Ilfacombe By Bus

One of the things I do these days when not looking for work is go for bus rides, I have a concessionary bus pass so they are free bus rides just like before. A slight problem is the 9:30 start time these passes have Monday to Friday, actually it isn't too big a problem, I have never been an early riser. So one day last week the weather forecast was better on the North Coast of Devon than down here so I decided to go to Ilfracombe. X46 left the Strand at 9:30 for Exeter, due in at 10:32. 155 due out of Exeter at 10:45, 13 minutes difference, should be OK. Traffic along the Newton road held up by road works at Aller and by the time we got to Countess Wear I was thinking there could be a possibility of not making it. The one after the one I wanted left at 12:45 which would give me 15 minutes in Ilfracombe, I was only going to get just over two hours as it was but that would be long enough to take a few photos, have some fish and chips and a beer. If I only had fifteen minutes there then the photos and the food would be out.
10:47 we pulled into the bus station and the bay where the 155 goes from was empty. No queue of people standing there waiting patiently, Bugger, bus must have gone. So I paid a visit to the travel shop to look for alternatives to far away Ilfracombe. Then I was just about to go and get a coffee and scan the timetables when a former colleague from Torquay walked by and I said hello. That is all I said except, "Got to go. There's my bus". 155 15 minutes late. Oh goodie, Ilfracombe back on the agenda one more. We set off 20 mins late and the trip to Barnstaple was basically uneventful apart from the fact that I was now travelling through parts of Devon I had never been to before and into some towns and villages I had never even heard off, next time I make this trip I will do a bit of research first so I know where I am. Barnstaple turned up a couple of hours later and 30 mins late but there was a number 3A waiting on the stand for the last leg, a half hour trip to the north coast.
On the way into the town we went past the local nuclear power plant cleverly disguised as the local theatre, imaginative thinking here by the local council with an eye on the probably rise in the cost of power that faces us all.
Photos, fish and chips and a walk round the town, sorry Ilfracombe but you just ain’t as pretty as Torquay and where is the beach? Then a pint, big pub but only one person in the place and then back to the bus station. I will never say anything nasty about Paignton Bus Station again. I caught a number 3 this time which missed out the trip round the houses and out to the Tesco supermarket and some back to Barnstaple. Bus station was full with shoppers and students waiting for the 155 which left on time. In Exeter I had enough time for a cup of coffee before the last X46 back to Torquay.

One more thing, Sorry two more things; I travelled on 6 different buses, two of them operated by First and 4 by Stagecoach. All of them for free. On the tickets I got on the First buses there was printed a warning that at the end of September the old type of bus passes would no longer be accepted and passengers with the old passes should make sure they got new ones before the end of the month. Stagecoach didn’t give such a warning. So if you are still using a pass issued last year get down to your local council office with some form of photo ID and proof of where you live NOW and get a new style bus passes or next Wednesday YOU will have to pay for your bus rides, instead of the poor tax payer paying.

The other thing concerned a mobile phone and a driver, who answered said mobile phone while driving the bus. Not a good idea that. Not something I personally have ever done.

More photos of Ilfracombe click here.