Cream of the Counties

Peterborough has several exceptionally long bus routes. In the third of an occasional series, Andy Izatt samples another of them which traverses five counties to reach Nottingham

As CBW has highlighted in the past, the magazine’s home town of Peterborough, perhaps somewhat unusually, is where several particularly long bus routes radiate from. Two of those have already been featured in the magazine. Stagecoach Midlands Gold X4 which takes around three and a half hours to reach Milton Keynes appeared in the December 9, 2014 (1167) issue while First Eastern Counties marathon X1 to Lowestoft, a four hour, 45-minute ride involving a change in bus was covered on July 28, 2015 (Issue 1199).

Centrebus’ Five Counties route 19 is another long one taking just under three hours to reach Nottingham via Oakham, Melton Mowbray and some particularly beautiful East Midlands countryside along the way. It’s a distance of around 60 miles, so having sampled the other two routes, I decided to see what it had to offer before Christmas.

Five Counties is an amalgamation of service 9 between Peterborough and Oakham and route 19 from there to Nottingham. It’s only recently that the number 19 has been used throughout.

The 9 was a Kimes Buses of Folkingham service that had been renumbered from 11 to 9 and extended from Stamford through to Oakham in 2004 as part of the CrossCountry network jointly sponsored by Peterborough City Council and Rutland County Council. Kimes Buses was taken over by Centrebus in July 2011.

Route 19 was operated by [wlm_nonmember][…]

[/wlm_nonmember][wlm_ismember]Paul James Coaches of Saxby near Melton Mowbray, another operator taken over by Centrebus that year although later in October. Paul James had been owned by Veolia Transport. The Paul James Holiday business was bought by Roberts Tours, Hugglescote which also took over Paul James’ Leicester Park-&-Ride operation.

Centrebus is not the first operator to provide a through service between Peterborough and Nottingham. Chilwell-based Barton Transport, which took over Cream Bus Service of Stamford in 1961, extended some journeys on its Peterborough to Stamford route to Nottingham via Melton Mowbray. Barton withdrew from the Stamford area in 1988 and the business was sold to Trent Motor Traction owner, Wellglade the following year.

Centrebus has a dedicated page on its website for the Five Counties which it describes as its “scenic connection between Nottingham, Melton Mowbray, Oakham and Peterborough. The route is perfect for those commuting to work, travelling to school, accessing their local health service or relaxing at the weekend.”

Presumably referring to the three Enviro 200s bought for the route in 2014 and operating alongside other vehicles including two similarly branded Wrightbus VDL SB200 inherited from Kimes, it says: “Our Five Counties buses are brand new, with high back seats and deeper cushions to make journeys more comfortable.”

The website highlights places to see and attractions along the route. “Stamford is a beautiful historic market town,” it says while Oakham is described as “packed with heritage.” For Rutland Water there’s a click link to the Rutland Water Nature Reserve while Melton Mowbray’s claim to being the rural food capital of England is highlighted, as is Nottingham’s credentials as the home to Robin Hood. “Did you know Nottingham is home to the oldest pub in Britain,” says the site. “A trip to Nottingham wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem.”

Riding the Five Counties

There were five passengers waiting at Peterborough Queensgate bus station for the 0840hrs departure to Nottingham, scheduled to take two hours, 51 minutes. It was a cold, crisp late autumnal morning and the sun
was shining.

The specially branded Enviro 200 with 41 mostly high-backed Lazzerini Parctico 3840 seats, one of three bought for the service in late 2014, was already on the stand and it was encouraging that, despite the distance, Nottingham was displayed as the final destination.

Timetable provision at the stand is good and, although the bus usually makes the complete journey, it provides a clear indication of where the route breaks at Stamford and Melton Mowbray to comply with UK domestic drivers’ hours regulations. If the distance is greater than 50km (31 miles) EU rules apply and a tachograph would be required.

While the electronic bus station display indicated that Stamford was the final destination, thankfully it was Nottingham that was displayed on the bus. As the timetable explained: “This service connects at Melton Mowbray and Stamford the connection is guaranteed, through fares are available and passengers may remain on the vehicle which operates through. A change of vehicle is not normally required.”

Our uniformed driver with properly done-up tie was an affable man who had a friendly word for everyone boarding. Changing a £20 note for another passenger was a struggle, but he managed it. He was a little surprised that someone wanted to travel all the way to Nottingham, but the fare was a considerable bargain – just £5.30 for a single and the ticket was issued using a smartcard-reading Vix ticket machine. It was appropriately emblazoned with Centrebus five counties.

The bus was warm and the seat I picked at the front of the raised rear section was comfortable, continuing to be so through out the entire journey. While the bonded windows had collected late autumnal grime, they hadn’t misted up despite, I think, having just taken a good load of children to The King’s School in Peterborough. A pouch adjacent to nearside tip-up seats at the front contained Metro newspapers and there was a good stock of timetable leaflets in a holder attached to a window pillar nearby.

We backed off the stand at 0845hrs and it wasn’t long before we were crossing the railway bridge over the East Coast Mainline and making our way along Thorpe Road as traffic for the centre of Peterborough queued in the opposite direction. Temperatures had fallen well below freezing overnight and there was a hard frost on the ground as we made our way through residential housing to join the A47 Soke Parkway dual carriageway at 0852hrs.

It wasn’t long before we diverted to serve Castor and Ailsworth, attractive villages with narrow streets and a 20mph section with traffic calming. As we passed parked cars, a four-by-four coming the other way had to reverse, but our driver made clear his gratitude. There was also a friendly exchange with a man waiting on the other side of the road for a Peterborough-bound bus.

Once out in open countryside the fields were white with the frost despite the sun starting to warm the landscape. We rejoined the A47 before crossed the main A1 road at 0904hrs and made our way through part of Wansford where one of our small group of passengers departed and so that we could access the busy dual-carriageway north towards Stamford. There was a steady stream of fast moving lorries, but our driver found a gap and joined the flow of traffic.

It wasn’t long before we diverted again, this time to serve Wittering, largely a maze of MoD-built housing that once served the adjacent base that in its heyday was home to the Harrier jump jet. The roads around the estates are narrow and our driver came into contact with kerbs on several occasions.

At the stop on St George’s Road there were a couple and a woman waiting to board and a Shaw’s of Maxey Jonckheere-bodied Volvo for our driver to negotiate. A girl joined us on Parker Road and there were three more passengers on Trent Road. Then it was pass The Coffee Shop on Townsend Road and back on to the A1 at 0918hrs, passing the Harrier gate guard outside the RAF base moments later.

The Hanson Cement works to the west of Stamford stood out across the frozen landscape as we continued along the A1 past the outskirts of Stamford before joining the A606 east into the town centre. Again there were challenges for our driver after descending Roman Bank as he proceeded along Tinwell Road, Rutland Terrace and St Peter’s Street – a combination of very narrow streets, lines of parked cars and on-coming vehicles. We turned into the bus station at the Sheep Market at 0929hrs, already home to two Centrebus Optare Solos one of which was on service to Uppingham.

Myself and a girl who had boarded at Peterborough were the only passengers who remained onboard, but there were five waiting to join us, all concessionary pass holders. One of the women was keen to find the best seat for views out of the bus and in her search discovered a pair of woollen gloves which she handed to the driver.

It was 0932hrs when we backed off the stand and made the sharp right turn into All Saints’ Street and then left into All Saints’ Place and Scotgate. The centre of Stamford seemed relatively quiet with few shoppers out, but parked cars by the side of the road were again a challenge as we exited the town along Casterton Road, passing the inbound 19 service bound for Peterborough, one of the ex-Kimes VDL SB200s in the process. One of those that had joined us at the Sheep Market departed at the edge of town.

Rather than rejoin the A1 we headed along Empingham Lane and what turned out to be a somewhat bumpy Grantham Lane so we could reach Empingham which must rate as one of England’s most attractive villages. There was hardly a soul to be seen, but there was a woman waiting to catch our bus and we picked her up at 0947hrs. She had the right money for our driver so the stop was only momentary. Then we were back on the A606 road heading towards Oakham and there were some stunning views of the Rutland Water reservoir to be had. The sun was shining bright and starting to make inroads on that hard frost.

We stopped at the Barnsdale Lodge Hotel so the last of the Peterborough passengers apart from me could disembark. The time was 0953hrs. As we made our way into Oakham a couple disembarked on Catmos Street leaving just myself and the woman who had joined in Empingham onboard. There’s parking along the High Street, but it was set back so didn’t impede our progress.

Half way point

Bus stops in John Street constitute Oakham’s bus station and that’s where the remaining woman left so I was alone briefly before six passengers, four men and two woman, boarded for the onward journey. There was some discussion with the driver as a couple thought our vehicle was Peterborough bound. One of those that had just boarded nipped off to put something in a rubbish bin by the bus stops.

A late arrival wanted to go to Whissendine and our driver made her welcome. We were away on time at 1005hrs and as we rejoined the High Street the Peterborough-bound 19 that the couple were waiting for, turned into Westgate Street ahead of us. It was another of the three 2014 Enviro 200s bought for the route.

Leaving Oakham there was a road sign as we rejoined the A606 signalling that Nottingham was 29 miles away so we still had a way to go. At Langham we turned right onto relatively narrow, winding Burley Road which after crossing the Leicester to Peterborough railway line took us to Oakham Enterprise Park where two elderly concessionary pass holders were waiting. Our driver made sure they were seated before pulling away. It was clear that several of those onboard knew each other and there was plenty of chatter.

In Ashwell, another appealing village, we turned left on to Whissendine Road towards Melton Mowbray and crossed the railway again. While the road was wider, our driver was taking care, particularly on corners as we travelled through beautiful undulating countryside.

Whissendine is another beauty spot and deceptively large. It was another village with a 20mph zone. Passengers joined and departed although the majority, three who were all concessionary pass holders, boarded where Main Street meets Stapleford Road. At 1031hrs we passed the sign on Pickwell Lane indicating that we were entering Leicestershire and we rejoined the A606 three minutes later.

Traffic was light on the main road and we made steady smooth progress towards Melton Mowbray although our driver had to brake abruptly for an ambulance overtaking in the opposite direction. A woman concessionary pass holder who joined at Burton Lazars at 1036hrs was the first that day to be seen taking one of the Metro newspapers. While the majority of those onboard were pass holders, there were exceptions, two teenagers being amongst them disembarking at the stop opposite the Melton Vale Post 16 Centre as we descended towards Melton Mowbray town centre.

Several passengers took advantage of the stops along Burton Street before our driver used the bus-only right turn into Sherrard Street, busy as it was with Christmas shoppers. The town’s ‘bus station’ is now the stops along St Mary’s Way. While one passenger left the bus, there were about a dozen waiting to board. Our driver saw them all safely onboard including one woman carrying flowers that were placed in the luggage pen over the front nearside wheelarch, before changing over with a colleague. At 1050hrs we were back on our way.

There are several stops along Nottingham Road, our route out of Melton Mowbray, and there were people waiting to catch the bus at most of them. By no means all were concessionary pass holders although when appropriate our driver took care to wait for them to sit down.

Our new driver was pushing ahead as we headed north towards the Broughtons through open countryside. While the sun had shone unabated, some cloud was now starting to build. Just before Nether Broughton we passed a sign advertising bison and venison for sale. In Nether Broughton there was a man in his 20s waiting opposite the Buttercup Bakery and he boarded at 1105hrs. The Oakham passenger who had been so careful with his rubbish departed in Upper Broughton.

There was still plenty of chatter amongst those onboard and the sun was out again as we crossed the A46 dual carriageway at 1110hrs. We seemed to be quite high up and I’m sure I could see Nottingham in the distance. A diversion was made to serve Normanton-on-the-Wolds, yet another pleasant village although this time with quite a mix of housing styles. A teenager left us outside The Plough pub. Like so many others we had traversed that morning, progress along Old Melton Road through the village was dependent on little or no other traffic.

By 1117hrs we were back on the A606 and a minute later picking up passengers in Tollerton. This section of road is also served by Trent Barton and one of those waiting to join wanted to use a Mango card. Our driver had to politely decline.

We were through the junction with the busy A52 at 1122hrs. There was a good load on board and for the first time signs of the side windows of the bus starting to steam up as we descended down hill through residential areas towards West Bridgford and the centre of Nottingham. The woman with the flowers got off at the Dovedale Road turning bus stop, the Nether Broughton man in his 20s doing the same in the centre of West Bridgford.

It was 1128hrs when we passed through the junction where Melton Road joins the A60 Loughborough Road and we were crossing the River Trent three minutes later. Following the tram extension there are now tracks to cross before passing Nottingham railway station which we did at 1134hrs and a minute later we were in Broadmarsh bus station having taken advantage of the bus-only access across Canal Street.

Departure time for the return journey was 1135hrs and our driver wasted no time loading his passengers so that he could make a speedy departure.

Different experiences

I had elected to return to Peterborough by train, my off peak single on East Midlands Trains costing £23.20 – more than four times the bus fare and certainly a different experience to the scenic and interesting journey I’d just completed although almost two hours quicker. For those with the time, there is certainly no better way to see some of eastern England’s most beautiful rolling countryside than on the Five Counties and if you’ve been wondering all this time what the five counties are, they’re Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

However, my bus riding for the day wasn’t quite over. Nottingham City Council’s new 35-seat all electric BYD ebuses operated by Nottingham Community Transport had been introduced on the free Centrelink service that links the bus stations at Broadmarsh and Victoria so I decided to see what they were like to travel on.

The bus I caught from Broadmarsh bus station where there are also electric bus charging points, had a good load of passengers on board and as we got underway, its capacity to accelerate well was soon in evidence.

Anyone who says that electric vehicles are silent would be in for a surprise as there was a distinct whine audible from where I was sitting near the back although that was not apparent from outside. The indifferent nature of the road surfaces encountered in central Nottingham plus traffic calming also resulted in some rattles although the ride was always comfortable.

A handful of passengers disembarked in Angel Row and Upper Parliament Street, but most were going all the way to Victoria bus station – a journey of 10 minutes. The journey back to Broadmarsh was just the same – a good load of passengers that included three mums with buggies all of whom made space for each other.

This was clearly a popular service and I suspect probably most of those travelling will have been unaware that the vehicle they were travelling on was zero emission – a taste of the industry’s likely future certainly in some urban centres.[/wlm_ismember]