suggests that a Roman fort stood from as long ago as the First Century AD. It was on the site now occupied by Lancaster Castle, which was founded in the 11th-Century and used as a prison, on-and-off, from 1196 until 2011. Quite a stint - I wonder whether the people locked up there appreciated the history of the building that they were incarcarated in?
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the English royal family, and the Duchy of Lancaster still holds large estates on behalf of HM King Charles III, also known as the Duke of Lancaster.
ABOVE: King Street, Lancaster
We leave Lancaster Bus Station with only a handful of customers; most of whom have just joined us. Apart from a couple of isolated journeys, accompanying route 40 does not venture beyond Lancaster.
We cross the river via the Greyhound Bridge.
ABOVE: The Greyhound Bridge in Lancaster
We have been with the A6 virtually the whole way so far, but we leave it now as we head north-west for the final section to Morecambe. After the long haul from Preston, this final section is less than four miles long, and we're into the environs of the town long before that.
ABOVE: The Shrimp Roundabout on the outskirts of Morecambe Town Centre
Entertainer Eric Morecambe OBE (1926-1984) might be the most famous person to have come from the town (his birth name was Bartholomew - he took his stage name from the town), but actress Dame Thora Hird (1911-2003), who appeared in over 100 films and countless television programmes and became a national treasure, was also born here.
There's a statue of Eric Morecambe on the seafront - larger than life, just like the man himself (there's a photo of the statue in my earlier article).
I'm not aware of any commemoration of Dame Thora in Morecambe (there is a blue plaque in Bayswater, London, where she lived for over 50 years), but there's an unexpected celebration of one of her co-stars from "Last of the Summer Wine" in Euston Road in the town centre, in the form of "Auntie Wainwright's" shop. It's not actually a shop - it's a mural, complete with a very life-like image of Jean Alexander's grasping shopkeeper from the series. The regulars of Summer Wine land - actually Holmfirth in West Yorkshire - would go into the shop in every episode, and would get fleeced every single time - why did they keep going in?
(I wonder how often Dame Thora's character was on screen with Auntie Wainwright - probably not very often as they moved in different circles within the storylines...)
ABOVE: Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire 10029 (PX12 DNO), an ADL Enviro400, calls at the Arndale Centre in Morecambe, whilst working route 6A from Morecambe to Lancaster.
At 1741, and just four minutes short of two hours after we set out, the bus reaches Morecambe Bus Station, its terminus. There are only about three of us left by this last stop. The Bus Station has been developed since I was last here. On that occasion it was just two stops on each side of a busy through road, but now it's a proper dedicated area (albeit I have been dropped off on the other side of the road)!
ABOVE: Morecambe Bus Station
I'm only here briefly on this occasion. I want to catch the 1815 back to Preston, as it's the last 41 of the day to serve Morecambe (although there are alternative evening services from Lancaster). Actually, the service between Lancaster and Morecambe is a bit hit-and-miss - broadly hourly in the morning and early afternoon, then a three-hour gap between the 1245 and 1545 departures from Preston (the two services in between terminate at Lancaster).
But, if you can time it right, it's a lovely drive through some stunning countryside, ending up at a thriving seaside resort that backs onto Morecambe Bay. The rivers Leven, Kent, Keer, Lune and Wyre all drain into the Bay, which is known for its wildlife populations, being a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with a bird observatory at Walney Island, on the far side of the estuary near Barrow-in-Furness.
A stunning bus ride, with all of the sections that make up the journey being performed in the right order!