Excellent Publicity
Southern Vectis still produces a good quality timetable book but gone are the days when all public transport - including trains and ferries - was included. Now it is just the bus. But the booklet is free!
The Sea Breezer to Seaview is in a special section at the front of the book. Like other Tourist related services, it does not have a route number. In fact, as we shall see, it is not a service bus at all.
It is a "tour" ....jpg)
... with generic Breezer branding and the route name on the electronic blind. Breezing passengers may alight and board en route, although fbb guesses most will just break their journey in Seaview for sustenance and/or a PNB.
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The timetable offers a ride as a round trip ...
... once an hour but with a break at lunchtime, presumably so it could be operated by one bus and the same driver all day. We have already met the route map ...
... which is clear and helpful. There are also two pages extolling the wonders of places en route.
Appley Tower is, well, a tower at Appley ...
... but the bus doesn't go there. It is a lengthy walk from either of the two ends of a sea front footpath.
Empty Promises?
The tower was once a sea front folly, part of the estate of a big mansion called, unhelpfully, Appley Towers - because it was at Appley and had towers.
Clever, eh?
It would make a splendid place to visit but was demolished in 1959. It used to have its own pier ...
... and an in-period boathouse which is still in use by the local sailing club.
So the Tower, now some sort of arty place ...
... needs a brisk stroll from the boating lake or from Puckpool Park. Much of the walk route was served by the Ryde "Dotto" train, also run at one time by Southern Vectis.
So potentially, the most interesting part of the route is not directly accessible from the Sea Breezer; or has been demolished!
The timetable book blurb also mentions the beach at Seagrove Bay, Equally not directly served by the tour. The village of Seaview is delightful, but hardly "iconic".
Its Yacht Club has regular regattas on summer evenings, but usually during the day only at weekends.
But, despite the paucity of places to peruse, the sea views are delightful and the "tour" would be well worth a £3 "covid recovery" fare.
But it is NOT a bus service - it is a tour!
Expensive Price
So here are the fares. SHOCK HORROR.
Yes folks, he only fares are "Rover" type fares which are valid on all the six "Tourist" routes, i.e. those with names. So that does include the other open topper service to Alum Bay and the aforementioned Downs Breezer.
The ticket is, effectively a Rover ticket for all the island's bus routes, although if old crocks like fbb can resist the temptation of being breezed, with the delightful extra of being rained upon, then all the numbered routes are FREE at weekends and Mon to Fri after 0930.
Correspondent Alan has been out with his Box Brownie and submitted pictures of the Sea Breezer along the sea front at Seaview, see ...
... and, as a very special treat, passing the end of his cul-de-sac at Nettlestone. 
There is no real sign of the community's existence from 1066 as extolled by the Southern Vectis snippets in the timetable.
Ex Seaview resident fbb thinks the pricing is wrong. There will be plenty of people, including car drivers and weekend holiday makers, who won't spend big dollars for the rover when they do not want to rove.
But they might spend a normal fare, and Aunty Rachel would reimburse the company for the oldies who might travel if it were "free'.
Maybe the meanie IoW Council has refused to spend its state-given cash on open top buses, despite the huge revenues from Grockles that keep the Island running?
Mind you, that was the Council that proposed a £10 visitor tax a few years ago.
But fbb has a possible cost-saving recommendation.
If the 48 hour ticket is for a genuine 48 hours (rather than two calendar days) then riding from say 12 noon on Tuesday after an early lunch until 12 noon on Thursday, followed by a later lunch, would be reasonably good value for money.
There are plenty of Island buses running in the evenings!
Next (delayed) book review blog : Fri 30 May
The 24 and 48 hour tickets are valid for the period described. If not, they would be called 1 day and 2 day tickets.
ReplyDeleteWe purchased a ticket on Southern vectis last month. It ran from 11.12 on one day (the time of purchase) for 2r hours. Exactly what FBB says that it should do. They took his idea before he wrote it!
ReplyDeleteIn fairness to S.V. this is on their website
ReplyDelete"Or you can hop on and pay just for the roundtrip as follows:
£7.50 Adult
Or one way tickets are:
£4.10 Adult"
with the usual age related concessions to both.
Not quite sure how you get a one-way on a circular tour.
MR