After the success of last year’s ‘Gallery Bus’ which spent a year travelling the roads of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch bringing its passengers the delights of artistic brilliance, Yellow buses have decided to go one step further and embrace the obviously hidden talents of local people. This week we joined others in getting a sneak preview of their latest ‘Poetry Bus’ which is now bringing words of wisdom and thought to the Yellow Bus passengers in our area.
A group of local poets were invited to share their thoughts on their bus journeys with other passengers for everyone to enjoy. These have then been very cleverly grouped by colour into the Yellow Bus routes, which combined with the words brings a artistic brilliance to what is a normal everyday service bus.
The work that has gone into this project is obvious, not just that of the talented poets but also the team of designers and fitters who have then decorated the bus. We are not talking of the odd poem placed here and there which is hidden away under a window, we are talking BIG. In fact, VERY BIG – a whole double decker covered like wall paper adding a complete new dimension to your journey on the bus.
There is a lot to see – the eight poets are all listed as you board the bus: Aaron Lowney, Annie Christopher, Bob Hill, Carrie Carrie, James Sale, Kim West, Nkech Nwokolo and Paul Harris and whether you are on the upper or lower deck, you’ll notice the poetry everywhere. Take a full look around, not forgetting the celling on both decks!
Poems include “Spotted on the 1c”, “The Larks Ascend”, “Yellow Bus buses”, “Christchurch” and “From Boscombe Pier”, this is just a section of the many you can read whilst on the bus.
A final word must go to the excellent designer, Jackie Nicholls – one of the YB team and she has managed to create a design both in colour and style which helps bring to life the words of the poets. If you are on the bus and the sun is shining from behind take a look out the back window – it’s brilliant and the array of colours reflects a eye-catching rainbow straight onto the lower deck.
The Poetry Bus is now in operation on the longer Yellow Bus routes starting on their 1b and 1c service from Christchurch to Poole via Bournemouth. You can find out more about Yellow Buses by visiting their web site www.bybus.co.uk
