Website Manager & Editor Tom
and Steven tell of their day touring around Southampton (and some of the
surrounding areas), and give an insight into their experiences of some of the
buses of today.
Having spent such a
considerable amount of time over the last 18 months sat inside the home office
of Tom’s in front of a computer building the website for the Trust, we thought
it would be nice to get away from writing about buses, and actually going out
and riding some. Finding the time to do this however can be hard, with us both
being busy with work and university respectively, and the typical
unpredictability of the British weather doesn’t help either. Nevertheless, on
Friday 17th May 2013, we finally managed to go out and enjoy what
Southampton had to offer bus-wise, and this is what happened.
Before going out we
planned a timetable for our day, which included all of the routes that we
particularly wanted to do. Top of our priorities was to go on First’s 11 route
(aka “The Watersider”) to Hythe, given that it was due to be withdrawn at the
end of May (and indeed has been at the time of writing this). In addition we
also wanted to travel on one of the most recent buses to enter service in the
city (almost exclusively found on the 7 to Townhill Park); the Bluestar 3,
which was re-routed to go via Itchen Bridge and Woolston shortly before
Christmas last year; and the X2 (aka the “Millbrook Flyer”).
Shortly after 9am
we both met in Hinkler Road, Thornhill to wait for the first bus of the day;
the First 3, to take us into the City Centre. R-reg Dennis Darts are the most
common allocation on this route and that’s exactly what came. The journey
itself was pretty unremarkable, except for the fact that the engine sounded
extremely unhealthy, though given that the vehicle is now over 15 years old,
this is perhaps understandable. Once in town our next mission was to gather
some much-needed drinks supplies, before waiting to board our next bus.
We waited for the “Watersider”
to Hythe with eagerness, but were disappointed when an unbranded vehicle came
instead of a nicely-branded route-specific one. At the time we were unsure
whether this was because the branding had been removed due to the route’s
impending cancellation or not. As it turned out, it was simply a different
vehicle, and the branded buses were elsewhere. The journey itself was pleasant,
despite the gloomy weather that accompanied it. Going through Marchwood and
Applemore was a nice change from the urban environment of central Southampton,
though aside from the scenery, the reasons for why the route was withdrawn
became apparent. No passengers excluding us two used the service until Waterloo
Road, when one passenger boarded. Throughout the entire journey the highest
number of people on the bus at any one point was 7, and all of them used
concessionary passes.
Upon arriving in
Hythe, we waited for a few minutes for the Bluestar 9 to take us to our next
destination; Millbrook Roundabout, where we would join the “Millbrook Flyer”. Arriving
in Millbrook we had a short wait before the X2 came along and this time the
vehicle was in the specific livery for the route, which made us very happy. Not
content with simply riding it from the roundabout to the City Centre, we boarded
it as it was going into Millbrook Estate and took the whole loop before then
carrying on into the City Centre, taking the adage “if a job’s worth doing, do
it properly”.
From here on the
timetable temporarily went out of the window, as we boarded a 5 to Portswood,
simply on the basis that it was one of the recently added W-reg single deckers
from Devon and neither of us had been on it before. Getting off in Portswood,
we hastily crossed the road and waited for a 7 to take us back to the City
Centre, eagerly hoping that it would be one of the new additions to First’s
fleet. The minutes ticked by and 2 Bluestar buses went past us but we stuck to
our guns and vowed to wait for the 7. When it did turn up, our hearts sank as
it was a simple Dennis Dart. Disappointed as we were, we chose to get on it on
the basis that if we didn’t we’d risk missing the Bluestar 3 to Hedge End. But
then, before it reached the bus stop, a glimmer of leather-seated hope shone,
and almost immediately behind the Dart a new bus came along. We admittedly got
a few strange looks from passengers as we stopped the second bus and boarded it
when there was one right in front of it but we didn’t care. We made our way to the
City Centre, and got to West Quay just in time for the 3.
The only reason we
had for wanting to ride the 3 was because of it going over Itchen Bridge, and
it being the only Bluestar bus in a sea of First buses to do so. Going via
Woolston and Bitterne, we eventually reached Hedge End Superstores, where we
grabbed the opportunity to get a bite to eat for lunch. By this point the
timetable had been brought forward and we were an hour ahead of schedule, due
to missing out on lunch in Portswood and getting something from Sainsbury’s in
Hedge End instead. Our next destination was the General Hospital the long way
round. We waited for the First 8 to take us directly there. Although it’s the
8A that goes to the hospital, only the 8 serves the Superstores so we had to
make sure that we got on the 8 going to Hedge End Centre, where it then changes
to an 8A and does the Hedge End Loop (another thing we wanted to experience).
An hour and a half later we rolled up at the hospital, having zig-zagged across
Upper Shirley via Bellemoor Road, Winchester Road and Dale Valley Road.
Here we waved
goodbye to the timetable a second time, due to Tom quickly spotting an S1
coming up Tremona Road towards Lordshill North in the form of an Optare Solo
(one of only two that Southampton depot hold). It was too good an opportunity
to miss and we ran to hop on it and upon boarding, saw that it was none other
than Phil (a fellow member of the Trust) driving it. We rode the bus as it did
its circuit around Lordshill North and got off at Lordshill Centre (after a
quick chat with Phil of course).
Finally we took the
scenic route back to Thornhill and boarded the 2A, which was being operated by
an ex-London double decker (one of 10 brought to Southampton in 2010). A nice
way to end what had been a brilliant day on the buses, heading back via
Aldermoor, Millbrook, Shirley, City Centre, Woolston, Peartree, Bitterne and
Harefield. By the time we had reached Fairfax Court (an hour and a half later
no less), our backsides were somewhat sore and getting up and walking seemed
like a lovely prospect. The bus pulled in at Fairfax Court and we were the only
two passengers left on the bus.
Eight hours of
travelling on buses and we were knackered, but the day itself was superb.
Having got a Solent Travelcard for £7.50, and managing to ride a total of 10 buses, each journey effectively cost us each
just 75p. Not bad value really. Our next adventure is one we have been planning
for many months............Southampton to Brighton by bus. Our adventure to
Brighton will be covered in the next guest blog.
