Maddening Mowzle Matters (1)

 Complicated Cornering

The route from Penzance to Mousehole (pronounced Mowzle) is one of the UK's most memorable. Some of the approac roads are narrow but the highlight (or lowlight if you are the driver) is at the terminus.

Many shots are of the junction between Parade Hill and the harbour side at North Cliff ...

... but the hard bit is the turn into this chicane by what is now the Orange Cafe Bar (see map above). 

Here is First Bus making the turn seen from the chicane.

Pictures of buses in this quaint harbour village cover the whole of the UK's small bus development.

The Bedford OB is seen on North Cliff.

But below we have a preserved single decker making that turn. Firstly approaching as seen from the junction ...

... then making the turn ...

... just! Finally the LH exits the chicane.

Standard First Bus Solos were replaced with shiny branded vehicles showing "Mousehole" as a brand ...

... but with the route number M6. There never was an M1, M2, M3, M4 or M5!

For years 'Blue Bus' ran half the service with Western National ...

... but First Bus ultimately gained exclusivity. 

The most recent chapter has seen even smaller vehicles taken on; and it was these tiny buses that fbb and Mrs sampled as their one trip on Monday last.

The first challenge was to fund out at what times the buses ran.

Of course, it is all on line, so fbb looked on line and found an M6 timetable from First Bus. This showed buses every half hour Monday to Friday ...

... and every hour on Sunday.

Alternatively, the on-line PDF of the new Cornwall all operator timetable book shows buses every 20 minutes on Monday to Saturday ...

... and every half hour on Sundays!

You would think that First Bus might know when their buses run; but you would be wrong. A quick visit by Mrs fbb to the bus station revealed that half hourly (It was Sunday 21st) was correct. Of course the enquiry office was bolted and barred so she asked someone who ought to know, namely the driver.

There are no timetables, or even departure lists, at the bus station. Astoundingly there is also no poster guide to which bus leaves from which stand.

There IS one two-sided departure screen with rather small print and suspended in the roof of the elongated bus shelter that sits beside the bus bays. Here is the view from one direction ...

... and here the view from the opposite side.

Memo to whomsoever is in charge of Cornwall's bus stations; try painting the transparent roof panels a dull black to give shade to the display - then folk might be able to see what is going on when the sun shines!

There is a display of timetable pages tacked on to the glass window beside the locked entrance door of the enquiry office ...

... not easy to read, and, obviously, the M6 is not amongst them!

fbb sought to obtain a timetable book ...

... via a Cornwall chum and resident who visits Falmouth regularly. But the TiC there reported that they had not been sent any books. He advised fbb to try Pemzance. Sadly, as we shall see later, there was no time to call during the very restrictive office hours whilst the fbbs were travelling around on Monday 22nd.

In view of the appalling quality of information at Penzance bus station, fbb is not holding his breath for Tuesday 23rd.

Here is an email from Sheffield chum and blog reader John. John is recovering from a stroke and has just been on holiday in Gcornwall. fbb is publishing his email in full - except the personal bits.

You may want to obtain a printed copy of the Transport for Cornwall A4 (unweildy) new timetable from 31 August with all the competitive services in it. Good luck if you can find one, but perhaps I can help.

A visit to Falmouth Tourist Office: No transport information on display except the 2025/2026 Fal River Guide. Helpful staff said that Cornwall County Council had printed very few copies of the timetable and were not distributing them to TICs. Were happy to print out individual timetable pages. A visit to Truro Bus Station waiting room: No transport information on display except the 2025/2026 Fal River Guide. Stands for the TfC timetables were empty. No staff.

A visit to Truro Tourist Office: No transport information on display except the 2025/2026 Fal River Guide. Got into conversation with a very hepful and sympathetic member of staff who agreed with all my comments and said that they had a few copies. She retreived a copy for me from a back room and said that I could have it if I promised to leave it in my hotel for others when I left. (I didn't, of course. Antway the Royal Duchy Hotel does not deal in such things as tourist or public transport information).

A visit to Padstow Tourist Office: No transport information on display and no intrest in transport.

You can try the Truro Tourist Office for a copy but you have to be nice to the staff and engage them in conversation. They were very interested in hearing how I was getting about and come so far when recovering from a stroke.ff copies of individual timetables.

This is such a downturn from the heady days when Transport for Cornwall was renowned for the quality and availability of its bus information - a beacon that should be emulated by all local authorities.

Today's set up is simply appalling!

Tomorrow, the fbbs will (retrospectively) seek to take their trip to Mousehole. They would really like to know which way the bus might go; it might have enabled them to get to Church on Sunday!

STOP PRESS

Breaking News - GoAhead's East Anglia businesses are being sold to a hitherto little known company called Transporllpt Made Simple (TMS). 

Bus watchers believe that the GoAhead companies are currently  loss making.

TMS companies are Centram Connect, Flag Finders and Simonds of Botesdale.

More to follow.

 Next Mowzle blog : Weds 23rd Sept 

Monday Holiday Vareity

CrossCountry Can't Count

The new-style departure boards are very helpful, bright and easy to read (even for fbb, sometimes with a little help from wife!). The above was at Axminster and is given as an example

It came as no surprise to see that the fbb train from Exeter to Penzance was a four car CrossCountry unit.

The battle for seats is always stressful, leaving little time for observations and photographs, fbb listened carefully for the announcements just in case.

The man on the thing announced that he train consisted of four coaches with first class in coaches one and five. 

Weak mathematically.

Then an eight car train pulled in ...

... consisting of two four car jobbies hooked together, with the back four alongside your gruesome twosome.

Double mathematical weakness as 2 x 4 is 8; even in the metric.

But they were firmly and politely told that the back four were "first class only". Only one door was open ...

... with a burly Cross Country official blocking ingress to the hallowed ground of wealthy passengers. Now, like fbb, you will be surprised to know that CrossCountry had four car first class only units in their fleet.

The fbbs nipped smartly along platform 4 and found a couple of seats in the front four, so all was well - but mystifying. 

Or was it?

,

The journey proceeded uneventfully until a few minutes before the Plymouth stop.

There came an announcement from the guard a k a train manager, a k a customer care assistant, a k a bloke. He told us to listen carefully as he was about to make an important announcement.

With a mixture of terror and bewilderment fbb pondered what could be so "important". Perhaps Brunel's Saltash bridge had fallen down? Maybe the lads and lasses at CrossCountry had declared a wildcat strike over the Tamar in Cornwall with First Great Western coming out in sympathy? Maybe Putin had annexed Cornwall! Or, even worse, perhaps Trump had invaded God's Wonderful County?

In fact it was to tell us that the the back four coaches would be taken out of service at Plymouth and all passengers must leave the train (there is no corridor between units) and walk along the platform to what was the front four. This was because the back four was being taken away for essential maintenance.

This decision had only just been conveyed to the train staff. [alert readers please hold on to that pre-Plymouth factoid]

But, said the man, not to worry, because all the reservations in the back four had been moved by magic to the front four which had been renumbered as coached A, B, C and E. 

Hoo-jolly-ray!

Whatever happened to D?

This meant that the fbbs' "available" seats were now "reserved".  

Unwilling to suffer the arguments and physical violence from the new occupants claiming their rightful inheritance, the old crocks moved a bit further down the carriage to a pair of seats still "available".

fbb mused idly whether the official man in the back four who refused all except first class clients actually new that the decoupage would happen at Plymouth. Indeed, fbb suggests that the split of the train was probably known when it left Newcastle.

The railways are not know for short term decision making! You plan maintenance; you do not decide on a toss-of-a-coin whim.

Whatever, it was a sorry tale of gross incompetence and inconvenience to passengers whatever happened.

But, on time and slightly frazzled by the events of the journey, the fbbs arrived at Penzance. The Premier Inn is literally across the road from Penzance station.

... which is easily recognised ...

... by its iconic and well remembered ...

... overall roof. But it is a bit different now.

In a nod to good PR, passengers arriving with fbb were unloaded outside the roof on platform 4 ...

... and could walk the full length of the train in the open! Pouring rain on platform 4 would be a poor welcome to Penzance.

For a while, fbb thought that the roof had gone! Shock horror! But it is still there.

The Premier Inn, by the way ...

... used to be Branwells Mill grain warehouse ...

... now thoroughly rebuilt. The warehouse used to stand on Penzance's quayside as you can't see from a view from the front of the hostelry; because ...

... this bit of the harbour (once a a ship park?) is now a car park. That's progress folks! An old street map shows the harbour almost reaching the station entrance.

After a good nights sleep, guaranteed according to the adverts ...

... fbb was unimpressed with the somnolence inducing bed. He was awake four times. Can he have his money back, Lenny?

Snippets

Ever Reliable Wightlink ...

... is intending to cut staff to save money. The lads and lasses have responded as usual ...

... so doubtless the company will lose a few more passengers a day because of even more reliability issues, then costs will rise and thus the inevitable cycle of decline will continue.

Remember Whitby Cliff Lift?

It has been closed since 2022 "due to maintenance issues". As generally expected, North Yorkshire County Council has finally decided finally to brick it up, fill it in and generally obliterate it.

But Scarborough District Council (which includes Whitby) wants to keep it!

Both councils claim abject poverty (does anyone ever claim "ject" poverty?) but shared between them over a possible three year rebuild programme, the bill is small change.

So why not get on with it - the public wants it rebuilt and that is democracy.

Dastardly Dalek Discovered!
But where? Between a "rink" and a "park" was the landing spot.

Answer tomorrow!

On Sunday, the fbbs went on a bus to here ...

... or even here ...

... or even here!

It was an omnibological adventure full of surprises, most of them disappointing!

 Next Penzance blog : Tues Sept 23rd 

Sunday Varliety

Groveling to GoAhead

Above is what fbb may have to eat! In three recent blogs, the old man has complained that GoAhead had failed to answer his request for a 477 (Dartford to Orpington) timetable. It is Humble Pie, more correctly a pie filled with umbles, being the grotty bits that are only fit for the boot licking snivelling 'lower orders'.

fbb is grovelling with apologies - because ...

... the visually challenged octogenarian had not sent the email. The staff at the internet are, sadly, incapable of guessing what you want to say; they can only process what you actually say.

fbb typed kemt instead of kent!!!

So the request never reached GoAhead!

It has been resent recently. fbb awaits a reply.

Again.

Rotherham's Planned Gateway

But not like that - and certainly not like this.

Rotherham is not, and never will be, akin to heaven!

But, talking of heaven, fbb came across this picture of a cat, presumably very well deceased, arriving at the throne of the Omnipotent.

Faced with such generous benevolence, the cat replies ...

Those amongst our readers who are employed by their feline masters will appreciate the thought!

Back to Rotherham's Gateway.

It's a new station, innit?

It is north of the town centre which is lower left on the map below ...

... and near the Parkgate shopping centre, upper right. The yellow dots are tram stops on the tram (mostly) train (just a bit) from Sheffield; the one red blob is the current "central" train station.

Advance publicity for the £110 million project (funding not yet arranged) has an easy to follow diagram (NOT) ...

... a pretty picture as above and a plan of the whole development including the housing.

fbb has twisted the site plan to match geography! And this is what it looks like now.

The station will be on Forge Way (near the McDonalds sign above) but there is a lot of work to do. The tram stop will be on the left of Forge Way ...

... and the new railway station will appear on the far side of the biggest car sales lot in the western arm of the galaxy.

Why does Rotherham need another station?

The dreamers seem to think that inter city trains will stop there; a massive step up from its local services from Northern.

fbb doesn't think anyone has asked CrossCountry or East Midland Railway if they want to serve Rotherham Gateway; neither has anyone been brave enough to ask Rachel for the money.

What are the chances of either or both?

Tanker Taxonomy Troubles (cont'd)

This tank wagon was produced by Lina ..

... before Hornby bought the company in a "fire sale'. So the box shows Lima's base in Italy ...

Lima had taken the UK market by storm, but the storm became self-destructive. Early Lima models were simply an Italian Job decorated to look like a UK wagon.

Even the box was strange!

The steam loco could be a LMS "Crab" which Lima never made; and the other train bears no relationship to anything in the UK.

So is the tanker authentic?

Set against a Bachnmann TEA vehicle (above, top) the Lima models is obviously inferior. It was also cheap! Bachmans TEA is about four to five times a cup tank.

So is it an Italian tank wagon masquerading as a UK version carrying Total fuels?

To be continued!

Axminster Activity

Yesterday the ffbs set off for their short brbreak leaving fbb mansion -  in the watchful paws of Mr Tubbles ...

... ably assisted by next door neighbours and their huge man-eating Husky ...

... both with every muscle tensed to defend property and personel.

The journey was via South Western and CrossCountry. SW is running a dramatically reduced service because, shock horror, the sun had been shining during the summer. That would be an amazing revelation in the Devon holidaymakers' territory! Apparently, for the first time in 200 years of railway history, this sunshine made the track go a bit wobbly.

The upshot is a train to Exeter every TWO hours ...

... but connections westwards are now much better. The fbb's had allowed  plenty of time to do battle with the Axminster car park ticket buying routine. Battle successfully joined the gruesome twosome relaxed on the platform.

It was then that fbb gazed at the canopy. It was looking very tired indeed! This was the view looking towards Crewkerne ...

Yep! Very tatty. But, turning towards Exeter ...

... there was a small portion in the far corner that had been refurbished, at least undercoated.

And right in front of the old bloke was another generous few feet of new paint.

Exciting, eh?

Being wise to the corporate world, fbb thinks that the canopy painting evaluation team had been along doing a few test bits. Their report will go back for further evaluation by the focus group. Management will even further evaluate a policy, then specifications will be put out to tender. If funding is available, the whole canopy will be repainted in the next tranche of funding. Ideally work should be completed by late 2030 or early 2031.

Tomorrow - in a variety blog - Cross Country can't count!

Time for bed (Saturday night) at the Penzance Premier Inn ...

... formerly Branwells Mill ...

... and just across the road from train and bus stations.

 Next Variety blog : Monday 22nd Sept