Sadness as the Green Bus cafe is towed away
12 February 2008
By Clive Whittingham
END OF AN ERA: Janet Schofield
with the Green Bus before it was
towed away.
The Green Bus cafe, at Whatstandwell, closed its doors for a final time on Friday, bringing to an end more than 25 years of service in Derbyshire.
The bus, a 1969 Leyland Panther, ran between Chesterfield and Bakewell in the 1970s after being purchased by Hulley's, of Baslow, from a company in Liverpool.
It was turned into a cafe and parked in the Whatstandwell layby on the A6 in the early 1980s.
Last month the current owner Janet Schofield announced she was closing the business for good after a spate of vandalism and theft. On Friday the bus was towed away and will now be part of a restoration project back in Liverpool.
Mrs Schofield received just £300 for the bus after shelling out £8,500 for it just 15 months ago, and fought back the tears as it was towed away last week.
She said: "I was quite shocked at how upset I was about it all on the day. I'm into week two of not working there now and I am missing going down there and all the friends I've made.
"I miss the people and the company but I don't miss the aggravation I've had over the last 15 months.
"Quite a few people made an effort to get down during the last week, I should have said it was closing down a long time ago to boost trade!"
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Television and radio crews were present as the famous local landmark was towed back to Liverpool in an operation that cost the Merseyside Transport Trust about £600.
Rob Wilson from the trust, which has been rescuing and restoring old Liverpool buses since 1974, said: "We have a similar one up here that we've nearly completed restoring. It's missing a few parts and this one will help provide those.
"We've had our eye on this for 15 years or maybe more. We've known about it a long time and have had a few cups of tea with different owners over the years.
"We only had to change the tyres to get it here, it rolled quite well considering it's been standing still a long time."
Source:
Belper News
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