Got a Ticket to Ryde… Part 2
30 July 2022
ABOVE: A Southern Vectis Enviro 400 on route 8 near The Fighting Cocks public house, Newchurch, Isle of Wight. All pictures in this article were taken on Friday 15th July 2022.
When I’m out to catch a bus or train part-way through its journey, I’m often thinking about the fact that it is already on its way, and wondering whether I can possibly get there before it’s gone. For example, I leave my house in West London for the 0716 train, at just about the time it is due to leave Heathrow Terminal 5. Can I possibly beat a train that has 90mph capability and only a few miles to cover?
Such is the length of the Isle of Wight’s route 8 (Ryde to Newport), that it should have left Ryde Bus Station before I have even got to breakfast in my hotel in Lake, near Sandown. The 0740 departure is not due at my stop until 0850. It should take another 35 minutes after that to get to Newport. I don’t feel that I have gobble my breakfast down, but I am conscious that the bus should already be on its way…
It’s surprisingly busy on the road outside my hotel. Traffic down towards the Sandown Road is moving very slowly indeed. It’s not much faster in the opposite direction, but it is moving.
I’m also surprised that I’m not the only passenger waiting for this bus, and not even the first. There’s a man at the stop already and four other people join us in the next few minutes. Given the traffic, I am expecting a delay, which could be awkward as I have a tight connection at Newport.
But the bus, a Scania Omnicity, turns up within a couple of minutes of its scheduled time. We’re soon on our way and, once we cross the roundabout at the Morrison’s supermarket, progress is unimpeded.
Such is the length of the Isle of Wight’s route 8 (Ryde to Newport), that it should have left Ryde Bus Station before I have even got to breakfast in my hotel in Lake, near Sandown. The 0740 departure is not due at my stop until 0850. It should take another 35 minutes after that to get to Newport. I don’t feel that I have gobble my breakfast down, but I am conscious that the bus should already be on its way…
It’s surprisingly busy on the road outside my hotel. Traffic down towards the Sandown Road is moving very slowly indeed. It’s not much faster in the opposite direction, but it is moving.
I’m also surprised that I’m not the only passenger waiting for this bus, and not even the first. There’s a man at the stop already and four other people join us in the next few minutes. Given the traffic, I am expecting a delay, which could be awkward as I have a tight connection at Newport.
But the bus, a Scania Omnicity, turns up within a couple of minutes of its scheduled time. We’re soon on our way and, once we cross the roundabout at the Morrison’s supermarket, progress is unimpeded.
ABOVE: The White Lion public house, Arreton
It looks as though we’re going to make really good time, as we approach the outskirts of Newport. But then we take a quick detour through the suburb of Pan, to arrive just on the scheduled time of 0925. It’s one-and-three quarter hours from Ryde on route 8; the quick way, on route 9, is over an hour faster!
Despite the restricted space in the bus station (see Part 1), we’re dropped off there, and I remember to touch out, as is the wont of Southern Vectis. The bus disappears, presumably to park up somewhere remote.
The information office is open, and at long last I am able to get hold of the timetable booklets that used to be so readily available all across the island, even outside working hours.
Finally, the stars have aligned to allow me to try one of the rarer bus services on the western side of the island. Route 12 runs from Newport to Alum Bay, starting south and then turning westwards, along roads that no other bus serves. But it only runs six times a day, at irregular intervals. I have, on many occasions, sought to catch it, but the timings have never been quite right. Until now.
There’s a decent crowd assembled for the 0930 departure. A group of youngsters are gathered, and I immediately make the assumption that they are heading to Alum Bay, where there are a number of attractions for all. This assumption turns out to be completely wrong, of course. I must stop generalising!
ABOVE: ADL Enviro 400 1519 (HW62 CCD) forms the 0930 departure from Newport Bus Station on route 12 to Alum Bay. Behind it is Enviro 400 MMC 1662 (HW67 AJO), one of a batch of 16 vehicles from 2017, representing the newest vehicles on the island. All double-decker types (Scania, E400, E400 MMC) seem to be freely mixed across all double-deck services; probably because of the inter-working of buses / drivers between routes.
Route 12 initially follows route 7, which also runs to Alum Bay. I will talk about route 7 in a separate article soon. We reach Carisbrooke, which has its own castle, as well as a medieval parish church that apparently started life as part of a Benedictine Priory.
Through Carisbrooke and we turn onto our exclusive routing. We’re quickly deep into the countryside. In Shorwell, there’s a striking footbridge across the road. It comes and goes too quickly for me to get a photograph, but you can see it on Google Streetview.
Just down the road, major roadworks are blighting the centre of the village, but the temporary lights do allow me to get a decent picture of St Peter’s Church:
A few minutes later and we come to Brighstone. The sea is already in view in the distance and the village centre is exactly what one would expect in a rural part of this island:
ABOVE: Brighstone village
At Mottistone Manor, we meet another route 12 bus heading the other way.
ABOVE: Enviro 400 1521 (HW62 CMZ) at Mottistone, en route to Newport on route 12
There’s a scarecrow trail in this area. I spot a few, and manage to snap a picture of “Hedge Sheeran” (though I would have called him “Ed Shear-an”):
We’re down to the seafront at Compton Bay now, with a clear view of the coastline of Freshwater Bay, just around the corner from The Needles. On this day of unbroken sunshine (we’re only three days away from the hottest day ever recorded in Britain), there’s another land mass visible in the distance. A check of a map suggests that it might be the Dorset coast of Durlston Bay, south of Swanage.
ABOVE: Freshwater Bay (right) and the coastline that leads to The Needles (The Needles themselves are just out of sight behind the main land mass). On the extreme left might be Swanage and the Purbeck Cliffs, if my map-reading is correct!
The youngsters who boarded at Newport get off at Compton Farm. The only notable thing I can find around here is a surf school – wonder if they’re heading for that? Nice day for it!
The final descent into Freshwater is slowed down on my trip by a couple of cyclists free-wheeling down the hill. And who can blame them – it’s a stunning descent!
We then drive through Totland and, via a motley collection of temporary traffic lights, come to the small turning circle that represents the terminus at Alum Bay. A short reverse manoeuvre is required to get onto the stand behind a bus on route 7. Our journey has taken 56 minutes; slightly quicker than the half-hourly 7, which needs 60 minutes. I remember to touch out, but the reader doesn’t register.
I’m not quite sure what the target audience for this route is. Possibly tourism, as there are attractions along this route (as there are all over the island). It might appeal to ramblers as well. But the irregular nature of the service means that one needs to be pretty careful about the timing of the return service, unless you have another means of getting back, or can ramble across to a different service.
It might work for commuters into Newport. There’s a first arrival on weekdays at 0822, and a last departure at 1740. And it’s good for shorter trips, with arrivals at 1027 and 1137 and departures at 1320 and 1540 allowing a decent amount of time in the county town, if so desired.
There’s not much going on at Alum Bay this morning; not many people about and even the ice cream kiosk is closed. It’s term-time on a weekday and still quite early, so perhaps that’s understandable.
There’s no queue for the chairlifts down to the beach, but I’m not quite sure how comfortable I would feel in one, and besides, I’ve got a heavy bag with me. So I make do with a cuppa. My travels are littered with memories of places that I probably should have spent more time at!
Fast forward a couple of hours and I’m back in Newport Bus Station, where the stars are aligning for me for a second time, so that I can ride on the other very rare bus service from there – the number 6 to Ventnor.
This is another route that only runs six times a day. To keep things random, two of these journeys divert to Godshill instead of Ventnor (and there are no return trips from Godshill).
I’m on the 1255 departure to Ventnor. There are a couple of youngsters in the other front seat having a bilingual conversation that jumps between English and German, like you do. Further back are a couple of men who continually talk about how hot it is becoming, and how riding on top of a bus is unwise in the heat. But they stay, all the way to Ventnor.
The 6 starts off towards Carisbrooke in exactly the same way as the 7 and the 12, but then abruptly cuts away from the main road to skirt around the castle itself. King Charles I was imprisoned there by Cromwell’s Roundheads, and it now has a holiday cottage that you can stay in “without having to kill a dragon or wake a sleeping princess”, according to English Heritage. Can they prove that, I wonder?
ABOVE: Enviro 400 MMC 1660 (HW67 AHY), just down the (very tight) road from Carisbrooke
We’ve now started heading broadly due south, and things won’t vary much until we reach the coast at Chale. Miles and miles of open countryside and small villages await. We do gain and lose a couple of passengers as we go, so it’s clearly worth it.
ABOVE: Chale Green
Like the 12, route 6 could allow a decent day for commuters to Newport, but I don’t understand the point of the two Godshill journeys, unless they are positioning journeys for some other service (but nothing else starts there that I can find).
Unlike the 12, there is an obvious intermediate traffic objective for the 6; "Blackgang Chine - The Land of Imagination”, is apparently the oldest amusement park in the United Kingdom, having opened in 1843. We’re promised dinosaurs, dodos and cowboys! It’s also open until late evening a couple of days a week, so that one can enjoy a full day there. The map on its website shows the extensive car parking and the coach park, but it doesn’t explicitly show the bus stop, or mention the bus.
The timing of the buses from Newport would allow an arrival at Blackgang at 0926 and a return departure at 1718. It’s not quite so good from Godshill, nor on Sundays, where services run roughly every four hours.
ABOVE: Blackgang Chine
On this occasion, no-one boards or alights at Blackgang, but it is the middle of the day, and it’s term-time.
After Blackgang Chine, we turn eastwards along the coast towards our ultimate destination, Ventnor. We pass through Niton and take a quick 360 around the village to serve the Buddle Inn (16th century). My bilingual companions leave in this village, and it’s now just my heat-swerving companions and me on the top deck.
ABOVE: This is The White Lion, Niton (not to be confused with The White Knight-on, Lyon). In the background (with the black sign) is the Norris Family Grocer, which we passed a few minutes ago and will shortly pass again.
Niton is actually quite sizeable – even without the double-run down to the Buddle, it would take a while to get through.
We’re now on the outskirts of Ventnor, passing through Whitwell, after which we start a descent into Ventnor itself.
Ventnor really is a town on a hill! After a very sharp corner we can see all the way down into town…
ABOVE: The descent into Ventnor on route 6
And finally we arrive in Ventnor Town Centre, where the terminus is “Boot's” – not very exotic-sounding, but an accurate description of the stop, on the main street right outside the chemist’s.
A short walk down (literally down) brings me to the seafront.
And so my latest brief sojourn on the Isle of Wight is coming to an end. I have a boat to catch, so I take the number 3 back into Ryde for the last time on this particular visit.
When I board, there’s a rucksack in the only-available front seat, with no obvious owner. It remains this way as we proceed and, even when it tips forward off the seat, no-one claims it.
As we come into Shanklin, and just as I am contemplating this being a bag that someone has left behind as they have left the bus, its owner suddenly comes down from the back of the bus, picks it up and heads downstairs. As I contemplate how selfish some people can be (preventing me from being able to sit in the front seat – me!), he somehow drops the bag down the stairs and spills out some of its contents, with a reaction that turns the air momentarily blue. Karma.
A day ticket for Southern Vectis buses costs £10. Not only has the price been held at £10 for many years, but a “day” literally means 24 hours, so a ticket bought at 6pm would be valid for most of the following day.
Would the contactless tap-in and tap-out system get its sums right, especially given the fact that I couldn’t tap out on two of my buses? I’ve checked my statement and the answer is… YES! All of my journeys were within a 24-hour period, and £10 is what I was charged. Extremely good value.
A beautiful island, and a bus company that understands the power of double-decker buses to support tourism and to provide decent, quality bus services. In the words of Arnie; “I’ll be back”!