An expanded programme of Free Daffodil Shuttle buses for the March 2025, 50th Anniversary year of the Golden Triangle Daffodil Season has been announced this week by Buses4Us

The Golden Triangle on the Herefordshire/Gloucestershire border hosts possibly the best displays of wild daffodils in the UK each March. The 232 Daffodil Line bus runs around the borders of the Triangle, but the lanes at the heart, where the best displays can be seen, are just too narrow for a big bus.

So in 2024, with support from Kempley Parish Council and Rail and Bus for Herefordshire Buses4Us provided free Daffodil Shuttles to allow visitors to enjoy the Daffs, without the need for a car.

“We put on a minibus for two weekends last year, to coincide with Kempley and Oxenhall Daffodil Weekends, and Newent Spring Fayre. They were a huge success, over the 4 days we carried 600 people on one little minibus.” This enabled people to enjoy the spring displays without a car - whether because they don’t have a car, or because they prefer not to take one into the narrow lanes and important ecosystems at the heart of the Triangle.

“The daffodil weekends are extremely popular, attracting visitors from all over the country, but to some extent they have become a victim of their own success with cars clogging up the lanes causing issues for walkers and cyclists and sometimes destroying the wildflower verges they have come to see by driving or parking on them.”

For 2025 the programme has been expanded with two minibuses operating over three weekends in March:

8/9 March Dymock Daffodil Weekend

15/16 March Kempley Daffodil Weekend

22/23 March Oxenhall Daffodil Weekend and Newent Spring Fayre.

This extended programme has been made possible through generous support from Gloucestershire and Herefordshire County Councils, Forest of Dean District Council and through sales of the Daffodil Line Walks Book.

Shuttles depart Newent approximately every half hour on Saturdays and Sundays passengers are encouraged to “hop on, hop off” at village halls, churches and of course the daffodil hotspots including Gwen and Vera’s Field, Betty Daws Wood, Shaw Common, Vell Mill, Dymock Woods and Kempley SSSI Meadow.

“There is the opportunity to enjoy guided walks,talks, teas and plant sales or explore under your own steam. But equally the view from the bus offers many opportunities to admire the daffs in their natural ancient woodland and hedgerow habitats - so you might just choose to stay on board and enjoy the ride!”

Buses4Us CIC was formed following the loss, in 2022 of commercial bus services connecting the towns of Ross-on-Wye, Newent, Ledbury and their surrounding villages on the Gloucestershire-Herefordshire border.The Daffodil Line community bus service, replaced and improved on the commercial services lost. Good public transport is essential for a fairer, greener future.

Full information on Shuttle routes and timetables, and all events for the 2025 daffodil season can be found at www.daffodilline.co.uk/daffs25.

Catch the bus - save the planet!

For full details visit: daffodilline.co.uk/daffs24