Bus It To The Peak

The difficulty of reaching popular outdoor areas like the Lakes and Snowdonia by public transport is a live issue, not least in the OUTDOORSmagic forum and one of the major objections raised to schemes aimed at reducing the number of cars in our national parks.

One area where the Park Authority is making genuine attempts to provide alternatives is the Peak where there are now four new bus services running to provide alternatives for drivers. The routes run on Bank Holiday Mondays and weekends and have been arranged by the Peak District National Park Authority in partnership with Derbyshire and Staffordshire County Councils.

Fares are discounted if used in conjunction with a rail ticket to further promote the use of public transport.

The Routes

• Service 221 runs from Leek via Tittesworth Reservoir to the Roaches, a popular climbing crag with some decent walking too, where parking on the road is restricted.

• Service 257 runs hourly from Sheffield via Stanage and Bamford to Kings Tree in the Upper Derwent valley. This is supplemented by a half-hourly service from Bamford to Kings Tree.

• Service 260 runs from Castleton to Edale via Mam Nick. Hope Valley rail ticket holders get free travel on this service.

• Service 362 Runs from New Mills Central Rail Station to Lyme Park, so you probably won't want to bother with that one unless you're big into deer...

Martin Doughty, Chair of the Peak District National Park Authority, said "The intention of providing these services is to make public transport more accessible to people and to minimise the environmental impact of excessive traffic in the Park. I hope that more people will leave their cars at home so that they can enjoy this special part of Britain in a more leisurely way."

A laudable intention, but previous attempts, including the Stanage bus service from Sheffield, have been notably under-used.