Walberswick Community Buses

updated 5/11/12  see below

If you look for a bus service for Walberswick, Suffolk in the usual places, you’ll find there is only DRT services advertised.  However, it is very little known because the timetable isn’t published anywhere that Walberswick runs two 'scheduled' bus services of its own and these are free to passengers because they are funded with £4630 per year (in 2010) by the Walberswick Common Lands Trust, who derive their income from the £3 beach parking charge the Summer visitors have to pay.


Every 3rd Thursday of the month at 9.30 AM a minibus departs from from the Tuck Shop and, depending on demand, the lower car park in Walberswick for John Lewis in Norwich. I don’t know the return time but the bus - chartered from Waylands - apparently goes to another job then does the return run a couple of hours later. There are no stops en-route.


Every Wednesday there is a departure at 9.30 AM to Halesworth (on 1st Wednesdays of the month it continues to Beccles and Lowestoft), leaving as before and will drop passengers as needed at the Market Place or the Co-operative Supermarket. It waits for 90 minutes then returns. Again, no stops en-route, which is a pity for residents of Blythburgh as every bus must pass there.


Full details are a bit scant as the timetable isn’t published anywhere, even in the village, as it’s “just something you know about” a resident told me. I’ll reserve comment on the ramifications of that kind of presumption. There is a pre-booking system and a waiting list is kept as the service is often over-subscribed. Bookings are taken at 01502 724763


Sometimes the 15 or 16 seat minibus that Waylands supply (they're never quite sure until the day before) could have done with a wash but residents tell me they are very happy with the service and the drivers. The buses have a tail lift and there are passengers who use it. Though the bus doesn’t go door-to-door, it can stop anywhere it’s passing and the drivers are helpful. It used to have a £1 booking fee but was dispensed with when the WCLT assumed the entire cost. The bus contract is legally with the WCLT (the secretary is Jane Tibbles 01502 724448).


Apropos of a Handy Bus service, this is a very good example of a village (that is fortunate to have the means) of taking transport needs into their own hands and managing it themselves and has done so for years. The service was started in May 2007 on a six month trial and then only used to run monthly but demand steadily grew to where they are now.


Walberwick recently completed a parish plan. It has been put to that committee that opportunity exists to create synergies and efficiencies using the bus service to deliver other social care functions for everyone in the village. I hope those ideas - and many others arising from the consultation - will get considered.

From the Walberswick Parish Plan Stage 2 report October 2012

Public transport 

A large number of respondents (158) wanted improved public transport.
However there are already various means of accessing transport from the village to local areas that could be more widely publicised. Suffolk Links, which is a subsidised Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service providing connections to bus and train links in rural areas, operates from Monday to Saturday and covers travel to Saxmundham, Leiston, Darsham and any village within the Blyth service area. Concessionary Passes can be used for this service. The WCLC provides a Wednesday bus to Halesworth three times a month and to Lowestoft on the fourth Wednesday. WCLC also runs a bus to Norwich, one Thursday per month. The twice weekly public transport to Beccles had to be withdrawn due to lack of uptake. Unfortunately there is no bus service to Southwold nor does the Suffolk Links service extend to Southwold; this inconvenience needs to be rectified.