Two things about this notice, first is slightly mundane but it would appear that Stagecoach in Devon (formerly Stagecoach Devon) is now known as Stagecoach South West. Still Stagecoach though.

The second thing is something that puzzled me when I drove a bus for Stagecoach and still puzzles me now. Torbay is a area full of holidaymakers, Bank Holidays are, as their name suggests, holidays. So the holiday and holidaymakers come together and what do the bus company do? The make it harder for everyone to get around. The two main routes tourists use are the 12 Torquay to Paignton and Brixham, and the 32 Torquay to Babbacombe, St Marychurch and Teignmouth. The twelve runs every 10 minutes on weekdays but only every 20 on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The 32 goes from 15 minutes to 30 minutes and the service to Teignmouth doesn’t bother running.

So what happened at Easter, a regular passenger on the 12 service spotted me waiting for a 32 in Fleet St. This was on Easter Saturday, not being a Bank Holiday buses were running their usual times, I.e. say a prayer and hope. The passenger who spotted me then spent the next 15 minutes explaining the problems she had had getting round the previous day, Good Friday. To cut a long story short it included a wait in Paignton Bus Station of one hour for a number 12 to go to Brixham. It wasn’t that no buses turned up, three turned up but they were all full and there was a queue in the bus station going round the corner. Standing waiting for a bus is not the perfect end to a pleasant day out. It’s the sort of end to a day out that makes you wish you had gone somewhere else and next year when deciding where to go could very well be a big factor in the decision to go somewhere other than Torquay and spend loads of money.