Fascinating! Northampton to Leicester would be a tricky journey if not by bus - no direct trains, or even reasonably convenient connections between them! Leicester seems to have changed beyond recognition in the rather long time since I've been there - St Margarets bus station was just a little open air thing with around 6 bus stands and the odd shelter! Belper looked like a classic old fashioned combined garage and bus station - like Chelmsford used to be - very nostalgic!
The X7 is probably the longest single stretch in the journey south to north of England or vice versa (which I've also done). It's thanks to this route that the journey can be completed in two days and not three. However three days is nicer, gives you chance for proper lunch breaks instead of rubbish snacking (and no cheaper in the end), for toileting, and stretching your legs. However, you can include across into Scotland on your third day.
I love these types of challenges. In the UK you can travel much farther with local buses than in many other countries in Europe. Let's see where the challenge takes you to
Thank you :) Indeed, in most of Europe buses are used more within cities rather than to connect them together. Looking forward to sharing subsequent episodes with you :)
BELPER BUS STATION; Many years ago when Belper Bus Station & Depot belonged to TRENT MOTOR TRACTION; The Bus Station & Depot were used a lot; And if you take time to look carefully you will see there is a second entrance to which buses exited onto another street; The back entrance is now or was a tyre repair place;
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourney Kingston Upon Thames, sort of, Eastborne (Coach Station), Bognor Regis's wonderful Art Deco One (all these gone) Try Winchester think that has depot behind it. Hindhead used to too . Edgware - sort of , Eastern National's old Wood Green Garage you could board in the forecourt. Uxbridge now has the garage behind the bus station. There were / are others that are similar. Bridgend had the Garage leading into the bus station . Wasnt Chatham a combined building and of course Bournemouth Bus and Coach Stations before the fire
Great episode and I love a cliff edge ending! Don't make us wait too long for the next one, though I know you must be busy at Uni. I hope its all going we'll ☺
Thank you! I do anticipate myself being quite busy but I'll try to get part 3 out as soon as possible - don't want to leave you on a cliffhanger for too long!
i grew to dislike citaros, Blackpool got some in 2015, the first pallidum buses, they were plastic barely padded seats (different seats to that one, grey ones are black fake leather on), kinda small, i mean better then the wright eclipses they repalced but worse then the centros, and they have social seating which during busy times would be the last seats and my 6'2 body hated the leg room, weve got rid of most of them, turned one into a driver training bus, the last ones have been moved to a bus route that usally has small e200mmcs on previously optare solos
I agree, seats on Citaros can be dreadful (even in Europe too). For me, there's not one particular thing I can pin down as being terrible with them, but a bunch of small and annoying things that makes the journey unpleasant.
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourneyhere's a fact for the citaro: did you know that the kinchbus citaro was used for kinchbus 2 from Loughborough to Leicester via Barrow-Upon-Soar, Sileby and Syston? but they cut back to Sileby. then the scanias that were working the 9 was scrapped and used for parts. they replaced the scanias with the citaros, then the citaros were scrapped and withdrawn, they were replaced by the volvo BR7LEs. but kinchbus fleet number 906 is the last bus to be in operational with kinchbus before being withdrawn and scrapped
With great discomfort! As it turns out bus seats are not designed for travelling across the whole country on. I brought a little cushion with me for some extra support as I anticipated the seats on some buses to be uncomfortable. There are some buses which we'll ride later on in the trip which have very comfortable seats indeed.
@@nbustravel As far as I'm aware, the longest bus route that counts as a bus rather than coach, ie you can use a pensioner pass on it, is the 915 or 916 Citylink from Glasgow to Uig. 915 takes 7h45m, and the 916 takes 7 hours. I think the 916 is longer in terms of km driven, but is quicker because it is out of Glasgow before the morning rush hour starts.
Someone complained about an hour-and-a-half in just one bus!!! When you're going across Britain (as in this guy's video) you're looking at 13 hours a day, and virtually the same the following day.! You must get fit before you can attempt these things, even though you're sitting for most of the day.
Northamptonshire is in the East Midlands statistical region (and EU region when we were in that) but I always perceive it to be in the south east because it was on Network SouthEast.
Wow, it must have been a really long route back then! I believe the Nottingham to Derby section is now the luxurious Red Arrow by trentbarton, and the Buxton to Manchester is the also luxurious Skyline by High Peak.
I see, now that you point it out. Thanks for the info! It's only a fraction quicker but if I ever find myself in Leicester again I'll be sure to use that route.
Easiest to get off south end of Blackfriars and walk to Waterloo - though it depends exactly where you want to go in the Waterloo Area ( I used to visit Lower Marsh a lot but its lost its character
Not 100% sure which video you meant to comment this on (this is the £2 UK Bus Challenge!) "Lost its character" is a nice way to put it for that area - lots of shops are closing down around there, lots of people sleeping rough, and let's just say I wouldn't want to go walking alone at night under the railway arches.
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourney It was one about Kings Cross to Waterloo not using Tube, but I think YT got muddled and it ended up on this £2 bus vid which I watched in a different order, sorry about that
Fascinating! Northampton to Leicester would be a tricky journey if not by bus - no direct trains, or even reasonably convenient connections between them! Leicester seems to have changed beyond recognition in the rather long time since I've been there - St Margarets bus station was just a little open air thing with around 6 bus stands and the odd shelter! Belper looked like a classic old fashioned combined garage and bus station - like Chelmsford used to be - very nostalgic!
Really interesting insight on what Leicester used to be like, thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video.
The X7 is probably the longest single stretch in the journey south to north of England or vice versa (which I've also done).
It's thanks to this route that the journey can be completed in two days and not three.
However three days is nicer, gives you chance for proper lunch breaks instead of rubbish snacking (and no cheaper in the end), for toileting, and stretching your legs.
However, you can include across into Scotland on your third day.
I love these types of challenges. In the UK you can travel much farther with local buses than in many other countries in Europe. Let's see where the challenge takes you to
Thank you :) Indeed, in most of Europe buses are used more within cities rather than to connect them together. Looking forward to sharing subsequent episodes with you :)
Only because of the £2 cap which is meant to be finishing at the end of the year
No, not only because of the £2 cap. The original comment said nothing about cost or price
A fantastic video, some really nice routes covered. Thank you for uploading this 😊😊😊
Thank you, glad you enjoyed!
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourney 😃😃😃😃
BELPER BUS STATION; Many years ago when Belper Bus Station & Depot belonged to TRENT MOTOR TRACTION; The Bus Station & Depot were used a lot; And if you take time to look carefully you will see there is a second entrance to which buses exited onto another street; The back entrance is now or was a tyre repair place;
Interesting insight, thank you! Don't think I've ever been in a bus station inside of a garage before.
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourney Kingston Upon Thames, sort of, Eastborne (Coach Station), Bognor Regis's wonderful Art Deco One (all these gone) Try Winchester think that has depot behind it. Hindhead used to too . Edgware - sort of , Eastern National's old Wood Green Garage you could board in the forecourt. Uxbridge now has the garage behind the bus station. There were / are others that are similar. Bridgend had the Garage leading into the bus station . Wasnt Chatham a combined building and of course Bournemouth Bus and Coach Stations before the fire
Enviro300s were built on a number of different chassis. The one you rode was a Scania K230UB, the least common of Stagecoach.
The MAN e300s are great!
That's interesting, I didn't realise there were different E300 chassis models, or that I was travelling on a rare bus!
Ending on a real cliffhanger! Great video with well researched extra facts too
Thank you! Will start working on part 3 this weekend.
Great episode and I love a cliff edge ending! Don't make us wait too long for the next one, though I know you must be busy at Uni. I hope its all going we'll ☺
Thank you! I do anticipate myself being quite busy but I'll try to get part 3 out as soon as possible - don't want to leave you on a cliffhanger for too long!
I'm off to leeds with national express in 10 days , then the coastliner service towards whitby, happy days
Enjoy your trip!
I think E300s are fairly common outside of London, Stagecoach and First have loads. The old transbus bodied ones are very rare.
It's a shame we don't get E300s in London. I believe there are (or were) some E500s operating in the north of Scotland.
6:20 I guessed that . Not from a past video but I've done it myself a few times so ...
Very enjoyable! I like your commentary and it’s great to see snippets of the towns you pass too. So does all of this really only cost £2?
Thank you! Each individual bus costs £2, not the whole trip. It's still amazing value for money though.
Looks like. Fun challenge. Some intrestinv places too
It was a fun challenge indeed! Lots more interesting places to visit coming up in future parts.
wow why the wait :( this is soooo interesting! love it
Thank you :) I'm very busy with university at the moment so I'm struggling to find time to edit my videos. Looking forward to releasing part 3 soon!
i grew to dislike citaros, Blackpool got some in 2015, the first pallidum buses, they were plastic barely padded seats (different seats to that one, grey ones are black fake leather on), kinda small, i mean better then the wright eclipses they repalced but worse then the centros, and they have social seating which during busy times would be the last seats and my 6'2 body hated the leg room, weve got rid of most of them, turned one into a driver training bus, the last ones have been moved to a bus route that usally has small e200mmcs on previously optare solos
I agree, seats on Citaros can be dreadful (even in Europe too). For me, there's not one particular thing I can pin down as being terrible with them, but a bunch of small and annoying things that makes the journey unpleasant.
Big up the skylink, used to use that route all the time!
The Skylink is a great route - it connects so many important places together. I wish it wouldn't stop so much between Derby and EMA though.
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourneyhere's a fact for the citaro:
did you know that the kinchbus citaro was used for kinchbus 2 from Loughborough to Leicester via Barrow-Upon-Soar, Sileby and Syston? but they cut back to Sileby. then the scanias that were working the 9 was scrapped and used for parts. they replaced the scanias with the citaros, then the citaros were scrapped and withdrawn, they were replaced by the volvo BR7LEs. but kinchbus fleet number 906 is the last bus to be in operational with kinchbus before being withdrawn and scrapped
how on earth do you sit on a bus for 1 hour 40 mins? geoff marshal got a sore ass sitting on the SL7!
With great discomfort! As it turns out bus seats are not designed for travelling across the whole country on. I brought a little cushion with me for some extra support as I anticipated the seats on some buses to be uncomfortable.
There are some buses which we'll ride later on in the trip which have very comfortable seats indeed.
took the SL7 few months ago, sat on the front of the upper deck, I put my phone to watch the euros at the deck lol
The longest bus iv been on is about 3 hours excel from Norwich to Peterborough or national express coach to London Stratford
@@nbustravel As far as I'm aware, the longest bus route that counts as a bus rather than coach, ie you can use a pensioner pass on it, is the 915 or 916 Citylink from Glasgow to Uig. 915 takes 7h45m, and the 916 takes 7 hours. I think the 916 is longer in terms of km driven, but is quicker because it is out of Glasgow before the morning rush hour starts.
sat on the 724 for three hours in summer, would not reccomend.
Love your videos man!
Thank you :)
Episode 1: London to Northampton
Episode 2: Northampton to Madcot
Matlock*
Someone complained about an hour-and-a-half in just one bus!!!
When you're going across Britain (as in this guy's video) you're looking at 13 hours a day, and virtually the same the following day.!
You must get fit before you can attempt these things, even though you're sitting for most of the day.
Northamptonshire is in the East Midlands statistical region (and EU region when we were in that) but I always perceive it to be in the south east because it was on Network SouthEast.
I agree, I never really think of Northampton being in the Midlands either.
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourney the southernmost part of northants is something like half as close to London as it is to Nottingham
can we have a map on the screen?
What sort of map? Let me know and I'll be happy to consider putting a map in for part 3.
the transpeak used to operate between nottingham and manchester a number of years ago
Wow, it must have been a really long route back then! I believe the Nottingham to Derby section is now the luxurious Red Arrow by trentbarton, and the Buxton to Manchester is the also luxurious Skyline by High Peak.
There's a far quicker walk between Leiccester's bus stations, past the Hop & Park & Ride termini.
I see, now that you point it out. Thanks for the info! It's only a fraction quicker but if I ever find myself in Leicester again I'll be sure to use that route.
Bus Challenge
Easiest to get off south end of Blackfriars and walk to Waterloo - though it depends exactly where you want to go in the Waterloo Area ( I used to visit Lower Marsh a lot but its lost its character
Not 100% sure which video you meant to comment this on (this is the £2 UK Bus Challenge!)
"Lost its character" is a nice way to put it for that area - lots of shops are closing down around there, lots of people sleeping rough, and let's just say I wouldn't want to go walking alone at night under the railway arches.
@@ItsAllAboutTheJourney It was one about Kings Cross to Waterloo not using Tube, but I think YT got muddled and it ended up on this £2 bus vid which I watched in a different order, sorry about that
Matlock is SOOOOOOOOOOOO beautiful 😍
I agree, Matlock is easily one of the prettiest lowland towns I've seen in England.
You’re going to Edinburgh I’m guessing or glasgow
We're definitely headed in that direction...
Foreign parts? Surely not!
There's no £2 bus cap in Scotland. I guess some fares are
You definitely took the long route from Haymarket to St Margaret’s, there’s a much quicker journey
I see on Google Maps - thanks for pointing this out! It's not much quicker but it could have saved me precious time.
Time do the £3 pound challenge soon😂
I’m in derby done it from mk
X17 to Barnsley next ?
Perhaps, you'll have to wait and see!
Only got another month or so to do these £2 challenges, labour the so called party for the poor will be putting the cap up to £3 from jan 1st...
It's a bit of a shame, but it's better than the alternative of fares going back to the hilarity they were before COVID
A Return to my nearest town will now cost £6 it was £4.40 before the Tories introduced the price cap.