1, 1A, 1B, 1C, See : BCT & more More (4)

Lets see 1 No. 3 : 1C

 

New route (badly - fbb comments!) explained..

The 1c is the new bus link to get you to Somerford, for Sainsburys and Stewarts Garden Centre. Buses will run every hour Monday to Saturday and every 2 hours on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

If you'd like to travel to Christchurch and Bournemouth, great news, you have two buses every hour throughout the day. However, each journey will go in opposite directions, so you may need to catch the bus on the other side of the road.

If you are catching the bus in Mudeford, one bus per hour will run in a clockwise route around Mudeford, direct to Christchurch. The other bus will go anticlockwise via Somerford and Hunt Road meaning you will need to catch the bus on the opposite side of the road - this bus will still take you to Christchurch.

The 1C was a Yellow Buses route number ...

... but when MoreBus rescued Bournemouth from the collapse of the Yellows, it was numbered just plain 1.

The 1 was shown in a joint timetable with the 1B, both via Tuckton to Christchurch only.

1Cs returned, as one sees, in 2023.

The route, again just as far as Christchurch, was trolleybus route 21; seen here turning right at Pokesdown station ...

... and on its way back to town on Tuckton Bridge.

Short workings to Southbourne (only) were route 22.

Trolleys terminating at Southbourne lurked in Belle View Crescent ...

... before returning to the town.

MoreBus 1C goes way beyond Christchurch. Buses go alternate ways round a large loop ...

... as with this timetable extract.

The route is (clockwise) via Somerford (time point Hunt Road) ...

... Sainsbury s ...

... de Havilland Way ...

... and on to Mudeford ....

... where the pretty bit is a short walk from the bus.

Part of the route passes some unusually named roads.

How about "Catalina Close" ...

... named after an American Air Force flying boat. 

Bure Homage Lane is an exception, taking its name from a former mansion ...

... which once stood in open country well before houses, buses and the 1C were ever thought of.

The area became an RAF airfield, later "privatised" as Christchurch Aerodrome.

Modern housing and a small industrial estate now fill the area.

This old picture, looking towards the sea, shows the aircraft factory that accompanied the runway ...

... now where that extended industrial estate stands..

What looks like a two track railway (on the left) is actually the A337 road! On the horizon is Hurst Castle and beyond that, the Isle of Wight.

This group of routes certainly opens up much of transport and social interest to explore.

Next we wonder about gnats, we illuminate a castle and discover a weird TGV or two!

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 12 Sept 

1, 1A, 1B, 1C, See : BCT & more More (3)

 Part 3; We See The 1B ...

... but first a missing map of poor quality! In very simple terms, this is the 16A.

Just noticed; the skilled cartographer has added an unwanted 'w' to Southbourne. You can't get the staff, you know!

Your author had intended to create individual maps of the three ones by extracting each route from the PDF MoreBus network map. But, sadly, the file was so large that the download process wilted into technological stasis and would not deliver.

So here is the 1B ...

... involving a right hand turn at Pokesdown station.  Here is the 1B's trolley bus ancestor, route 23, making that turn.

Almost opposite the turning trolley was a tram depot ...

... which became a trolleybus depot ...

... which became a furniture warehouse, perhaps with a less than inviting name.

Ultimately, the building was demolished ...

... and replaced by a block of flats seen from above the main road ...

... and from round the back courtesy of Google Earth.

Pokesdown station building is above, top right.

After Fisherman's walk, trolley 23 and MoreBus 1B hang a left and and run via residential areas along Beaufort Road ...

... and Cranleigh Road ...

... rejoining the road via Southbourne just south of Tuckton Bridge. 

Cranleigh Road still has a few shops ...

... and a splendid red brick building which used to be shops ...

... a hair 'salon' and a dog grooming emporium. Before that they were real retail premises, a greengrocers and a butchers included. But now ...

... the obligatory flats. 

The residential hinterland of Southbourne still has a pub.

Next we cross the River Stour on Tuckton bridge ...

... which was narrow (?) and thus scary for trolleybuses.

Back in the 1970s, just after passing over the bridge, you could enjoy a view of St Paul's Cathedral ...

... Tower Bridge ...

... massed bands on The Mall ...

... and many others. This was Tucktonia ...

... a model of London landmarks including the Capital's pier and cross-channel passenger ferries, extra delightful at nightfall.

The park, which included rides ...

... rather feeble by today's standards ...

... was opened by an equally small Arthur Askey!

All gone now, replaced by more lucrative housing ...

... full size and nowhere near as entertaining!

The 1B, together with the 1C run via the original trolleybus trail, calling near to Christchurch railway station ...

... before the town centre. The 1B continues to Burton, always a Wilts and Dorset destination.

... but never well served. The 1B represents a great improvement, offering a tidy half hourly headway.

Burton was once a picturesque village ...

... and some ot its quaintness remains if you know where to look ...

... amongst the modern "dormitory" development.

Certainly the 1B is a more fascinating ride than the 1A, especially if you half close you eyes and mentally wander back to 1969 to imagine the silent glide of the electric buses and the distinctive clatter as the two trolley poles traversed the multitude of frogs that characterised the Bournemouth Corporation system.

Sigh!

Frogs? They are what rail enthusiasts would call 'points' or 'turnouts'.

 1C the final 1 2 C blog : Fri 11 Sept