It is nearly 3 years since I last wrote about Matlock and the article is still available on ‘The Focus Transport’ website under the heading of
‘Matlock ! Which bus station do I use ??’
I put forward the point of view that this Derbyshire town with two bus stations and a bus lay-by could be confusing to the unwary who were not sure of which bus to catch where.
Suffice to say, the situation remains much the same today.
Only (some of) the buses have changed.
The locals know the ropes but I have only recently found a passenger waiting at the wrong bus station for a bus to Chesterfield.
So, if you are visiting the town, make sure you know where you catch the bus home.
The old bus station (obs) was built at the side of a Supermarket on the main road.
In this view, a ‘Stagecoach Gold’ double decker is loading for its journey first to Chesterfield and then on to Sheffield.
The lay-by (L-b) is seen to the right of the picture.
Across the river Derwent lies the new bus station (nbs) which stands in front of the railway station.
The building of the ‘nbs’ came about when ‘Sainsburys’ built a new Supermarket seen just to the right.
I have mentioned the railway station, so we had better have a look at it.
Once a stop along the line from Derby to Manchester it is now the terminus of the branchline that starts at Ambergate junction.
It is also the Southern end of the preserved ‘Peak Rail’ operation that continues up the valley to terminate at Rowsley which when I was a lad was a substantial British Railways MPD.
156401 ‘East Midland Trains’ Class 156 on
Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
A 2 car diesel unit about to depart for Derby and then on via Nottingham to Newark Castle.
So, to the buses.
There are a number of local routes that radiate out from Matlock to serve a range of hamlets and villages.
MX59 AVT ‘G & J Holmes’ (Clay Cross) Optare Solo on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
‘G & J Holmes’ of Clay Cross use the ‘Hallmark’ branding.
On its way to Hackney, the bus is driven by Andrew Bagshawe, a fellow member of the ‘Transpire’ transport group based in Chesterfield.
Andrew has recently become Assistant Operation’s Manager at ‘Holmes’. A more dedicated bus enthusiast you could not find.
FP51 GXT ‘TM Travel’ 434 Optare Solo on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
The bus originated with fellow ‘WG’ member ‘trentbarton’ (tb) and is on its way to Matlock Bath, Cromford and then Bonsall.
EK51 XXE ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ Dennis Dart MPD / Plaxton MPD on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
On its way to Bakewell (service 172) but going there via a number of villages that lay to the West of the A6.
YJ12 NAU ‘trentbarton’ 500 Optare Solo SR on
‘Dennis Basfords ‘railsroadsrunways.blogspt.co.uk
‘tb’s ‘the sixes’ links Derby with Bakewell via Matlock.
A service from Wirksworth into Matlock is marketed as the ‘little sixes’ because it follows some of the same route.
Normally, the preserve of a route branded Solo, for some reason this ‘Mango’ branded bus has been substituted.
YX11 CSY ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ (HoB) ADL Dart SLF / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
Working for ‘HoB’ but as yet without titles, leaves on an earlier service 172. Previously the bus worked for ‘Whitelaws of Stonehouse’ in Scotland.
PL06 TFZ ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ Dennis Dart SLF / MCV Evolution on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
On service on the 63 which is one of two routes linking Matlock with Chesterfield although via Clay Cross and Ashover.
The bus now in its seventh year with ‘Hulleys’ came via North West Bus Rentals.
Until October 2015, ‘yourbus’ of Heanor were big players in Matlock but in a re shuffle of routes at Derbyshire County Council’s instigation a number of them passed to ‘Littles’ of Ilkeston.
They use a small fleet of ‘ADL’ Enviro 200’s on the 140 to Alfreton, the 141 to Ripley and the 150 to Clay Cross via Alfreton.
SN65 OFA ‘Littles of Ilkeston’ ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
SN65 OEY ‘Littles of Ilkeston’ ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
‘TM Travel’ used to operate a service from Matlock to Sheffield via Chatsworth House.
This was re vamped in 2015 to include a link with Bakewell.
For various reasons, the decision was taken to split the route using the 218 route number for a Bakewell to Sheffield service where some of the buses run direct and others run via Chatsworth House.
To maintain the link from Matlock to Sheffield, service 217 was introduced which runs from Matlock to Chatsworth house where it connects with the 218.
Seen on service 217.
V405 JTO ‘TM Travel’ 405 Optare Solo on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
An Optare Solo that originated in the related ‘tb’ fleet reverses in the ‘nbs’ before the start of its next journey.
This particular bus was one of the first batch of Solo’s delivered to ‘tb’ and is now 16 years old making it one of the oldest Solo’s in service anywhere.
MX62 GVL ‘yourbus’ Wright Streetlite W/F on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
‘yb’ operate two services to Ashbourne the 110 and the 111. They travel different routes but the 111 serves Carsington Water and during the summer sees reasonable loads.
During the Winter however passengers can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Again seen in the ‘nbs’.
There are a small number of routes that go further afield.
YN64 AOF ‘Stagecoach Yorkshire’ 15195 Scania N230UD / ADL Enviro 400 on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
Seen working on the ‘Stagecoach Gold’ service X17 to Chesterfield then Sheffield seen departing the ‘obs’.
I am something of a regular on this service for no other reason that when out of the towns and city the scenery is superb. Another must do journey.
YX65 RGO ADL ‘High Peak Buses’ 527 Enviro 200 / ADL Enviro 200 on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
‘High Peak Buses’ (HPB) ‘transpeak’ service links Derby to Buxton with alternate hourly services going on to Manchester.
Interestingly, although the service is always worked as a ‘HPB’ service the legal titling on the buses is shown as ‘Bowers Coaches’ who became part of ‘Centrebus’ who with ‘tb’ are the joint owners of ‘HPB’. Seen in the ‘nbs’.
FN04 HSK ‘High Peak Buses’ 690 Scania L94UB / Wright Solar Urban on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
Previously a member of the ‘trentbarton’ fleet.
FJ55 BZS ‘trentbarton’ 690 Scania L94UB / Wright Solar Urban on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
A Scania L94UB with Wright Solar Urban bodywork seen in the ‘L-b’ working on the previously mentioned ‘the sixes’ service that links Derby to Bakewell via Wirksworth.
These buses, that were ‘refreshed’ in 2014 must be approaching the 1,000,000 kilometere mark by now.
Matlocks local coach operator is ‘Slacks Holidays’ who work from a depot at Lumsdale just off the Chesterfield Road.
The current fleet livery is dark green with gold lettering which although it does not sound very exciting is actually very elegant.
N75 FWU KV & GL Slack’ DAF SB 3000 / Van Hool Alizee on
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
Seen in an earlier livery on the bridge crossing the river Derwent.
Considering that this vehicle is now 21 years old, its condition is a credit to its owners.
YJ06 FZG ‘Mansfield Road Baptist Housing Association’ Optare Alero on much
‘Dennis Basfords’ railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk
Not one of Optare’s major successes.
The Alero was intended as a small bus that with a flat floor and easy loading that would attract customers in the welfare sector also.
It could be said that it was the first of the Mercedes-Benz Vario replacements.
Seen sheltering in the shade of the trees in the ‘nbs’.
This one has done well to get to 10 years old !
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