Plymouth, Great Western Railway Company Road Motors, Plymouth to Bigbury-on-Sea

PLYMOUTH
DATA

The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY ROAD MOTORS

PLYMOUTH to BIGBURY-ON-SEA

The Great Western Railway realised that Bigbury-on-Sea was a much better crowd puller than Wembury and on July 14th 1924 started a service to there. It ran until September 21st 1924 but ran all year from July 13th 1925.

During 1926-27 there were two round trips plus a third one on Thursdays and Saturdays only to coincide with market days in Plymouth.

The first bus left The Stores at Bigbury at 8am, picked up at the Golf Links at 8.06 and in the Village at 8.13, before running via Seven Stones, Harraton Cross, Modbury (8.40am), Flete, Western Lodge, Dunstone (9am), Yealmpton (9.10), Brixton, Elburton, Billacombe and Plymstock, which it was due to depart at 9.30, to Plymouth Millbay Station. The whole journey was timed to take 90 minutes. Given that the single fare for the whole journey was 2s 6d, it must have had limited support. the fare from Modbury was 1s 6d, from Yealmpton, 10d, and from Plymstock 3d.

At 10am the bus returned to Bigbury, arriving there at 11.45. On Thursday and Saturdays it left again at 12.05pm and returned from Millbay at 2.05pm, arriving at Bigbury at 3.50.

It left again at 4pm on the last trip, departing from Millbay at 6pm for the journey home. Plymstock was reached at 6.10, Yealmpton at 6.39, Modbury at 7.04, Bigbury Village at 7.32 and finally the Stores at 7.45pm. There was no Sunday service.

The service ceased on December 31st 1928, when it was taken over by the Western National Omnibus Company, although it was still being advertised in the press as a GWR Road Motor Service. The timetable in January 1929 was: From Millbay Station yard at 10am and 6.15pm with an additional journey on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2.10pm. There was only one journey on Sundays, at 11.30am, and that did not run during February.

Buses departed from Bigbury at 7.55am and 4.20pm, with the additional journey on Thursdays and Saturdays at 12.15pm. The return journey on Sundays, except during February, departed from Bigbury at 5.30pm.