SOUTHERN VECTIS (1579) Carisbrooke village.
Photograph above:
ROUTE 7 - Southern Vectis Fleet number 1579 (HW63 FHA) running down the hill at Carisbrooke village en-route to it's destination - Newport.
Photograph Copyright: Digital Expression UK (2020)
OVERVIEW
Southern Vectis route 7 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Newport and Alum Bay via Yarmouth, Freshwater and Totland. The general daytime frequency of the route is every hour each direction. There had been significant local concern over the withdrawal of route 7 from some villages way back in September 2010. Double-decker buses are normally used to operate the route.
History
Island Explorer 1993-2006
Until April 2006, the route number 7, and its associated 7A and 7B numbers, were used to flag buses providing services on the Island Explorer (or Explorer) route, a circular service around the whole Island. This route was started in the 1993 when the 7 and 7A Ryde to Alum Bay routes were extended, through mergers with other routes, to form a circuit around the Island.
The full Island Explorer route was from Ryde bus station to Shanklin mainly on the A3055 road, then via Wroxall to Ventnor and from there to Blackgang. From 1993-95 the Ryde to Shanklin section ran via Bembridge rather than on the A3055. After Blackgang, buses ran to Freshwater Bay, Totland and Alum Bay. From there the route returned to Totland, then ran on to Yarmouth, Newport and back to Ryde via Havenstreet.
A service ran both ways around the loop, with full circular services running every hour in summer and every two hours in winter. There were additional services, also numbered 7 and 7A, which only ran part of the route. Thedifference between service 7 and service 7A was the route taken between Newport and Yarmouth; route 7 serving Shalfleet and service 7A routed via Calbourne, Newbridge and Wellow.
Briefly in the mid 1990s and from January 2001, a service operated on the route in the interim known as service 12 and part of service 6 between Shanklin and Ventnor. It was numbered 7B and added to the Explorer group. This never provided a round-the-island service, and so it is questionable whether the branding was appropriate. However, the change revived a link which existed up to 1992 through service 1B (and in the 1960s by service 28) with buses running from Totland, via Freshwater Bay and Brighstone, to Newport and Ryde. With the former service 6 dropped north of Ventnor, services from Ryde to Ventnor via Shanklin and Bonchurch were also numbered 7B at this point, and although some through services were run, the two sections seemed to run as separate routes. Service 7B did not continue south of Ventnor, and from 2003 ran on as service 3 through Wroxall to Newport, thus prefiguring the current through running of route 3 from Ryde to Newport via Ventnor.
The main 7/7A service between Ryde and Newport was also re-routed via Staplers at this time - partly because resurfacing work on the road through Havenstreet had raised the surface under the steam railway bridge to the extent that double decker buses could not reliably pass underneath.
Today's route 7 travels between Newport and Alum Bay (daytime) or Totland (early morning and evening) in an indirect fashion. There are no variations in the route except for school requirements. On leaving Newport bus station, all buses travel to Carisbrooke before turning north at the Waverley Inn roundabout through Gunville. After that the route passes through Shalfleet, before turning south again to reach Thorley and Wellow to the West. Yarmouth, to the north-west of Wellow, is the next destination, then buses travel south down Pixley Hill to Freshwater before turning North-West again to reach Colwell Bay and finally heading South to Totland and Alum Bay.
SOUTHERN VECTIS (1579) Carisbrooke village.
Photograph above:
ROUTE 7 - Southern Vectis Fleet number 1579 (HW63 FHA) running down the hill at Carisbrooke village en-route to it's destination - Newport.
Photograph Copyright: Digital Expression UK (2020)
OVERVIEW
Southern Vectis route 7 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Newport and Alum Bay via Yarmouth, Freshwater and Totland. The general daytime frequency of the route is every hour each direction. There had been significant local concern over the withdrawal of route 7 from some villages way back in September 2010. Double-decker buses are normally used to operate the route.
History
Island Explorer 1993-2006
Until April 2006, the route number 7, and its associated 7A and 7B numbers, were used to flag buses providing services on the Island Explorer (or Explorer) route, a circular service around the whole Island. This route was started in the 1993 when the 7 and 7A Ryde to Alum Bay routes were extended, through mergers with other routes, to form a circuit around the Island.
The full Island Explorer route was from Ryde bus station to Shanklin mainly on the A3055 road, then via Wroxall to Ventnor and from there to Blackgang. From 1993-95 the Ryde to Shanklin section ran via Bembridge rather than on the A3055. After Blackgang, buses ran to Freshwater Bay, Totland and Alum Bay. From there the route returned to Totland, then ran on to Yarmouth, Newport and back to Ryde via Havenstreet.
A service ran both ways around the loop, with full circular services running every hour in summer and every two hours in winter. There were additional services, also numbered 7 and 7A, which only ran part of the route. Thedifference between service 7 and service 7A was the route taken between Newport and Yarmouth; route 7 serving Shalfleet and service 7A routed via Calbourne, Newbridge and Wellow.
Briefly in the mid 1990s and from January 2001, a service operated on the route in the interim known as service 12 and part of service 6 between Shanklin and Ventnor. It was numbered 7B and added to the Explorer group. This never provided a round-the-island service, and so it is questionable whether the branding was appropriate. However, the change revived a link which existed up to 1992 through service 1B (and in the 1960s by service 28) with buses running from Totland, via Freshwater Bay and Brighstone, to Newport and Ryde. With the former service 6 dropped north of Ventnor, services from Ryde to Ventnor via Shanklin and Bonchurch were also numbered 7B at this point, and although some through services were run, the two sections seemed to run as separate routes. Service 7B did not continue south of Ventnor, and from 2003 ran on as service 3 through Wroxall to Newport, thus prefiguring the current through running of route 3 from Ryde to Newport via Ventnor.
The main 7/7A service between Ryde and Newport was also re-routed via Staplers at this time - partly because resurfacing work on the road through Havenstreet had raised the surface under the steam railway bridge to the extent that double decker buses could not reliably pass underneath.
Today's route 7 travels between Newport and Alum Bay (daytime) or Totland (early morning and evening) in an indirect fashion. There are no variations in the route except for school requirements. On leaving Newport bus station, all buses travel to Carisbrooke before turning north at the Waverley Inn roundabout through Gunville. After that the route passes through Shalfleet, before turning south again to reach Thorley and Wellow to the West. Yarmouth, to the north-west of Wellow, is the next destination, then buses travel south down Pixley Hill to Freshwater before turning North-West again to reach Colwell Bay and finally heading South to Totland and Alum Bay.