|
|
|
2010 Bus Tour
weekend: |
|
|
Friday 30 April 2010
|
As now seems to have become traditional, the LUPTS Friday activities
rested in the ever-capable hands of Tony Kletz. This year, he took us down to the Albert Dock
area of Liverpool for some items of local interest. Firstly, the Yellow Duckmarine. Aboard a genuine World War 2 landing
craft, the trip started at Albert Dock on its marine leg, before emerging for
the land-based part of its journey.
There was a break for afternoon tea in the café at the Maritime Museum
before phase 2 – a trip on the Yellow Boat Cruise (the
‘Skylark’) around the Albert, Salthouse,
Wapping, Queens and Brunswick Docks, the latter now the home to the Liverpool
Marina. What did we learn from these trips?
Quite a lot, but much of it totally wrong. Apparently the Overhead Railway was
double-deck. Also Liverpool trams
closed finished in 1953 and if you want to see them today then they’re
running in Hong Kong where they’re a major tourist attraction. The guide on the Boat Cruise was not
over-impressed with our corrections. |
|
|
|
Adjournment across the road to the Baltic Fleet for a couple of pints. |
Saturday 1 May 2010
|
Download
your very own itinerary from here The 34th LUPTS annual bus tour was not
without some stress for the organiser, this stress being caused almost
entirely by the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley. The tour was advertised as ‘Coal,
Steel and Victorian Steam’ the latter item being a reference to an
event at Butterley that day. However because of problems getting
straight answers from the Railway – see here if you want the full, unexpurgated story (to
which no reply has ever been received, by the way) – a last minute
redesign of the tour, and consequent renaming, was necessary. |
|
|
We began at our usual starting point in Tithebarn Street, returning to Hilton’s Travel of
Newton-le-Willows for vehicle hire, and with Nigel at the wheel for the
second year running. Pick ups at Oxford
Street and the Gardener’s Arms took our passenger complement up to
41. A stop at Birch Services showed
the inability of present day, upmarket coffee outlets to deal with customers
quickly as your organiser received complaints that several of our party spent
20 minutes queueing and still emerged coffee-less. |
|
|
|
Via the M62, passing a
slow-moving convoy of protesting motorcyclists going in the opposite
direction, took us to Huddersfield and then out towards Wakefield on the
A642. Yorkshire is famous for its
mining tradition. Mining was carried
out at Caphouse Colliery on the western edge of the
Yorkshire coalfield near the village of Overton at least as long ago as
1789. Passing through several changes
of ownership, it became part of the National Coal Board in 1947. Coal production continued until 1985, at
which point the conversion of the site into a museum began. It is now the National Coal Mining Museum
for England and consists of nearly 20 restored buildings across a 7 hectare
site. |
|
We’d scheduled an hour and 20
minutes here, in the knowledge that there would be more than enough to do in
the time available. In the nicest
possible way, our planning was thrown by the museum pulling out the stops and
organising two things we weren’t expecting – the operation of the
narrow gauge railway and the opening up of the reserve collection, which is a
euphemistic term for a wonderful collection of rusty vehicles and equipment
which will hopefully be restored at some time in the future. |
|
|
|
From there, we took a picturesque route
through Flockton and past the entrance to the
Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Less
picturesque – but of great interest to some – was the approach to
Rotherham, passing the former Masborough station, Millmoor (the former
home of Rotherham FC, correcting what it says in the itinerary) and C F Booth’s,
scrapyard. |
|
The
South Yorkshire Transport Museum has been open since 2007 but it has its
origins in other preservation schemes, including the Sheffield Bus Museum in
the former Tinsley Tram Depot, which was visited by LUPTS on the 1994 bus
tour. Buses and coaches form the main
part of the collection. Museum
members were extremely hospitable, giving us a guided tour in groups around
the exhibits and providing tea and biscuits for us. |
|
|
|
To replace Butterley, we diverted our tour to accommodate Peak Rail,
which was having a special event day to coincide with the inauguration of a
turntable at Rowsley by music impresario Pete
Waterman. The leg of the bus journey
to get there – 38 miles scheduled for an hour and five minutes –
proved to be a bit optimistic, and we arrived at Rowsley
20 minutes behind our plan. However,
through the wonders of mobile telecommunications, there was no panic as we
were informed that Peak Rail was also running about 20 minutes behind their
timetable and getting worse as the day went on. |
|
Pete Waterman had been
and gone by the time of our arrival, but a LUPTS celebrity was there in the
form of Dave Parker who was on firing duty on the 8F which was being used
that day for the last time before going on hire to other preserved
railways. We assume Dave fired
impeccably, as the train did two return trips between Rowsley
and Matlock without incident. Dave
was also able to facilitate the display of the LUPTS headboard on the loco. |
|
|
|
By this time, we were running quite a
bit behind schedule. Again the mobile
phone came in handy to reassure Jill and John at
Bill’s Fish and Chips on Fairfield Road that we would be partaking of
their fare before they closed for the evening. Back to Liverpool via the A6 and the
motorway, getting back to Liverpool at about 21:30. A jovial session at The Lion brought the
day to its conclusion. |
|
In spite of the problems with the planning of the tour, and with
the scheduling problems towards the end of the day, it passed off well. Thanks to the usual suspects for their
help, particularly Jonathan who even came up with a few ideas I took notice
of, and to Dave Parker who liaised with Peak Rail to help us out. Thanks to the staff and volunteers at the
National Mining Museum, the South Yorkshire Transport Museum, Peak Rail and
Bill’s Fish and Chips in Buxton who were so friendly and helpful. Go and pay them all a return visit when
you get the chance. Don’t
bother with Butterley though. CHARLES |
|
|
|
|
Sunday 2 May 2010
|
Sunday
lunch was at The Toad in Colwyn Bay, followed by a
visit to the Llandudno Transport Extravaganza. |
|
Return to Bus Tour Weekends
page
Last updated: 29 August 2010
© Charles Roberts/LUPTS 2010