IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Broadwater Road, SOUTHAMPTON, SO18 2EB

First Southampton 40629, a Dennis Dart/Alexander Dash new to Yorkshire Rider (which became part of FirstBus when its owners, Badgerline, merged with GRT), pauses in the turning circle built into the bottom of Hillgrove Road where it meets Meggeson Avenue; it is operating route 8 to Lordshill via Southampton city centre. At this time, the routes serving Townhill Park did so on a one way loop, so most buses did not bother going round the turning circle. I have fond memories of going on these buses in Leeds, so it was a pleasant surprise to find one in Southampton.

First Southampton 34071, a long wheelbase Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine new to Stagecoach Viscount, thunders along Meggeson Avenue while traversing the Townhill Park and Midanbury loop before returning to Southampton city centre on route 3A. In an attempt to address the large number of elderly double deckers in its fleet, First had recently acquired a significant number of secondhand midlife Olympians, hence this former Stagecoach bus being part of its Southampton fleet.

Now only for feet and bicycles, this bridge once carried the main A27 trunk road traffic.

A couple of hardy canoeists paddle their way downstream early on a cold late December morning in this view from Image]

The riverside path continues.

Path along the river Itchen at Mansbridge.

The suburb of Mansbridge, on the northern perimeter of Southampton, takes its name from the old Mans Bridge which spans the River Itchen and was, for some considerable time, the only road link across the River Itchen in the vicinity of Southampton. The 18th century bridge still stands and is a Grade II listed structure (Historic England List entry Number: 1092023 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1092023 ) but it is now open only to pedestrians and cyclists, having been replaced a larger and more modern road bridge carrying the A27.

Viewed from the bridge carrying the A27 Mansbridge Road over the river.

Mans Bridge is a Grade II Listed Structure and the Historic England website describes it thus:- "Late C18. A single segmental arch of tooled stone 'lamb's wool pattern' with a stringcourse at road level, projecting keystone, and solid balustrade with rounded coping swept out at each end to circular piers crowned with conical, slightly projecting capping." The bridge once carried the main A27 road over the river, but is now restricted to pedestrian and cycle use.