Littlhampton bus station : Holiday mini-blog

 It's All On Line ...

This old map extract shows Littlehampton railway station in Terminus Road which, somewhere therabouts turns into High Street. Bottom right is Surrey Street. According to one contributor to confusion on "the web", this is where you would have found Littlehampton's bus station. Better would be to call it a bus garage because that it what it was.

It was not unusual for buses to have deparure stands inside a bus garage, but fbb cannot congfirm or refute this for Littlehampton. What is clear from phoots is that, again as was standard, there was an enquiry and sales office beside the entrance.

Some older readers may rememer when bus companies had enquiry offices; but it is a very long time ago. Now you often have to guess! Later, this spledid opmnibological emporium lost its canopy.

From the looks of the road markings, buses then stopped outside the garage.

But where in Surrey Street was it? The same article said it was next door to the White Hart ...

... but had been demolished and replaced by a supermarket. But there is no supermarket in Surrey Street next to the White Hart or even oppoite the White Hart - inless you call Iceland (opposite) a supermarket.

fbb doesn't - but realistically he could find no plot or building that fitted the size and shape of the bus garage or showed any signs of being an ex bus garage. The old boy spent a couple of hours looking! He even found a snap of a bus near the "white Hart" road juncion, but looking towards the pub, hiding to the right of sadd bus.

But nothing fitted the bill, not even a coductors waybill.

Buit then came a break through; actually TWO breaks through.

This was the bus station/garage, closed and for sale. The provider of this picture also wrote of twittens (jennels in Sheffield, snickets in york and alleys elcewhere) that led past the bus depot "and the area is all car parks and supermarkets now".

There are no car parks on Surrey Street!

The second break through was from an item on the closure of three bus depots in 1972. Click on the graphic below for an enlargement.

Might this piece help to find the answer?

fbb always enjoys a bit of bus-based detective work, even if others have detected before him. It is very good for the "leedle grey cells".

The denoument (French for "unknotting") will be revealed tomorrow.

The answer involves a brewery, a new product, two supermarkets and a road sign.

Ardgartan Article Dateline Sunday 16th

A Trundle Via The Trossachs

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The internet at Ardgarten was particularly sluggish yesterday evening, so the results below may be poor. fbb will have attempted to improve or augment IF (andd only if) he woke up early this morning.

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From Ardgartan to Criamlarich (upper tight)

From, Crianlarich to Callander (bottom right)

From Callander to th Ballat Crosrads Junction (bottom left : bigger enlargement)

From Ballat crossroads to Balloch ...

... then back north to Ardgartan.

Although fbb has travelled much of these routes in years gone by, enjoying both the country and the company of the future Mrs fbb (so a lot of years gone by!) this is the first time this route has featured in an fbb blog.

Accordingly MOST of the route will be covered in a railway blog sometime in the future.

The last call on the round trip was at Lomond Shore, surely a place where the fbbs could stand on the waterside and enjoy some truly memorable nostalgia, notably where Mrs fbb learned to swim aged 9.

Or where fbb, aged 17, travelled by train with father to Balloch Pier station ...

... and took a cruise on Loch Lomond, inclding a superb lunch, on the steamship Maid of the Loch!

All very happy memories.

Well, the station is no more ...

... than a remnant of the platform. The Maid has been rescued from total decay and is under slow restoration by donation and enthusiasts.

She sits rather forlornly out of the water and showing signs of recovery ...

... or, more accurately, signs of arrested decay!

So what has become of the historic southern shore of this celebrated Loch, loved by all Glaswegians?

Fast food stalls (above) plus crazy golf ...

... a modernistic Sea Life Centre ...

... looking like a WW2 blockhouse.

Plus this beauty.

In that great slab of a building you will find Sports Direct and Frasers, both part of Mike Ashley's empire; and ready to serve you with all sorts of goods that are nothing whatever to do with Loch Lomond.

It's a shopping centre, innit?

Which Loch Lomond do you prefer?

fbb can feel a song coming on - and it will be a sad song!

 Next "Found It" blog : Tue 18 Mar