THE TINNER:
WEST CORNWALL'S TRUNK BUS ROUTE
10 April 2023
ABOVE: These buses should be 15 minutes apart, so something isn't right! Enviro400 MMC 33458 (WK66 CCV) is leading on route T2 (Truro to St Ives). This, and fellow route T1 (Truro to Penzance), behind, are operated by First Kernow, using the Tinner brand name.
The buses have turned from Penrhyn Street, Redruth, into West End. The former premises of the Redruth Drapery Stores can be seen on both sides of the road. One of the first Department Stores of its kind in the South West, the buildings are now used for various purposes, including as an events venue.
All photos in this article were taken on Thursday 25th August 2022, unless otherwise stated.
The buses have turned from Penrhyn Street, Redruth, into West End. The former premises of the Redruth Drapery Stores can be seen on both sides of the road. One of the first Department Stores of its kind in the South West, the buildings are now used for various purposes, including as an events venue.
All photos in this article were taken on Thursday 25th August 2022, unless otherwise stated.
I think it’s inevitable that I will eventually end up doing a Land’s End to John O’Groats trip. I’ve started planning one more than once!
There are some practical constraints, not least of which is the idea of carting a load of luggage the whole way - how much will I need for such a trip (a lot)? I think I will start north and head south, finishing in Cornwall, as the first bit of the run looks like being the most challenging in terms of available bus services.
If I ever do such a run, then I suspect that First Kernow’s Tinner service will form the penultimate step. This is a major trunk service across the western half of Cornwall. There are two services, linking Truro with a list of stops on the Great Western Railway (GWR): Redruth, Camborne and Hayle, after which one service (T1) runs to St Erth and Penzance, and the other (T2) to St Ives.
And this is no rural low-frequency service – the weekday frequency over the common section of the two routes is every 15 minutes.
I have previously talked about this service, having taken a ride on a busy Wednesday evening from Truro to Penzance. But I didn’t expect to be back quite so soon to give it another try.
And yet, circumstances have dictated that, the very next day, I am retracing my steps, from Penzance’s quirky little bus station.
A relatively calm afternoon at Penzance bus station. This picture also proves that double-deckers can and do operate The Mousehole service, as evidenced by the bus (back, centre) in the Unique livery.
I have also described this bus station in a previous article. Suffice to say that, on a Thursday afternoon (even an August one), it’s relatively calm compared with other visits this week.
As I wait in Penzance, there are rumours circulating of a collision along the 'main road' that may lead to the cancellation of multiple services. A woman offers a solution to her companion: “Tell them to put another bus on. They should keep a spare”; adding that “it’s not fair!”
Whether mine is the intended bus or not (and don’t read anything into the fact that it’s not in the Tinner livery), it’s leaving right on time at 1420, on a lovely warm afternoon. Accidents, if there have been any, are well away from the T1!
Most of the buses on this route are branded Enviro400 MMCs, and look very smart. Mine today is a Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini, in generic First Kernow green branding. In common with other vehicles of this type, the front seat legroom is extremely poor; bordering on non-existent. Not great for a journey that is going to take one hour and 49 minutes, but I will suffer for my art!
We pull out from Penzance station and immediately get a beautiful view right across Mount’s Bay, over to Marazion Beach and the famous St Michael’s Mount.
Mount's Bay, Penzance, with St Michael's Mount visible to the right. Taken from Chyandour Cliff, Penzance
As I mention above, this is effectively the bus version of the GWR route across West Cornwall, and there are a few places where you can view one from the other. The first is Penzance station itself:
Spin round from the previous picture and this is the view you get. On Friday 26th August 2023, we're looking down towards Penzance railway station, from a bus that is heading into town. There doesn't seem to be much happening at this moment, unless a train is in the out-of-view platform 1 at the right-hand side of the picture (you can just see a glimpse of a bit of the platform edge in the centre right of the picture).
We have our first encounter with the A30 trunk road, which starts at Land’s End. Keep going east along the A30 for long enough and you’ll end up in Hounslow in West London!
Just outside Penzance is the Heliport, from where you can be whisked over to the Isles of Scilly in just 15 minutes.
On another visit during the week, I manage to pass through just as a chopper is coming in, enabling the photo below. In case you're wondering how I managed to get this picture (I was wondering until I consulted my notes), I was on an open-top bus at the time, looking straight up!
The registration of this helicopter shows it to be a privately-owned AgustaWestland AW.109S Trekker. It is seen above Penzance Heliport on Saturday 27th August 2022.
It’s quite curious that Transport for Cornwall (TfC) has sought to introduce a common brand across the county, but that First has declined to subscribe to it. In the eastern half of the county, where Go Cornwall is the dominant operator, buses are all painted in TfC’s London-like red livery. Cross into First territory, and the common identity is abandoned in favour of a plethora of liveries, brands and colours.
The Tinner livery is broadly red, but is a two-tone version where the majority is rather deeper than that of TfC / London. It might be the shade they call “madder” although the overall effect is quite sane.
First Kernow 33462 (WK66 CDE), an Enviro400 MMC, is seen passing St Erth station
The next meeting with the GWR is at St Erth. The T1 doesn’t pull into the bus station adjacent to the railway station here (one wonders why not), but passes along the main road.
If you take the train from St Erth to Hayle, you might be struck by what a short distance it is between the two (I was). As the crow flies, it’s less than one-and-a-half miles, and the bus, having traversed a section of the A30 again, now diverges along ‘The Causeway’, the road into Hayle.
On the left, the Hayle Estuary makes an amazing sight. Closer to Hayle, the road is separated from the River Hayle by the Carnsew Pool. According to Wikipedia (Hayle Estuary - Wikipedia), this was created in 1834 to impound tidal water, following the building of East Quay by the Cornish Copper Company, which caused the deep-water channels to fill with silt. The sides of Carnsew Pool are built of rubble and slag, and maps suggest that it is possible to walk along a path between the Pool and the river. But the bus is easier.
The Hayle Estuary, taken from a bus heading towards St Ives, earlier in the day of my journey on the Tinner
The GWR line runs above us at this point. Way above us, crossing Hayle over a spectacular viaduct. Hayle itself is expansive and pretty - a lovely spot to stop in on a summer's afternoon.
Hayle
The T2 route from St Ives has joined us now. In Hayle, a man boards who is moaning (to himself) about seagulls for some reason. I’m assuming that they have either swiped his lunch or passed a goodwill motion – the latter is supposed to be lucky (not sure who for, though)!
After Hayle, it’s a true country run until we approach Camborne.
Somewhere between Hayle and Camborne, but I can't pinpoint the exact location... The vehicle is 33454 (WK66 CCJ), on route T2 to St Ives
St Martin & St Meriadoc Church in Camborne is Grade-I listed
In Camborne a Wetherspoon’s pub and hotel, The John Francis Basset, occupies the Grade-II listed former Market House. John Francis Basset served as Vice-Admiral of North Cornwall, from 1623 until his death in 1645, and was High Sheriff of Cornwall from 1642 to 1644.
The bus station here backs onto First’s depot, where a range of vehicles, in a selection of liveries, are to be found parked up. It's about as far from the TfC vision for standardisation as it's possible to get.
A selection of vehicles parked up at First's Camborne bus depot on Wednesday 24th August 2022. From left: 37396 (MX58 DXG), a Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini; 65724 (LK55 ABZ), the first of a trio of Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse Urbans, followed by 66943 (WX55 TZE) and 66941 (WX55 TZC); then 37327 (WX57 HKH), another Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini; 32104 (MIG 6096), a Volvo B7TL Plaxton President (open top); 33468 (WK66 CDX), an ADL Enviro400 MMC; a Mousehole Optare Solo; two unidentified open-toppers; a Copper vehicle (an ADL Enviro400 MMC); and 38202 (SN09 CAV), an ADL Enviro500 three-axle vehicle.
Camborne to Redruth is pretty quick too – it’s less than three-and-a-half miles as the crow flies. Both the railway and the A30 are close by.
First Kernow 32622 (SF54 TLY), a Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini, loads in Wesley Street, Camborne (outside Tesco), en route to Penzance
It’s quite built up between the two, but there are examples of old mine buildings still to be seen in this area.
‘Tinners’ were of course tin miners, and this route’s branding recognises these brave men who, like other miners (eg, coal and copper miners), spent hours every day under the ground, risking life and limb, and enduring appalling conditions, just to make a living. Such a sacrifice. I couldn't do it.
East Pool Mine, near Redruth
Many First routes in Cornwall carry a brand, but the brand isn’t much use if the vehicle is on the wrong route, or the vehicle being used is not branded. Such is the case with my unbranded Tinner, and it's not the only offender. I find a vehicle on route T2 branded Copper.
ADL Enviro400 MMC 33453 (WK66 CCF) passes Roskear School in Camborne, showing off its branding for 'Copper' route U2, whilst actually on 'Tinner' route T2
This seems to be the brand for route U2 between Falmouth and Redruth (journeys to Camborne, probably for positioning journeys), commemorating the region's copper miners.
Redruth itself has some very tight streets and corners for buses to negotiate:
Redruth station brings another meeting with the GWR. I have already mentioned the poor bus information outside the station in an earlier article, although as I pass through on this trip, I don’t know about that yet, because my trip on route 34 is still a few hours into the future at this point.
Redruth station; I can't quite pick out the fleet number of this Go Cornwall E200 MMC - nor the route that it's working on.
All too soon (except for my cramped legs, which can’t wait to get off), we’re in the environs of Truro.
Entering the Treliske roundabout, just a couple of miles from the City Centre of Truro, and about to pass the Royal Cornwall Hospital
A final visit to the GWR takes place at the fine Truro station. It might be slightly out of town, but it’s all downhill to the City Centre from here, as I found out the hard way when I had to rush to the station to make a tight train connection (rushing up Richmond Hill, Truro, is not recommended).
33460 (WK66 CCY), another ADL Enviro400 MMC, in Station Road, Truro. The station is ahead on the left.
33456 (WK66 CCO) starts the climb up Richmond Hill, Truro, on its way to St Ives
If I thought the streets of Redruth were tight, I've had no inkling of how much tighter things could be on this route as it nears journey’s end. Boscawen Street, Truro, seems to have been 'returned to the people', but is still the City's main bus two-way thoroughfare:
Boscawen Street, Truro - my bus needs to work its way through here!
The Coinage Hall in Truro is a Victorian building which currently houses Pizza Express, Charlotte's Tea Rooms and an antiques centre. The City War Memorial stands proudly in front, and the seagull should perhaps be more respectful! Meanwhile, a Mercedes-Benz Citaro O295 is trying to get onto Boscawen Street on the Truro Park & Ride service. Our bus needs to get into the road currently occupied by the Citaro!
And so into Truro Bus Station. This has been a quiet run, but evidence from the previous day (an almost full bus, albeit 15 minutes late) has shown how busy this service can be.
If you like a long country bus ride then the Tinner services could be for you. And, when I come down here from John O’Groats, maybe I’ll see you for this leg of the journey. I’ll be the one with the large suitcase!