HW: Hawkfest, public transportation

[Henderson Keith]

Peter suggests...

>THERE ARE BUSES FROM PRESTON TO LANCASTER THAT RUN ALONG THE A6. THERE IS
>POSSIBLY A BUS THAT ACTUALLY PASSES THE SITE AS I HAVE BEEN THERE AND SEEN
>BUS STOPS ROUND THERE (DO  I NEED TO GET A LIFE!!???) WHY NOT CHECK ON
>INTERNET RE BUS SERVICES TO ST MARTIN ONTHE WYE??

Perhaps because that's not the name of the town?!  :)
Try St. Michael's on Wyre.

But anyway...I searched again, and for some reason came up with a completely
different listing for the 40/41 line between Preston & Lancaster.  And
while it does include some runs that are listed for 'schooldays' only,
most of them run daily.  (So I guess what I saw before was just a
'subset' of the 40/41 line that was specifically for schooldays.  And
I think I ignored the important timetable 'cause it was given as Morecambe-
Blackpool or something, and I don't really know the area so well, so
this didn't seem to be what I wanted, at first.)
So, what's most interesting is that some are listed as Service No. 42,
and those start in Blackpool and go eastward on the A586 and (as Peter
suggests) straight through St. Michael's.  And then skips Preston, but
rather heads north on the A6 up through Churchtown to Garstang and
points north (i.e., joins the regular 40/41 route).

The ride from Blackpool (Talbot Rd. Bus Station) to St. Michael's is
25 minutes, and departs at 8:58, 10:08, 12:08, 14:08, 15:15, 16:38,
17:25, 18:25, 19:15, and 20:15 (M-F).  The other way (for Monday
travel) it seems only to run (from St. Michael's) just at 9:35, 12:35,
15:35, 16:35, etc., so unless you plan on staying all day in the area,
it seems important to decide whether to head back relatively early
in the morning, or go at half-past-12.  (I hope this is all correct.)

So that means (unless this timetable is rubbish), that the best place
to head (instead of Preston) is to Blackpool.  It's a little farther
on the train to get to, but it seems like it's worth it to make
smoother connections.  So...from London (Luton), the best connection (still
only one change) is now via Stockport (as opposed to Manchester; same
route I guess, but different place to change trains), especially
since this takes you to Blackpool North (as opposed to South) and that
station is right on Talbot Road, so it can't be far from the bus depot
(since it's not a very long road).  Also the layover in Stockport is
20 minutes and more likely to catch the connection.  Oddly, on Monday
it only gives me option to change in Manchester-Piccadilly, with that
dodgy 10-minute window.  I'll need to go super-early so as not to miss
my flight (again).  The damn hotels there cost more per night than the
silly roundtrip flight to Zuerich!

Now of course, if these buses run as the schedule I have now suggests,
one *could* still go via Preston, but then it would take a bus change
in Garstang to get into St. Michaels, both coming and going.  And from
what I can tell, the times don't link together very well, plus they
go via two different stops, so you'd have to walk to the other stop
to find the 42 bus (from the 41 bus), and vice versa.  Seems easier
to go via Blackpool N./Talbot Rd. both ways.

or perhaps "Straight through to Nairobi, and then ask..."
Grakkl (FAA)

P.S.  Did anyone else notice that a tributary (or vice versa) of the
Wyre near St. Michaels is called Brock (River/Creek/whatever)?

P.P.S.  Does Sunday have an evening (music) program?  It says three
nights camping included, which I've taken to be Fri., Sat. and Sun.
nights into Monday morning (as opposed to Thurs. night into Fri.).
Which leads me to believe that something should be happening Sun.
evening, correct?

P.P.P.S.  I'm familiar (sadly) with English trains...why they shake
one about so very much is something I don't understand.  ICE trains
here in central Europe are so smooth, that you have to look out to
the ground to see if you've actually started moving or not.