A main bus route for us to head out of Sheffield into the Peak District for walking/hiking over recent years has been the 257 bus. I have previously written about the challenges of when a bus doesn’t show and the need for back-up travel options or a cosy cafe or pub to hand.

Last year the company that was operating the 257 bus route went bankrupt. Hulleys, the now defunct bus operator, were not renowned for their ability to run their buses on time (a blog post about the life and death of Hulleys can be found here). In our experience they were at least 15 minutes late on a good day and sometimes decided not to turn up!

My upset with Hulleys poor service had over time meant I have sent them and our regional mayor a range of emails asking what was going on and why our bus did show up. We did not cry the day Hulleys died, but we did wonder what was going to replace them running the 257 route.

Nearly a year on and we have had quite a few experiences with the 257 – now run by Andrews. The news on that front is good. Only this weekend we got yet another 257 that was running bang on time.

It does not seem much to ask to have a reliable bus service – but they can be elusive. In our family car-free-dom a 257 bus that it is working well is very helpful in support of some fantastic point-to-point walking/hiking. I may now have jinxed it, but Andrews – we salute you!