Wow! That's Really Huge!! (part 3)

More Big Stuff and More Big Mistakes

Continuing fbb's Isle of Wight nostalgia-fest, we take a trip to Cowes, crossing from East Cowes on the unreliable and expensively bought new floating bridge.

Walking into the centre of Cowes along Medina Road ...

... you would be forgiven for imagining that there is little of interest for today's transport enthusiast. There are a few miscellaneous sheds, two blocks of flats and Shepards Marina.

There is also a well-maintained Public Convenience, a rare beast these days on the Island.

It was from these shores that the short-lived Seaspeed Hovercraft ...

... plied its trade to Southampton and Portsmouth ...

... seen here with the East Cowes shed where they were made in the background - the same shed that is now adorned with the largest Union flag in captivity.

The Medina Road waterfront hosted another brief public transport event when it became the terminal for the ultimately doomed Cowes Express, a service set up to compete with Red Funnel's fast ferries.

To fill the seats on the huge Wight King, fbb calculated that the company would have to snaffle ALL the passengers from the Red Jet service and then double the numbers. Things staggered from crisis to disaster until the owners of the leased vessels repossessed them with waiting passengers watching-on at the Southampton terminal.

From the Google Earth aerial view above, it looks as if part of the Cowes Express terminal is a parking lot for Vectis Blue school buses.

But stroll along Medina Road in the mid sixties, as did fbb, entertaining gaggles of excited schoolboys on holiday on the Island, and you would have seen something remarkable which, like the hovercraft, links that stretch of land in Cowes with the big shed across the water in East Cowes.

It was really huge!!

fbb will complete the story tomorrow.

Beyond Belief Number 237

In the meantime, hardly was the virtual ink dry on fbb's diatribe against the appalling service 1/1A non leaflet produced by South Yorkshire PTE, (read again) than yet another ludicrously wrong timetable was published on-line.

Routes 273/4/5 run westwards along the A57 Manchester Road to the Ladybower reservoir, whence they turn south to Bamford. From here journeys continue west to Castleton or run south to Bakewell. Occasional trips divert to serve the massive Derwent Dam and its associated walks, cycle hire etc.

The new non-leafley has a slight increase for the summer period which starts on the day the clocks change.

The above is an extract from the upcoming Saturday timetable - the service is popular with walkers at the weekend. 

Nonsense 1 : the 1027 from Sheffield is, of course, a through bus to Bakewell. It always has been but the PTE has never grasped the fact.

Nonsense 2 : the 1227 from Sheffield is also a through bus to Bakewell.

Nonsense 3 : the 1244 bus between Sheffield and Yorkshire Bridge simply does not exist. It  actually showing the winter timings which are changed to a 1227 departure for the Summer. If it DID exist, it would stop at the University Western Bank at 1254.

In the other direction:-

Nonsense 4 : The 1035 from Bakewell does call at Western Bank at 1144.

Nonsense 5 : The 1235 from Bakewll continues from Yorkshire Bridge to Sheffield at 1323 via Derwent.

Nonsense 6 : The 1322 Yorkshire Bridge to Sheffield is the winter timing and does not exist. If it did, it would call at Western Bank at 1344.

Nonsense 7 : Note D

This is a Monday to Friday "commuter" journey and Hulley's own timetable confirms that it does not do the "wiggle" at Crosspool via Benty Lane and Sandygate Road to serve the "Post Office" stop ...

... but the rest of the PTE's note is garbage.

D - Does not run via Benty Lane or Sandygate Road. From Upper Hanover Street operates via Leavygreave Road, Gell Street, Glossop Road, West Street, Leopold Street, Pinstone Street, Furnival Gate and then as normal route to Sheffield Interchange. 

Inbound buses have not used upper Hanover Street, Leavygreave Road and Gell Street since the University snaffled Leavygreave Road to turn it into a "green" walkway. Also, since that closure ALL these hese routes run into Sheffield via West Street, Leopold Street etc. Note D may have been true in the past but now the journey is standard into city. So ...

Nonsense 8 : the list of "stopping places" at the head of the non-leaflet is thus utterly wrong for services 273 and 275.

Manchester Road  Tapton Hill  Broomhill  Fulwood Road  Whitham Road  Western Bank  Broomhall  Moore Street  Cumberland Street  Eyre Street  Furnival Street  Paternoster Row  Sheffield, Interchange 

Capriciously, the route for service 274 (they are all the same) is shown correctly! But this all leads to :-

Nonsense 9 : The map is also wrong as far as routes into the city are concerned.

Never mind eh? It's all on-line!

But wrong.

But we are Buses for Sheffield!

Not at all bad for one simple unsuspecting network well used by tourists and those leaving their cars at home as they visit Derbyshire beauty spots exuding their "green" credentials.

And an fbb grovel!

Yesterday your forgetful author wrote ...

Instead of a fleet of up to four/five ferries for the Portsmouth Fishbourne run, Wightlink will now have only two, Vicky and Clare. Admittedly they are both big, but what happens if the elastic bank breaks, and it certainly will - probably on the busiest Saturday of the Summer.

No - actually THREE. The fourth "Saint" class (St Faith) remains with Wightlink. The consternation remains, however of using a Lymington boat to substitute for ANY of the three bigger vessels.

 Next "Huge" blog (plus!) - Tuesday 19th March