Slow travel is the way to go
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A COUPLE who challenged themselves to travel NC500 by public transport were delighted at the opportunities it gave them to talk to local people.
Staffordshire based Michael and Jenny Willmot were keen to find out just how easy it was to negotiate the popular tourism route without recourse to a private vehicle.
The eco-friendly couple are fans of public transport because of its reduced Co2 emissions per passenger-mile and the chance it presents to chat to fellow passengers.
The Willmots, regular visitors to Sutherland for more than 40 years, are well known for the work they have undertaken to safeguard redundant buildings at Helmsdale Railway Station.
But they are concerned that public transport in the north is under threat and could go the way of the region’s banks, shops, pubs and cafes.
“The demise of these services can aggravate the decline in rural population very evident in the North Highlands,” said Michael.
He and Jenny spent a week from Friday September 13 to Saturday September 21 negotiating the route. They travelled light, purchasing all their provisions and accommodation along the way.
The couple started and ended at Inverness, first striking east to Wick and Thurso before tackling the north coast to Durness, then south to Lochinver and Ullapool.
They veered off NC500 by travelling to Broadford to see the gardens of Armadale, then to Mallaig, Fort William and back to the Highland capital.
Their modes of transport included trains, buses and a ferry, but on one stretch of the journey they were forced to resort to a taxi and on another they hitchhiked.
Mr Willmot said: “For us the real incentive for attempting this style of travel, feelings of environmental or social virtue apart, was through meeting people and catching glimpses of community life as we travelled along the route.
“We learnt from one resident of his impending and sad move to Inverness because the local secondary school could not provide good Scottish Highers provision for his daughter to the small class size.
“We fell into conversations at a bus stop with a woman looking forward to her day out with a friend in Garve – a monthly highlight.
“We heard worries about declining wild salmon stocks, anxieties about land management, difficulties with rising deer numbers and concerns about human waste discharges by camper vans in lay-bys.
“We learned of people’s love for, apprehensions about and pride in the local landscape.”
But they did not find the journey particularly easy, discovering little coordination between bus, train and ferry times and a scarcity of services.
Mr Willmot said: “Public transport in the north west Highlands is scarce. Many services run only on alternate days or once or twice a week, so some flexibility in travel dates has to be accepted.
“Bus and train times are often not coordinated and planning travel to enable visits to sites of interest requires time and patient timetable research.”
He added: “The most transport restricted part of the journey was along the north coast where there is only one bus a week - on Saturdays - between Thurso and Durness. The service runs between Thurso and Tongue on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Travel planning has to revolve around the timetable of this service. How sad that postbus alternatives are no longer available.
“Also, there is one section between Scourie and Inchnadamph where no public transport is available.
“Since we had an onward service to catch, we had to use taxi for this section.”
Mr Willmot has calculated that the average journey price was 15.2p a mile by rail; 25.5p a mile by Citylink and 19.1p a mile by local bus services.
The most expensive miles were the 11 between Ullapool and Braemore which worked out at 64p a mile on Citylink and the best value was the Durness bus, costing 14.5p a mile.
Mr Willmot said: “On our travels we could see how rural bus services were a lifeline to non-car owners in remote areas.
“The community service that Durness bus provides is outstanding, delivering passengers of limited mobility to their front door, often with the driver helping to take shopping bags over the threshold. But these services are infrequent.
“How appropriate it would be if tourists and visitors enjoying the spectacular scenery, the heritage of the local communities, could at the same time support these communities’ lifelines.”
Mr Willmot has written a report detailing his experiences which he plans to present to North Highland Initiative, founders of NC500, and he has made five recommendations.
He is suggesting that NC500 might include a website tab or other link to information about using public transport to cover the route.
He is also calling for greater attempts to be made to coordinate bus and train times where both operate over the same route.
In addition Mr Willmot is floating the idea of a combined ticketing scheme across NC500 for buses and trains.
However, he recognises that there would be difficulties in ensuring every operator receives an appropriate apportionment.
He also feels there is a “small business opportunity” for someone to help travellers plan NC500 journeys.
He said: “Planning such a journey is time consuming when starting with near zero knowledge of local transport.”
And Mr Willmot would also like to see community transport organisations who are licensed to carry members of the public, offering a service to visitors.
