| Bus | From | To | Service | Operator |
| 181 | Blurton, Selby Walk (adj) | Stoke Station | 350 | Bakerbus |
| 218 | Stoke Station | Barlaston, Orchard Place (adj) | X1 | Bakerbus |
| 181 | Barlaston, Whitethorn Avenue (adj) | Walton, Ambulance Station (opp) | 350 | Bakerbus |
| 24 | Granville Square, Stone | Chell Road, Stafford | X1 | D&G |
Today we decided to stay fairly local and cover the #350's. This is a service which is almost always worked by step entranced buses, and Matthew had only been on 3 of their collection of Mercedes minibuses that usually work this service. I went out at 10;30 onto the A5035 to try and view 2 of the 3 buses, only I didn't go out quite early enough and only saw 1; 182 was working the 10:10 Hanley - Stone. This bus works past every hour even hours towards Stone and Odd hour towards Hanley. At 11;30 I saw both buses... 183 working towards Newport and 182 working towards Hanley. Originally, we had planned to do the 12:10 off Hanley towards Stone, but we now knew that 182 was going to be on this service (not required). The only unknown bus on the 350's at this point was the 11:20 Newport - Hanley. We decided to go North on the #350 and then to return South on the X1. Apart from printing out various timetables, we packed emergency rations of Shandy, Tizer and sausage rolls. We planned on getting to Stafford just after 15:00, so we arranged to meet up with mum then. Just before time we walked across to the stop on the A5035 near Newstead. After a short wait Bakerbus 181 turned up which was very much required!
Bakerbus 181 on the #350 to Hanley (Matt)
We worked out that if we got off at the station we would have around 5 minutes to wait for the X1 to Stone. So that's exactly what we did.
Bakerbus 181 Outside Stoke Station on the #350 to Hanley (Matt)
We crossed the road and waited the 5 minutes. In the Interim 40383 was working a 23 to Blurton, 66842 was on a 25 to Keele and D&G 132 was on a #41 to Clayton. We were expecting a big silver route branded bus, which we haven’t been on before. Instead we got Volvo B6 218 which we also required.
Bakerbus 218 on the X1 to Stone (Matt)
I contemplated whether to do this bus to stone or get off at Barlaston and get another run on Bakerbus 181. We decided to get off in Barlaston. The reasoning behind this is that we might be able to get chips here, it's would be quiet and we would get more step entranced miles. A few minutes later we alighted in Barlaston.
Bakerbus 218 in Barlaston (Matt)
When we got off, It had started to rain so we went straight to the bus stop for the Stone bound #350. When Matthew and Uncle Dave settle in the bus stop, i went for a short walk to try and find a chippy. It turns out that there isn't a chippy in that part of Barlaston, so I went to a shop and picked up a few Kit Kats. Whilst I was away Matthew photographed the Northbound #350 with 182 in charge.
Bakerbus 182 in Barlaston (Matt)
We worked out that we could have done 182 North probably as far as Newstead to catch the bus we were waiting for. Either that or meet up with the next X1 at stoke station. The plan when we got on 181 again was to do the bus just south of Stone and catch the 13:20 Newport back into Stone. After about a 30 minute wait, Bakerbus 181 appeared.
Bakerbus 181 on the #350 to Newport (Matt)
The bus headed south and then joined up with the A34. When we eached Stone, we saw another couple of D&G bus duties. D&G 95 was working a #3 stone town circular service, and D&G 90 was on a 352 Stone - Yarnfield shuttle. The bus was running due to a road closure at Cold Meece and the diversion of the 490 Stone - Stafford. Just South of Stone town centre there appeared to be some kind of carnival. traffic was at a near standstill and it looked unlikely we would catch the #350 going North with Bakerbus 183. just as we turned into the Walton Road, the other 350 went in front of us. Bowled out!
Bakerbus 181 in Walton on the 350 to Newport (Matt)
We walked back up into Crown Street fighting our way through the crowds. just as we reached the Crown Street stop Bakerbus 183 appeared at the stop. We had to decide whether to do this for one stop around the corner. In the end we decided not to, at least this leaves us at lest one bus to come out on the #350's for in the future. We used the facilities in Crown Street and then set off towards Granville Square. As we turned the corner towards the square, the X1 from Hanley appeared with Bakerbus solo 200
Bakerbus 200 on the X1 (Matt)
Seconds after that, we saw a non-Scania Omnicity on a Northbound 101 service, ex Chester 61554.
First Potteries 61554 working a #101 to Hanley (Matt)
When we got to Granville square, Bakerbus Optare Solo 200 was awaiting time before returning to Hanley. You can still see where the 77 sunset strip vinyl’s used to be.
Bakerbus 200 in Granville Square on the X1 to Hanley (Matt)
We had about 15 minutes to wait before the D&G X1 Stafford service, so we sat under the tree and ate sausage rolls. I t had now stopped raining but it seemed to be wetter under the tree than outside it. I was expecting a Dart or maybe even a Mercedes minibus. I was surprised when a full length single decker DAF appeared!
D&G in Granville Square, Stone about to work the X1 to Stafford (Matt)
As we boarded the bus another D&G appeared on a service 249. It was probably either 106 or 107 as it had a turquoise seat moquette. Matthew also photographed the empty DAF.
Inside D&G 24 (Matt)
The journey to Stafford was quite speedy, with the only thing that made the journey longer was the direction of travel. heading off towards Rugeley before heading back into Stafford via the university and hospital. at around 15:18 we arrived in Chell Road Stafford.
D&G 24 in Chell Road, Stafford on the X1 (Matt)
As we came into stafford from the South East, we past a few buses on the stops around the corner from Chell Road. 2 of the buses there were out of Matthew's favourite Arriva Midlands batch P--- FEA Plaxton bodied Darts, First to follow us around the corner was Arriva Midlands 2306
Arriva Midlands 2306 in Chell Road Stafford (Matt)
After we crossed the road to Sainsbury's, 2307 made an appearance.
Arriva Midlands 2307 in Chell Road Stafford (Matt)
After sighting for around 25 minutes we met up with mum and got in the car to go home. On the way back we stopped just North of Stafford for a few chips to share between the four of us. After we set off north we passed 61554 coming into Stafford on the #101 service. We also saw D&G 39 on a #432 service. We got home around 16:30... Mark
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