July 2011 has been a sad month for Derbyshire bus travellers. County Council spending cuts have forced the withdrawal of many tendered bus journeys, in some cases severing links that have operated for many years.

One such link was the 66/67 between Chesterfield and Manchester, actually a through TM Travel service (on the journeys we travelled on, anyway) despite the apparent change of buses at Tideswell shown in the timetable made necessary by EC rules. For a brief history of this service please CLICK.

Neville, David and Oliver took a return trip from Chesterfield to Manchester on the final day of the route operating through to Manchester, Saturday 23 July 2011. The service will continue to a revised timetable between Chesterfield and Tideswell with some journeys extended to Buxton.

CHESTERFIELD TO MANCHESTER

Our first surprise was that the allocated vehicle for the 0835 departure from Chesterfield New Beetwell Street was an Optare Solo in Doncaster park & ride livery, offering a free ride to hospital! Whilst no doubt the bus felt at home in the traffic congestion of Stockport and Manchester, wending its way around the narrow lanes of the Derbyshire Dales villages was perhaps a novel experience for it. The Solo was lively and smooth and seemed to enjoy its scenic day out!

Loading was slow owing to a profusion of notes and many enquiries. The bus was initially destinated 67 Manchester (though the driver may have corrected this to 66A Tideswell after we boarded). We set off with sixteen passengers nine minutes late and never really caught this up, what with a fair number of people boarding and alighting along the route in the early part of the journey and traffic congestion once we were in Greater Manchester.

Neville and Oliver have senior citizen passes (issued by Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire respectively) but young David had to pay. A £5.80 TM Travel Yo Yo Plus seemed fair value to cover the return journey.

We had not been going five minutes before the bus left the main road for a detour around the outskirts of Chesterfield. It is a good job we did as one elderly gentleman who had completed an early shop was dropped off in Storrs Road (apparently not served by any other service) where two more people boarded.

Back on the A619, we were soon in the scenic approach to Baslow and on past the Hulley’s depot and the erstwhile premises of Whites of Calver. Our next deviation from the main road was into the village of Eyam, famous for putting itself into isolation when many villagers fell victim to the plague in the 17th century. As we left the village, a builder had to move his truck so we could get through the narrow street.

The next village was picturesque Foolow where we turned left towards Litton (as we were a 66A). Here we saw a TM Travel Optare Versa waiting at the side of the road presumably to make the 0940 66 to Chesterfield from Eyam, connecting with the 65 from Buxton to Sheffield.

After many more twists and turns each revealing a further breathtaking view we arrived at Tideswell, boasting the Cathedral of the Peak. Here we connected with the TM Travel 65 (mentioned above) to Sheffield as well as Hulley’s 173 to Bakewell and Hulley’s 68 to Buxton.

Our bus was now officially a 67 (rather than a 66A) from Tideswell to Manchester on the last day that this part of the route was to be served. After several passengers alighting and boarding, we were on our way again, turning onto the A623 near the headquarters of Andrew’s of Tideswell, a well respected coach operator.

As we sped through the beautiful scenery surrounding Peak Forest and Sparrow Pit, potential passengers were few as sheep and cows far outnumber human beings in those parts.

No sooner had we joined the A6 (where a trent barton liveried transpeak Optare Excel coming up from Buxton dropped in behind us, due in Manchester at the same time as us) than we left it again to go through the streets of Chapel-en-le-Frith. Here several passengers boarded as it seems that the 67 is the only connection to New Mills, Marple and Manchester (trent barton 199 connects Chapel with Stockport and Manchester Airport).

Thankfully, we then went on the A6 dual carriageway for a short distance before again hitting ribbon development where we took a very sharp right turn to New Mills, Strines and Marple, after which the service is limited stop. Then it was into Stockport (not the bus station towards Manchester) and stop/start progress as we headed for Chorlton Street coach station, Manchester, a rather unwelcoming place to set foot on the City’s tarmac. Still, it is just a short distance from Piccadilly Gardens where there are buses and trams galore to please the transport enthusiast.

Sixteen passengers alighted at Chorlton Street, though only two boarded for the return journey at 1100 to Tideswell, with connection to Chesterfield.

We were not planning to return until the 1500 departure (the very last 67 from Manchester) so we had four hours to take a look around.

4 HOURS IN MANCHESTER

Within two minutes we were on Portland Street where all manner of assorted buses were heading out of the City. Neville suggested we try out a green Stagecoach Enviro 400 hybrid to the University. Soon we were aboard with the upstairs to ourselves. David had to pay £1.50 for the journey of about five minutes. During this short distance of stop/start travelling, the hybrid sounded no different from conventionally powered buses.

We alighted outside the Roman Catholic Church set amongst the imposing buildings of the University. We crossed the road where a whole stream of buses was heading to Piccadilly. There were three forms of double deckers provided by Stagecoach (standard liveried Enviro 400s, green hybrid Enviro 400s, blue Magic Buses, mainly low floor but including a few Volvo Olympians with entrance steps) as well as assorted buses provided by First, Arriva and the independent Finglands.

We chose to try out a Magic Bus. It was clean and smart and carried a very good load, perhaps because David’s fare was 90p, a substantial 40% saving over the £1.50 charged on the outward journey.

The number of buses coming and going at Piccadilly was overwhelming. Their general appearance was modern and smart, unlike that of the trams which compared to those in Sheffield came over as old fashioned and shabby.

On a previous visit to Manchester, an enthusiast colleague of Neville had tripped over a pavement sign which alerted the party to a posh hotel serving a three course lunch at a bargain price. There we followed Neville and agreed on the excellence of his choice of venue, especially as Neville generously paid for the three of us!

We had noted some orange single decker hybrids advertising free trips around the City centre. We decided to visit the Arndale shopping centre and were soon aboard one of these busy buses. The streets were very congested so there was no chance of high speeds. The gearless whirr resembled that of a milk float, though the acceleration and deceleration seemed a little too fierce in view of the standing passengers. On approaching the Arndale Centre bollards blocked our way, but these magically descended into the ground as the bus drew close. On consulting a map later, it seems it would have been quicker to walk from Piccadilly to the Arndale Centre, but it was much more interesting on these orange buses, especially when we discovered on the way back it dropped us right outside Chorlton Street coach station.

VERY LAST JOURNEY FROM MANCHESTER TO CHESTERFIELD

We were surprised when the same bus and driver swung into Chorlton Street to make our 1500 departure, the last one of the day and perhaps the last one ever! It suggests that since leaving us the vehicle had returned to Tideswell where the driver had taken a well earned one hour’s break before returning to Manchester for our journey through to Chesterfield.

Oliver was the last of nine passengers to board so is in possession of the final ticket issued between Manchester and Chesterfield. The traffic was much easier as we left the City for Stockport. In this direction we pulled into the bus station where at least two people photographed us. Indeed several enthusiasts had been patiently waiting with their cameras at various points by the roadside throughout our return journey. One photographer boarded the bus and took a ride to New Mills where we had to wait for time. Some passengers alighted at Chapel-en-le-Frith so by the time others got off at Tideswell there were only four of us aboard.

However, a TM Travel decker on the 65 from Buxton to Sheffield flagged us down in Tideswell and transferred thirteen passengers. Several others (mainly hikers) boarded through the villages so we had a good load by the time we approached Chesterfield. In the narrowest part of Eyam we came across a TM Travel double decker on the 65 from Chesterfield to Buxton. We had to back to make room for him to get past. Apart from that, it was an uneventful, smooth but brisk, enjoyable journey.

Once again, somebody got off when we deviated into Storrs Road as we approached Chesterfield. This journey terminates at Chesterfield Railway Station, but we and all but one passenger got off in New Beetwell Street after an excellent day out, thanks to good weather, beautiful scenery, an interesting break in Manchester and, most of all, because of the skill of our TM Travel driver providing us with relaxing journeys.

CHESTERFIELD TO MANCHESTER BY BUS FROM NOW ON

Passenger numbers on the two journeys we made suggest that the service is viable. However, a sunny summer Saturday may not be typical and we suspect passenger numbers were boosted as some, like us, were travelling to Manchester as it was the final day of operation. The 67 is now sadly history. An alternative way to travel from Chesterfield to Manchester is to pick up the trent barton transpeak at Matlock, Bakewell or Buxton, but for those who have to pay this will prove far more expensive as it uses buses of at least two operators, and may involve long waits for connections.

Timetables may be accessed from the Derbyshire County Council website HERE.

Oliver Foreman
25 July 2011