'Use Your Bus' campaign starts
Residents in the Hope Valley encouraged to use services
A campaign to encourage residents in the Hope Valley to use their local bus services is being launched. It will run for two weeks from 11 to 24 April.
Residents in villages from Castleton, Bamford and Hope to Yorkshire Bridge, Hathersage and Eyam have received flyers giving details of bus services to Buxton, Bakewell and Sheffield. This is being followed up by information and publicity in village newsletters, and promotion on social media.
At the same time, the campaign will encourage residents in Sheffield who enjoy a trip out to the Hope Valley to catch the bus and leave their cars at home. It will emphasise how enjoyable a bus journey can be as part of a day out with friends and family, or for regular trips. And that going by bus can give time to chat and read, or just simply relax.
The Hope Valley has a network of local bus services, linking its villages with the market towns of Buxton and Bakewell, and with Sheffield.
But as Peter O’Brien from HVCA, explained many residents and visitors are unaware of where the buses run to, and their times.
“In many ways, our bus services are one of the Hope Valley’s best kept secrets. Castleton and Hope for example have an hourly service to Sheffield, whilst Bamford, Hathersage, Grindleford and Eyam have the same into Bakewell. Residents in Bradwell can travel easily by bus into Bakewell or Sheffield, and Hucklow, Foolow, Eyam and Grindleford have really convenient services to Buxton.
One problem is that many people just aren’t aware of them, nor that they provide comfortable, stress free travel, and with no parking charges or problems.
And for visitors from Sheffield, travel by bus means they can not only avoid queues and congestion on the narrow lanes in the Hope Valley, but offers an opportunity to enjoy our beautiful landscape from an entirely different perspective”.
And as Peter O’Brien further commented,
“Use Your Bus is a wonderful example of bus operators, local authorities and Hope Valley Climate Action coming together to promote bus travel as a way in which we can all reduce carbon emissions in a practical way.”