• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Jurassic Mule 2017

Status
Not open for further replies.

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
The Jurassic Mule open top service operated by Mendip Mule Motorbus starts for the 2017 season this saturday.

All day fares:
Adults £7.95
Seniors £6.95
Children £5.95
Family (2+2) £19.95
Extra family child £3.95

These fares are a hop on hop off ticket, and valid for unlimited travel all day.
 

Attachments

  • CALENDER-2017.jpg
    CALENDER-2017.jpg
    128.1 KB · Views: 103
  • mendip mule.jpg
    mendip mule.jpg
    162.7 KB · Views: 97
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

aptisman

Member
Joined
5 Dec 2008
Messages
15
I shall be in their area soon and would like to ride their route, but I can only be there at the weekend when they don't operate.

Would anyone be able to tell me where they keep their vehicles, as I could visit and hope to see some?

Thanks.
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
Requirements of a tour are that you must return to your original starting point. This pretty much means no new passengers on the last leg of the journey, which can also mean if all passengers are returned to their start point, prior to the last single run, it can run straight back to depot rather than to the route terminus for example.
Being a tour, he has an obligation to get passengers back to their start point (as long as it's not due to passenger lateness) whereas a normal bus service doesn't have such obligation.
The mule offers a full or short tour. The full tour is £7.95.
A short tour could be from say charmouth to Lyme Regis and back for example.
 
Last edited:

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
All days will now operate to the yellow timetable for the summer holidays due to vehicle unavailability.
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
We, at the mendip Mule motorbus are running a gala tour weekend based out of Seaton on the weekend of 2/3 September. We will have at least 4 open top VRs and our open top RE in service over each day of the weekend. I've attached a suggested itinerary we've created that will allow riding each of the 5 vehicles over each day. In addition to the fares shown on the attached poster 2 day tickets will be available at 1.5 times the single day fare.
 

Attachments

  • poster 1.jpg
    poster 1.jpg
    141.4 KB · Views: 48
  • sunday gala times.jpg
    sunday gala times.jpg
    219.7 KB · Views: 29
  • saturday gala times.jpg
    saturday gala times.jpg
    223.5 KB · Views: 28

83G/84D

Established Member
Joined
28 Oct 2011
Messages
5,952
Location
Cornwall
I enjoyed my visit in July and hope to make another weekend visit for this event. Fingers crossed for some nice weather!
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
I enjoyed my visit in July and hope to make another weekend visit for this event. Fingers crossed for some nice weather!

I will be about on the Sunday. I've taken over running the Facebook page and email accounts etc.
I've organised the gala day with the help of a young enthusiast from Seaton who's done all of the poster designs for me. I can only hope the long hours of planning pays off with a decent attendance.
Unfortunately I'm working the day job on the Saturday. Gutted as that was the mystery tour I was really looking forward to. The Sunday one is still good but the Saturday one should be the highlight of the weekend in my mind at least.
 

83G/84D

Established Member
Joined
28 Oct 2011
Messages
5,952
Location
Cornwall
Dosen't look like I'll be able to make it up there on the Saturday now, Sunday for me. :(
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
Dosen't look like I'll be able to make it up there on the Saturday now, Sunday for me. :(

That's a shame, the Sunday will still be good, but to get a full ride of the fleet would need either 0900 start in Seaton or 0930 from Axminster.
Also note rail replacement on the SWT line that Sunday.
 

83G/84D

Established Member
Joined
28 Oct 2011
Messages
5,952
Location
Cornwall
If the Sunday weather forecast is correct I'll be staying indoors on Sunday, rather than attending this event.
 

CD

Member
Joined
22 Jun 2014
Messages
990
Location
34004
If the Sunday weather forecast is correct I'll be staying indoors on Sunday, rather than attending this event.

That's if you can believe the Met Office!

For Yeovil today at 1300 the forecast was 80% chance of a heavy shower at 1400 then 50% chance of light rain from 1500. But for the last 4 hours its been like Texas !!:D
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
If the Sunday weather forecast is correct I'll be staying indoors on Sunday, rather than attending this event.

That's if you can believe the Met Office!

For Yeovil today at 1300 the forecast was 80% chance of a heavy shower at 1400 then 50% chance of light rain from 1500. But for the last 4 hours its been like Texas !!:D

I've just looked at 3 forecasts... 1 says rain all day, the other two say patchy showers.
Derek has announced his retirement at the end of the season, so it's likely to be the final few weeks unless someone comes in to take over.
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
Press Release from 7/9/17

Open Top Bus Service Withdrawn
Heritage open top bus service to cease 10th September 2017

The open top bus tour service operating between Beer, Colyton, Seaton, Lyme Regis and Charmouth is to be withdrawn from 10th September due to hostility from a small minority of local residents towards their staff.

The service which has carried in excess of 20000 passengers this year, bringing a much needed boost to the local economy will cease operating after the end of service on Sunday 10th September. Owner Derek Gawn has taken the decision after he and his staff have been subject to tirades from a few local residents in the Seaton and Colyton area. All of the company’s part time workforce of 25 will be laid off.

Sadly a couple of residents of the flats overlooking The Underfleet bus and coach park in Seaton have taken to shouting at the drivers for parking our buses in the bus park, as they don’t want them outside their flat. All engines are shut down once parked. The bus park is provided by East Devon District Council for buses and coaches to use on a pay and display based ticketing arrangement. It isn’t for the bus drivers to be shouted at by residents who don’t welcome the facility. Not a particularly good welcome for the much needed tourists bringing their spending to the town. We no longer wish to subject our staff to such behavior from a small minority of locals.
We have also experienced people deliberately parking their cars badly on the approach to our depot at Colyton Station in an attempt to make access difficult. The poor parking would also obstruct emergency vehicles attempting to access the tramway, nearby houses and the adjacent business units. The same resident who is parking badly, has previously told Derek that he doesn’t believe there is a place for open top bus tours in this part of the country.
Owner Derek Gawn has said “I have finally made my mind up about the Mule, and the final nails were not mechanical issues or the weather. It’s the continual whining of a few in Seaton and Colyton. I do realise that 99% of people do support us, but I can no longer cope with the 1%.”

Many of the passengers using our service originate from the holiday parks around Lyme Regis and Charmouth using the service to enjoy the local scenery and hopping on and off all day visiting local attractions along the route as well as local shops, restaurants and bars. Our tickets allow unlimited all day travel, which unlike a traditional bus ticket means passengers can hop on and off along the full route for one flat fare.

We’d like to thank all of our supporters across the route, who have made us welcome and accept a very small minority has brought this decision to withdraw our service. We apologise to all of our supporters and passengers for the sudden withdrawal of service.
As a thank you after 1:50pm on Sunday 10th September, we will not be charging our standard fare, and simply ask for a minimum £5 donation per person which we will be donating to the RNLI. Hopefully we can see as many of our supporters as possible for the last few hours of service and helping a good cause at the same time.

The operator which has a fleet of heritage open top buses with an average age of 39 years has operated since 2015 along the Jurassic Coast with no miles missed in 2017 for mechanical reasons, and despite being full open top buses have only cancelled 3 days due to bad weather. The exemplary service provided by the operator can be seen by their perfect 5 star review rating on Facebook, as well as a Trip Advisor score of 5.0 out of 5.
 

Attachments

  • UWV614S Lyme Regis.jpg
    UWV614S Lyme Regis.jpg
    151.5 KB · Views: 68
  • bad parking colyton 1.jpg
    bad parking colyton 1.jpg
    101 KB · Views: 69
  • bad parking colyton 2.jpg
    bad parking colyton 2.jpg
    130.9 KB · Views: 72

Dennis

Established Member
Joined
8 Aug 2005
Messages
2,676
Location
Trowbridge
Plenty of press coverage today regarding the Mules demise; Jeremy Vine, Metro, ITV West Country News and even some national papers!

Sad state of affairs really that he should feel pressured out of Seaton and his depot by various aggrieved parties. Maybe they got the hump because they couldn't use their free passes.

Never did make it down there this season but have had plenty of mileage over the past couple of years - wish Derek all the best for the future and hope it's not the end VRs in fare paying service in the West.
 

richw

Veteran Member
Joined
10 Jun 2010
Messages
11,213
Location
Liskeard
I am please to say we have secured sufficient funding to allow us to operate in 2018. We will be running a special launch day on 22nd July, and then running daily from 25th July until 4th September.
We felt the need to return after receiving 1000s of messages of support following the issues at the end of 2017. We have amended our timetable so the buses don't wait time in the Underfleet area of Seaton where the issues were found.
We have a new operations manager who is well known and local to Seaton, and formerly operated a heritage bus operation in the Saltash area. Details of who he is will be unveiled soon. Derek plans taking a back seat, doing some driving days and running when the operations manager is unavailable.
We have also set up a new website with plenty of information about the service www.jurassicmule.co.uk
We have secured the use of up to 6 open top buses this year. The 2018 fleet will be:
Open Top Bristol RE TDL564K,
Open Top Bristol VRs UWV614S, UFX856S, BJG674V, VDV138S
Open Top Volvo Olympian P772SWC
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top