ABOVE: Stagecoach South West 15600 (GX10 HBJ), a Scania N230UD ADL Enviro400, north of Broadclyst whilst working route 1 towards Exeter. All photos in this article were taken on Saturday 4 May 2024.
Finding the 1 ... in East Devon
Exeter to Cullompton
25 April 2026
Runs: Mondays to Saturdays
(supplementary daytime service, plus full evening and Sunday service, provided by associated route 1A)
Operator: Stagecoach South West
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 15 minutes
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Seven buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 44-49 minutes
Estimated route length: 10-11 miles
During trips around Devon a couple of years ago, when based in Exeter, I must have passed through Exeter Bus Station at least a dozen times. It can be a very busy place, but here's what it looks like when it's quiet:
ABOVE: Exeter Bus Station is a peaceful sight at 18:45 on a Saturday. The shoppers have gone home and the nightlife participants have yet to arrive.
My penultimate visit to the Bus Station for this Devon adventure is to catch route 1 to Cullompton. At the time of this visit, in May 2024, I had no idea that I would be launching the "Finding the 1" series almost two years later. But I never wrote up that trip, so why not bring it in now and pretend that I had planned it this way all along?
This Stagecoach South West service looks to be a pretty busy one, with departures every 15 minutes on weekdays. I manage to turn up at around the same time as the bus - an ADL Enviro400 - so am quickly on my way.
Despite the fact that Exeter Bus Station has 11 stands, it cannot accommodate every terminating bus route in the city, and some have to terminate in nearby side streets, as I discover when we turn into Sidwell Street, the terminus of route 360 to the village of Christow, 12 miles to the south-west. (And probably a fascinating ride - I wonder if my friend Count Monty knows about the place?)
ABOVE: Stagecoach South West 48011 (YJ15 ABU), an Optare Solo SR, stands in Sidwell Street on route 360 to Christow. This service is now run by Dartline, with similar vehicles.
Further down Sidwell Street, we come to the Sidwell Street Methodist Church. Work began in 1902 and the church opened for worship in May 1905. During this time, the French engineer Paul Cottancin, who had won the contract to build the church, went bankrupt, and it took some time for the roof to be completed. According to the Church website, the roof was the subject of a joke in the local Pantomime at the time, when Sleeping Beauty woke up and asked if the roof had been finished!
I would say that it was worth the wait:
ABOVE: The roof and spire of the Methodist Church dominate the local skyline on this part of Sidwell Street
The initial direction of travel is broadly east, and this brings us to Polsloe Bridge station. This unstaffed station sits on the Exmouth line, just five minutes out from Exeter Central.
We join the Pinhoe Road, which will take us in due course to the suburb of the same name.
ABOVE: Stagecoach South West 19102 (MX07 HMA), an ADL Enviro400, somewhere along the Pinhoe Road with a route 1 service for Exeter.
The road starts to steer more towards the north as we reach Pinhoe itself. One of 18 wards comprising the City of Exeter, Roman coins and Bronze Age metalwork have been found here. In 1001, a battle took place between the invading Danes, who had landed at Exmouth, and Cola, the Saxon King Ethelred's Commander-in-Chief; the Danes were victorious.
The population in the 2021 Census was over 9,500, some of whom live in Westclyst, which is just one road in Pinhoe:
We pass under the M5 motorway, which will always be close by for the rest of the journey.
Things have quickly turned rural:
ABOVE: An ADL Enviro400 MMC works companion route 1A towards Exeter. This is the B3181, somewhere north-east of Pinhoe.
We come to the village of Broadclyst:
A manor stood in the village until burnt down by the Danish invaders in 1001. St John the Baptist Church here dates back to the 13th Century.
A more recent construction, but noteworthy nonetheless, is the 1925-vintage Bus Shelter. This Grade-II listed shelter is made of red sandstone and volcanic trap under a hipped thatched roof. There can't be many listed bus shelters in Britain...
Things now turn distinctly-countrified for the next few miles:
As well as the main route 1, there is also a 1A. It follows more-or-less the same route as far as this point, but then deviates to serve Beare and Bradninch. It runs hourly during the day and provides the full evening and Sunday service. It also continues beyond Cullompton to Tiverton.
That's how it is in 2026, but my route 1 journey, in 2024, deviates from the present route. We are going to Hell - well, Hele Cross, to be precise, in the village of Beare. So it looks like things have changed since my visit.
As we go through Hele, there's the Devon Valley Paper Mill to bring us back to civilisation. The then-new activity of hand paper-making started in 1762 in a redundant barn and became a professional business that is still going today.
We come to Bradninch, a small town which was found to be the 15th most family-friendly location in the country in a 2012 survey. How that reconciles with the news that it was also one of the last towns in England to punish people by placing them in stocks, I will leave you to decide.
In 1337, King Edward III bestowed the title of Duke of Cornwall and Baron of Bradninch on his eldest son Edward, later "The Black Prince". The title has remained with the eldest son of the Monarch ever since.
We're back into countryside again, and the roads are getting narrow...
But all too quickly, we reach journey's end at Cullompton War Memorial.
ABOVE: Stagecoach South West 15250 (YN65 XDO), a Scania N230 UD ADL Enviro400, is in Cullompton Town Centre on a route 1A service to Exeter.
The journey has taken precisely 45 minutes, as timetabled. It's not been too hurried, it's been steady trade but not too busy or crowded, and the sun has been out for the duration.
And that's another 1 knocked off the list, so to speak! A lovely drive - half-city suburbs and half-rural English countryside.
Whether it was the 1 or the 1A, I might never know... My notes say I was on route 1, and the bus at the top of the article, on route 1, mentions Bradninch on its display! Whichever route it was, I enjoyed it!