Bus passengers in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham can travel on Stagecoach’s Sherwood Arrow bus for free every weekend throughout August, including all three days of the bank holiday weekend.
The offer, which is being funded by Nottinghamshire County Council as part of their Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), means that passengers will be able to travel without charge to the world-famous Sherwood Forest, where the Robin Hood Festival and Nottinghamshire Day celebrations will take place, and Rufford Abbey Country Park as well as other attractions including White Post Farm, Wheelgate Park and Clumber Park.
It’s not just passengers travelling to events at the county council’s country parks who can benefit from this free travel offer as travel along the entire route of the Sherwood Arrow bus will be free, from Nottingham city centre to Worksop and Retford via Ollerton.
Nottinghamshire Day celebrations will take place at Sherwood Forest on Sunday 25 August and visitors can enjoy a range of activities including craft making workshops, Outlaw Orienteering, poetry writing workshops – not to mention a whole lot of festival fun at Robin Hood Festival with archery, historical re-enactments, music, comedy acts, and much more.
The 38th Robin Hood Festival kicks off at Sherwood Forest on Saturday 3 August and will be running every weekend throughout August until Bank Holiday Monday (26 August).
Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “It was only a few weeks ago that we announced that we, alongside Nottingham City Council, had funded discounts to selected group bus tickets throughout the summer and we are pleased to now announce that passengers can travel along one of the most popular bus routes in the county for free every weekend in August.
“We have been working closely with Stagecoach to make this offer possible and we would like to thank them for their part in helping us to achieve this.
“Our ambition is to make bus travel better for all in Nottinghamshire and with summer finally here, there has never been a better time to get out and about by bus.
“Every year people travel from far and wide to visit the delights of Sherwood Forest and it is great news that visitors to the annual Robin Hood Festival will be able to get there free of charge by bus.
“Of course, we cannot forget Nottinghamshire Day – a day which celebrates our great county – and what better way to do this than to offer free travel for what promises to be a fun-filled day out for all the family.
“We cannot forget that the Sherwood Arrow connects communities in the north of Nottinghamshire into Nottingham City Centre and that it is not just events at our country parks that passengers will be travelling to. Free travel will also benefit those wishing to travel to other attractions along the route as well as those heading in to the city centre for all that is on offer there.
“You may have heard the words Bus Service Improvement Plan in our news a lot over the last few months and that is because we are committed to using this funding to deliver improvements that bus passengers across Nottinghamshire and Nottingham will value.”
