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by David Lowe, MInstTA, AMBIM
Page 45
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BUDE and its surrounding area has in recent years lost many of its public transport facilities. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of this stretch of the northern Cornish coast can travel widely and comfortably by courtesy of the enterprising independent services operated by W. J. 0. Jennings Ltd, of Bude.
Mr G. Stephenson, managing director of this thriving coach operator and travel agency business, has seized the opportunities exposed by cuts in the previous services, both road and rail. Rather than adopt the familiar attitude that life is tough and rough for the small operator, Mr Stephenson told me he considers that the present time is the first in coaching history when the private operator—with the NBC surrendering the licences of some unremunerative services—has been given the opportunity to untilize his vehicles and staff efficiently. Previously, the private operator was severely restricted in his operations.
Jennings operate 10 coaches on express and stage-carriage work, excursions and tours, private hire, rail-replacement services and on country routes discarded by the NBC. The rail-replacement services which comprise a significant part of the firm's business and an important link for the community have been operated between Bude and Okehampton since the line closure in October 1,966. Mr Stephenson is proud that in this period over 50,000 passengers have been carried on the service without a complaint or a single missed connection. Luxury coaches only are used for the service and running time for the 30 miles is maintained almost unfailingly at 1 hour 10 minutes.
An extension of these rail-replacement services is expected when the Exeter-Okehampton rail line closes and Jennings are planning a five-times-daily non-stop service between these towns linking with the onward service to Bude. The plan is to improve on the original Londem /Bude total rail journey time of 5 hours by at least half an hour. British Railways offered the service to NBC when planning the line closure and NBC in turn offered it to Jennings.
Jennings co-operate with British Railways over rail /road "mystery" tours. These are offered by BR in the Bristol area and Jennings provide coaches for the road section. These tours are so popular that on one 14 coaches—some of them hired by Jennings—had to be employed. In order that Cornwall's narrow lanes should not be congested—and the coffee and lunch stop facilities not be overburdened—the route had to be negotiated over a figure of eight.
Further NBC route closures in the Bude area are planned for the autumn; Jennings are seeking to take them over and to offer an improved service, not necessarily in terms of journey times but in the standard of vehicles to be used. Mr Stephenson firmly believes that passengers are not prepared these days to suffer rides that last an hour or more on normal service buses. He is sure that by providing first-class travelling facilities he will encourage custom.
For the Exeter-Okehampton railreplacement service Mr Stephenson's idea is to utilize a coach converted for 53 seats and incorporating a vending machine and a toilet so that the passengers will have similar facilities to those provided by the train.
Talking of standards of service offered by his company, he said that one run which it operated took a little over 20 minutes whereas the Western National service over the same route, plus one-tenth of a mile, took 45 minutes.
Mr Stephenson has strong views on driversthey should be keen, well mannered and report for duty properly dressed. This is an obvious point but one which Mr Stephenson thinks is overlooked all too often.
The services which Jennings took over and plan to take over from NBC in the Cornwall area are not subsidized by the county council as Cornwall has decided against them. However, Devon and Wiltshire have agreed to subsidize in certain cases.
Mr Stephenson, who wants to see an inifirovement in the morale of small operators, sets an example by his own attitude. In the 14 years since he took over Jennings he has, by hard work and exterprise, built it into a flourishing business. The 10 coaches are all reasonably new and two of them have Moseley Estoril bodies, built by Salvador Caetano in Portugal. Last year the coaches covered 250/300,000 miles. Mr Stephenson has obtained a new location for a garage, drive-through wash bay and offices. This site is currently being developed. Control of the coach operation is at present centred on the firm's flourishing travel agency office in the Bude town centre. Cheap five-day holidays to Majorca which involve a journey by Jennings coach to and from Bristol Airport for the flight, and one-day trips to Jersey are offered. Holidays at the newly established Penstowe Holiday Village, near Bude, can also be booked.
Mr Stephenson looks to the future with confidence. He has many coaching activities in operation and others are planned, and he carries school children and football teams. However, he shuns minibuses because he considers them uneconomical with the driver's wages as the highest cost factor; and he is sure the day of the "country bus" is finished. He believes the public will tolerate only the best and that therefore a dual-purpose coach is required, and that it is in this aspect where the NBC, having to lay up its coaches during the winter, has failed.
In an area with a small, widely spread population it takes initiative and good service to encourage travel on any scale but Jennings have no doubts about the prospects for the future. Mr Stephenson expects that the rail link wilt eventually end at Plymouth and this will give even more scope to independent operators in the area.
One last example of the quality of service offered tv the company is exemplified by its 10-year standing arrangement with a club at Wealdstone, Middlesex, to provide coaches for its annual holiday trip. "They prefer the Cornish driver who is more obliging," Mr Stephenson said.