more Buses in Dorset: Part Two
15 September 2023
ABOVE: morebus 1677 (HF69 CSU), an Enviro400 MMC, stands in The Square in Wimborne Minster, awaiting departure time on route 13 to Bournemouth.
All photos in this article were taken on Saturday 8th April 2023
All photos in this article were taken on Saturday 8th April 2023
It's Easter weekend and I’m in Bournemouth. It’s a stunning Saturday afternoon and I have just returned from a foray into Lymington, which you can read about here.
But I want more; specifically I want to do one of my A to Bs via one route and back by another. Only this time I’m going to combine two such runs with a little extra loop ride as well… So it’s planned as A to B, B to C, quick loop ride, C back to B and B back to A!
In this case, B will be Wimborne and C will be Poole. And I’m travelling with more, the Go South Coast operator that is now largely in charge of the main Bournemouth bus network after the collapse of Yellow Buses last year.
It’s such a lovely town, Bournemouth. I’ve spent a couple of hours of Friday evening enjoying a delightful show at the Pavilion, and I’m still buzzing about it now as I find my way back to Bournemouth Square, where I’m looking for a number 6 to Wimborne.
ABOVE: Bournemouth Pavilion
Route 6, formerly a Yellow Buses service, is, I feel, the junior partner on the Bournemouth / Wimborne corridor. When I arrive, there are already about a dozen people waiting for the 1405 departure on this hourly service (supported by extras on route 6A as far as Bearwood). A smart Enviro200 MMC arrives in good time.
Getting out of this town always takes a while – not only is it quite a big town but there’s a fair bit of traffic as well. But we're finally on our way north-west.
There quite a lot of churn for us too – it’s a busy journey. It’s not easy taking photos from a single-decker but I do manage to catch this modern-looking block of flats called The Clock House, near Bear Cross.
ABOVE: The Clock House, on the Ringwood Road near Bear Cross
Three-quarters of an hour after leaving Bournemouth and we’re on the outskirts of Wimborne, where we pass St Catherine's Catholic Church:
ABOVE: St Catherine's Catholic Church, Wimborne
I’ve already commented that route 6 seems to be the 'junior' partner. This is a common theme across the more network. Bus stops flags ‘major’ on certain routes – the ‘important’ ones in the eyes of the company, presumably – and others, like mine, are demoted to the bottom of the flag - the 'also-rans':
ABOVE: Routes 4 & 13 are considered more important than route 6 for some reason, as demonstrated at the Quarter Jack Surgery stop in Wimborne
And so to Wimborne (or Wimborne Minster, to give it its full name). This market town has many tight streets and development has been restricted. Many of the buildings here are originals from the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries. Wimborne Square is the focal point of the town, and I understand that a Town Crier is still employed here, although sadly not at work at the time of my visit.
ABOVE: Wimborne Minster Square - the building on the left is the 18th Century (or maybe 17th - the building is "circa 1800") coaching inn, The King's Head. Rotate 90 degrees to the right and you will have the view of the bus stop that appears below.
Route 6 terminates at a stop conveniently based on the Square – a stop it shares with route 13, the other route to Bournemouth; that will form the 'B to A' of my 'A to B and back', but first I want to do my 'B to C' from here to Poole.
ABOVE: morebus 253 (HF18 CJX), an Enviro200 MMC, stands in Wimborne Square, between journeys on route 6 to Bournemouth. The King's Head coaching inn is directly behind me as I take this picture.
Routes 3 & 4 provide a joint service between Wimborne and Poole via different routes. Pick-up point is just down the road from the Square, on West Borough, although the stop is still named The Square. These routes are mainly in the hands of Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse 2 single-deckers, and one such vehicle, on route 4, is pulling up to the stop in good time for the 1515 departure.
ABOVE: morebus 2258 (HF12 GVY), a Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse 2, in Wimborne on route 4 to Poole
Curiously, there are a couple of passengers already on board before the 'first' stop. Buses follow a circuit through the town’s one-way system (essential for the narrow streets here), so perhaps the ‘terminus’ is a bit flexible here. The bus has come in as a route 3 arrival from Poole. The 3 follows a slightly longer route from Wimborne via Corfe Mullen, whilst the 4 goes via Merley. The variations mean an uneven arrival / departure pattern at Wimborne of every 10-20 minutes.
After our punctual departure we head out of town, over the Canford Bridge across the River Stour. This bridge, built in 1813, is a three-arched bridge in Portland Stone and is Grade-II listed. Of course, the structure of the bridge is not apparent when one is crossing it, but at least we can enjoy the views!
ABOVE: Canford Bridge, crossing the River Stour
Routes 3 & 4 come together at Broadstone and provide a combined 15-minute service from here on. The 4 is a 42-minute journey through Poole suburbs including Creekmoor and Fleetsbridge, and remains busy all the way. The bus, if not exactly king here, does at least still command a decent audience.
We reach Poole Bus Station, where more is the dominant operator now, even if some of its buses are liveried for other Go-Ahead companies:
ABOVE: Unibus 1687 (HJ22 UXX), an Enviro400 MMC, arrives at Poole Bus Station at the end of a run from the Royal Bournemouth Hospital on morebus route m1. This route used to compete with a similar Yellow Buses service along the Bournemouth / Poole corridor.
And even buses that look like they might belong to other operators turn out to belong to morebus:
ABOVE: Optare Solo SR 3801 (BP09 ONE, right), enters Poole Bus Station on town route ONE to Poole Quay. The special livery hides that this is another morebus vehicle, as, more obviously, is 2253 (HF12 GVT), a Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse 2, parked behind.
Before I do my reverse 'C to B', I want to make another detour. I’m going to try the circular routes 8 / 9 to the very rural-sounding spot of Turlin Moor. Turlin Moor sounds like it ought to be a very bleak and lonely spot in the middle of nowhere, but we're in the suburbs of Poole, not the highlands of Scotland, so my mental vision of it is unlikely to be accurate.
In fact, Turlin Moor is a housing estate, just under two miles from Poole as the crow flies. Buses on routes 8 & 9 run a full circle around the Upton Lake that dominates the landscape that the crow would be flying over. The 8 runs clockwise, starting through Hamworthy and into Turlin Moor (a double-run), before heading through Upton, to the north of the Lake, and on via Fleetsbridge; the 9 runs the other way round. Each service runs half-hourly.
But there are also extras running from Poole via Hamworthy to Turlin Moor, providing a quarter-hourly service along that stretch. They run as route 8 into Turlin Moor, and as route 9 out again. It's not as confusing as it sounds and is actually completely logical, once you can get over the idea of the short-workings coming in as route 8 and leaving again as route 9!
Turlin Moor is better-approached via Hamworthy, which takes 22 minutes on route 8, rather than via Upton, which takes 26 minutes on route 9.
My plan is therefore obviously to go the longer-way round, on route 9, and to break at Turlin Moor for 15 minutes before catching one of the short-workings to finish the circuit.
The bus is on time at 1610. It's an Enviro200 MMC, with a good load out of Poole, although many people are making quite short trips and we thin out quite quickly. Once we get out of Poole, parts of this run become quite countrified, especially around Upton which has its own country park comprising of 160 acres of park and woodland, 32 acres of formal garden and six types of natural habitat, as well as a Grade-II* listed Georgian Mansion House.
By the time we enter the double-run from Blandford Road onto the appropriately-named Turlin Road, we are around nine minutes late, for no obvious reason. The actual place is decidedly suburban; as well as being only a couple of miles from Poole, it’s less than a mile from Hamworthy railway station.
ABOVE: Foreland Road, Turlin Moor
Buses in Turlin Moor operate a 'frying pan' route - down the handle that is Turlin Road, then a loop around the furthest reaches of the estate (the pan), and back down the handle to the main road.
My intention is to go right through to the furthest stop on the frying pan, at Egmont Road. There's supposed to be a view of the Rock Lea River from somewhere near there; the river provides the link between Lytchett Bay and the sea.
But I discover by chance, when looking at the route map on BusTimes.org, that the far end of the estate is closed to traffic due to roadworks. The bus, having called at the first stop in Egmont Road (I suppose you could call it the neck of the frying pan), suddenly starts an unexpected reversal manoeuvre into a parking bay that seems to have been designated temporarily for this purpose, even though there’s currently a car parked in it. The bus is then facing back towards Turlin Road, so here is where I must leave it.
The bus continues on its journey towards Poole; the ‘quick’ way via Hamworthy. I have a moment to look at Turlin Moor itself - well, Turlin Moor Recreation Ground to be precise:
ABOVE: Turlin Moor Recreation Ground
I’m not sure why there are delays to this route; there’s been nothing obvious. What I want to do now is to catch the next route 9 bus, which should come in as a short-working number 8, terminating here, and change to a short-working 9. It is due about now but there’s no sign of it.
A route 8 bus, doing the full circuit, turns up first. This bus is also slightly adrift of the normal schedule. As far as I can tell, it’s due at 1634, but it’s now 1652. Convinced that something is wrong somewhere, and not wanted to be stranded on the open moorland overnight in the wintry frost (OK, I might have exaggerated some of this, especially as it's April and 20 degrees plus today), I decide to travel back the way I have just come.
ABOVE: morebus 2269 (HF12 GWN), a Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse 2, passes Turlin Road on the "frying pan handle" of the Turlin Moor double-run on route 8
As I reach Blandford Road, at the edge of the Turlin Moor double-run, a short-working route 8 bus appears – the one that will probably become the route 9 service back to Poole. D'oh!
I stay put on route 8. This is another Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse 2. It’s pretty quiet at the start of my journey but livens up considerably through Upton, and back towards Poole.
Route 8, which I am on now, and route 3, which I am due to change onto back in Poole, both approach the town via Fleetsbridge and Oakbridge, and it suddenly occurs to me that I can potentially save half an hour by bailing out before the town centre.
So I find myself leaving the 8 at Creekmoor Lane Roundabout, around a mile-and-a-half short of the town centre bus station. The bus I have left, at 1707, is about 15 minutes late.
I need to cross the road here and I’m impressed that full timetables are carried in these stops, as this is exactly the sort of territory, in suburban areas away from town centres, where they are often lacking. Well done, morebus!
I’m here for precisely one minute when the route 3 bus to Wimborne appears. It’s another Enviro200 MMC – I seem to be alternating between Volvos and E200s at the moment...
As a late Saturday afternoon departure from Poole, this is a busy service. The only vacant double seat is one row from the back of the bus. There’s a good selection of litter, including a crisp bag and a couple of empty cans, suggesting that there might be a reason why this is the only vacant seat. In fact, my notes of the day say that the bus "could do with a sweep-out". I move at the first opportunity.
This is something of a 'celebrity' route, having earned a place in the second "Bus Pass Britain" book (basically a series of essays about "the nation's favourite bus journeys", written by people who know the routes well). Route 3 has been covered by author / former teacher June Webber:
"...the bus turns inland [from Poole Harbour] and follows the route of the old railway track from Bournemouth West. The bus does not stop again until it reaches Broadstone ... it is this short, fast stretch that prompts us locals to dub the bus 'The Wimborne Flyer'."
June Webber
Bus Pass Britain Rides Again
Bradt Travel Guides, 2013
Ironically, my stopping the bus at the Creekmoor Lane Roundabout has probably interrupted the flow of the Flyer on this occasion, but I'm not the only one!
It’s an otherwise uneventful ride and I’m back in Wimborne roughly as I expected to be, albeit having used the route 8 back towards Poole rather than the 9.
ABOVE: Wimborne Minster, Church of St Cuthburga
And now I can do the B back to A ride to Bournemouth on route 13. This is the main route between Wimborne and Bournemouth and brings me my first double-decker of the afternoon - an Enviro400 MMC. This is the 1800 departure on what is broadly a half-hourly service.
This is quite a 'spirited' ride out of Wimborne. A couple who have taken the front seat next to mine comment that the driver is in a hurry. Actually, I think it's just that a lot of the early part of the run is downhill and on reasonably fast roads.
Further signs that morebus is still in the process of consolidating its fleet after the Yellow Buses changes are apparent as a Damory-liveried Enviro400 on route 6 overtakes us before we have left Wimborne Square. Further along the route, in Ferndown, there's also a Unibus vehicle working the 13.
ABOVE: Unibus 1690 (HJ22 UYA), an Enviro400 MMC, is at work on route 13 towards Wimborne when seen in Victoria Road, Ferndown. This journey, the 1745 from Bournemouth, uniquely continues beyond Wimborne to Merley, hence the destination of "Wimborne and Merley"
But it's also in Ferndown that I spot a bus that has clearly originated a lot further away, and a lot longer ago. This is former London Transport RT 4777 (OLD 564), now owned by a company in Shaftesbury, Dorset, for private hire.
ABOVE: Former London Transport RT 4777 (OLD 564) in Ferndown. This started its life as a green bus in 1954, became red in 1969, and finished its LT service days at Harrow Weald garage in 1976, which means it has been in preservation now for more than twice as long as it was officially in service!
My number 13 bus is becoming steadily busier the closer we get to Bournemouth, but there are still plenty of nice views to be seen:
ABOVE: Wimborne Road, at the junction with Brierley Road in Northbourne
We pass through the suburb of Winton, down a long, straight road that seems to have many stops, and many passengers at each stop. The bus is getting very busy now; lots of people are evidently heading for an evening out in Bournemouth.
ABOVE: Another Enviro400 MMC in Unibus livery is about to cross Cemetery Junction, a mile from Bournemouth Town Centre, whilst working route 5 (Bournemouth to Kinson)
And finally, we arrive in Bournemouth, just three minutes shy of an hour from Wimborne.
ABOVE: Bath Road, on Bournemouth sea front, looking ahead to the Bournemouth International (Conference) Centre (to the right of the wheel)
So my complicated journey from Bournemouth to Wimborne, to Poole, to Turlin Moor, and all the way back again (six buses in all), has taken just under five hours in total. Phew! Now something to eat, then the challenging climb up the steep hill to my hotel...