HW Hawkfest Transport
Ian
stirzi at HOTMAIL.COM
Fri Aug 1 14:36:15 EDT 2003
There have been several posts aboout transport to the festival site and
people seem to be getting a little confused!
I live in Lancashire, so I know the area.
The festival is in a fairly rural location but it is only a few miles from
Preston and Blackpool and very near the A6 which is quite a major road, so
it isn't exactle in the middle of nowhere.
For folks coming by car it's dead easy.
Exit the M6 motorway at junction 32, the M55.
Take the A6 slip road off the M55 almost immediately after joining and head
north following signs for Garstang.
Follow the A6 for about 5 miles.
Turn left off the A6 taking the A586 towards Fleetwood/Blackpool, this is
clearly signposted.
The festival site is about a mile or so along the A586, on the left, just
after Churchtown.
Use the link below for a map.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=348500&Y=442500&A=Y&Z=3
For public transport its a bit more tricky but not too bad.
There are regular buses that go fairly close to the site.
You have a choice, bus no. 40 or 41 from Preston goes to Morecambe and
stops just off the A6 at Catterall which is about a couple of mile from the
site, or if you want a shorter walk bus no. 42 from Blackpool, which again
is heading for Morecambe stops at Churchtown, I think this is approx. half
a mile from the site (see map link above).
Here's a bus timetable:
Service No 42 40 41 42 40 41 42 40
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
BLACKPOOL, Talbot Road Bus Stn..... .... .... 0858 .... .... 1008 ....
POULTON,Hardhorn Crossroads .... .... .... 0908 .... .... 1018 ....
GT. ECCLESTON, White Bull .... .... .... 0918 .... .... 1028 ....
ST. MICHAELS, Grapes Hotel .... .... .... 0923 .... .... 1033 ....
CHURCHTOWN, Horns Inn .... .... .... 0927 .... .... 1037 ....
PRESTON, Bus Station .... 0835 0855 .... 0935 0955 .... P35
BROUGHTON, Post Office .... 0850 0910 .... 0950 1010 .... P50
BILSBORROW, Roebuck .... 0857 0917 .... 0957 1017 .... P57
CATTERALL Brockholes Arms .... 0900 0920 .... 1000 1020 .... P00
GARSTANG Park Hill Rd .... 0908 0928 0938 1008 1028 1048 P08
CABUS, Hamilton Arms .... 0915 0935 0945 1015 1035 1055 P15
GALGATE Crossroads .... 0922 0942 0952 1022 1042 1102 P22
LANCASTER University Underpass .... .... .... 0957 .... .... .... ....
LANCASTER, University Gates .... 0925 0945 0959 1025 1045 1105 P25
LANCASTER Bus Station Stand 17 0925 0945 1005 1019 1045 1105 1125 P45
MORECAMBE, Euston Road 0939 0959 1019 1033 1059 1119 1139 P59
MORECAMBE Bus Station 0941 1001 1021 1035 1101 1121 1141 P01
MORECAMBE, Battery 0946 1006 1026 1040 1106 1126 1146 P06
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Service No 41 42 42 40 40 40 40 41
Notes Sch H Sch Sch
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
BLACKPOOL, Talbot Road Bus Stn..... P08 1408 .... .... .... .... ....
POULTON,Hardhorn Crossroads .... P18 1418 .... .... .... .... ....
GT. ECCLESTON, White Bull .... P28 1428 .... .... .... .... ....
ST. MICHAELS, Grapes Hotel .... P33 1433 .... .... .... .... ....
CHURCHTOWN, Horns Inn .... P37 1437 .... .... .... .... ....
PRESTON, Bus Station P55 .... .... 1435 1435 .... .... 1455
BROUGHTON, Post Office P10 .... .... 1450 1450 .... .... 1510
BILSBORROW, Roebuck P17 .... .... 1457 1457 .... .... 1517
CATTERALL Brockholes Arms P20 .... .... 1500 1500 .... .... 1520
Garstang High School .... .... .... .... .... 1510 1510 ....
GARSTANG Park Hill Rd P28 P48 1448 1508 1508 1518 1518 1528
CABUS, Hamilton Arms P35 P55 1455 .... 1515 1525 1525 1535
GALGATE Crossroads P42 P02 .... .... 1522 .... 1532 1542
LANCASTER, University Gates P45 P05 1502 .... 1525 .... 1535 1545
LANCASTER Bus Station Stand 17 P05 P25 1525 .... 1545 .... 1555 1605
MORECAMBE, Euston Road P19 P39 1539 .... 1559 .... 1609 1619
MORECAMBE Bus Station P21 P41 1541 .... 1601 .... 1611 1621
MORECAMBE, Battery P26 P46 1546 .... 1606 .... 1616 1626
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Service No 42 40 41 40 42 40 41 42
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
BLACKPOOL, Talbot Road Bus Stn.1515 .... .... .... 1638 .... .... 1725
POULTON,Hardhorn Crossroads .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 1735
POULTON, Teanlowe Centre 1525 .... .... .... 1648 .... .... ....
GT. ECCLESTON, White Bull 1535 .... .... .... 1658 .... .... 1745
ST. MICHAELS, Grapes Hotel 1540 .... .... .... 1703 .... .... 1750
CHURCHTOWN, Horns Inn 1544 .... .... .... 1707 .... .... 1754
PRESTON, Bus Station .... 1535 1555 1635 .... 1655 1715 ....
BROUGHTON, Post Office .... 1550 1610 1655 .... 1715 1735 ....
BILSBORROW, Roebuck .... 1557 1617 1702 .... 1722 1742 ....
CATTERALL Brockholes Arms .... 1600 1620 1705 .... 1725 1745 ....
GARSTANG Park Hill Rd 1555 1608 1628 1713 1718 1733 1753 1805
CABUS, Hamilton Arms 1602 1615 1635 1720 1725 1740 1800 1812
GALGATE Crossroads 1609 1622 1642 1727 1732 1747 1807 1819
LANCASTER, University Gates 1612 1625 1645 1730 1735 1750 1810 1822
LANCASTER Bus Station Stand 17 1632 1645 1705 1750 1755 1810 1830 1842
MORECAMBE, Euston Road 1646 1659 1719 1804 1809 1824 1844 1854
MORECAMBE Bus Station 1648 1701 1721 1806 1811 1826 1846 1856
MORECAMBE, Battery 1653 1706 1726 1811 1816 1831 1849 1859
The P next to a number eg. P55 means 55 minutes past every hour.
Now getting to Preston/Blackpool. There are lots trains to Prston from just
about anywhere.
Preston is a major station on the West coast mainline from London to
Glasgow, which is why no trains northbound from Preston stop before
Lancaster, they're all "inter city" services that only stop at major towns.
There have been a lot of comments on the state of the British railways, and
generally speaking they are pretty bad. They suffered from years of under-
investment from the previous Tory Government and then got even worse with
the ludicrous decision to privatise the state owned British Rail a few
years ago, but this is no place for political debate!
On the positive side the Virgin train service from London Euston to Preston
is about as good as it gets, with usually fairly modern trains and I've
always found their staff to be very helpful (you can't miss em, they wear
bright red jackets).There are lots of direct services to Preston from
Euston and it should take 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
(Keith why are you going via Manchester? If you do miss your Preston
connection there don't panic as again there are lots of trains from
Manchester Picadilly station to Preston, about every 30 minutes, this
journey should take 45 mins to an hour)
Try www.thetrainline.co.uk for timetables and if you can book ahead of
travelling you can usually get tickets cheaper on-line.
Now for folks wanting to get the bus from Blackpool (shorter walk!) there
are lots and lots of trains between Preston and Blackpool at least every 30
mins. Be careful though and make sure you get on a train to Blackpool NORTH
station, you will not be happy if you end up at Blackpool South, it is a
completely different station and getting to the festival from there wont be
easy!
In Preston the bus station is a 10/15 minute walk from the railway station,
turn right out of the station and walk through the town centre, the bus
station is behind the Guild Hall (scene of many a Hawks gig!) and is
clearly signposted.
To get to the bus in Blackpool is even easier as it's literally across the
road (Talbot Road) from the railway station.
Some people mentioned getting a taxi from Preston to the site and that is
probably not a bad idea. I reckon the cost of such a trip will be about
£25 - £30, but a lot of the local taxi firms run large mini-bus type cabs
that seat 6 or 7. Here are a couple of local cab firms :
AAA taxis 01772 555666 / 555333 / 555444
Ribleton Taxis 01772 654545
But there are lots more.
For meating up for a taxi I would suggest the Railway pub just outside the
station, which ain't the best pub in the world but being an Irish bar does
a decent pint of Guinness.
Hope some of you find all this helpful.
If any of you are still confused mail me at ian at stirzi.fsnet.co.uk
Hope you all have a great time at the festival and in the Red Rose county
of Lancashire, the locals are generally friendly up here in the North and
keep fingers and everything else crossed for some good weather!
See you all there.
Ian
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