Educating The Weald: Scotland & Bates

[Chris]

Homewood School, just outside Tenterden, is something of an outlier in Kentish education, with term dates that don't seem to match anyone else's and although bus services enter the school grounds, the layout means they can't get out in anything like the timetabled order and simply take their turn to escape anything up to ten minutes late. Said services are also a curious mix of standard registered "public" services and "closed door" contracts, which are themselves quite unusual for public schools in Kent (in comparison to the huge number of closed door contracts in, say, Hertfordshire or Buckinghamshire). 

Scotland & Bates add to the general confusion: they don't publish timetables on their website nor is the data included in the open data sources that power bustimes (etc.), but the majority of their services are registered in the "School or Works" category.  However, the Homewood School bus map lists the "HS" routes as closed door contracts, along with the "Biddenden" service, which isn't registered! 

WJ02KDN is the second-oldest vehicle in the fleet, and is seen arriving from the south for the "Biddenden" closed-door contract, which presumably serves to relieve Arriva route 12. It will depart the school to the north. 

A little while later, WA06 CDO, an almost-but-not-quite identical vehicle four years newer, is seen leaving the school to the south on route HS2, which will end up in Aldington via Woochurch, Kenardington, Warehorne, Hamstreet, Bromley Green, Kingsnorth and Park Farm. 

Both seen in the grand afternoon departure on 17th April. (The details above are presumed still correct, as the bus map is still dated February 2023 and has not (yet) been updated for the new term). 

Chris

[Chris]

Having focused on buses leaving Tenterden, I'd rather forgotten those arriving from elsewhere and as such this rather caught me by surprise. As well as operating buses from the Ashford area to Homewood School, they also operate at least one service in the other direction, service AS1 - presumably for Ashford Schools. Unfortunately, that's as much I can say, as further information doesn't appear to be available! 

Van Hool-bodied WA13 DWO was spotted passing The Vine in Tenterden High Street on 17th April. 

Chris

[Chris]

Having made a couple of visits to Tenterden and observed the southbound departures from Homewood School, on 20th May I tried the rather smaller collection of services that leave northbound by positioning myself at St Michael's. 

Little has changed in the difficulties of identifying Scotland & Bates services since 2023, but three of their services leave in this direction (the HS2 continues to leave southbound), the HS3 to Finberry and Aldington, the HS6R to various places in South Ashford, and the HS7 to Smarden and Pluckley. 

My photo of the HS3 (sadly) wasn't sharp, but here are two of the operator's collection of Van Hools, WA08 GSO on the HS6R and WA09 AZG on the HS7. The current Homewood map shows the HS6R (which presumably stood, at one point, for relief) as continuing beyond the claimed destination of Park Farm to Kingsnorth and Bromley Green. 

Chris