'We ditched the car and explored Sheffield on a bus we had never been on before - what a revelation it was'

The Star received this letter from Greystones Road couple John and Liz Kirkwood about the everyday adventures you can have in Sheffield with a bit of curiosity.

The married couple of 51 years, who say they “barely use the car anyway,” realised they often saw the same bus but had no idea where it went. Rather than look it up on a map, they decided to make a day of it, pay their fare and hop on for the whole journey.

Now they have a new regular route to enjoy with a row of shops to discover and sights to see.

Have a read and ask yourself - do you know where your local bus takes you?

John writes: “Living just off Greystones Road, we regularly use the No. 82 First Bus to travel back and forth to the city centre. The No. 6 Stagecoach also passes up and down Greystones Road but until recently we had no idea where it went.

“So, rather than use a map, we decided to explore where it would take us by travelling on one for the whole journey - and what a revelation it was.

“On the face of it, the route is wacky but on reflection it makes complete sense.

“From Greystones Road it heads to Hunter’s Bar, Brocco Bank, Endcliffe Vale Road and Fulwood Road.

“We alighted at Broomhill, called in at Crumbs Sandwich Bar – 464 Glossop Road – then had lunch at Nam Song on Fulwood Road.

“After a brief visit to Record Collector, where I discovered a new composer – Jóhann Jóhannsson - we rejoined the No. 6 and headed into the centre via the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and West Street. The route then follows a loop which includes the Moor Market, the central bus station and the Cathedral, before heading back to Broomhill via West Street.

“From there we retraced our path back to where we started; but decided to stay the course, to see where else it would go. Essentially it travels via Bents Green, Ecclesall Road and Carter Knowle Road to reach Tesco’s on Abbeydale Road, which is a park-and-ride stop.

“We journeyed back to Greystones, having discovered a new coffee shop, eaten an excellent lunch, realised we could do the weekly grocery shopping by bus and found we can easily link with Supertram at the University stop.

“Apart from that it was just such good fun and far more relaxing and environmentally friendly than driving.”