Author: Jim

For a small village with a modest bus service, catching a bus in Cockerham is not always as easy as you might think. The regulars have no problem of course, they’ve been using buses for years and know where they go – and where they stop – but what about newcomers, visitors and those non-bus using residents that might be tempted to give the bus service a try?

Cockerham has two bus services – the 88 and 89. Both run from Lancaster to Knott End-on-sea with the 89 taking the direct route along the A588 and Pilling and the 88 going the longer way round on the B5272 to serve Garstang; the two routes diverging just south of the Manor Inn in the centre of the village as shown on the map below.

Passengers travelling south from Cockerham have no problems. The stop outside the Manor Inn is served by both routes and is equipped with a display case giving departure times for both the 88 and 89.

Going north isn’t so easy. Buses on service 89 call at a stop on the A588 just south of its junction with the B5272 shown below.

The stop is adapted for level-access boarding and equipped with a display case and “bus stop clearway” markings, looking for all the world as if it is the main stop for northbound buses. However,assuming a would-be passenger checks the display case he or she would find that it contains only the times of service 89 and has nothing to inform passengers about where the other half of the village’s buses to Lancaster might stop.

In fact, service 88 buses call at the stop on the B5272, also called “Manor Inn” but just out of sight of the A588 stop.

This stop has neither level-access boarding, nor a display case, but just to add to the confusion it has a sticker advising that it is for “School services only” – a hangover from before service 88 was introduced in August 2023.

The Third Stop

What passengers for Lancaster need to know is that there is a third stop – back on the A588 but just out of sight around the bend – and called “Rectory Gardens”

This is now the timing point for northbound buses, but despite this there is no display case to show the departure times. Neither does it have level-access boarding. The lack of a display here and at the B5272 Manor Inn stop means that nowhere in the village is there a display of northbound service 88 bus times.

There is no corresponding southbound stop at Rectory Gardens. At the time the northbound stop was established there would have been nowhere to place one, as the fields opposite came right down to the road, and there was no footpath or anywhere safe for passengers to board or alight. However, since August 2023 the “Estuary Hill” housing development of 25 homes, mostly 2 or 3 bed properties, has sprung up opposite the new stop and a footway has been provided along the A588 making it possible to provide a southbound stop. We suggested to the county council that it should do so.

County Council Response

Responsibility for bus stops and bus stop information lies with Lancashire County Council and to its credit, once the situation in Cockerham was brought to its attention we had an immediate response in which they agreed:

1 A display case for departure times would be provided at the Manor Inn stop on B5272 and the notice about school services would be removed.

2. A display case will be provided at the Rectory Gardens stop

3. Consideration will be given to providing a southbound stop at Rectory Gardens to serve the new development.

The problem of the bus stops at the Manor Inn not referring passengers to the “other” buses available is apparently rather harder to resolve. The council’s system of producing departure lists for stops appears somewhat inflexible and it apparently does not have the resources to provide bespoke solutions in cases such as this. Nevertheless it has promised to see whether anything can be done that would not impact on staff resources.

The Bus Users’ Group realises that the problems identified may not be the most urgent facing bus users in Lancashire and they will affect only a small number of people, but we see it as part of our role to seek such minor improvements and to resolve problems that those in authority may not always have the time to identify and resolve by themselves.

We would therefore wish to place on record our appreciation of the council’s response and hope that this is shared by the bus passengers of Cockerham village.

Sunday, 29th June sees the start of “University Holidays” timetables on Stagecoach services to Lancaster University. This year however, as well as the usual reductions to services 1, 4 and X4, there are more significant revisions affecting the Alexandra Park section of the campus.

Service 100 will, during university holidays, be curtailed to operate only as far as the University Underpass, whilst the 1/1A will be extended around the Alexandra Park loop in its place as announced by Lancashire County Council on its website. It is not clear from the council website, but the Bus Users’ Group understands that these changes to the 1/1A and 100 will apply on Monday to Saturday only. On Sunday, when the 1A doesn’t serve the University at all during the holidays, the 100 will continue over its full route includingh Alexandra Park.

The county council does not spell out the implications of the change, which are that are that as service 1 is itself cut back to operate only between Heysham and Lancaster City Centre in the holidays, the daytime service to Alexandra Park on the 1A is reduced from the current four buses per hour on the 100 to three. During the evenings there will be no service at all between the city centre and Alexandra Park other than occasional journeys on services 41 to Preston and 42 to Blackpool.

Stagecoach may feel that reducing the service to the largely residential part of the campus during times when fewer students are likely to be living there is a sensible economy, but it introduces an extra layer of complexity into timetables that are already complicated and difficult to sell to the travelling public, especially those that have no connection with the university and no knowledge of term and holiday dates.