100 BRITISH BUS ROUTES: ROUTE 73
St Cleer to Polperro
22 January 2023
ABOVE: Go Cornwall 2416 (WA20 DWP), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, awaits departure from Barras Street in Liskeard, on a Sunday morning working of route 73 to Polperro. All photos in this article were taken on Sunday 28th August 2022, unless otherwise stated.
Operator: Go Cornwall
Runs: Daily (no evening service); no Sunday service St Cleer to Liskeard
Weekday frequency: Hourly
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: three buses
Off-peak journey time: 87-88 minutes
Estimated route length: 22 miles
Runs: Daily (no evening service); no Sunday service St Cleer to Liskeard
Weekday frequency: Hourly
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: three buses
Off-peak journey time: 87-88 minutes
Estimated route length: 22 miles
During my week in Cornwall, I got to know the route between my hotel in Liskeard (on the eastern side of town, next to the A38) and the Town Centre / railway station pretty well. It's only about a mile-and-a-half to the station, and even less to the town, and I was to-ing and fro-ing every day. That's a lot of short trips, and I didn't want to risk a flat car battery.
So I decided one evening, after a day on the buses, to take a longer drive - both to give the car more time to charge up the battery, and to explore roads that I hadn't explored at that stage by bus.
This took me down the route of the 73 bus towards St Keyne, south of Liskeard. It's an incredibly narrow and twisty road, with low-hanging trees and sharp, tight bends. Even in a 4m-long car, I didn't feel that I had a lot of room to manoeuvre; when I saw a 9.7m E200 on a route 73 working the next day (most E200s from Go Cornwall have their length on a sticker on the side of the vehicle), I assumed that it was the longest vehicle that could get around the route.
A few days later and I'm in Barras Road in Liskeard, preparing to travel down that same road again - this time on the 73 bus itself, on a round trip to Polperro. It's Sunday morning, and it's the very last day of my holiday - by which I mean I will be ending the day with the 240-mile drive home. But I can't resist one last bus ride first. I have already vacated my hotel, and the car is safely ensconced in the Town Centre car park, a mere stone's throw away.
Route 73 is operated by Go Cornwall, with Enviro 200 MMCs. But, despite my misgivings about the tightness of the roads that this bus is about to traverse, never underestimate the ability of a bus to squeeze through a tight space - or the ability of its driver to make it happen.
And so it is that the bus awaiting me is a 10.8m-long vehicle. (In fact, photo evidence shows that I had seen several 10.8m versions on route 73, earlier in the week, without appreciating the significance.)
So I decided one evening, after a day on the buses, to take a longer drive - both to give the car more time to charge up the battery, and to explore roads that I hadn't explored at that stage by bus.
This took me down the route of the 73 bus towards St Keyne, south of Liskeard. It's an incredibly narrow and twisty road, with low-hanging trees and sharp, tight bends. Even in a 4m-long car, I didn't feel that I had a lot of room to manoeuvre; when I saw a 9.7m E200 on a route 73 working the next day (most E200s from Go Cornwall have their length on a sticker on the side of the vehicle), I assumed that it was the longest vehicle that could get around the route.
A few days later and I'm in Barras Road in Liskeard, preparing to travel down that same road again - this time on the 73 bus itself, on a round trip to Polperro. It's Sunday morning, and it's the very last day of my holiday - by which I mean I will be ending the day with the 240-mile drive home. But I can't resist one last bus ride first. I have already vacated my hotel, and the car is safely ensconced in the Town Centre car park, a mere stone's throw away.
Route 73 is operated by Go Cornwall, with Enviro 200 MMCs. But, despite my misgivings about the tightness of the roads that this bus is about to traverse, never underestimate the ability of a bus to squeeze through a tight space - or the ability of its driver to make it happen.
And so it is that the bus awaiting me is a 10.8m-long vehicle. (In fact, photo evidence shows that I had seen several 10.8m versions on route 73, earlier in the week, without appreciating the significance.)
Older Go Cornwall ADL Enviro 200 no 154 (WJ65 HMK), a 10.8m model, has arrived in Barras Street, Liskeard after a morning run from Polperro on Wednesday 24th August 2022.
When I travelled on route 73 in August, Liskeard was the northern terminus. The section to St Cleer, a village a couple of miles north, was added in September 2022. I haven't tried that section of the route, but St Cleer looks like another lovely Cornish village, with more impossibly tight roads and the Parish Church (Grade I listed) as its focal point.
I'm leaving Liskeard on the first Sunday service of the day - the 0945. There are only three of us in evidence as the bus opens its doors (a few minutes ahead of departure time), but, by the time we are due to leave, the numbers have swelled to 10, and another three join over the next couple of stops.
We squeeze down the tight road to St Keyne, brushing trees on both sides of the road - simultaneously! At Duloe, we pick up another nine people at one stop.
As we reach Sandplace, we're running briefly alongside the East Looe River. I'm quite surprised to find a railway station here, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but it's part of the Liskeard to Looe line of course. It's a station that probably does well with summer tourism - hiking and so forth - and there are a couple of villages (Tregarland and Morval) within 'walking' distance if you have the energy and drive.
At Sandplace we deviate from the obvious straight road south towards Looe and turn north-eastwards towards Widegates. I passed through here earlier in the week whilst heading for the Torpoint Ferry on route 75, and I described the name as 'ironic', given how tight some of the roads are round here. To be honest, they're not too bad in Widegates itself.
We turn sharply towards the south-west here, and soon come to Tregoad Holiday Park, where we pick up another 10 passengers. Further down yet four more people are joining. We now have 36 passengers on a bus, in a rural area, at something prior to 10.30am on a Sunday morning. I know a few popular London bus routes that don't generate those sorts of passenger numbers at that time of day!
The only significant intermediate town on route 73 is Looe. It's a town that is divided in two by the East Looe River, which spills here into the sea at Looe Bay. A popular tourist spot, there's only one bridge to link East and West Looe.
East Looe, looking south towards the coast. The sea is out of sight but the harbour is just visible on the right
We arrive in East Looe where we lose about half of our passenger load. But we pick more up and we're still busy after this point. We're due to stand for five minutes here, but we've lost all of the 'spare' minutes so head straight off over the bridge.
Crossing the East Looe River from east to west (left to right), looking south over the harbour. We will turn left off the bridge to head down the road that parallels the river bank, as far as the church clock tower that you may just be able to pick out broadly to the centre right of the picture, behind the sea level building with the white roof!
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Over the bridge and we head down Quay Road until we reach St Nicholas Church. I somehow manage to get a decent picture of the church from the bus. There's a ferry across the water here as well, for those who cannot or do not want to walk round the Quay. The bus stop is broadly outside the church, after which we employ that well-known manoeuvre known to bus operators - especially in Cornwall, it seems - the three-point turn. Then we're back along to the Quay to the bridge, but this time turning away from it, westwards, from where it's all downhill (or so it feels) to Polperro. |
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Polperro itself is a fishing village and a popular tourist spot. At the north of the village is Crumplehorn, described as a 'hamlet'. The main village car park is here, as is the bus terminus, as traffic isn't allowed into the village itself. I leave the 73 here, on time at 1050. It's about a half-mile walk from here to the seafront.
2416 again, having just completed its run to Crumplehorn, Polperro. It will now form a 72 service to Plymouth, as part of a complicated Sunday service operation which I describe below.
On leaving the terminus (foreground), buses complete yet another three-point turn to get back to the A387, to start the climb back towards Looe. 2416 is just reversing into Kellow Hill at the start of the long run on route 72 to Plymouth.
For those who didn't fancy the walk to the front, there used to be the option of the Polperro Tram. These were converted milk floats used to ferry people from Crumplehorn to the seafront and back again. There are various pictures online but the service hasn't run since at least the onset of Coronavirus. Whether it will ever return is anyone's guess.
As one walks through the village, it's easy to see why cars are not allowed in; the streets are tiny, and, although quiet when I arrive, are already livening up by the time I leave an hour later.
And if you are able to walk it, the trip down to the harbour is well worth doing. There must be some lovely views from some of the higher-up cottages that surround it, although I'm not sure how one reaches them!
And to the beach...
And so back to the 73. The Sunday service only runs every two hours, but a complicated scheduling operation means that the return journey is at 1155, 65 minutes after the incoming service.
This is achieved by a circular operation involving three different Go Cornwall services. Buses terminating at Crumplehorn from Liskeard on route 73 turn into route 72, initially retracing the steps of the 73 through Looe and as far as Widegates, before heading off to Plymouth. At Plymouth, buses move over to route 11 and head back to Liskeard via Saltash. This circuit takes a total of four hours but, as buses only run every two hours on these services on Sundays, only requires a total of four buses - two going each way around this complicated loop!
It's a quieter run in this direction, but just as interesting. I try to get more photos of Looe Harbour, but unsuccessfully. We're on time back into Liskeard at 1250. I will eventually get home around 2000, after a four-and-a-half hour drive spread over six-and-a-half hours!
The 73 is certainly an interesting route, and is worth doing to see the remarkably tight roads it traverses, the scenic harbour views at Looe and the delightful walk from the bus to the beach at Polperro.
2449 (WA70 DYU), on route 73 from Polperro, is in the middle of a trio of Go Cornwall E200 MMCs in Barras Street, Liskeard, at 0832 on Monday 22nd August 2022. 2441 (WA70 DYH) leads on a run to Plymouth on route 11, with 2407 (WA20 DWE) bringing up the rear, out of service, having turned around after completing a journey on route 74 from Callington. It will next form the 0910 on service 75 to Torpoint, exactly 24 hours before I travel on that route.