Back in the Cotswolds and another dry and fine March week. A
major and some minor changes: Pulham’s and Swanbrook now under Go Ahead
ownership and some minor timetable changes resulting in later start to the
days, as the 801 towards Cheltenham now departs Bourton-on-the-Water at 9.25am,
five minutes before the travel pass kicks in. Good news for the 801 in the
opposite direction, it is now extended beyond Moreton-in-Marsh to Chipping
Norton, opening up new travel possibilities.
It is one of the new travel opportunities that was attractive on day 1. Departing Bourton on the 801 10.15am service and arriving into Chipping Norton at 11.05am aboard a Volvo B8RLE with MCV body. The 801 has now been re-routed to Pulham’s depot, situated on the industrial estate to the north of the town, facilitating a driver change. As on the previous visit, the timetable allows for a short layover in Stow-on-the-Wold market square. Tuesday is market day in Moreton-in-Marsh, causing severe traffic congestion in the town centre and by the time we reach the railway station we are four minutes down, but with a quick reversing manoeuvre in the station car park and no passengers to board or alight we are soon making up time. The extension to the 801 follows an almost direct route along the A44, the only diversion off is a left turn into Mosedale, a housing estate on the edge of Morton, for a 100 yards before using the turning circle and returning to the A44. The remainder of the journey is through pleasant, rolling Oxfordshire countryside before a final climb into Chipping Norton and the terminus just off the town square.
The next service departs from the opposite side of the road and is the Stagecoach service S3 Gold for Oxford departing at 11.48am and arriving into Oxford city centre at 12.48pm. The route is operated by Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400 double deckers still in Gold livery with the plush seating, although the interiors are starting to look a little tatty. We are soon back on the A44 climbing out of Chipping Norton and get far reaching views of the Oxfordshire countryside. For bus and coach interest, on the south side of Enstone village, there is a bus stop directly opposite Worth’s coach depot. Eventually, we arrive into Woodstock and pick up a large number of tourists at the bus stop nearest to Blenheim Palace. After which, it is a short diversion through the village of Yarnton, before the long slow drag into Oxford via the Woodstock Road. With just over two hours before the next bus, plenty of time to admire the influx of new electric buses, both single and double deckers being operated by Stagecoach and Go Ahead.
A stroll down to Gloucester Green coach station and time for the next bus. Departing from bay 8 at 2.50pm is Stagecoach S2 to Cheltenham via Witney, arriving into Cheltenham at 4.52pm. This time Stagecoach provide a more conventional ADL E40D MMC with slightly less comfortable seats for such a long journey. We start by retracing the inward journey along the Woodstock Road before turning onto the A40 and a very slow journey into Witney, a pleasant market town with many old buildings and a Stagecoach depot, where we wait whilst a driver change takes place and pleasantries are exchanged. The bus service leaves Witney in a southerly direction and enters the village of Curbridge before crossing the A40 to a large new housing development and then returning to the A40 on route to Burford. In Burford we pick up our last passengers, the residue of pupils from the large secondary school still loitering around an hour after the end of the school day. From here the service continues along the A40 with wonderful views from the top deck until the final diversion off into Northleach, a small quintessential Cotswolds village. Despite our bus having a clear destination blind, two people stopped the bus to ask if we were going to Cirencester. From here we return to the A40 travel through the suburbs of Cheltenham, arriving into Royal Well Bus Station on time.
After yesterday’s exertion, day two is more leisurely, starting at 10.25am in Bourton aboard Pulham’s 801 to Cheltenham. A beautiful clear morning to enjoy the view again, progress is swift, stopping to allow one passenger to alight at the Notgrove turning, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. No new passenger board until we reach the outskirts of Cheltenham, we finally alight at the General Hospital to enjoy a stroll in the park and a cup of coffee. It is a short walk from there to stop 9 on Clarence Street for Stagecoach service 41A to Tewkesbury. It is a slow crawl out of Cheltenham and we pass the previous 41, the driver exchanging details with a car driver, both examining the rear of the bus as they do so. As a consequence of the accident, we pick up several passengers, happy to take our driver’s advice about reaching their destination. We make good time once on the A38 dual-carriageway before turning off and visiting two new housing developments to the south-east of Tewkesbury. From there, it is a short journey into the town centre. The town sits at the confluence of the Avon and Severn rivers and has a beautiful Abbey built by the Normans. Plenty of time to take all this in and enjoy a good lunch before boarding the four times a day 351 Stagecoach service to Gloucester. This is the indirect service taking 62 minutes rather than the 30 minutes on the direct service. Departing at 2.35pm, this is the last service of the day, using many of the narrow lanes between the A38 and A471 the service takes in several of the small villages always with the backdrop of the Malvern Hills. Many of the lanes are single track and the mums on the school run seem content to reverse, obviously this is a daily occurrence. In the village of Staunton it is the turn of the bus to reverse, having entered a small housing estate and travelled a few hundred yards the bus reverses into a close which has its own bus shelter, and we return in the same direction back onto the main road for a short fast run until the next turn off by the BP petrol station. The village of Ashleworth is the next stop before yet another return to the A471 at Hartpury where three passengers board. The bus is now approaching Gloucester city centre, but not before one final turn off. This time into what appears to be the B&Q car park, it is however the entrance to a large retirement village and after driving though the car park to the main entrance, we execute the second reverse of the journey, returning through the car park and back onto the main road for one final time. From there it is a short journey through school traffic to the bus station. Just two bus journeys remain, the first is a take your pick, a 94 or X94 from Stagecoach or the 99 from Pulham’s. The first to arrive is a Gold livery decker on the X94 and we are soon away to Cheltenham, via the impressive GCHQ buildings. The final bus of the day is a surprise, an Optare Solo on Pulham’s 801 5pm departure, for another slow crawl through Cheltenham, just like yesterday.
For the third and final day we are back at the bus stop in Bourton for the 10.20am 801 towards Chipping Norton, this time alighting in Moreton-in-the-Marsh. The 801 is due to arrive at Morton Station at 10.45am, exactly the same time as the Stagecoach 2A to Stratford-upon-Avon is due to depart from the station. To gain a minute we jump off at Moreton Corn Exchange and dodge the traffic to cross the road to the opposite bus shelter ready for the 2A. This is an irregular service which along with the 2 serves many of the villages in this part of the north Cotswolds. The largest residential area is Chipping Campden, a pretty town which provides the last two passengers before the large new development of Meon Vale just south of Stratford where the final passenger of the journey boards. We arrive into Stratford on time at 11.52am. Attempting to leave the bus takes some effort, the bus stop being directly outside McDonalds where the world and his wife are queuing for lunch. Having an hour before our next bus we set off for a more tranquil spot. 12.58pm and back at the bus stop, this time without the crowds and we are waiting for the Stagecoach service 28 to Evesham which arrives six minutes late. A rather tattie AD E40D caters for a good loading, the local college having just turned out and we set off ten minutes late for the 1hr 7mins journey to Evesham. After the Cotswolds, the scenery is rather bland, consisting of flat farmland and small unremarkable villages. We alight at the rather grandly described Evesham Bus Station, which consist of two bus shelters in a layby and a number of the local undesirables occupying the seats whilst enjoying their tins of alcohol and smoking some unusual looking roll-ups. At 2.18pm a plain white Wrightbus Streetlite DF, with the driver enjoying a picnic spread out over the steering wheel, is waiting for our next departure: the 540 to Tewkesbury. This being a service operated by Rotala Diamond there is a degree of scepticism as to whether it would run, as the company is not renowned for reliability or professionalism and our fears are justified when an attempt is made to start the bus. The click, click of the starter motor followed by some frantic pushing of the gear selector buttons doesn’t bode well. Eventually the bus is coaxed into life and with just three passengers on board we set off. As if to emphasize our concerns, the first bus we pass coming in the opposite direction is sitting forlornly at the side of the road, passengers looking into middle distance, with the driver standing on the pavement with his mobile phone in hand. Our bus takes an indirect route through several villages all with a backdrop of the Bredon Hills and we lose our other passenger in Ashton under Hill, leaving just the two of us to continue into Tewkesbury. The uncertain element of the day out of the way, it is time to relax, better still time for a cup of tea. The next bus can be any Stagecoach service heading for Cheltenham, which turns out to be a 41. From there, it is, for the final time, Pulham’s 801 back to Bourton.
For the second year in a row Bourton-on-the-Water has proved a great location for a bus trip short break and the Cotswolds were as beautiful as ever.
