Service 8 (or 608) from Bartenheim (in France) to Bachgraben (in Switzerland) is seen below on an older on-line minibus picture ...
... clearly carried a "slip board" with 8 on its pink coloured background - no mention of 608. fbb also forgot to mention that Distribus have a splendid enquiry office bang in the centre of Saint Louis.
It is very smart and provides all the expected services.
Reasonably attractive opening hours, too. Zut alors! It is premises formerly occupied by a well known purveyor of Burger products. "M"!!
For those who may be in Saint Louis and pining for a "McDo", fear not burger chomping friend, the replacement "restaurant" is in the forecourt of an out-of-town Hypermarché.
Meanwhile, bang in the centre of Southampton, First Bus is closing its travel office. It has been there since Southampton Corporation Transport days and is very well used.
Bournemouth Bus Station Burns
The local newspaper ran an article on the death of a splendid bus station, almost exclusively used by Wilts and Dorset. fbb knew that the facility had disappeared about forty years ago, but not the reason.
The station, off the Square at Exeter Road, was one of the town’s focal points. It consisted of an Art Deco, Portland stone building from 1929-31 ...
... which had been enlarged and rebuilt in 1959. It housed an underground coach station and ground-level bus station, with shops, restaurants and offices.
The likely cause was believed to have been an electrical fault in one of the coaches on the bottom deck.
Sadly the intensity of the inferno so damaged the structure of the steel-framed building that it had to be demolished. Buses were transferred "temporarily" to "The Triangle" and never returned.
The site became a car park.
There were proposals to re-create a bus station on the site, but ...
... only the erstwhile curved shape of the new buildings and of Exeter Crescent remain as a reminder of a much loved and much used facility.
Thanks to Roy from Sheffield for digging out this bit of history.
Would You Risk Using THESE stops?
They do have a timetable frame each, but they are hardly an advert for the benefits of 21st Century bus travel.
They are outside Bicton Park ...
... served by Stagecoach route 157 from Exmouth via Otterton and Budleigh Salterton to Sidmouth.
It runs every hour.
Yesterday fbb and Mrs fbb popped into the park (by car!) for tea and a bun (actually a posh ice cream) and to enjoy the floral displays. It was magnificent ...
... even indoors.
The posh ice cream (£2!) was also a very unhealthy delight ...
Such a pity that Stagecoach doesn't really want anyone to go there by bus. And please don't tell fbb that bus stop flags are the responsibility of Devon County Council - even if they are.
How about a Stagecoach man-with-van driving to Bicton with step ladder, bucket and soapy water and giving the stop flags a good wash?
The stops in Saint Louis, France that we have been looking at for the last few days are all scrupulously clean, even if the route numbers are weird!
fbb hs written about Bicton a few weeks ago - but before the flowers came out. (read again) here. It is well worth a visit and the buses are OK even if the signs are off-puttng.
For bus travellers, the turn in Otterton is well worth enjoying; a very tight reverse ...
... after a rather narrow road through the village!
An enjoyable ride.
For bus travellers, the turn in Otterton is well worth enjoying; a very tight reverse ...
Next "no idea what" blog : Monday 14th May
In the days of the Bus Station Bournemouth was in Hampshire and the majority bus operator was Hants & Dorset, using standard Tilling green and cream colours. Wilts & Dorset only served it with one route, the 38 from Salisbury. The coach station below was used by the large number of Royal Blue and Associated Motorways routes that served the town.
ReplyDeleteThanks dad. One of my perennial problems is mixing up "Hants and" with "Wilts and"! Privatisation and re-grouping made it worse!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I remember, H&D were green and W&D were red.
ReplyDeleteFBB - I was there at the time of the bus station fire. Drove a couple of buses out to a safer place. Much frantic phoning round next morning to hire buses in to cover but few service runs were lost.
ReplyDeleteAndrew. Yes originally H&D buses were green and W&D were red. Then they all became red when H&D was rebaptised W&D.
I remember the bus station well. I also remember parcels being loaded on to the Shatesbury bus at Bournemouth and same being dropped off at H&D parcel agents en route. Another bus 'service' long gone.
ReplyDelete