Thursday, January 02, 2020

BRIGG BUS SERVICE WITHDRAWN


A bus service from Brigg has made its final run and been discontinued after many years' faithful service.
The Fridays-only bus to and from Lincoln made its last journeys between Brigg's Cary Lane and Lincoln's Stonebow shopping centre on December 27.
The route took in Scawby Brook, Scawby, Sturton, Hibaldstow, Redbourne, Waddingham, Snitterby, Bishop Norton, Owmby-by-Spital, Normanby-by-Spital and Glentham before joining the A15 on its way into the county capital.
Lincolnshire County Council and North Lincolnshire Council gave financial support to the Brigg-Lincoln service No 9811, but Holton-le-Moor based operator J. R. Dent Coaches submitted a cancellation notice several months ago, effective from new year 2020.
The bus left Brigg at 9.20am on Fridays and returned from the city centre at 1.45pm.
J. E. Dent Coaches - running the service since 1998 - explained its withdrawal was due to economic reasons.
Brigg Blog picked up this story while attending a meeting of our Town Council some months ago; it appeared on the agenda to be discussed by local representatives.
Lincolnshire County Council said at the time that it was looking at passenger numbers to assess the most appropriate way forward.
After the proposed withdrawal had been publicised, a member of the public emailed Brigg Blog to say they had counted 31 passengers by the time the bus reached Glentham, adding: "We will miss it."
When Brigg Blog last used the service there were far fewer passengers aboard.
But it was a very interesting journey through various villages we don't get to very often.
We used the lofty vantage point offered by the double decker bus to take pictures along the route on a sunny summer morning.
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s there was a more frequent service between Brigg and Lincoln, and we have boyhood memories of using it to visit relatives in the county capital.
We believe it was then operated by Lincolnshire Road Car and ran as far as New Holland - the southern terminus of the Humber Ferry to Hull before the Humber Bridge opened.
A Lincolnshire County Council spokesman told Brigg Blog on Tuesday: "We have supported a replacement service on our side of the border (between Waddingham and Lincoln) which runs on Wednesday as opposed to Friday."

PICTURED: Above - The Brigg-Lincoln bus about to depart from Cary Lane on a sunny August morning. Below - Passengers waiting to be picked up in Sturton - viewed from the top of Dent's double decker.