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This open-topped double-decker on the Bowness-on-Windermere to Grasmere 559 service came into service on 2^nd April 2012. Stagecoach’s investment in this bus has been driven by a desire to emphasise the collective scenic nature of all their Lakeland bus services. The 559 certainly enjoys a grand entry into mountain Lakeland: a romantic foray from the great lake of Windermere to the more intimate sylvan charms of Rydal Water and Grasmere, with their fine surround of craggy fells. The justly popular journey, so well appreciated from on high, should whet the appetite of passengers to experiment further and venture to other Lakeland destinations via connected services, primarily operative during the warmer months.­­

Over recent years I have worked with the bus company to create a range of practical ‘what you see’ and ‘where to walk’ guides in support of their regular services running through the heart of the National Park. Leaflets give passengers a sequential sense of the scenic beauty and fascinating detail on these exquisite journeys. Window-gazers have my ‘From A to B to SEE’ leaflets, while the more energetic passenger may choose to mix relaxing travel with rewarding exercise by venturing onto one of three special StagePath routes - these being bus stop to bus stop linear walks in harmony with the 555 Windermere to Keswick,108 Patterdale Rambler and the fabulous circular run of the 77/77A Honister Rambler services. On a personal level, to have a bus named after my eight-part Lakeland Fellranger series published by Cicerone Press is rather special. Indeed it is true that many of the routes in my fell guides actually do offer scope for linear walks linking bus stops - StagePaths of a more energetic nature. But, more importantly, this tie-in with Cicerone brings into focus a symbiotic relationship these buses can and should have in the minds of active visitors and this amazing mountain landscape.

Since Alfred Wainwright sadly passed away in 1991, fellwalkers have religiously climbed their ‘Wainwrights’, invariably striding from their cars. But AW himself was wedded to the local bus services for the overwhelming majority of his life. While there are fewer services from the heyday of his fellwalking research some seventy years ago, there remains a solid core of wonderful regular buses plying the arterial dale roads, services that should be given higher priority in the planning of the modern environmentally conscientious fellwanderer. With this in mind travellers should keep an eye out for the ‘Fresh Air is Free’ campaign being delivered by Nurture Lakeland in 2012 as part of the Go Lakes Sustainable Travel Programme. There’s a brand new mobile app and website coming up for this summer, making it easier than ever to discover the many sights and attractions of the Lakes by sustainable travel means – with buses like the Fellranger at the heart of it.

Easter weekend and beyond have been unkind to time-limited fellwalkers. My opportunities are more relaxed so the recent good weather has given me several really fine days of research. The last Friday of March was one such when I took the opportunity to gather in The Nab. If normal valley access existed this would be a simple circuit, but need for a bolt-hole for the ancient herd of red deer has removed this option. The sole spur path, a generous concession provided by the Dalemain Estate holds to the connecting ridge north from Rest Dodd. This pragmatically exists because Wainwright baggers would trespass to claim their cairn regardless of the need for the sanctuary. Routes on the fells are a fascination and many walkers record their own ways and study the routes of others, like those portrayed in the Fellranger series for instance. Which draws me to the conversation I had on the summit of Rest Dodd. It is a normal habit of mine to chat with fellow fellwanderers on this occasion I met with Mick Smith and Ali Watson, work mates sharing the pleasure of a day on the fells together. Mick told me of the website he was developing which seeks to give fellow fellwalkers a common place to record their signature routes http://www.logmywalks.com/.