If you dig back into old pre NBC bus timetables there was a well established Yorkshire Blackpool offering. The Yorkshire companies & Ribble worked together and the services had J numbers. They dug out anything that could run in the high summer especially for the mill holiday weeks. And in Leeds despatched them from waste ground carports on Saturdays.
Blackpool Promotions/Tartan Travel run coaches to Blackpool from Glasgow every Monday and Friday, although not offering coach only travel they regularly offer some incredibly cheap coach package holidays starting from £69 for return coach travel and three/four nights hotel accommodation!
That's normally provided in the summer season by Scottish Citylink. The route would seem popular though with Blackpool Promotions, Blackpool Breaks/Breaks2Go and Caledonian travel all offering at least weekly hotel and coach travel packages from stop throughout Scotland. It's not just Scotland too but the North East seems to be a lot of people wanting to head towards Blackpool. I do wonder why National Express hasn't tried to take on some of this market. The passenger sorts their hotel and NatEx just provides the travel (as per how most holidays work). I do feel like there could be some potential too for a kind of day trip thing if they timed that up. Get to Blackpool for say 11am, coach continues onto Manchester or something to maximise the Scotland-Manchester passenger markets. Return with a pickup from Blackpool around 7.30-9pm back up to Scotland.
The above lists seem to suggest that there is demand from Yorkshire as Blackpool Promotions run such coaches.
I don't about County Lines but, as someone who used to work for National Express, the North Wales market was historically a decent market from Easter through to end Sep. Rhyl may not be your choice (or mine) but from Liverpool, it most certainly was/is. Hence the raft of holiday camps from Talacre through to Abergele. Certainly, summer Saturdays were a busy market throughout the high season with dupes through to Pensarn. For that demographic, the coach was certainly the preferred choice rather than the train. With pressure on domestic budgets, I'm not surprised that the option of a week in North Wales and cheap coach travel and being taken to almost the front door is why the route is returning in 2023.
When I worked for NX, it was fairly good for Glasgow to Blackpool and then we had the old Fairs Fortnight that, again much reduced and less observed, still led to some big spikes in demand
I live in the East Midlands in an ex mining village. We have photos of lines of coaches ready to take our miners to Skegness for their annual holiday. Mablethorpe was another option. I have been to both, not an experience I would want to repeat. But each to their own.
Morecambe and Blackpool were also drawing punters from W Yorks. The Morecambe rail line from Leeds/Bradford was busy on Saturdays in the 70's, with some very long classic MU consistsI don't about County Lines but, as someone who used to work for National Express, the North Wales market was historically a decent market from Easter through to end Sep. Rhyl may not be your choice (or mine) but from Liverpool, it most certainly was/is. Hence the raft of holiday camps from Talacre through to Abergele. Certainly, summer Saturdays were a busy market throughout the high season with dupes through to Pensarn. For that demographic, the coach was certainly the preferred choice rather than the train. With pressure on domestic budgets, I'm not surprised that the option of a week in North Wales and cheap coach travel and being taken to almost the front door is why the route is returning in 2023.
Chester is similar to York. A relatively upmarket holiday destination so not really the same demographic.
If you want to know where people (usually demographics D and E) go on holiday by coach (in general - these were the main flows)....
National Express traditionally didn't have the North East to Blackpool routes historically - that was firms such as Primrose and possibly OK.
- East Midlands go to Skegness
- Greater Glasgow go to Blackpool
- West Midlands go to either Weston super Mare or Rhyl (or Minehead at a push)
- Mancs go to Blackpool or Scarborough
- Londoners go to Great Yarmouth (Hemsby) or Brighton for a day trip
- North East go to Blackpool
- Leeds to Scarborough/Bridlington
Whilst the UK coach market has changed in the last 20 years, and resorts have declined, I'd contend that those flows still hold relatively true. One flow that has really died was when Butlins at Pwllheli closed to be replaced by a Haven caravan park - used to send deckers there on a Summer Saturday. The stuff of legend!!
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When I worked for NX, it was fairly good for Glasgow to Blackpool and then we had the old Fairs Fortnight that, again much reduced and less observed, still led to some big spikes in demand
And in Summer 1968 West Yorkshire Road Car (and friends) were running up to 6 services a day Leeds - Bradford - Keighley - Blackpool, a weekly Leeds - Pudsey - Blackpool, and up to six a day from Skipton to Blackpool (some from Harrogate or Otley).
timetableworld.com
you are right. sorry. My book too.....And in Summer 1968 West Yorkshire Road Car (and friends) were running up to 6 services a day Leeds - Bradford - Keighley - Blackpool, a weekly Leeds - Pudsey - Blackpool, and up to six a day from Skipton to Blackpool (some from Harrogate or Otley).
Timetable World
I think your link is 1966.
Was a very longstanding route, being originally Eastern Scottish’s Humber Scot
The branding sounds vaguely familiar. It isn't shown in my 1970 Brentwood area timetable but I certainly took a coach from Birmingham to Brentwood in the mid/late 70s. I remember that I was quite queezy by the time we arrived and haven't used a long distance coach since.
Liverpool to Clacton was 350 in the mid and late 90s. I used it between Nottingham and Cambridge several times. Although Grantham was a point on the timetable we never called there.
And via Keighley. Once a day. At a higher cost than an Anytime train ticket.
I vaguely remember that service. Think it was a seasonal service which only ran on specific days of the week and my understanding is that the operators were independents who used their own vehicles rather than NX one.
