It's the tightest squeeze in Yorkshire … but ice-cool Transdev bus driver Wayne Moody has proved that you can get a bus through it.
The historic Bolton Abbey stone arch measures just 9 feet 5 inches wide, with a headroom of only 10 feet 9 inches – and photos of Wayne calmly guiding his bus through the gap are now a viral sensation online, with over 6,000 likes and counting on Facebook.
The compact challenge is part of Transdev’s Dalesbus 74 route, which runs on Saturdays all year round from York, Harrogate, Otley and Ilkley to Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales, taking in beautiful Bolton Abbey along the way.
And as the route nears Bolton Abbey, it passes through the largest of three arches in an 18th century stone aqueduct wall, a grade II listed structure and one of the most photographed landmarks in the Dales.
Built in 1720, the Bolton Abbey arch has always been a hair-raising experience for bus and coach drivers, but York-based Transdev driver Wayne takes it all in his stride – even nonchalantly leaning an elbow out of his cab window moments before passing through the gap with millimetres to spare.
Wayne said:
“Our Saturday timetable for the 74 includes the morning and evening journeys between York and Grassington, plus two shorter trips each way between Grassington and Ilkley.
"That’s six times in a day’s duty that we drive through the Bolton Abbey arch, and it certainly isn’t for the faint hearted.
“I know the area and that the arch is tight, but the first time driving a bus through there really was an experience. You have to take the right line, especially heading towards Grassington as the arch comes straight after a sharp bend in the road, so it can be tricky.
“When you approach the arch, you have to pull the driver mirror in to make sure you can get through … watching the mirror arm as you head through, then push it back out and carefully drive through with an ice-cool elbow on show. If you scrape your elbow, you’re too close!
“I was really nervous approaching the arch for the first time, and with the nice weather, the bus was really full – but I did get a round of applause from my passengers!"
The 74 bus route is run by Transdev subsidiary York & Country from its depot at Rawcliffe in York, as part of the Dalesbus network managed by the Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company with financial support from Friends of the Dales, North Yorkshire Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
All single journeys on the route cost no more than £3, while West Yorkshire MCards loaded with weekly or longer season tickets are valid throughout the 74.
More information on the 74 and other Dalesbus services, including Transdev’s Sunday and Bank Holiday routes 825 from York and Harrogate to Brimham Rocks, Fountains Abbey, Leyburn and Richmond, and the 875 from York and Leeds and Ilkley to Hawes, is available online at: dalesbus.org.
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