Travelling To Games

[MrMartinBlack9]

Hi guys, sorry to bother you - I’ve not long moved to the Highlands (living in Alness) & was hoping to go along & watch Forres Mechanics home & away games.

I’ve been doing some research (can tell I’ve got a booming social life!) & discovered that there doesn’t seem to be any way to get to Buckie Thistle, Deveronvale, Formartine United, Fort William, Fraserburgh, Lossiemouth, Rothes, Strathspey Thistle, & Turriff United by train or bus? 

I was just wondering if I’d got it wrong & if there was any way I could actually get to these places.

Thanks in advance for any help  

[GordonS]

1 minute ago, MrMartinBlack9 said:

Hi guys, sorry to bother you - I’ve not long moved to the Highlands (living in Alness) & was hoping to go along & watch Forres Mechanics home & away games.

I’ve been doing some research (can tell I’ve got a booming social life!) & discovered that there doesn’t seem to be any way to get to Buckie Thistle, Deveronvale, Formartine United, Fort William, Fraserburgh, Lossiemouth, Rothes, Strathspey Thistle, & Turriff United by train or bus? 

I was just wondering if I’d got it wrong & if there was any way I could actually get to these places.

Thanks in advance for any help  

You can get to all of them by bus, but not directly and in some cases it will be a long journey from Alness. Google Maps is excellent for public transport information, definitely start with that. Most of them will be a bus from a town on the Inverness-Aberdeen rail line, Strathspey maybe better from Aviemore. Oddly, Fort William will be one of the simpler trips! Just a bus from Inverness, and if it's nice weather it'll be a stunning journey.

I think the bus goes past Formartine's ground but I don't think there's a stop there, and there's no pavement or lights on the country road between the ground and the town. Not a walk I'd want to do after dark, that's for sure.

Good luck.

[MrMartinBlack9]

14 minutes ago, GordonS said:

You can get to all of them by bus, but not directly and in some cases it will be a long journey from Alness. Google Maps is excellent for public transport information, definitely start with that. Most of them will be a bus from a town on the Inverness-Aberdeen rail line, Strathspey maybe better from Aviemore. Oddly, Fort William will be one of the simpler trips! Just a bus from Inverness, and if it's nice weather it'll be a stunning journey.

I think the bus goes past Formartine's ground but I don't think there's a stop there, and there's no pavement or lights on the country road between the ground and the town. Not a walk I'd want to do after dark, that's for sure.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply Gordon, really appreciate the advice. Will definitely look into Google Maps to begin with.

[welshbairn]

52 minutes ago, MrMartinBlack9 said:

Hi guys, sorry to bother you - I’ve not long moved to the Highlands (living in Alness) & was hoping to go along & watch Forres Mechanics home & away games.

I’ve been doing some research (can tell I’ve got a booming social life!) & discovered that there doesn’t seem to be any way to get to Buckie Thistle, Deveronvale, Formartine United, Fort William, Fraserburgh, Lossiemouth, Rothes, Strathspey Thistle, & Turriff United by train or bus? 

I was just wondering if I’d got it wrong & if there was any way I could actually get to these places.

Thanks in advance for any help  

Buckie, Vale, Lossie, Rothes. Train or bus from Inverness to Elgin, bus from there. Fortwilliam, bus from Inverness. Fraserburgh, Train or bus to Aberdeen, bus from there. Formartine, Train or bus to Inverurie, bus from there to Pitmedden. Strathspey Thistle, bus from Inverness to Grantown on Spey (thought there was a direct bus but you might have to change at Aviemore as Gordon said). Turriff I think the easiest is changing at Inverurie as well, could be a more direct route, only been there by car. Your biggest problem could be getting back to Alness after an evening game, not sure how late they run! If you go to Fraserburgh I'd recommend stopping the night at the Cheers Bar, about £30 last time, it's a lot of travel getting back the same day.

Edited May 28, 2019 by welshbairn

[Kicker Conspiracy]

39 minutes ago, MrMartinBlack9 said:

Hi guys, sorry to bother you - I’ve not long moved to the Highlands (living in Alness) & was hoping to go along & watch Forres Mechanics home & away games.

I’ve been doing some research (can tell I’ve got a booming social life!) & discovered that there doesn’t seem to be any way to get to Buckie Thistle, Deveronvale, Formartine United, Fort William, Fraserburgh, Lossiemouth, Rothes, Strathspey Thistle, & Turriff United by train or bus? 

I was just wondering if I’d got it wrong & if there was any way I could actually get to these places.

Thanks in advance for any help  

Your best bet is probably Traveline Scotland , I think.

[Northboy]

2 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Formartine, Train or bus to Inverurie, bus from there to Pitmedden

The No 49 runs between Inverurie and Ellon with a stop in Pitmedden although probably in the village centre rather than at the ground which is a bit outside. It's not a particularly frequent service and I'm sure I've heard that the last bust from Pitmedden to Inverurie on Saturday would be just about full time for a 3:00pm kick off (you could check on line).

One thought - do Forres run a supporters bus?

[welshbairn]

1 minute ago, Northboy said:

The No 49 runs between Inverurie and Ellon with a stop in Pitmedden although probably in the village centre rather than at the ground which is a bit outside. It's not a particularly frequent service and I'm sure I've heard that the last bust from Pitmedden to Inverurie on Saturday would be just about full time for a 3:00pm kick off (you could check on line).

One thought - do Forres run a supporters bus?

Might be an idea for Formartine, Turriff and Fraserburgh games at least. I think the last time I went to Pitmedden we had to get a bus to Aberdeen after the game and get the train home from there. The bus from Inverurie before the game was fine.  Bus drops you by the pub in the centre, it's only 1/4 mile to the ground and there's just a short stretch before the ground with no pavement.

[welshbairn]

Interesting identical thread on Fitbanorth about this. 

[MrMartinBlack9]

Getting absolutely rinsed here, got to say I deserve it! Long story short, I’ll be going to watch Brora as it’s more affordable travel wise, they do coaches to away games too. 

I suffer from social anxiety so I’d struggle quite badly in large places like Inverness station etc - I should’ve thought of this before showing interest in going to Forres / Nairn. I’ll probably get stick for opening up about that too, but that’s fine - I’d rather be open about these things.

Thanks to everyone for their input on the away travel & I’m sorry for wasting everyone’s time - that goes to the Forres & Nairn supporters too.

 

 

[Northboy]

20 minutes ago, MrMartinBlack9 said:

Thanks to everyone for their input on the away travel & I’m sorry for wasting everyone’s time - that goes to the Forres & Nairn supporters too.

You haven't wasted anyone's time. Your question was relevant and I'm sure everyone has been happy to offer their thoughts. Unfortunately you've probably realised that a lot of the Highland League grounds are not so easy to get to. The HFL has it's critics but I think it's a great competition. I hope you get to plenty of matches when the season starts.

[welshbairn]

1 hour ago, Northboy said:

You haven't wasted anyone's time. Your question was relevant and I'm sure everyone has been happy to offer their thoughts. Unfortunately you've probably realised that a lot of the Highland League grounds are not so easy to get to. The HFL has it's critics but I think it's a great competition. I hope you get to plenty of matches when the season starts.

Check out his thread on Fitba North, he's copying his posts from there for some reason.

[afca32]

Alness would be my last pick if I was moving to the north of Scotland personally.

[Spyro]

9 hours ago, MrMartinBlack9 said:

Getting absolutely rinsed here, got to say I deserve it! Long story short, I’ll be going to watch Brora as it’s more affordable travel wise, they do coaches to away games too. 

I suffer from social anxiety so I’d struggle quite badly in large places like Inverness station etc - I should’ve thought of this before showing interest in going to Forres / Nairn. I’ll probably get stick for opening up about that too, but that’s fine - I’d rather be open about these things.

Thanks to everyone for their input on the away travel & I’m sorry for wasting everyone’s time - that goes to the Forres & Nairn supporters too.

 

 

You’ve asked a very relevant question, I’m sure the info on this thread will be useful to more folk in the future.

I know exactly how you feel too... it all seems like a great idea til the time! I couldn’t face even getting on a bus, even at the game you’ll find me quietly hiding in the corner... then I get on P&B and find my voice! 

[Spyro]

And Alness is a great wee town btw, you’ll love it! I’d would move back there in a heartbeat! Less can be said about Inverness though... 

[MrMartinBlack9]

On 29/05/2019 at 18:20, Spyro said:

You’ve asked a very relevant question, I’m sure the info on this thread will be useful to more folk in the future.

I know exactly how you feel too... it all seems like a great idea til the time! I couldn’t face even getting on a bus, even at the game you’ll find me quietly hiding in the corner... then I get on P&B and find my voice! 

Thanks for the kind words Spyro, I really do appreciate it! Top man & all the best to you & your team for next season