Tuesday 13 February 2018

It's All Happening (3)

William Blake Might Have Written ...
Tiger Tiger, crouching still, 
In the cowshed on the hill; 
What immortal hand or eye, 
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? 

But yet the farmer called the bill. 
As tiger lay there quietly still? 
The police arrived at speed and puffed, 
To kill the beast - but it was stuffed? 
Remember those striped felines gracing the launch of Arriva's "Yorkshire Tiger" brand?
fbb was amused to read that a farmer in Aberdeenshire had called the cops because a tiger was sitting in his dark and gloomy cowshed. Having checked with local zoos and wild life parks, the boys in blue duly arrived. By which time the farmer had approached more closely and discovered that it was a huge "cuddly toy".
No one seemed to know how it got there, but, as suspected by fbb, such "creatures" are readily available on-line.

Big Beach Bus Brightly Beautified
Sandy Bay is a massive caravan holiday "park" near Exmouth and due south of Littleham.
During the summer, Stagecoach Exeter run an hourly bus service to the park from Exmouth. (click on the timetable to enlarge it)
Stagecoach say that, for the 2018 season, there will be positioning journey from and to Exeter.

It is usually provided with an open top bus.
In recent years bus 17701 had been prettified with the addition of a few "holiday" stickers ...
... and a "Big Beach Bus" blob.

The vehicle was originally with Stagecoach Manchester ...
... and has warn a gloomy Marks and Spencer livery since its transfer south.
It is currently "in works" being repainted for the 2018 season ...
... with the final result being similar in style to the Hop122 open toppers that ran in Torquay last summer.
fbb will try to catch a ride on it this summer; all the way from Exeter, of course.

Another Day Another Closure?
East Yorkshire run three main services from Hull to Hormsea.
The 240 runs hourly via Skirlaugh, taking a tad over the hour, whereas the 246 runs via Beveley (off map left) and takes nearly an hour and a half.
There is also a collection of oddments, numbered 220 etc ...
... that runs via the delightful Aldbrough Cliffs.
Beyond this stop, signs tell you that Seaside Road is "closed" ...
... which is a euphemism for "fallen over the edge and into the sea" ...
... a continuous and unstoppable process.
Investment in cliff-top property is "ill-advised".
The Hull press broke this news at the end of last week.
Hornsea bus depot is likely to close after East Yorkshire Buses (EYMS) launched a review of its entire operation. The company is currently consulting with staff based in the town and a number of services that run through the area are expected to be cut. Although the decision to shut the station has not yet been rubber-stamped, the facility could become redundant as early as May.

Publicity seeking boss, Peter Shipp ...
... now leaves day-to-day management to his little boy, David.
Managing director David Shipp said that commercial pressures had led to EYMS reviewing its services across the region but that job losses were "unlikely".

"If the Hornsea depot does close that doesn't automatically suggest that all services around the town will be withdrawn."

Asked if he could guarantee that Hornsea would still be served by some buses in the town, Mr Shipp replied, "Yes".

However, he declined to say whether or not any other towns in East Yorkshire would be affected by the review.

Looks ominous for the good folk of East Yorkshire?

But, back to tigers ...
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The item below was added mid-morning to yesterday's blog and is repeated here for the benefit pf those who may have missed it.
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A Nother New Network
News is breaking that Yellow Buses (formerly Bournemouth Corporation Transport, now run by RATP, Paris City Transport) is ditching its "named" routes (sorry, "lines") in favour of the new idea, namely simple route numbers!
The network is being re-jigged and reduced in scope with some routes withdrawn without replacement (although covered in part by More - Wilts and Dorset as was).
That will be yellow, one presumes?

fbb will review the new revised rejigged (again!) network (currently announced WITHOUT timetables) as soon as he can understand it!
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 Next New Network blog : Wednesday 14th February 

7 comments:

  1. It was well known in Bournemouth & Poole that yet another update was coming from Yellow Buses, but not quiet as drastic as is indicated. Ken from Traveline has said on another blog site thirty miles up the road that now includes B&P, that he hopes to have the new timetables online next week (22 Feb). It appears that Yellow Buses have upset both Councils who are retendering. Poole list the D1, H1 & U8 on their website. One question is - will Poole Council tender for the U9 & U10 linking Rossmore and Dale Valley to Poole?

    Meanwhile in Bournemouth will Bournemouth Council retender the C1 between Castlepoint and Bournemouth town centre, along with the dropped R4, R5 & R6.

    It was only last autumn that Yellow Buses set up a new depot in Poole.

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  2. The C1 between Castlepoint and Bournemouth is included in the current tenders, and has been reconnected to the Poole to Bournemouth section of D1, which reverts to being Bournemouth to Christchurch. Or to put it another way, the 18 20 33 and 36 are reborn (That's one of the options). As we are still mid tender there's nothing more to add at the moment.
    Ken Traveline

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  3. Thanks Ken, you have the advantage of seeing the detail!

    We, the users will have to wait another nine days.

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  4. I see in the Yellow Bus reshuffle that the Poole via Upper Parkstone to Bournemouth sector of new route 1 is shifted from Constitution Hill Road to North Road increasing competition with MoreBus

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  5. Tomorrow’s post is interesting!

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  6. We also know from an answer given on Yellow Buses Facebook page that the Brockenhurst College Contract is finishing at Easter.

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  7. East Riding of Yorkshire Council have another round of tendered service cuts in April. I suspect once the PVR for these services are taken away the depot becomes uneconomical although I presume an outstation will be provided somewhere in the area.

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