More recently it has gone on to Stocksbridge, but its origins were as a local bus linking the hilly suburbs of Crookes and Walkley with the outside world. Now it is to be wthdrawn, without notice or any right to appeal (which we would have if it was a public footpath or railway service that was being closed down). Despite the lack of publicity, I believe more than 1000 people have signed petitions against the axed service.

What are our local councillors doing about this? Have they asked the PTE to look for savings or other sources of money to keep this valuable service going? Tesco support the bus to Millhouses; have Morrison's at Hillsborough (or Tesco on Infirmary Road) been asked if they would help, if there really isn't any money left for this? After all, we're talking about only £500 or so a week to keep the Crookes Nipper on the road. Has a simpler tender for the route been looked at?

And what is our Broomhill Councillor Scriven doing? Perhaps being leader of the new Lib Dem council is keeping him too busy to worry about his ward, surprising, as he's putting up to became our MP at the next general election. He's a man with power. It would take him just one phone call to keep our bus running.

And what's the PTE doing? Surely their job is to ensure that essential local bus services that don't make money for the large profit-aware national transport companies, the Stagecoaches and Firsts, run regardless, using our council taxes to pay for them. In the meantime, we can only ask that they keep the 201 on the road for another six months while they look usefully at long-term ways of keeping it going.