Adventures by bus around the South West

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The UK is world-renowned for its operation of open-top buses in the vast majority of its tourist towns and cities and along its scenic coastlines. Richard Sharman investigates the hive of activity that has occurred in Cornwall over the last year with First South West’s rapidly growing open-top fleet

If someone said to you Cornwall, what would you instantly think of? Lands End, the filming location for the popular television programme Doc Martin, the famous Cornish Pasty or the beautiful rugged coastline and tin mines? It is a county that has so much to offer, and that is why First South West has been developing new brands and routes to help the 210,000 annual tourists, both domestic and European, leave their cars at the holiday park or nearby a bus station and take the open-top bus to explore the region.

Transport for Cornwall is born

29 March 2020 was a date that changed the landscape for First Bus’ most distant operating company from its Aberdeen head office; that was the date that Cornwall Council launched a new bus network with new tender awards, a new all-over red livery and the name Transport for Cornwall.
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Go Cornwall Bus, a subsidiary of Go-Ahead Group-owned Plymouth Citybus was awarded a large number of the contracts to operate bus services that had historically formed First South West’s – and its predecessor Western National’s – operating area. Go Cornwall Bus did not take on all the contracts directly though. Some were subcontracted out to OTS Falmouth, Hopleys Coaches and Summercourt Travel.

Go Cornwall Bus had to mobilise 130 additional vehicles in order to operate the new contracts, most of which were supplied new by Alexander Dennis (ADL), although a number of Enviro200MMCs that were being operated by First South West moved with the contracts, and various other vehicles from within Go-Ahead Group moved to Plymouth to free up some of its own fleet to operate in Cornwall.

The news that Go Cornwall Bus had been awarded the contract was announced just three months earlier in January 2020. This meant that First South West had to act quickly to innovate and find replacement work for its buses and drivers. An example of the change in the amount of work operated was illustrated when the new timetable booklets was issued from 29 March 2020 showing 35 services, compared to nearly 100 in the previous edition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local knowledge

At the time of the announcement, a well known busman was at the helm of First South West as Managing Director, and that was Alex Carter. The Commercial Director was Marc Morgan Huws. In March 2020 Marc gave us a glimpse of the future by tweeting: “At First SW we’re set to launch our 20:20 Vision in the next few weeks – a new business plan for our Kernow, Buses of Somerset and Truronian businesses – with a strong commercial focus, targeting market growth, new opportunities and innovation we’ll be redeploying resources into our commercial growth opportunities, and working with the best in the business to deliver higher quality and powerful brands across the business.”

These were turbulent times as the Covid-19 pandemic began to envelop the country. However, the company’s Truronian division had been expanding rapidly over the previous three years, with various organisations now accrediting it, strong investment in PSVAR-compliant coaches, the addition of Irizar team coaches and expansion back into First South West’s former operating territory of Devon, with contacts based throughout the county and depots and outstations formed in Exeter, Plymouth and beyond. The full feature on Truronian expansion at the time can be found in CBW issue 1449.

Truronian’s expansion was just the start of the changes that were planned; further growth into the leisure market with open-top buses was something that I recall Marc was very keen on when I interviewed him.

Adventures by Bus

Two years on, I sat down with First South West’s Marketing Manager Claire Wood to discuss recently developments: “The Adventures by Bus brand is the leisure side of the First South West business. It has been designed so that anyone using it can easily travel around the county and visit the many tourist attractions, beaches, landscapes and walks that Cornwall and beyond has to offer.

“In each Adventures by Bus route we have built up a network of people who we work with in those areas, so for example we work very closely with the Penzance Visitor Centre located within the bus station, similarly with the Falmouth Tourist Information Centre and outside of those there are quite a few big accommodation suppliers that champion the routes for us. Some will hold our leaflets and others place them in their welcome packs. Those partnerships are ones we hope to grow over time. It is very much changing people’s perception from having to get a bus to choosing to take a bus to explore Cornwall.

“Last year was the soft launch for the Adventures by Bus brand, but this year I really wanted to push the brand and make it much more visible, not just on the road, but in various tourist publications where it will be seen by visitors. A good example is the Blackbird Pie magazine, which every single parent is given a copy of via their children’s schools. It is a great way of giving parents ideas and information on what we have to offer.

“This year the Partnership between operators and Cornwall Council has launched the low fares scheme which means that customers can enjoy unlimited bus travel anywhere in the county for just £5 per person, or for £10 for a family which includes two adults and unlimited children. This is great news for not just visitors to Cornwall, but also local communities.

“In terms of our routes, some are naturally busier than others, for example we have made some changes to the Land’s End Coaster routes this year and introduced a new Tin Coaster route that works in with them. Our Sunseeker brand complements supports the Atlantic Coaster. The Lizard remains the same as the 2021 season, whilst the Falmouth Coaster now runs daily but with a slight change to the route in the town.

“The idea behind the Sunseeker brand is to maintain a generic shelf brand that we can apply to experimental, short season and complimentary products without the time and cost of creating new brands. It typically serves multiple holiday parks and attractions and takes customers into the main transport hubs where they can then carry on to Padstow, for example, or just stay in Newquay for the day.

“Tours beyond Cornwall are the Dartmoor Explorer, Exmoor Coaster and a Sunseeker-branded service that operates between Ilfracombe and Minehead. This service is operated by the two open-air single-deck Enviro200s that have the rear windows removed.

“I think this season is where we are getting to grips with changes we have made and operating at pre-pandemic levels. 2023 is set to be a huge season for us as we push the brand and develop it even more.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A passenger’s perspective

My visit to Cornwall was made in the week prior to school holidays commencing, in order to experience some of the Adventures by Bus routes before to the summer peak period. My accommodation was in Camborne, just off the main A30 that runs through Cornwall. This location has good local and longer distance bus links, but as I only had a few days in the area my focus was on the open-top bus service offerings.

Travelling down on a Sunday to avoid the traffic, I thought I would call into Falmouth on the way down to sample Adventure by Bus’ first offering (pardon the pun). This wasn’t to be a hop-on-hop-off kind of day, as the last tour on the hourly timetable departed at 1600hrs. This was during the weekend leading up to the heatwave that gripped the UK for a good week or so, so plenty of visitors were still in town when I arrived at 1530hrs.

Falmouth is a lovely – I was going to say little, but it turns out it’s not – place. Having visited the area a few times in the past when visiting Transport for Cornwall contractor OTS Minibus and Coach Hire, I headed for the main stop on the route, the end of the Prince of Wales Pier. The Falmouth Coaster leaves on the hour from the Moor in the town centre and then travels around the corner to the Pier, which is where it draws the most interest from passing visitors. The timetable allows the bus to sit loading for a good 10 minutes.

A few minutes after 1600hrs, the half open-top Plaxton President-bodied Volvo B7TL which is liveried for the Falmouth Coaster, slowly approached the bus stop, after navigating three cars parked right on the tight corner on double yellow lines.

32179 hid its age well with private plate OIG 1788, but on looking it up I was surprised that it had quite a pedigree. It was new to London Central as X579 EKG and numbered PVL179, before moving to East Yorkshire Motor Services as its 881 and registered A10 EYD. It moved to First South West in 2020, and after a spruce up with white Hanover LED destination screens and a repaint it entered service in on the Falmouth Coaster last year.

The friendly driver, Wayne, greeted me as I boarded and purchased my first bargain £5 all-day ticket. Obviously, it was rather late in the day to take full advantage of it, but I still thought £5 for an hour’s circuit of the town and its attractions was good value.

As I went to go upstairs I was drawn back to 2001 and London as the lower deck still looked like it could be still in service on Transport for London routes – the original London moquette seats of that era were still in place, the London Central logo was still on the staircase glass and the centre exit doors had survived 20-plus years without being converted!

Having taken my seat, we departed on time at 1615hrs. As you wind your way out of the pretty seaside town, the first part of the route includes a rather steep hill, but this Volvo D7C 7.3-litre engined President seems to have retained most of its 215 horses over the years and climbed very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at the detailed glossy leaflet that has been designed to show the route, if you imagine a prancing deer and placed it on a map of Falmouth, that just about describes it! The route would have previously operated through Church Street and the restricted Arwenack Street, but this was ruled out this year by the council’s concerns about the size of the vehicle in the narrow street. This means that the route now travels away from the view of the sea along Melvill Road before turning left to serve the National Maritime Museum; by this time it was closed, but it is certainly worth hopping off and visiting during opening hours. This area of the town also features multiple bars and restaurants.

Moving on, it was time to get a good view of the docks by looking to the left and towards the back of the bus. Falmouth docks is surprisingly large, and at the time had a cruise ship docked with guests being ferried to and from the town centre by bus. There is some Royal Navy activity in the area, and a number of large cranes and a large dry dock come into view as you begin to enter the tree-lined road as the bus continues to climb along Pendennis Rise.

At you travel along this elevated coastal road, the 16th century Pendennis Castle sits looking over Falmouth. The problem is, with no commentary as this is more of a bus service than a tour your focus is entirely on the magnificent Pendennis Point ahead and to the left as the bus pulls up. To see the castle you need to look to the right and up. The service pauses for a few minutes to take in the view, or for passengers to alight and enjoy an ice cream and the view for an hour whilst the bus completes the full route and starts again. As we were about to depart the stop, a few passengers rejoined the bus who had done just that.

As we began our descent towards Castle Beach, the view of the coastline to the left was of picture postcard quality. Levelling out, we reached parked cars on the left at the same time as one of a pair of Williams Mercedes-Benz Tourismo coaches was coming towards us.
Both drivers skilfully passed each other safely, and we continued.

We reached Gyllyngvase Beach where a family hailed the bus at the stop and asked the driver if they could get back to town on this bus, as they were slightly lost. This is where the value of the fares really kicks in; the two adults and four kids could travel for just £10 and could still enjoy the views from the upper deck for another 21 minutes.

The final section of the route, before returning to town, calls at the lovely hidden away Swanpool Beach, but the first task is to negotiate Swanpool Road. This features cars parked the length of the road on the right hand side, plus all the traffic heading towards you as people leave for home. After waiting a few minutes for a gap, the driver pressed on and we arrived at the beach area. The road is effectively a dead end, so the service loops around the car and coach park to face the right direction. After picking up a few more passengers it was time to head back towards the town which is eight minutes away, heading first inland before turning down Kimberley Park Road towards the terminus at the Moor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In summary

For day one of my two day Adventures by Bus trip, I was pleasantly surprised by the Falmouth Coaster. Having been to the town a few times I thought I had seen everything it had to offer. The route showed me that the town is not only much larger than I had thought, but also has a number of nice beaches and attractions to visit. If you are visiting this area, do the Falmouth Coaster on day one, as it will give you a good idea of what to do for the week, and if you take the family it will only cost you £10.

The video of the Falmouth Coaster route will be on our YouTube channel from Thursday 25 August at 1830hrs. Search Coach & Bus Week, and don’t forget to like and subscribe to ensure you don’t miss our weekly videos. Look out for part two of Adventures by Bus around the South West in a future issue of CBW.
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