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Several weekend DalesBus services are now financially supported by commercial businesses, enabling valuable services to continue to be provided for Yorkshire Dales residents and visitors to the area. The largest commercial sponsorship deals in place for DalesBus services in 2018-19 are with:
Simon Webster, head of marketing at Steeton-based Acorn Stairlifts, said: “We were keen to give something back to the community which supported our growth and sponsoring the Wensleydale Flyer has been a great way to do it. It’s a good fit for us, as both Acorn and the Flyer are all about empowering mobility, and having our company livery on the bus is a great way to raise our profile locally. I’d encourage any other business considering sponsorship of a DalesBus service to go ahead – it’s been a win-win situation for us.” To help maintain and develop the DalesBus network we are now seeking further commercial sponsorship for Summer 2019 - if this may be of interest to your business please get in touch with us. We're also very grateful to the many smaller businesses, charities, other organisations and individuals who support the DalesBus network - thank you to you all! Bus services 280 and X80 between Preston, Clitheroe and Skipton, operated by Preston Bus, will be revised from 3rd December 2018.
All journeys will operate as service 280, running hourly between Preston and Clitheroe on Monday to Saturday daytime, continuing every two hours to Barnoldswick and Skipton. Note that the times of the buses to/from Skipton will differ between Monday to Friday and Saturdays. There will be no service on Winter Sundays after 2nd December 2018. Click here for the revised timetable from 3rd December 2018. Alternative buses between Barnoldswick and Skipton run every half hour on Mondays to Saturdays and hourly on Sundays on Witch Way service X43. The Summer Sunday DalesBus network has now finished for the 2018 season, but there are several Sunday bus services which run all-year round, providing access to the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty:
Dales Freedom Rover (£12) and Dales Privilege Rover (£7.50 - for students and holders of any railcard) tickets are valid on Sundays on all these services, and key connecting routes including: 36 from Leeds to Harrogate and Ripon; 66 from Keighley to Skipton; X84 from Leeds to Ilkley and 747 from Bradford to Harrogate. Full details of buses into and around the Yorkshire Dales are in the Winter DalesBus timetable booklet which can be downloaded here, and is now also available from the usual outlets.  The Harrogate Bus Company is preparing to launch electric buses on route 24 between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge as part of its plan to make Harrogate a ‘Low Emission Bus Town’. The electric buses will be introduced on 28th October and will work most journeys on the 24, except for journeys at school times which need a larger bus. A new timetable will be introduced on Monday to Saturday from the same date with some off-peak journeys combined to give the buses time to top up their charge in Harrogate. Also, by popular demand the morning bus from Pateley Bridge at 0720 will be extended to St Aidans and St John Fisher schools and the afternoon bus will now start there at 1545, leaving Harrogate Bus Station at 1600. The popular last bus from Harrogate at 1730, together with the return journey at 1830 from Pateley Bridge, will be unchanged. The Sunday timetable continues unchanged, with three return journeys running between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge. On Winter Sundays service 24 is operated on contract to the Dales & Bowland Community Interest Company as part of the DalesBus network, with financial support from Harrogate Spring Water, together with North Yorkshire County Council, Pateley Bridge Town Council, Nidderdale Chamber of Trade, and individual donors. DalesBus Ramblers, with help from Pateley Bridge Walkers are Welcome, will be providing two free Sunday guided walks in Nidderdale every month throughout the Winter – all accessible by the service 24 bus from Harrogate, with connections from Leeds on service 36, from Wetherby on service 7 and from Bradford on Flying Tiger service 747. The new service 24 timetable can be downloaded here (PDF file).  In Wharfedale slightly revised timetables will be introduced on Monday to Saturday on service 72 between Skipton and
Grassington from 29th October 2018 to improve reliability, with small changes to Upper Wharfedale Venturer service 72B between Grassington and Buckden to maintain connections and also provide new afternoon links to/from Hebden. The new service 72/72A/72B timetable can be downloaded here. Witch Way X43 from Manchester and Burnley to Skipton will no longer extend to Grassington on Sundays, but the 72 will instead operate between Skipton and Grassington at similar times. Also on Sundays, DalesBus service 875 to Hawes has now finished for the summer season but service 874 to Buckden continues all year, with slightly revised times from 28th October. The last day of the Summer Saturday service on service 874 between Wakefield, Leeds, Ilkley and Grassington is on 27th October 2018. Minor changes will be made to the Craven Connection bus service between Skipton, Settle, Ingleton, Kirkby Lonsdale and Lancaster from 3rd September 2018:
- an additional journey will run from Lancaster to Kirkby Lonsdale at 1700 - on schooldays the 0820 arrival into Lancaster and the 1545 departure from Lancaster will extend to/from Ripley St Thomas School - on schooldays the 0745 journey from Lancaster will operate via Kirkby Lonsdale QES - the last journey towards Skipton will depart Kirkby Lonsdale at 1700 and Settle at 1745, arriving in Skipton at 1825, with buses running at the same time from Monday to Saturday. The new timetable is available here. Planning for the weekend DalesBus network is now underway for the Summer 2019 season, with a new Fundraising Working Group having recently been set up by the Dales & Bowland Community Interest Company.
The Working Group will look at the suggestions made in the DalesBus passenger survey which was conducted on the buses during July and August. D&BCIC would like to thank everyone who completed a survey form for their feedback. If you weren't offered the opportunity to fill in a survey form, or now have other suggestions to offer, please get in touch now at feedback@dalesandbowland.com. We are particularly keen for feedback on how DalesBus services could be improved to make them more popular, and also for ideas of new sources of funding and help with fundraising. From Sunday 22nd July 2018 bus service 24 to Pateley Bridge (daily) and Brimham Explorer bus service 825 to Brimham Rocks and Fountains Abbey (Sundays) will depart from Stand 2 in Harrogate Bus Station.
2018 marks the 140th anniversary of the opening of the 6 mile branch railway between Garsdale (on the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle line) and Hawes. This was a momentous year in which the 40 mile Wensleydale railway between Northallerton and Garsdale was completed.
A meeting has been arranged to consider the formation of a steering group to consider the feasibility of re-opening the branch line between Garsdale and Hawes. The meeting will be held at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes on Saturday 11th August 2018 at 3.00pm. If you are interested in attending this meeting – or can offer practical support or suggestions based on experience – please contact Ruth Annison by post to Dyke House, Askrigg, Leyburn DL8 3HG or telephone 01969 650349. |
