A Short History

The first Fellrunner services were launched in December 1979 after two years of planning by the local community, Cumbria County Council and Voluntary Action Cumbria. The first bus was a 16-seater Ford Transit and, in the early days, provided a feeder service from Fellside villages to connect with the Ribble bus services from Langwathby to Penrith and Carlisle. Since the withdrawal of all commercial services, the Fellrunner has itself provided scheduled shopping services from the Fellside to both Penrith and Carlisle. These services have now been supplemented by monthly excursions and by private hires to local community groups.

The first Fellrunner was a white Ford Transit leased from Cumbria County Council and a similar vehicle replaced this. The third Fellrunner, an Omni, was the first to adopt the now familiar blue livery. We then decided it was time to purchase a bus and with the support of sponsors bought a Mercedes/Mellor coach built vehicle that was launched in 1997. A second Fellrunner was then bought and launched in 1999. On this occasion it was a Mellor coach on an Iveco chassis. The second bus allowed the introduction of two new routes serving the Lyvenett Valley on Tuesday and Calthwaite,Catterlen and Blencow on Friday.

In 2000 the decision was taken to replace the Mercedes, the workhorse of the scheduled services. This gave us the opportunity to buy a low floor bus for the comfort and convenience of our passengers. Our choice was the Optare Alero. The Alero was way ahead of its time, setting new standards of accessibility with its low floor design and with a unique futuristic shape. The Alero went into service in 2001.

In 2004 with the aid of a Parish Transport grant a third bus was added to the fleet. This was a Renault Harrier- another low floor accessible vehicle. The third bus improved the reliability of our services and allowed the introduction of a new service to Penrith that increased the number of villages with access to Penrith. The retention of the high-seated Iveco also gave us an ideal vehicle for excursions and private hire. The ageing Iveco was replaced in 2008 by a similar Iveco Mellor conversion in a project largely funded by the Cumbria Rural Infrastructure Support Programme to maintain a fleet of three vehicles.

Since then the Harrier and Optare have been replaced in 2009 and 2011 respectively by two Mercedes Sprinter conversions supplied by Minibus Options Ltd. The purchase of the first Mercedes was made possible by a generous grant from Cumbria County Council and the second purchase supported by a grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

The Fellrunner organisation has developed and 'grown' since 1979, yet the spirit and philosophy of the early pioneers lives on. We are what we have always been - a community led transport scheme, which is run, and managed by volunteers who willingly give their time as a service to the community. Our continued existence is due to the generous support from Cumbria County, Eden District and local Parish Councils together with willing support from local businesses and our passengers.