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ROADLINER

The Rossmore Flyer back in private hands again from 2006 until 2009



Please note - this is a site of historical record and does not contain current service information



For many many years the Rossmore Flyer route was in private hands, originally Miss Foott the founder ran the service, then Cosy Coaches of Parkstone, next Stanbridge & Crichel and finally Oakfield of Blandford.  But subsequently the route passed to Wilts & Dorset and then to Bournemouth Yellow Buses.  From 1st April 2006 another private operator came along, this time local coaching firm Roadliner Passenger Transport of Poole, who ran an hourly service (supported by the Borough of Poole) on the extended Rossmore route, with each journey serving both Alderney East and Bourne Estate as well as the traditional points of Trinidad Estate and Rossmore Road.   This was their first bus service, but the firm was established in 2001 and had a fleet of seven coaches.

Reviving its popular name, it was known again as the number 8 "Rossmore Flyer" as shown in the timetable leaflet below. The service was also extended from Upper Parkstone to Alton Road, Sandecotes Road, Kings Avenue and Penn Hill Avenue in Lower Parkstone as the number 8 "Parkstone Flyer".  Reviving in part the original 1930s concept proposed seventy odd years ago by Miss Foott, albeit by a slightly different route!


first day of the Roadliner on the Rossmore Flyer

This is a picture of the new Rossmore Flyer on its first day of operation, 1st April 2006, with driver David at the wheel of the smartly
 liveried Optare Solo Y811 KRP (subsequently reregistered as Y555 ELF) at Penn Hill Corner on the extended route,
with Roadliner Passenger Transport managing director Mark Self proudly looking on.



Following the introduction of the 8 on 1st April, and with the planned changes to the network of Wilts & Dorset services from June 2006 there were more new Roadliner routes, including the "Super Seven" which started on 5th June.   These services linked Talbot View (7A) and Bloxworth Road (7B) with Alder Road and the Upper Parkstone shops, continuing via Sea View, Cranbrook Road and Trinidad Estate to Tower Park.   The Super Seven was operated by another Optare Solo but in silver livery.  Another new route also started on this date, the 32 from Merley and Gravel Hill to Poole Hospital and Poole Bus Station, three times a day in each direction, off-peak.  Again this was a service plugging gaps in the bus network after network changes by Wilts & Dorset. 

Unfortunately Roadliner's tenure in operation on the 7A, 7B and 32 was short-lived and despite the hard work they had put in to building up these routes since their introduction their participation ceased at the end of September 2006, when their tender bid to continue the routes for five years was not accepted.  The 7A and 7B passed to Damory Coaches (a Wilts & Dorset subsidiary) and the 32 to Shamrock Buses of Poole, with a route extension from Merley to Bearwood and the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.  Happily Roadliner continued to operate the number 8 Rossmore Flyer from their new base in Bunbury Road on the Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole.  From 1st March 2008 the route of the Rossmore Flyer was extended a short distance further northwards along Ringwood Road to include Alderney West as well as Alderney East.

Press reports of financial problems for Roadliner began to appear in August 2009, and on 19th August Wilts & Dorset were observed as operating the Rossmore Flyer as an interim cover.  From 29th August operation of the Rossmore Flyer was taken over for a six month period by Shamrock Buses (running to the Roadliner timetable below).  Subsequently it was announced that the assets of Roadliner Coaches of Poole had been acquired by the Cavendish School of English in Bournemouth, securing around 20 jobs. It has also acquired the Exceptional Coach Company – currently trading as Victory Tours – and has rebranded the combined business as Cavendish Liner. The new team is headed by directors Marcus and Jane Barber from Cavendish School of English.  The former Roadliner managing director Mark Self has left the business and is no longer associated with it.  A further twist to this tale from 1st April 2010 as the Rossmore Flyer passed from Shamrock Buses to Dolphin Coaches of Wimborne. The operations manager of Dolphin Coaches at the time was the selfsame Mark Self . . .

Rossmore Flyer route 8 timetable


It is said that what goes around comes around. Four years to the day after the Roadliner picture above, and in the selfsame place, we find
Mark Self at Penn Hill Corner again!  This time launching the operation of the Rossmore Flyer by Dolphin Coaches of Wimborne.

4 years to the day
(picture by Henry Frier)


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