Stagecoach have started 3 new innovative Pilot bus services centred on Pooley Bridge, Ullswater. They are running every Saturday and Sunday until 29 October. They are run with 16 seater buses, and are covered under the £2 fare cap.
UB1 (holiday parks on the north shore, never before covered by bus services)- Ullswater Holiday Park d 0930, and the Quiet Site d 0940 to Pooley Bridge for steamers and #508 connections, returning at 1155 and 1555 (these return services also stop at the Leeming Bar Hotel, also 1755 (not via Leeming Bar)
UB2 Pooley Bridge to Lowther Castle via Askham (another route that has never existed)- from Pooley Bridge at 0955, 1255 and 1455 (from Lowther Castle at 1020, 1320 and 1520).
Lowther Castle was one of the great stately homes in the North of England, until it was sold in 1957 to cover death duties, and became abandoned and ruinous. It is rapidly being redeveloped as a tourist attraction.
It has a room for every day of the year.
I was talking 2 days earlier to a local who (like me) hasn't been since redevelopment started, and he was seriously wowed.
https://lowthercastle.org/
UB3 Pooley Bridge to Howtown (on the south shore of Ullswater) at 1055 and 1455.
This route hasn't existed since the postbus route closed maybe 15 years ago. It allows new round trips using the lake steamer service one way and the bus the other way.
The success of the pilot will be determined by use. But there is a desperate need to decrease car use around Ullswater. If successful service may be extended in 2024, potentially also with day tickets and a bike bus.