Saturday 18th February 2023 It's the end of an era for buses in Southampton today as First Bus closes its bus garage doors for good bringing to an end 143 years of bus operation that can be traced back to 1879 when horse bus operation began and in due course Southampton Corporation Transport took over... Continue Reading →
Two Rambles in the South Downs
Sunday 4th September 2022 The South Downs National Park is blessed with some excellent frequent bus routes criss crossing its extensive area as well as Southern and SWR run railway lines. They make for helpful connections at the start and finish of walks, including the popular South Downs Way. Routes that come immediately to mind... Continue Reading →
A wander with a Waterside Wanderer
Thursday 17th February 2022 I’ve been meaning to enjoy the freedom offered by a Waterside Wanderer Day Ranger ticket since November when Nigel at the Image Team kindly contacted me to let me know about its "soft launch" that month. Last Saturday I finally found time to travel over to Southampton and give it a... Continue Reading →
Multi-coloured New Forest Tours
Saturday 22nd August 2020 Continuing my Covid curtailed summer open top bus rides, I popped down to the New Forest today to sample Bluestar's colour coded circular tours around the National Park. There are three circular routes with the Blue and Green routes running anti-clockwise while the Red route goes clockwise. I last travelled on... Continue Reading →
Bus battle Southampton style
Sunday 1st December 2019 There was a time when Oxford was the oft quoted example of head-to-head quality competition between two major bus companies as each operator aimed for a high standard of service to attract custom. Oxford's bus market matured after a statutory partnership deal led to a coordinated network so its fallen to... Continue Reading →
Go South Coast – a multi award winning exemplar
Tuesday 20th November 2018 Many congratulations Andrew Wickham and all the team at Go South Coast. They've only just gone and added yet another award to their bulging trophy cabinet this afternoon at London's Troxy: the prestigous UK Bus Awards 2018 Bus Operator of the Year; having won top Shire Operator of the Year and... Continue Reading →