Do they still run the Hope Valley? For all their flaws, a part of me is always going to remember riding them to Edale or Hathersage stations in the snow, rubbing the mist from the windows and drying my gloves on the (surprisingly effective) floor heaters, all while marvelling at the wooden escape ladder proudly displayed by the gangway as a supposed reassurance should we have to evacuate into the icy abyss. The musty smell of the bus-style seats, something that is simply no longer replicated but evocative of days past for many of us. Waiting to get off and feeling the bitter wind sneaking through the patches in the rubber of the doors.
They're rubbish, but as somebody who doesn't have to ride them every day, I'm kind of going to miss them. They have a place in my heart for taking me on those aesthetically-pleasing adventures out of Sheffield in my Uni days, which were only three or four years ago but in historical terms were picked straight out of the mid-1980s. I'd quite like to get up this winter and have one more go, even if that comes with the ulterior motive of a fry-up at Grindleford station café.
