Town Routes Terribly Reduced (3)

 Gurnard : Going Gaga

Historically, Southern Vectis route 32 ran from Cowes to Gurnard.

There have been a few tweaks to the route, but it still does. The terminus was Solent View Road, still a stop on the present version of the 32.

Highlights of the route are delightful views of the Solent ...

... and a drive by the historic "Round House" ...

... which is still very round!

Just West of the former village is Gurnard Beach ...

Back in the day, the 32 ran every 30 minutes with the delight of peak hour journeys to Medina Road for the busy boat yards and the chain ferry to East Cowes.

Such a joy is long gone, as are most of the boatyards.

Now fbb thinks (with the usual age related caveats!) that, during the bread van minibus disaster revolution, the 32 was interworked with the route 91 Hydrobus.

The Hydrobus connected with the half-hourly Hydrofoil service to Southampton, hence the blind display above. At Southampton a bus link, also numbered 91 ...

... took you from ferry terminal to railway station, where your London train ...

... carried the headcode 91!

Clever, eh? Although whether any passengers from Island to Waterloo actually noticed - or even cared - is very unlikely.

Certainly the 32 was regularly worked by drivers from Southern Vectis coaching unit which had its offices in Cowes.

For a couple of seasons, the 32 .was .extended via Cockleton Lane to Gurnard Pines chalet park; which used to be very "Hi-De'Hi" ...

... but had improved by the time Vectis 'bread vans' served the site!

Whilst mentioning Gurnard Pines we should look at this road map extract.

For many years Southern Vectis ran route 30 from Newport via Northwood (above map, lower right). Hills Corner, Rew Street and Gurnard Marsh to Cowes. From memory it had approx four return journeys, six days a week.

In one of the many complex deals between Vectis and the Isle of Wight Council, the 30 was one of the routes operated on tender by a much expanded Council school fleet, branded WightBus.

Here is a 30 crossing the bridge at Gurnard Beach ...

... and another picture of another bus passing some of the beach properties before continuing via Gurnard itself.

We shall return to the 30 below.

But the oddest development of the 32 was when it was renumbered route 4 and buses ran through from Ryde via East Cowes.

Knowledgeable readers will surmise that the Ivecos had to cross the Rive Medina on the chain ferry.

Ivecophiles will spot that the buses had a wedge of bodywork removed bottom rear, to ensure the bus did not ground when going UP the off ramp at low tide!

The crossing by bus was little used and Gurnard soon reverted to route 32.

The next development was for 32 to be reduced in frequency (?) And diverted via Northwood ... 

... but NOW ...

[The original of the above map was actually drawn by fbb for a Southern Vectis timetable book. It now appears on-line modified by A N Other!]

Slashed To Almost Nothing

Not surprisingly, the above change, making the 32 a one way circular was so successful (NOT) that patronage has declined further. So what does the management (be it Company or Council or both) do?

The extended 32 is merged with the 30 with the latter no longer running through to Newport.

Regular readers will have met the utterly incomprehensible line of route map in a previous blog.

fbb and chum Alan joined the bus at Northwood ...

... and set off via Mill Hill Road ...

... to Cowes, only they didn't - Mill Hill Road was closed. Driver John commented, ruefully, that it would be nice to be able to keep up the advertised route once in a while; the order of the day being one diversion after another!

The route ran via the Carvel Lane bus station, the gorgeous seafront, Gurnard Village, Gurnard Beach and the picturesque Rew Street ...

... before arriving at Hillis Corner.

Here we turn left, aiming for Northwood - on the hill.

There is a ribbon of housing along the road, and plenty of cars ...

...with more cars as we loop round Northwood ...

... to get back to where the magical mystery tour started.

The 32 has a couple more tricks to play, yet! 

The circuit that fbb and Alan rode only runs every TWO hours. On the other hour, the bus turns off just before Gurnard Beach and runs via our old friend Gurnard Pines.

Trick No 2 is more disturbing!

The service only runs FOUR days a week; tough cheese if you need to get to the doctors' surgery on Monday or Friday!

A journey time of 11 min from Cowes to Gurnard is similar to the good old days, but from Gurnard to Cowes it us a whopping 35 min; hardly an encouragement to regulate travel.

So from a bus every 39 min from Cowes to Gurnard, plus a service 30 four times a day from Cowes via Rew Street to Newport, we are left with the above.

On the fbb round trip, the total number of passengers was 7 (plus chubby chops and Alan). No surprise there as the service has been reduced to a state of worthlessness.

As someone once wrote ...

This MAY be the way to run a profitable bus company, but it is  the way to encourage mobility, community, local shopping etc and to discourage lonely isolation. It is also a good way to encourage more cars on to the Island's narrow local roads. Not to mention increased pollution, accidents and driver stress.

Tomorrow - a town service that is slightly better and one that is ludicrously frequent!

 Next Newport Town blog : Thurs 22 Oct 

Town Routes Terribly Reduced (2)

 Curtailment In Cowes Part 1

This town, on the north coast of the Isle of Wight opposite Southampton, is famous for sailing, an activity often graced by the Royals. The "superior" end of the water-borne action is at the Royal Yacht Squadron.

The annual highlight is, of course, Cowes Week. 

There is a lot of this ...

... with plenty of this ...

... and probably too much of this!

The town is full of these ...

... and it all ends with a spectacular one of these.

Some people actually watch the sailing, not the most exciting of visual spectacles ...

... and a privileged few actually take part in races ...

... often with scary levels of disorientation!

The town is not particularly famous for its bus services which used to leave from a 'back street,' West Hill Road, at the Eastern end of the town Centre.

The bus terminal later moved West to the busier part of the town centre, consisting of a small turning circle and three stands outside the new Co-op.

The Co-op was later refurbished ...

... and is now an M & S Food Hall; much more appropriate for the Cowes trendies.

The shop was built on the site of Cowes railway station ...

... which fbb visited in a cold, dark and windy afternoon in January 1964, some years before closure.

It was utterly dismal.

After demolition and before the Co-op, the site was used as parking for Fountain Coaches ...

... by then part of Southern Vectis. Don't tell anyone, but the above pictures was snapped at Yarmouth, not Cowes.

The big transport link at Cowes is at the "Pontoon" with the Red Funnel fast passenger service to Southampton.  The service started with noisy but exciting hydrofoil vessels ...

... and moved on to quieter catamaran boats, driven by a powerful water jet impeller.

Residents await with eager and extended anticipation the announced new-build.

Cars were off loaded on a side ramp at Cowes, but used the bow ramp at East Cowes.

Later car ferries ceased to call at Cowes leaving the 'Pontoon' as the terminal for the fast boats.

But fbb is interested in the local buses and what has happened to the service level in recent years. The story is complicated, so hold on to your hats for tomorrow's blog!

 Next Cowes town bus blog : weds 21 Oct