Not Sleepy At Surbiton 1934 to 1980
Yes, it is the signature tune of "Desert Island Discs" but with added and inaccurate seagulls for the radio programme! The BBC tried removing the seagulls a few years ago and listeners were vehemently revolting - and the seagulls returned.
The "Lagoon" was a huge outdoor heated swimming pool with kiddies pool, diving boards, sun terrace, caff and extensive changing rooms.
Wikipedia explains all.
It opened in May 1934 though had been open for business since April, and was situated in Raeburn Avenue in what was then the Surbiton Urban District of Surrey. It was situated on the 418 bus route of London Transport, and near to Berrylands railway station and Tolworth railway station.
The lagoon complex was designed by the architect HT Mather. The pool had a maximum depth of 9 feet and a minimum depth of 3 feet. It was 165 ft x 90 ft - a huge pool by any standards. The lagoon was closed permanently in 1980.
fbb had never heard of it, so set about finding it on a map. Difficult as it isn't there.
Two facts from the sainted Wikipedia provided possible clues; Raeburn Avenue and London Transport 418.
Well, there is Raeburn Avenue, to the right of the map extract.
A little more research tells us that the entrance roadway leading to the turnstiles for The Lagoon ...
... now has houses on it and it is called Edith Gardens (map, top right). The green shape ...
... is where pool and its accoutrements once sat, now a chunk of landscaped "open dpace". Sadly, Edith Road has not been traversed by the Google noddy car, so we can only observe from Raeburn Avenue ..
... or from an old aerial picture.
But Google Maps shows the bus stops, presumably for the 418.
Erm, no! The 665 is a school service and the K2 is a Kingston "local" route which replaced the 216 in 1987.
The current timetable offers a bus every ten minutes with a time point at ...
... Surbiton Lagoon - a modest 42 years after the Lagoon closed! 
It is good to see that Transport for London is so very much up to date in its information provision.
So, where's the 418, which, according to you know what, "served the Lagoon"?
It didn't and it never has done.
(click on the timetables to enlarge them)
The 418 traversed Ewell Road and passes the southern end if Raeburn Avenue sone distance from the former Lagoon entrance.
Nevertheless, you do wonder how many passengers hop off the K2 to enjoy an afternoon sitting beside the limpid waters of Surbiton's Lagoon?
Memo 1 : always treat London Transport time points with "polite suspicion" - they are often out of date.
Memo 2 : ditto Wikipedia!
Please Take A Seat!
Which seat says positive things about bus travel? First Bus' khaki disappointments for the "City of Bradford" electric buses ...
... the spotty seats for McGill's Xplore Dundee Electric Emeralds ...
... or maybe the top deck 2 + 1 seating on Transdev Harrogate's deckers for the 36?
Notice skylights and wood-effect floors all having been in place since 2018.
Joint X38 : In A Bit Of A State
The long standing express service between Derby and Burton-on-Trent is joint between Arriva and Trent Barton.
So here is a Trent single decker complete with attractive and clear route branding.
And here is an Arriva bus ...
... nuff said.
There is a joint timetable advertised as such by Trent (extract below) with Arriva journeys marked with a letter A. It runs every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday.
And the Arriva timetable with no mention of journeys operated by Trent!
There is joint ticketing with return tickets being inter-available - except they aren't in some cases.
Excellent customer service from Arriva, NOT!
Trent has a map, although one is barely necessary.
Arriva doesn't quite make it to Burton!
Which of the two companies is doing best, financially?
Tomorrow we return to the Capital.
Next W7 Heaven blog : Monday 7th March
The 418 did serve the Lagoon until 1978. It was then a Country Bus route from Leatherhead to Kingston. From 1978 to 1983 the 211 replaced it and from 1983 the 216. It was in 1978 that 418 was diverted to run via Ewell Road and later became a red Bus route.
ReplyDeleteUntil fairly recently, Mobile App tickets weren't interchangeable on the joint Cardiff/Newport service 30. They are now, so perhaps the issue was an incompatability between the two companies Apps (i.e. they wouldn't "zap" on the other operator's machines).
ReplyDeleteFor once, that is an unfair criticism of Arriva - it's Trentbarton that is not accepting the Arriva mobile ticket, despite the fact that both now have the same ticketing system and the TB one could easily be modified to recognise the Arriva ticket.
ReplyDelete"Which of the two companies is doing *better*, financially?"
ReplyDeleteI'm an occasional user of X38 and was on it on Friday; one-way on the regular (unbranded) Arriva Wright-bodied VDL, the other on the Trent vehicle pictured. Arriva Derby hasn't had any Versas for years.
ReplyDeleteThe timetable is a bit odd with the different companies' buses operating in pairs, as it dates back to when Arriva worked it from Burton.
The fare situation is complicated by the fact that the fast route is additional to long-standing stopping services, on both sides of the A38, being operated by Trent alone. So Trent Zig-Zags and Mango (now an app) are valid on the local routes and Trent X38s, while relevant Arriva Midlands day and weekly tickets can only be used on their X38s. This hasn't changed since both companies adopted Ticketer. A paper X38 return is valid on all X38s, but not on the locals as it is less than their fares.
Derby used to be one of Arriva's best-performing depots financially; no idea post-Covid. Trent in Derby are very short of drivers and only had one bus out yesterday and on Friday - I'm told this isn't unusual. This certainly keeps the costs down, but does nothing for revenue. So the service is "in a bit of a state" but that's with regard to reliability and nothing to do with ticket availability.