Portchester Flea Market

In Portchester today, was the Provincial Society's annual flea market in the Community Hall. It is located about a minutes walk from the town centre, and about five minutes from the rail station. There was a good number of stalls which were all very interesting, and although slightly quiet, a good number of people came and had a look around. If you were one, thank you for your support.

On a Saturday, Portchester only has 3 main bus services in the town. The 1A connects Fareham with Portsmouth and Southsea, and is the half-hourly extension of route 1 beyond Paulsgrove. The 5 connects Fareham also with Portsmouth and Southsea, but also serves Stamshaw, The Hard and Clarence Pier. These run at a 15 minute frequency between Paulsgrove/Cosham and Fareham. The 57 also operates on a Saturday at an hourly frequency, connecting the small village of Warsash on the river Hamble to Portsmouth City Centre, and is a relic of the old Southdown 347 route. Once upon a time it operated at every 15 minutes in the days of Red Admiral, but now it just sees hourly Darts. Portchester also sees 4 round trips of route 63 on a Saturday, connecting Fareham with Leigh Park and Havant. When the tender was proposed, I remember Stagecoach actually submitted the lowest tender, but First kept it as they operated the weekday service, and it was seen as preferable for the passenger for First to keep Saturdays. First operate route 52 (Fareham to Southdowns, 1 journey each way), route X57 (Portsmouth - Fareham via M275) at peak times and route 63 at an hourly frequency on weekdays.



With only 3 main routes operating, the bus variety was at best limited. The majority of the 1A/5 workings were Scania Omnicity single deckers - as illustrated to the right by 65015 (YN54NZM). A couple of B10BLEs were also out. Route 57 was mainly Dart SLFs - I observed 42124 and sister 42111 (R611YCR), pictured above. The one 63 journey I noticed was also a low floor Dart - 42123. Limited variety then!

As a younger, less mobile enthusiast, I frequently visted Portchester on a Saturday to visit the model shop, Wicor Models. Back then the variety was far increased:

* Route 25A operated hourly from Fareham to Cosham and Highbury

* Route 57 was every 30 minutes, and operated from Hilsea, using Ivecos such as 185 (M185XTR) as illustrated to the left

* Route 63 operated every hour, and extended to Whiteley meaning a higher PVR. How times change!

Here's to next year (assuming there will be a flea market next year) - thank you to the Provincial Society for organising it, all the stall holders for their efforts, and everyone who came in on the day.