Worcester to Cardiff: The Long Way Round
Part One
22 September 2024
ABOVE: First Worcestershire 44613 (YX14 RVE), an ADL Enviro200, pauses at the Market House in High Street, Ledbury, at the end of a journey from Worcester on route 417. Pictures below were taken on Monday 16 September 2024, until stated otherwise.
When I think of any of the three cities of Gloucester, Hereford or Worcester, I always automatically link the other two in my mind. These three Cathedral cities, each about 24 miles from the other two, in an almost perfect equilateral triangle.
When I think of Worcester, I immediately think of the composer Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), who was born just a couple of miles from the city centre. He wrote some of the greatest patriotic music that we know today, including his Pomp and Circumstance Marches, which gave us Land of Hope and Glory, and his Enigma Variations; the ninth variation of which, Nimrod, is played at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. It's a piece that brings me to tears whenever I hear it, for very personal reasons that I won't go into here. But it's a bit spooky that, literally as I started creating this page on the website, Nimrod was playing on Classic FM...
I don't know much else about Worcester, but it is apparently the home of the oldest newspaper in the world in continuous production; Berrow's Worcester Journal, which first appeared in 1690. Worcester Cathedral itself was founded in 680, and the earliest surviving parts of the present structure date back to 1084. (I'm saving my photo of the Cathedral for a future planned article that happens to be set here!)
I wonder what Elgar would have made of the Crowngate Bus Station in Worcester. It's not the most inspiring of places. Partly under cover in semi-darkness and partly out in the open, I get the sense that it has recently been converted into a one-way set-up, as one-way it certainly is, and some bus stands on the 'wrong' side have been taken out of use:
ABOVE: It's not easy to tell in this photo of Crowngate Bus Station in Worcester, but the shelter at bus stop K, in the centre of the picture, has been sealed so that there is no access to the roadway. All buses run one-way through the covered area, so this stop seemingly now has no practical purpose. To the right, a First Worcestershire ADL Enviro200 is loading up. There are a couple more buses in the covered section, if you look really closely...
Timetables are, in most cases, just cheap printouts sellotaped to any suitable surface on the shelter (including some from the First website, which aren't very user-friendly), and some of the bus departure stands have clearly changed, as those details are also printed and sellotaped up as well!
But there are interesting sights to see. There's what looks like an old factory right next to one of the parking areas, where two independent operators are currently being showcased:
ABOVE: Parked underneath an old factory building in Crowngate Bus Station are representatives of two local operators: Yarranton's of Eardiston 784 (BT66 TZE), is a Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295, and LMS Travel 107 (MX59 AVF), is an ADL Enviro200.
This is the start of a journey to Cardiff by bus, but I'm taking the scenic route... I've previously experienced problems trying to plot a route from Worcester to Hereford by bus, as there don't seem to be many options available. However, it's 1645, and the next train to Hereford, where I am staying the night, isn't until 1801 (due to multiple cancellations). So I have a look at Traveline to see whether, against what all previous experience is telling me, there is actually a way to get there by bus.
And there is! First Worcestershire operates a service 417 to Ledbury, which will connect into a bus to Hereford. The 417 only has three departures per day, which may explain the difficulties I have had in the past, but the last of those departures is at 1705 - mere minutes away!
There is a cautionary note for me, though. According to traveline, this is an "SDO" service. "SDO" means Schooldays only, which means a bus full of unruly schoolchildren. I have my own code for SDO services - "AAAC", which means Avoid At All Costs. However, the prospect of an overcrowded three-car train, with two departures' worth of people, in rush hour, leads me to the conclusion that I should take a punt on the 417.
The information board in the Bus Station (can't recall whether it was printed or electronic) tells me the stand that I need, but there's no mention of the 417 on the list for this stop - unless it's on one of the bits of paper sellotaped to the side, blowing about in the breeze. However, the bus is in sight, in one of the parking bays, so I figure that I can watch where it goes, and hope that it stops somewhere near.
When the previous bus on my stand pulls away, the 417 pulls smartly forward. So I do have the correct stop, and we're soon loading and getting ready to go. We pull out on the stroke of 1705.
There are nine of us departing on this journey, only two of whom might be of school age. Some of the rest look like commuters, although how anyone can commute on a service where the first bus doesn't arrive into Worcester until 1045 beats me! Subsequent researches show me that this is not, in fact, an AAAC (sorry, I mean an SDO) service. It runs in school holidays as well, but with an extra early journey from Ledbury at 0855 on those days only, which would almost make it useful for commuters!
Four passengers leave in the village of Rushwick, which has no other bus service. The railway line from Worcester to Hereford passes through the village, and there was a Station Halt here until 1965.
We pause in the village of Cradley; we're about three miles into Herefordshire now:
ABOVE: Cradley
About 25 minutes later we reach the town of Ledbury, on time at 1755. A Market Town with a population of 9,290 in 2011, four battles were fought here during the English civil wars, during which Ledbury was, to quote Wikipedia, a "bastion of royalism". It's much quieter this evening.
Market Days are Tuesdays and Saturdays, and there's a sign to warn people not to park outside the Market Hall on those days between "07:00AM and 17:00PM".
The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) lived in Ledbury. She is commemorated by the Barrett Browning Institute opposite the Market Hall, which has a distinctive Gothic Clock Tower. This hosts the annual Ledbury Poetry Festival.
There are a lot of historical buildings in Ledbury, and these include the Almshouses on the High Street. These were founded in 1232 by Bishop Foliot, and the current buildings date from 1822 and 1866 (source: Historic England).
All in all, a very pretty English town!
ABOVE: Another view of the High Street in Ledbury shows the Barrett Browning Institute, with its distinctive clock tower (left), Market Hall (right) and the War Memorial (left, foreground). To the left of the War Memorial are the High Street Almshouses. The clock is showing the correct time - it's exactly 6pm!
In the bus stop, a poster covers all timetabled services on all routes serving the town (a number of routes, but only a handful of departures on each). But there's also a very useful summary of "return times" for these services, for those passengers who are going right to the main traffic objectives of those routes:
My next service is to be the 476 to Hereford, provided by D R M Bus, an independent operator based in Bromyard, Herefordshire, founded by David Robert Morris (hence the name). The bus for this service is a Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora, with seatbelts and USB charging points. It's a very smart and modern vehicle.
ABOVE: D R M Bus 113 (DM23 DRM), a 12m long Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora, approaches the Market Hall in Ledbury on the incoming service from Hereford. The angle looks a little odd, but I think it's slightly uphill here as the buildings seem to be straight!
This service, 1840 from the High Street but starting elsewhere in the town at 1830, is the last of the day in this direction. There are three of us on this trip - the other two (a couple, one assumes) are known to the driver.
As we pass Ledbury station, about three-quarters of a mile out of town, a number of fairly disgruntled-looking people are coming out of the station. These are the passengers I would have been travelling with if I had waited in Worcester for the 1801 train to Hereford. To add insult to injury, after the cancellation of the previous service, this one left Worcester 13 minutes late and lost another three minutes subsequently (as ascerttained from RealTime Trains). The ones who started in Worcester should have taken the 417 bus - they would have been here three-quarters of an hour ago! I wonder how many of those who could have done that even knew about the 417?
Back to the 476, and we pass "The Trumpet Inn", in the village of Trumpet (which seems to have been named after the Inn).
ABOVE: The Trumpet Inn, Ledbury
This is where the couple get off. They don't need to ask the driver to stop and they don't need to ring the bell - he already knows exactly where to stop - not at the Inn itself, but just down the road at a Caravan Park. A personal service indeed!
It's just the driver and me now, for the rest of the trip.
In the village of Lugwardine is the attractive St Peter's Church:
ABOVE: St Peter's Church, Lugwardine.
The bus arrives at the Hereford Country Bus Station (I hadn't realised there were two bus stations here until now - there's also a CIty Bus Station) on time at 1915. The train I could have caught arrived at 1857, 14 minutes late, but this has been a much more civilised way to cross from Worcester.
In case you were wondering, as I was, whether this trip with three passengers could really be justified, the answer becomes clear here, where a sizeable number of people are waiting for the return journey, which is scheduled to leave at 1915 - the same time as the incoming journey is due to arrive. This final run of the day is extended beyond Ledbury to get the bus back to base in Bromyard.
ABOVE: D R M Bus 113 again, in Hereford's Country Bus Station, loading up for the 1915 departure to Ledbury and Bromyard.
It's interesting to note that there's an evening service on route 476 until late, on Saturdays only, and there's even a Sunday daytime service - a very impressive offering for this kind of rural territory.
The next morning breaks as warm and sunny. There's a group of work colleagues in the hotel breakfast room. I suspect they're on a course when one of their number asks: "Has everybody read the document"? Wry laughs and embarrassed silence ensue - they're going to have an interesting day.
But not as interesting as my day. I'm heading for the railway station. Not to catch a train; it just happens to be the first stop for the route T14 Traws Cymru service to Brecon. My information says that I need "Stop 2", but I can only see one stop, which does fortunately show the T14 amongst the services calling.
There is comprehensive timetable information for the various services that call here, and it looks as though Herefordshire County Council has put some effort into its information provision.
However, close reading of one particular timetable shows that some presentation is more complicated than it needs to be, as shown by the distinct departure times set out for Schooldays, School Holidays and Saturdays for the morning bus to Monmouth on route 66:
Incidentally, I understand that the 66 is a new service that only started this month. There are six return journeys on weekdays and four on Sundays, but most start at the Country Bus Station and don't call at this stop (perhaps the timetable should say that)? Anyway, sounds like a ride for me to try out some time. I'll never pass over an opportunity to go back to Monmouth - it's lovely.
My T14 is parked up some distance away, awaiting its scheduled departure time:
ABOVE: Stagecoach South Wales / Traws Cymru 21361 (BV19 LPU), a 12m Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora, on stand at Hereford Railway Station, prior to forming the T14 service to Brecon and Cardiff. This photo, and all of the photos below, were taken on Tuesday 17 September 2024.
The Traws Cymru ("Trans Wales") operation is a network of longer-distance bus services across Wales, sponsored by the Welsh Government. The expanding network is presented as one coherent system (but more observations on this point as we go), and it isn't necessarily obvious which operator is responsible for a particular service.
The T14 runs from Hereford to Cardiff, via Hay-on-Wye, Brecon, Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd. Journey time is just under four hours from end-to-end. But I'm only going about halfway on this bus, to Brecon.
There's a Day Ticket that covers the network, for £13 (child £8.70, Groups £30) - very good value, bearing in mind the distance that can be travelled and the fact that, being in Wales (mostly), there is no standard £2 single ticket.
I say that it isn't necessarily obvious which operator is running a service, but the familar Vix TP5800 ticket machine tells me that I can only be boarding a Stagecoach vehicle! Specifically Stagecoach South Wales. This is a a 12m Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora. It is painted in Traws Cymru colours (white with a green 'skirt'). However, there is information on the interior coves about a Day Ticket costing £11 (child £7.30 / Group £27). It's not clear what network this is referring to:
These are not Traws Cymru prices, so I wonder whether it's a local Day Ticket somewhere in the Stagecoach South Wales network, but I can't work out why such information would be in a vehicle dedicated to Traws Cymru. Surely it's not out-of-date Traws Cymru ticket information? That would never do.
This is a high-spec bus, with Next Stop audio and visual information (bilingual Welsh & English), USB points at every seat and bell pushes and lights built into seat backs as well. There's also a luggage rack. At this stage, I assume this is all part of the Traws Cymru spec, which exudes quality.
At 0910, we're on our way. We start with just a handful of passengers but the numbers build up as we go.
As one would expect, it's all very scenic:
ABOVE: A view across from the B4348 to the village of Vowchurch, 10 miles south-west of Hereford (the T14 doesn't go into the village - this is the closest it gets). The spire of what I believe to be St Bartholomew's Church can just be seen in the middle of the picture.
Some careful co-ordination is needed on the roads around Dorstone, which are very narrow. Buses from opposite directions are scheduled to meet here, and there's clearly an instruction that neither should pull out of the village until the other has arrived, because two 12m buses meeting in the roads either side would create an impassable situation...
ABOVE: Traws Cymru / Stagecoach South West 21351 (BV19 LPA), another 12m Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora, is heading for Hereford as it passes my bus in Dorstone.
We cross the border into Wales at Hay-on-Wye - the Dulas Brook that we cross as we enter the town marks the boundary. With over 20 bookshops, Hay is often described as a "town of books", and it's the site of the annual Hay Festival.
We're greeted, at the Castle stop on Oxford Road, by this friendly-looking dragon (not words that one would necessarily use in the same sentence that often)...
On to the town of Talgarth, home of the annual Festival of the Black Mountains, in "a celebration of an ancient town in a modern world". There's an unusual War Memorial bench next to the actual memorial:
The journey livens up as we get towards Brecon, and we reach town with around 15 passengers. Almost everyone leaves here, including me. We have arrived on time at 1054.
There are plenty of new customers to replace us, but there's a 17-minute stand here before the service continues towards Cardiff. The service in the opposite direction arrives here at around the same time.
ABOVE: 21361 again, now displaying the onward journey towards Cardiff (displays toggle between English and Welsh). The service back to Hereford via Hay-on-Wye can just be picked out on the next stand, mainly hidden by the shelter!
I have about an hour to pass before my next bus. When I return, the bus station is momentarily deserted:
ABOVE: Brecon Interchange
But it's not long before people start to join me for the next services out, and buses are soon appearing.
You already know that I am heading to Cardiff, but that I am going the long way round. Coming to Brecon has been a slightly longer way round than, say, travelling from Hereford to Cardiff via Abergavenny and Newport, but it's not what I mean by "the long way round"... What I have done so far has only been the starter.
I'm going to take a little detour before I head for the finish line in Cardiff - a little loop. When I've finished said loop and landed back here in Brecon, then I'll get the bus to Cardiff.
Where am I going then, on my "little loop"? Well, since you ask...
I'm going to go all the way around Wales...
TO BE CONTINUED...
BELOW: An approximation of the journey described above, with key towns and cities in the area, including the eventual destination of Cardiff, also marked for context.
