JOHN CAREY and JOHN DISNEY report on a group of enterprising locals who formed their own bus company after the removal of council subsidies and the withdrawal of their conventional bus service
The picturesque valley of Dentdale is one of the most remote corners of the Yorkshire Dales. Until county boundaries were redrawn in 1974, it formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and now is in Cumbria.
The valley is sparsely populated, with Dent station (at 1,150ft the highest main line station in England) on the Settle-Carlisle railway at its head and, located 5miles along the valley, the village of Dent. A further 5miles along the valley lies the town of Sedbergh (population 2,765) nestling beneath the Howgills. The main service town of Kendal is another 12miles away.
Within living memory, Dent had a regular daily bus service provided by Ribble and indeed this occasionally ventured to Dent station, elevated at 600ft above the valley floor and served by the steep and winding Coal Road. This is a test for current day drivers let alone a full-sized bus.
The railway station closed in 1970 a little after the Beeching cuts but reopened in 1986 with the saving of the Settle-Carlisle railway line, which is an important part of this story.
