I arrived on the diesel train from Brighton to find the Carriage Road at Eastbourne Station already vibrant with activity. In the front line-up were Eastbourne 72 - a PD3 with a St.Helens front, PUF647 - a Southdown Guy Arab, and BUF277C, a Southdown Queen Mary.
Behind were Eastbourne 69 - a late AEC Regent V, Southdown 424 - another Queen Mary, with GS62 lurking in the background.
I grabbed a programme and climbed aboard the Guy Arab, which was ready to depart for Hailsham. Upstairs seats at the front had already been bagged, so I settled behind the bonnet as we swung out of the station.
Heading north away from Eastbourne we encountered a southbound convoy of Stagecoach buses: a couple of stretched Olympians, an Alexander-bodied Dart and a Bristol VR. Quite where they were going I haven't a clue.
We reached Polegate. The bus pulled up short of the level crossing so that I could cross over first to watch it come over the crossing.
After that I had my exercise: a hundred metre jog up the street to catch up with the bus at the bus stop.
I settled back into my seat for the ride on to Hailsham, where we pulled up beside the flower baskets in the attractive town centre.
We had a few minutes there before the blinds were wound round to the 92 for the return journey.
Leaving Hailsham we forked left onto the road to Stone Cross, rather than back through Polegate. At Stone Cross we had a very brief photo stop. Then we headed on into the Eastbourne suburbs. We met an Optare Spectra of Eastbourne Buses (R870MDY) on a suburban loop working.
Our route took us into the heart of town, where we met another of the Spectra, R874MDY, in the darker blue livery. Then it was round the town to reach the station by the one-way system, and into the carriage road.
277 was just about to leave for Beachy Head, so I headed across..
All photos by Ian Smith. Click on most of them for a larger picture.
Back to Ian's Bus-stop
Part 1: Pole Dance
Part 2: Ups and Downs