Guest Blog: A Southampton Bus Tour

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 17^th 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 Top of our priorities was to go on First’s 11 route (aka “The Watersider”) to Hythe, given that it was due to be withdrawn at the end of May (and indeed has been at the time of writing this).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.

(41517 - R417 WPX waits in Vincents Walk)

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.

(69247 -YJ07 WFO leaves Hythe)

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.