Exmouth school children first to hop aboard new look Big Beach Bus

Local school children hopped aboard Stagecoach’s revamped ‘Big Beach Bus’ to celebrate its start of service for 2018.

The open-top ‘Big Beach Bus’ hit the road earlier than normal this year to coincide with the opening of Devon Cliffs Holiday Park for its new season. The 95 route connects the Park, located at Sandy Bay, with World of Country Life, Littleham, Exmouth sea front and Exmouth town centre.

The bus has also been revamped with a fun, new look celebrating everything that is best about the beach. The ‘Big Beach Bus’ name, however, has stayed the same as it was originally suggested by Littleham CofE Primary School children back in 2014.

To coincide with the bright new look, Stagecoach approached the school again to ask if this time pupils would like to write poems about a trip aboard the bus. The winning poem was written by pupils in Year Four, ages 8 to 9, with two runner-up poems written by Taylor-Rose Anslow and Daniel Jeeves in Year Six. The poems will be displayed in the interior of the bus, providing customers with an entertaining read as they enjoy their journey  to Exmouth sea front.

The class who collaborated on the winning poem were invited onto the bus for its inaugural trip. They were met at Sandy Bay by Stagecoach South West Managing Director Bob Dennison, the Mayor of Exmouth Brian Cole and representatives from the World of Country Life and Devon Cliffs. Afterwards, they spent the rest of the morning enjoying Adventure Golf and the Climbing Wall at Devon Cliffs.

Bob Dennison commented: “All of the poems we received from Littleham Primary School were excellent, but the one written by Mrs Padbury’s year 4 class really stood out to us, as it was such an original idea. I would like to say thank you to the head teacher and his staff at Littleham for supporting the project, and an extra special thank you to all of the children who got involved.”

Class teachers Mrs Iley and Mrs Padbury said: ‘We couldn't be more proud of Littleham's Year 4 class. The whole class pulled all of their creative ideas together to write a poem to celebrate the launch of the new look Big Beach Bus. Having our winning poem printed is wonderful. The day out at Devon Cliffs was the icing on the cake to reward the children for their hard work.’

Whilst the Big Beach Bus was taking the children on their trip, a Golden Hop122 open top from Stagecoach’s Torbay network temporarily operated on the 95 route. The Golden Hops, each with their distinctive animal character, will be back in service around the Bay from Easter 2018.

Customers can plan their journey on the Big Beach Bus – and all other South West bus services - by downloading the free Stagecoach app, available in the App and Play stores. Customers can also use the app to buy day or 1 week mobile tickets. Alternatively, they can use the journey planner at www.stagecoachbus.com.