100 British Bus Routes: Route 99
Eastbourne to Hastings (Silverhill)
6 May 2024
ABOVE: Stagecoach South East 15329 (YN67 YLB), a Scania N250UD ADL Enviro400 MMC, passes along Terminus Road in Eastbourne (which is pedestrianised except for buses), on route 99 to Hastings and Silverhill. All photos in this article were taken on Saturday 27 January 2024, except where stated.
Runs: Daily (with limited evening service on Mondays to Saturdays only)
Operator: Stagecoach South East
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: 10 buses
Off-peak journey time: 89 minutes
Estimated route length: 18 miles
Operator: Stagecoach South East
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 20 minutes
Estimated Vehicle Requirement: 10 buses
Off-peak journey time: 89 minutes
Estimated route length: 18 miles
Eastbourne Pier looks fantastic in the sunshine. It has stood here since work began in 1866, barring the odd accident; most recently a fire in 2014 that destroyed the large arcade that used to stand mid-way along the structure.
ABOVE: Eastbourne Pier
That’s all forgotten as I stand at a bus stop on the seafront close by, outside the Mansion Hotel. According to Google, the hotel has a 3.2-star rating, based on 126 reviews. I mention this because someone has given the bus stop itself a Google Review, calling it "a simple bus stop like the others in town" and awarding it four stars. Seems generous for a stop without a shelter.
Not that a shelter is needed today. It's a beautiful sunny January afternoon and the temperature isn't bad for the time of year. Just as well, because I'm waiting quite a long time for the 99 bus to Hastings.
And waiting… The 1308 service has not turned up and the 1328 is also overdue. What should be a 20-minute interval service is not functioning evenly today.
This is a busy route, so I know that the first bus after a severe delay is going to be busy. I decide to walk back to the Town Centre, to be in with a shout at the first stop.
As I walk back into town, two buses pass in quick succession, one of which is presumably the missing 1328, and the other probably the 1348 that is now due. I don’t know what the collective noun for a pair of 99s is; if I were to suggest something I would probably be sued by the ice cream industry...
ABOVE: As the first bus in at least 40 minutes, Stagecoach South East 15338 (YN67 YLL), a Scania N250UD ADL Enviro400 MMC, carries a heavy load across the Memorial Roundabout in Eastbourne. This bus shows off the "Wave" branding that was once carried across the whole of the fleet for this route.
Thankfully the blip in service has settled now, and the next bus appears at its scheduled time of 1408. Despite the recent flurry of buses we still have a decent load as we head out of town.
This route has a fine modern fleet of Scania Enviro400 MMCs. When they first arrived in 2017, they carried "Wave" branding – an identity from Stagecoach South East that is / was designed to advertise the coastal credentials of both this route and the 100/101 services that operate from the far side of Hastings – but those are an adventure yet to be fully enjoyed by Yours Truly. I say the branding "was designed", as it seems to be missing from most of the buses I see today.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 15282 (YN16 WVY), another Scania N250UD ADL Enviro400 MMC, turns off Eastbourne's Grand Parade into Terminus Road, on a very wet Saturday 18 November 2023.
We head east out of Eastbourne along the Royal Parade, the coastal road alongside the Eastern Promenade. There are lots of hotels along here, as well as an ice cream parlour, an adventure playground (including "Pirate Golf"), and a public park. When I came to Eastbourne in the 1990s, there was also a Butterfly House where the insects were allowed to roam freely - quite an experience.
ABOVE: Looking along the Eastern Promenade in Eastbourne. The Pier is just behind us.
This is the only bus service to run along this bit of the seafront, although other routes are available just a few hundred yards away on the first parallel street inland. Always check parallel streets if the bus service looks unrealistically poor – that trick has worked for me in the likes of Brighton and Blackpool as well as here in Eastbourne!
The outskirts of this end of town aren’t terribly noteworthy, except that even a leisure centre and the local Asda supermarket look more attractive in the winter sunshine.
But now we are firmly on the road to Pevensey, a rather lovely village that sits in the shadows of its big neighbour. My mother brought me here, when I was a child, to visit the local churchyards, where we would walk round looking at names on gravestones, in order to trace possible ancestors, of which, it transpired, I have many round here.
It’s a village that seems to be in two distinct parts. This part, Pevensey Bay, has a cosy fishing village feel to it. It's not always been that cosy - it's where William the Conqueror landed in 1066! Presumably this is also why the next stretch of coastline is known as Normans Bay.
ABOVE: Eastbourne Road, Pevensey Bay. The coast is just a few hundred yards to the right, obscured here by the buildings. In the distance, Stagecoach 15336 (YN67 YLJ), another Scania N250UD ADL Enviro400 MMC, heads for Eastbourne on route 99.
We turn inland, and pass Pevensey Bay station. There’s a level crossing here, and one has quite a good chance of seeing a train or two. Finding a train that is actually stopping at Pevensey Bay is rather rarer (nine trains a day call, peak hours only). A shame, really, as it’s the more convenient stop for the sea, if you fancy a quiet bit of coastline or a nice coastal walk.
ABOVE: A class 171 diesel unit of Southern Railways passes Pevensey Bay station (the platforms are behind the building to the left of the level crossing). It is presumably on its way to Ashford International, as the use of a diesel train indicates a service going beyond the reach of the third-rail electric network, which runs out at Ore, east of Hastings.
We come to T-junction, where a left turn would take us into Pevensey itself. We're about a mile from Pevensey Bay now. Just to confuse things, there's also the adjacent village of Westham (the two villages are jointly served by Pevensey & Westham railway station). I remember taking afternoon tea in an outdoor café somewhere around here as a child (probably after one of the cemetery visits I was describing earlier). The staff had put something sweetly and sticky in a bottle on each table to trap nuisance insects, and the result was that we were plagued by wasps throughout the sitting!
The 99 does not come into this part of town. Instead, it turns right at the T-junction and brings us to the massive five-road Pevensey Roundabout. Here we join the official coastal road, the A259, which forms a single-carriageway road that takes us right out into the countryside.
This is a very distinct point for the 99, separating the environs and suburbs of Eastbourne from the environs and suburbs of Bexhill and Hastings. For around four miles we are on an open road with no settlements, no houses to speak of and no bus stops. There’s just the odd campsite, lots of farmland - and a glamping site!
This long stretch (an “intermezzo”, perhaps?) comes to an end as we approach Little Common, which represents the beginning of Bexhill-on-Sea.
The bus stop at Little Common is right on another five-way roundabout, albeit a far smaller and more manageable one than the Pevensey Roundabout. Buses in both directions serve the same stop. It’s quite tight so can be challenging when two buses arrive together…
ABOVE: The bus stop at Little Common, Bexhill, sits on a roundabout. You can see two of the five exits that lead off the roundabout.
From this point, we are in the suburbs of Bexhill, and the roads leading to town are mainly residential. Little Common morphs into Collington, which leads on into Bexhill-proper.
ABOVE: Typical of this residential suburb of Bexhill-on-Sea is Birkdale, Little Common.
When I was first visiting the 99, it was run by single-decker buses, which were never very adequate. The service has been fully double-decked for some years now, although the odd interloper still slips out:
ABOVE: Stagecoach South East 36122 (GN10 JCY), an ADL Enviro200, covers for a double-decker on route 99. This is the Richmond Road stop on Cooden Drive in Collington.
And so to the heart of Bexhill-on-Sea. Wikipedia tells us that Reginald Sackville, seventh Earl De La Warr, decided to transform what was then a village on a hill into an exclusive seaside resort, which he named Bexhill-on-Sea. He was instrumental in building a sea wall south of the village, and the road above it was then named De La Warr Parade. Large houses were built inland from there, and the new town began.
Bexhill is also where the first motor race in the United Kingdom was held, in May 1902, and the town is recorded as the "Birthplace of British Motor Racing". This achievement is now commemorated by a Classic Car Show, held on August Bank Holiday Monday each year.
It was the ninth Earl De La Warr, Herbrand Sackville (1900-1976), who initiated an architectural competition to develop a new seafront building here. The De La Warr Pavilion, Grade-I listed, is located on the seafront and was constructed in 1935. It was one of the first major Modernist public buildings in Britain, and now serves as a contemporary arts centre. To me, it's not particularly easy on the eye, but you may have a different view. (The bus only affords a view of the back of the building - the front can be seen here.)
Back to the 99, and buses work their way to Devonshire Road, the focal point and main shopping street of the town.
ABOVE: Stagecoach 15489 (GN09 BBJ), a slightly older Scania N270UD ADL Enviro400, calls into Devonshire Road in Bexhill Town Centre, on its way to Eastbourne, on Saturday 18 November 2023.
As we work our way out of the town centre, we pass a lovely church right opposite the railway station - St Mary Magdalene's, built in 1907:
ABOVE: St Mary Magdalene's Church, Bexhill-on-Sea
From here, we start what always feels like quite a long crawl into Hastings. It’s only a matter of four miles to the heart of Hastings, but this first part can be slow, particularly as we pick our way past the Ravenside Retail & Leisure Park, with "13 big name stores" and 881 parking spaces. Oh, and Bexhill Leisure Pool is next door!
We're very close to the coast at this point, although it's largely hidden from view until we get a fleeting glimpse at Bexhill Road, a quarter-of-a-mile east of the Leisure Pool.
ABOVE: First glimpse of sea, looking across from Bexhill Road towards St Leonards.
We're firmly heading into the suburbs of Hastings now. St Leonards-on-Sea was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town - "a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off" (source: Wikipedia). Amongst many claims to fame, Judges Postcards, the giftware and souvenir company, was formed here in 1902 and remains in the town.
St Leonards is also where we are finally reunited with the seafront, and we are now able to enjoy uninterrupted views of the coastline for the last mile-and-a-half into Hastings.
The focal point of St Leonards must surely be Warrior Square Gardens, which opened to the public in 1852. The Gardens comprise of around 186,000 square feet of green space, with lower, middle and Rose Garden sections. The buildings around the Square are striking.
ABOVE: Warrior Square Gardens, St Leonards
ABOVE: A Stagecoach South East ADL Enviro200 passes Warrior Square Gardens (just out of sight to the left) on Hastings local route 22 (Ore to Hollington). Buses on local routes are branded as the Hastings Arrows. Hastings Pier is in the background.
ABOVE: Stagecoach South East still operates some Dennis Dart SLF Plaxton Pointer 2s, such as 34845 (GX06 DWW), seen in St Leonards on Hastings local route 23 (Conquest Hospital to Harley Shute). I know it looks like 22 from the distance, but it really is a 23!
The main claim to fame for Hastings is obviously the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but this actually took place seven miles inland, in the area now known, for obvious reasons, as Battle.
Like many coastal towns, the population of Hastings grew significantly as a result of the construction of railway links and the fashionable growth of seaside holidays during the Victorian era. In 1801, the population of Hastings was 3,175; ninety years later, it was almost 60,000. (Nowadays it is in excess of 92,000.)
Havelock Road, in the heart of the town centre, acts as the focal point for buses. Behind the westbound bus stop is a taxi rank. This road is on such a slope that taxi drivers don't need to start their engines to move forward in the 'queue' - they just let off the handbrake and roll forward.
ABOVE: Stagecoach South East also still operates a few Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400s, such as 19-year-old 18162 (XIL 1575, previously GX54 DVC), is seen in Havelock Road, in Hastings Town Centre. John Logie Baird (1888-1946), the Scottish inventor who demonstrated the world's first live working television system in 1926, and who is commemorated by the Wetherspoon's pub, lived in Bexhill for the last 18 months of his life. Behind the bus is the taxi rank.
But, while I term Havelock Road as the focal point for buses, there is a bus station, literally one stop away, at the railway station.
ABOVE: The bus interchange outside Hastings Railway Station sees three Stagecoach South East vehicles in residence: 18411 (AE06 GZH, left) is a Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400. Next to it, 15286 (YN16 WWC) is a Scania N250UD ADL Enviro400 MMC, and an ADL Enviro200 completes the set.
Having been clinging loosely to the coast since we left Eastbourne, the last part of our journey takes us inland, as buses head up the main A21 Bohemia Road towards the suburb of Silverhill.
As we climb out of town - and parts of it are a substantial climb - we're close to residential areas of town. As we're now heading north-west, we're also almost doubling back on ourselves, and indeed we get to well within half a mile of St Leonards Warrior Square (even if it's taken a quarter-of-an-hour to get from there to here)!
ABOVE: 15339 (YN67 YLM), another Scania N250UD ADL Enviro400 MMC, passes St Peter's Church (behind the vegetation on the right), on Bohemia Road to the north-west of Hastings Town Centre.
Local folklore, aided by Wikipedia, suggests that the name Silverhill derives from the spillage of Roman coins on their journey to an Iron working just north of Hastings!
The terminus of route 99 is near the complicated junction of London Road and Sedlescombe Road. This stretch, from Hastings Town Centre, has been the quietest part of the journey, and I suspect that buses only come up here because the Stagecoach depot is located in an adjacent street (albeit slightly difficult to access because of the road layout).
The whole trip from Eastbourne has taken about an hour-and-a-half, and route 99 is a really great way to tour this area. It's picturesque, and the three towns it serves are best seen from the top of a double-decker bus!
ABOVE: Silverhill - the terminus of Route 99 in Hastings.