Bus ride to Borrowdale scores with walking netballers after Covid setbacks

Netball players discovered the joys of navigating the Lakes without a car when they joined Stagecoach on their latest Grand Day Out.

The 15 women, who play walking netball each week, enjoyed spring views of Derwentwater from the top deck as they travelled from Penrith to Grange village, via Keswick, for afternoon tea at the Borrowdale Gates Hotel.

The trip coincided with the launch of Stagecoach’s summer timetable which features increased frequencies and the return of popular seasonal routes – plus the use of open-topped double-decker buses.

Some of the players had not used a bus since the Covid pandemic began five years ago and admitted feeling relief after avoiding public transport for so long.

“My husband told me to come, he said it would be good for me,” she explained.

“I got Covid very early on but just thought I’d had a cold. Then I couldn’t eat, my weight went down from 9st to 7st 2lb.

“I felt useless to everyone; I’d go into the butcher’s and I couldn’t get my words out. I didn’t go out for a couple of years.

“Even today, the thought of mixing with other people can make me nervous.”

Norma Bardgatt, 72, who had suffered both physically and mentally since contracting the virus, said the day trip was a “big step” back to normality for her.

Norma, who lives in Penrith with husband Colin, said joining the walking netball group last year had helped her return to “normal life” and she was now keen to travel by bus as part of her rehabilitation.

Her teammate Pauline Blackburn, 75, also from Penrith, said the Grand Day Out event was her first time on a bus since Covid too – despite being a regular passenger before 2020.

She said: “I hadn’t been keen to use the bus, I’ve been relying on my husband who’s got a car. But today’s been a real ice-breaker and I’ll be using the bus again.”

The Grand Day Out events, where groups are taken out for the day, were launched in 2021 by Stagecoach in Cumbria and North Lancashire in an attempt to reassure older people that bus travel was safe.

They also serve as a showcase for free bus passes, which can be used to get out and about with friends during the warmer spring and summer months.

Bernadette Walton, who moved with her husband to Little Salkeld, near Penrith, from Selby, North Yorkshire, three years ago, said the Grand Day Out event had convinced her to get a free bus pass and use the network to explore.

The keen netball player, who also plays the standard game, said: “I turned 66 in February so I can now get a bus pass.

“I haven’t been using buses because we live in a small village but I’ll be looking at the timetables and see where we can go. I’d use it to get to Kendal and Keswick I think.”

Meanwhile, Diana Yerkess, 64, admitted she hadn’t used a bus in Cumbria since moving up from London 34 years ago.

She said: “We’d got into the mentality that it’s difficult to use a bus, but after today I’m going to use them.

“We’ll go for afternoon tea somewhere in the Lakes and hubby can have a glass of bubbly. It will be nice for him not to have to drive.”

Once at the Borrowdale Gates Hotel, the women, who formed their club in Penrith last year, enjoyed a fun session and talk from England Netball development officer Victoria Eames.

With walking netball, players cannot run or jump, but get an extra second and can take an extra step when holding the ball.

Victoria said: “It means older players can keep enjoying the game, but it’s also useful for people recovering from injury, or coming back to the game after having a baby.

“There are around 30 regular players in Penrith, and a similar number play the game in Ulverston.

“There’s a real social element to it. There’s been a lot of social isolation since Covid but walking netball gives people a chance to interact.

“You can see it with this Penrith group, they’ve developed real friendships.”

Tom Waterhouse, managing director at Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire, said: “We are delighted that more than 300 people have so far benefited from the Grand Day Out scheme.

“We are proud this initiative is of real benefit to Cumbria, supporting its increasingly elderly and isolated rural population.

“Research by Cumbria Community Foundation in 2020 found that one-in-four people in the county are aged over 65, and that 32,000 pensioners lived alone. Half of those pensioners were also located in isolated rural areas, making them particularly vulnerable.”

For younger travellers who don’t qualify for a free bus pass, single fares are capped at £3 no matter how far you travel. Stagecoach hopes motorists will leave their cars at home to combat congestion in the Lake District this summer.

Find out more about Stagecoach’s routes in the Lakes on Scenic.