All Points of the Sussex Compass
(part one of two)
18 December 2021
ABOVE: Uckfield Bus Station, Friday 24th September 2021
There's a bus parked outside East Grinstead station. It's an 05-plate Plaxton Pointer Dennis Dart, in the livery of Compass Bus, whose services I am going to try out on this late-September day.
Only problem with this particular vehicle is that the engine compartment is open and the driver is looking pretty fed up. The impression is that this vehicle has broken down and journeys are going to be missed. Will mine run?
It's a while before I will find out. I'm aiming for the 10.22am service 261 to Uckfield, but that's nearly an hour away. I make a Costa stop and, as usual, decline their offer of a loyalty card. Why, I don't know - I seem to be in Costa every day when I make these trips.
I'm standing at a bus stop that proclaims that this is "Whitehall". It seems that this Whitehall was a theatre, Dance Hall and restaurant. The building still exists, but now it's a Department Store.
The bus stop has clear information on all of the routes serving it, but that can't disguise the fact that there are only a handful of services, and that none of them are particularly frequent. In this area the car is king.
My 261 only runs six journeys each way, and there is no Saturday service. There's an incoming journey to form my departure, but it doesn't show. However, my bus arrives on time, and is indeed the same Dennis Dart that had been parked up at the station.
Compass does not have a day ticket for its network, but there is an exceptionally-valued South Downs Discovery ticket that covers around 30 operators across West Sussex, East Sussex, Brighton & Hove, East Hampshire, Surrey, Kent & Medway. It costs £9.00 for a day ticket (£9.10 on the Stagecoach bus I boarded in Horsham the next day, for some reason).
It seems as though the previous round trip had been cancelled. The reason isn't quite clear as the bus seems to be in a good state. It's clean and tidy, and has more legroom than one usually gets on a single-decker. The driver is impatient, moaning out loud at a couple of motorists who do things that he doesn't agree with.
It's a light load, but a lovely drive through the Sussex countryside, largely along the A22, which I have driven down on many occasions. On the right, in the distance, is a town. I wonder if it's Croydon but a map suggests that Crawley is a more likely candidate.
We pass through the picturesque village of Forest Row, in the heart of the Ashdown Forest, and on through Nutley, where there was once a Little Chef that provided a convenient break point for my drives from West London to Eastbourne. Far too soon, the journey is over as we pull into the Bus Station at Uckfield, bang on time at 11.05am.
I have a little wander around the town to pass the time until the 11.40am departure on route 31 to Haywards Heath. It's a tiny bus station, but it's pretty busy with both people and buses when I get back there. Most notable is the smart Brighton and Hove service 29 on its way to Tunbridge Wells.
Route 31 runs nine journeys each way, and does at least have a Saturday service. I'm only going to Haywards Heath, but the service continues to the suburb of Cuckfield. A friendly driver welcomes his dozen or so intending passengers onto his Enviro 200 and apologises for being a few minutes late.
The reason for the late running soon becomes apparent, and has been well-documented elsewhere - queues have been building up at filling stations across the country, because of a 'scare' that the shortage of lorry drivers is going to affect the supply.
In these country areas, queues spill onto the carriageway and the jams are building quickly. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy - quite literally as everyone wants a full fill while they are there. Within a couple of days most stations will be closed and fuel-less and it will take three or four weeks to restore normality.
We do well enough until the outskirts of Haywards Heath, but then get delayed trying to pass a filling station on the Franklynn Road. But we're broadly at the right time - somehow - when we reach Haywards Heath town centre.
From here I have what is intended to be a short hop on the number 33 to Burgess Hill. However, it looks as though it could take longer than expected as we head off straight back down Franklynn Road, and past the same petrol station and the same queue (possibly quite literally the same queue, as it's only half an hour since my previous pass).
There's a little gap in the traffic as the queue from the north-west (my direction) meets the queue from the south-east. How on earth the motorists agree whose turn it is is beyond me. I suspect these selfish people are unlikely to 'filter in turn'! I pity those who, for whatever reason, genuinely do need fuel today. A few days later this crisis will affect some bus companies as well and force some bus services off the road. What fuels these car drivers are!
Our driver is able to use that little gap to manoeuvre his way around the queues and we are on our way again. But there's bad news. This is a double-run to serve the Princess Royal Hospital, and the driver turns around and heads back towards town. I am now negotiating the same traffic queue for the third time in less than an hour!
Again, the driver somehow manages to get around the obstruction and we go all the way back to the roundabout at the edge of Haywards Heath town centre, before turning sharp left and then making rapid progress to Burgess Hill.
The 33 is an hourly service and goes way beyond Burgess Hill, to Keymer, Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint. Normally I would be doing the full length of the route, but I need to be in Burgess Hill for the main ride of the day. It's going to be a long ride, in both time and mileage, but not as the crow flies. I'll tell you about it in my next post.
I have nearly an hour in Burgess Hill, so call in at another Costa for lunch. Loyalty Card? No thanks.
There's a bus parked outside East Grinstead station. It's an 05-plate Plaxton Pointer Dennis Dart, in the livery of Compass Bus, whose services I am going to try out on this late-September day.
Only problem with this particular vehicle is that the engine compartment is open and the driver is looking pretty fed up. The impression is that this vehicle has broken down and journeys are going to be missed. Will mine run?
It's a while before I will find out. I'm aiming for the 10.22am service 261 to Uckfield, but that's nearly an hour away. I make a Costa stop and, as usual, decline their offer of a loyalty card. Why, I don't know - I seem to be in Costa every day when I make these trips.
I'm standing at a bus stop that proclaims that this is "Whitehall". It seems that this Whitehall was a theatre, Dance Hall and restaurant. The building still exists, but now it's a Department Store.
The bus stop has clear information on all of the routes serving it, but that can't disguise the fact that there are only a handful of services, and that none of them are particularly frequent. In this area the car is king.
My 261 only runs six journeys each way, and there is no Saturday service. There's an incoming journey to form my departure, but it doesn't show. However, my bus arrives on time, and is indeed the same Dennis Dart that had been parked up at the station.
Compass does not have a day ticket for its network, but there is an exceptionally-valued South Downs Discovery ticket that covers around 30 operators across West Sussex, East Sussex, Brighton & Hove, East Hampshire, Surrey, Kent & Medway. It costs £9.00 for a day ticket (£9.10 on the Stagecoach bus I boarded in Horsham the next day, for some reason).
It seems as though the previous round trip had been cancelled. The reason isn't quite clear as the bus seems to be in a good state. It's clean and tidy, and has more legroom than one usually gets on a single-decker. The driver is impatient, moaning out loud at a couple of motorists who do things that he doesn't agree with.
It's a light load, but a lovely drive through the Sussex countryside, largely along the A22, which I have driven down on many occasions. On the right, in the distance, is a town. I wonder if it's Croydon but a map suggests that Crawley is a more likely candidate.
We pass through the picturesque village of Forest Row, in the heart of the Ashdown Forest, and on through Nutley, where there was once a Little Chef that provided a convenient break point for my drives from West London to Eastbourne. Far too soon, the journey is over as we pull into the Bus Station at Uckfield, bang on time at 11.05am.
I have a little wander around the town to pass the time until the 11.40am departure on route 31 to Haywards Heath. It's a tiny bus station, but it's pretty busy with both people and buses when I get back there. Most notable is the smart Brighton and Hove service 29 on its way to Tunbridge Wells.
Route 31 runs nine journeys each way, and does at least have a Saturday service. I'm only going to Haywards Heath, but the service continues to the suburb of Cuckfield. A friendly driver welcomes his dozen or so intending passengers onto his Enviro 200 and apologises for being a few minutes late.
The reason for the late running soon becomes apparent, and has been well-documented elsewhere - queues have been building up at filling stations across the country, because of a 'scare' that the shortage of lorry drivers is going to affect the supply.
In these country areas, queues spill onto the carriageway and the jams are building quickly. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy - quite literally as everyone wants a full fill while they are there. Within a couple of days most stations will be closed and fuel-less and it will take three or four weeks to restore normality.
We do well enough until the outskirts of Haywards Heath, but then get delayed trying to pass a filling station on the Franklynn Road. But we're broadly at the right time - somehow - when we reach Haywards Heath town centre.
From here I have what is intended to be a short hop on the number 33 to Burgess Hill. However, it looks as though it could take longer than expected as we head off straight back down Franklynn Road, and past the same petrol station and the same queue (possibly quite literally the same queue, as it's only half an hour since my previous pass).
There's a little gap in the traffic as the queue from the north-west (my direction) meets the queue from the south-east. How on earth the motorists agree whose turn it is is beyond me. I suspect these selfish people are unlikely to 'filter in turn'! I pity those who, for whatever reason, genuinely do need fuel today. A few days later this crisis will affect some bus companies as well and force some bus services off the road. What fuels these car drivers are!
Our driver is able to use that little gap to manoeuvre his way around the queues and we are on our way again. But there's bad news. This is a double-run to serve the Princess Royal Hospital, and the driver turns around and heads back towards town. I am now negotiating the same traffic queue for the third time in less than an hour!
Again, the driver somehow manages to get around the obstruction and we go all the way back to the roundabout at the edge of Haywards Heath town centre, before turning sharp left and then making rapid progress to Burgess Hill.
The 33 is an hourly service and goes way beyond Burgess Hill, to Keymer, Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint. Normally I would be doing the full length of the route, but I need to be in Burgess Hill for the main ride of the day. It's going to be a long ride, in both time and mileage, but not as the crow flies. I'll tell you about it in my next post.
I have nearly an hour in Burgess Hill, so call in at another Costa for lunch. Loyalty Card? No thanks.
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