A surfeit of accrued holidays has allowed me to hop around and experience a number of different bus operators and geographies. This week, I enjoyed an extended bank holiday weekend and visited an area that is perhaps a little more familiar, and the end of the summer season on First Hampshire and Dorset.
I’ll provide a little detail onto the 2021 FHD services but….it’s nearly 30 years to the day since I first visited the Jurassic Coast so I’ll try to intersperse some comparisons with then and now as I canter through the Dorset countryside. Hopefully, that won’t prove to be confusing or too self indulgent, and I hope it is of interest. As ever, feel free to expand or correct any errors etc, or just add your views whether in agreement or in contrast to mine. Also, as
@RELL6L has raised the bar by including travelogue photos, I have shared some of the day.
I began my day very early, with a drive from my home near Bath to Poundbury. Back in 1991, Poundbury didn’t exist as, for the uninitiated, this development on the west side of Dorchester was a plan by the Duchy estate (of Prince Charles) to develop a new, chocolate box style model town. I parked my car there and caught the 0653 service 10 via Dorchester to Weymouth. The growth of Poundbury, and some competitive skirmishes in the past, has seen an unprecedented uplift of services over the years. In 1991, there were probably about a dozen journeys a day, operated by Southern National and Wilts & Dorset, all running through the town from Bridport, Salisbury and Poole. My steed for the next half hour was a Scania Omnicity, drafted in on loan from Hoeford for increased service commitments. It was quite smart internally, having been refurbished with eLeather. It had a few rattles but for a 2005 vehicle, it wasn’t bad though I understand that their days may be numbered, at least in Weymouth.
I arrived in Weymouth and grabbed a coffee from Nero. I’d intended to catch a later journey but realised I could actually get the 0749 X54 to Wareham. An ex Bolton/Diamond e400 newly repainted in Jurassic Coaster (JC) colours was on the stand at Kings Statue, the main terminus for most Weymouth services. One of the P&O liners that were massed in Weymouth Bay is still there and makes for a slightly different backdrop. Bang on time, we headed off with myself stationed on the top deck. The route takes you through Preston (served by First’s local service 4) before climbing up past the white horse and into rolling hilly countryside. The e400 had been treated to the paint job and appropriate, high quality internal graphics. However, as with the 2012 B9 I had in Norwich, this 2012 e400 was looking rather tired with the eLeather looking very battered and shiny, whilst the flooring and laminates could’ve welcomed a deep clean. This journey acts mainly as a placement run, bypassing Lulworth and heading to Wool and thence to Wareham. Whilst evident at Wool and on the JC stops en route, Wareham is where you realise that this is a competitive environment with Go South Coast More services 30 and 31 serving the same market as the X52/X54 running to Monkey World, Bovington, Lulworth and Weymouth via Wool. I have to say that at Wareham and Wool, GSC are certainly more effective with their marketing. Sadly, at Wool station, First had full timetables (two of them, contradicting one another) whilst the GSC departure list was much easier to fathom. Also, whilst First had the more eye-catching livery and won that marketing battle, the interior of the older More Omnidekkas was much more welcoming with smart dark blue moquette.
In 1991, I’d begun my day leaving the B&B in Swanage and catching the 0710 143 to Poole but only as far as Wareham. My Explorer ticket was valid on both Wilts and Dorset, and Southern National and my objective was to travel West. Instead of the expected Bristol VR, it was instead one of the last remaining Bristol LHs with the special cut away dash panel for the Sandbanks Ferry. New to Bristol Omnibus, it had moved when only two years old to Dorset, gaining the poppy red livery that it still retained in favour of the smarter W&D livery. It was a spirited run (as every LH was) and we arrived in Wareham, ready for me to catch the then 3 year old class 442 Wessex Electric to Weymouth; this was the reality in that prior to 1998 and the appearance of Weaverbus, the provision of bus services around Wool and Lulworth was almost non existent save for the odd market day and taxibus service. I travelled down to Weymouth arriving in good time for breakfast and my trip West) but it’s interesting that whilst the provision of bus services in the area is no longer as it was in the high water mark of the mid 2000s, it is still considerably better than it had been before that.
It was a short wander around Wareham station, situated away from the town, and so a return back on the X54, retracing my steps to Wool and then to Lulworth Cove, passing through the true idyllic village with its thatched cottages. Absolutely stunning and whilst I’ve walked around Lulworth before (and would recommend it), I was happily waiting to head back to Wool on the newly introduced X52. New for 2021, this is a true innovation in having a Bridport to Monkey World open top service worked by some freshly cabrioletted B7 Geminis new to London and moved from Bristol. I was looking forward to this so it was disappointing to learn that 1/3 boards was being worked by a closed top and it was mine. So another ex Bolton e400 in JC colours duly arrived. I decamped in Wool and decided to kill time for 20 mins – not easy in Wool. There was a bit of Network South East signage to pass as intriguing but that was about it. My e400 arrived back from Monkey World and ready to head back via Lulworth, passing a well loaded More Omnidekka that had collected from Lulworth Cove and its caravans and chalets. To be honest, it highlights how much the bus industry failed to capitalise on domestic tourism in the past, though it is good to see some real entrepreneurial flair being displayed. I carried on my e400, arriving back in Weymouth. It is timed to connect with the X51, allowing you a choice of routes to head to Bridport, with that service being the time honoured successor to the 31 that travelled via Dorchester and Bridport to Lyme Regis and Axminster with onward connections.
My 1991 experience was on the 31. I was going “all in” as it was advertised as a through route to Taunton (3h 15) though in reality, you had to change at Axminster. It ran only 5 times a day from Weymouth to Bridport, with an hourly frequency from there via Lyme to Axminster which it still retains. My second bus of the day, a 15 yr old VR, was also still resolutely in NBC colours despite the years passing since privatisation. I remember the journey well noticing that the side panels of the bus as I leant against them, seemed to move independently of the back seat. I deduced the body was not in a good way with the chassis and I think that particularly VR met a premature end compared to other SN VRs. It went well though as we bounded across the A35 and via various places over the next two hours as we headed to Bridport and then to Axminster; at that time, Bridport bus station wasn’t served so we loaded on West Street but otherwise, the facilities there are barely unchanged in 30 years though the small depot adjacent is still intact but all maintenance is now undertaken at Weymouth.
For completeness, I made my way from Axminster to Taunton on a former East Midland Iveco minibus still in their green livery, doubtless retained for its similarity to SN’s adopted scheme. However, my next journeys, a double run to Bridgwater and back were on newly delivered Merc 811s (replacing conventional vehicles) in the standard SN yellow, whilst I returned back from Taunton on two VRs, changing at Axminster. This still happens today though as the Taunton to Axminster (now service 30) is every 90 mins, the connections are less convenient at times.
Interestingly, the coastal route to Bridport in 1991 was only served once per day by a shoppers service built around a schools contract whereas summer 2021 sees an hourly service from the all year X53 being joined by the summer X52. We passed an open top Gemini near Abbotsbury with a good load on top enjoying the fun. The e400 managed the climb up Abbotsbury Hill surprisingly easily and the views along Lyme Bay to Golden Cap are stunning – you really should do the trip and coming the other way affords you views of Chesil Beach and Portland. One of the UK’s most scenic routes. I elected to grab lunch in Bridport and then headed to the bus station and waited. I had hoped to get one of the luxurious ex Green Line examples but sadly, it was one of the standard B9s still in Urban colours. Delivered for that route, these well built vehicles are now looking a bit tired, even after a mid-life refurb. The X51 runs 8 times a day to Weymouth and now sticks to the A35 rather than diving off route. Again, there are fantastic views and at one point, we passed three separate kestrels all hovering by the roadside; West Dorset is a dangerous place for a vole! The X51 runs into Dorchester and unlike the more frequent 10, it diverts in to serve the South train station, where I got off. I wandered through to catch the 10 to discover it was the same Scania as 8 hours earlier! Ah well.
I headed back to Weymouth in order to experience the one local service I’ve not sampled. The 3 runs via a substantial 1950s council estate in Westham but the frequency is now a 45 min headway, allowing it to be operated by one vehicle, in this case, a 2013 Streetlite. Back in 1991, it would’ve been almost wall to wall Ford Transits, as only the 31, the Portland and Littlemoor services retained conventional VRs and Nationals. I know that Covid has only exacerbated the decline of town centres and local bus services and who knows what the future holds. However, it struck me that Weymouth is just the sort of place where First should be putting something like Mellor Stratas, and running them to places like Preston, Westham and Chickerell rather than the B7RLEs, Streetlites and Solo SRs that they currently use. More manoeuvrable and with lower running costs, you might be able to increase patronage to sustain better frequencies (e.g. 20 mins) rather than running big buses every 30 mins. It also gets me that Weymouth depot use Eclipses on the Littlemoor and Preston routes whilst Streetlites (only two years newer) are used on the punishing Portland route….seems counter-intuitive. I got off at Fiveways, catching the seasonal 502 (linking the sea front with a Haven holiday camp) operated by yet another ex Bolton e400, albeit newly repainted in the attractive Wessex green livery. It was back to the Esplanade and my final bus (an Eclipse) back to Poundbury.
Despite not having an open topper on the X52, it was still a great day. I would say that First are being genuinely entrepreneurial though there are a few things that they need to improve upon. The only leaflet I found was on the X51 and even that was hidden in a box on the luggage rack. Their promotion at key stops like Wareham, Wool and Bridport could and should be improved, and the e400s really do need a refresh internally, even if that’s only a deep clean to get rid of accumulated grime. Also, the fleet was quite dirty – is the Weymouth wash broken? However, the services ran to time (not easy in Weymouth) and I can thoroughly recommend the JC services with stunning scenery all along the coast. With services to places that were barely on the public transport map, things are much, much better than the rose tinted days of the past.
Hope this hasn't been too self-indulgent and whilst the timetables change tomorrow (I think), you can still enjoy the scenery with the year round X51/53/54; hope you enjoyed it.