Trip to Chorley / Leyland 16-08-2014

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
15574	Chorley TI	Horwich, Lee Lane/The Crown (Stop A)	125	Stagecoach Lancashire
15581	Horwich, Lee Lane/The Crown (Stop B)	Chorley TI	125	Stagecoach Lancashire
47333	Chorley TI	Towngate, Tesco (Stand F)	109	Stagecoach Lancashire
34620	Towngate (Leyland), Tesco (Stop B)	Chorley TI	109	Stagecoach Lancashire
15578	Chorley TI	Clayton Green, opp Pines Hotel	125	Stagecoach Lancashire
15574	Clayton Green, opp Sheep Hill Lane	Chorley TI	125	Stagecoach Lancashire

Today we decided to re-visit Chorley. Once again we left it until Saturday morning to decided where we were going to make sure we had the weather. We gave him a list of Northern destination to choose from and Matthew chose Chorley. Research consisted of downloading tametables and maps from the stagecoach website as well as creating an excel spreadsheet with the current allocation of buses based at the Chorley depot. Matthew got up at 10:00 and had toast and orange juice for breakfast. We set off a little before 12:00 and we headed out onto the A5035. we turned right onto Stanley Matthews Way and passed the Britannia Stadium where Stoke City were getting ready for their first game of the season. We turned west onto the A50 and then North onto the A500. From Stoke we followed Z Carz S952 VMY up the A500 and Matthew took a picture of it somewhere near Talke. We turned onto the Northbound M6 and it was quite busy. Traffic was stop start for quite a way up. Whilst in the traffic we saw Neoplan demonstrator coach OU14 SWN.

Neoplan demonstrator coach OU14 SWN on the M6

We carried on North and just South of Knutsford we passed an accident on the Southbound carriageway. All that delay for rubbernecks! From junction onwards we made good time. We came off the M6 at junction 27. We stayed West of the M6 briefly until we crossed under the M6 on Pepper Lane. We joined onto the A49 North of Standish and we turned onto the B5251 to head into town. On the edge of town we turned into Fleet Street car park so that we could go eat in Big Lamp chippy. By the time we had got there they had closed the cafe. Matthew went to the toilet and we had the food to take away. Matthew had chips sausage and gravy on a tray washed down with a can of Coke. After we had finished eating we drove the car up to the A6 and into the car park by the main shopping centre. The car park was busy as they had closed off about 1/4 of the space for resurfacing. We said goodbye to mum and we walked over to the interchange. When we got there there were 2 required double deckers on the #125 service. Stagecoach Lancashire 15577 was on the #125 to Preston and 15574 was on the #125 to Bolton. We decided to do the later so that we could got to visit Horwich for the first time from the North.

Stagecoach Lancashire 15574 in Chorley interchange

We got on the bus and we booked Chorley Dayrider Plus tickets at £4.50 each. We then went upstairs and sat down. Matthew took a picture of the empty bus behind us.

Inside Stagecoach Lancashire 15574

The bus set off out of town and Southwards along the A6. On the edge of town we passed required Stagecoach Lancashire 47332 on a #1B service. Further South towards Adlington we saw dud Stagecoach Lancashire 15567 on a #125 to Preston. We passed through Adlington and passed required Stagecoach Lancashire 15840 going North. As we started to climb towards Horwich spotted the Crown pub which was the Southern edge of the Chorley Dayrider Plus ticket, so we got up and got off the bus. Before it carried on Southwards to Bolton Matthew got another picture of this bus.

Stagecoach Lancashire 15574 in Horwich

We crossed the road and walked over to the Northbound stop. This was not our first visit to Horwich. We had visited the other end of town from Bolton back in August 2013. If we were to make a map of where we had been on buses, we were 3 bus stops short of a continuous run from Leyland to Prestwich! A run which is at least 25 miles and takes nearly 3 hours! On the roundabout we saw First Manchester buses on the #575 service from Bolton. Two of these were First Manchester Volvo's 69145 & 69150. Going South on a #125 we saw dud Stagecoach Lancashire 15839.

Stagecoach Lancashire 15839 in Horwich

A few minutes later a bus appeared from around the corner and it was required Stagecoach Lancashire 15581.

Stagecoach Lancashire 15581 in Horwich

We got on the bus and flashed our tickets. We went upstairs and the bus set off North. We passed through Adlington and we passed Stagecoach Lancashire 15569 going the other way. We got into town and we saw Avalon coach RUI 6737 on rail replacement work. When we got to the interchange we got up and got off. We decided to go for a walk around the bus station to take a few pictures. As we left the interchange we saw dud Stagecoach Lancashire 47329 arriving on a #3 service from lower Adlington.

Stagecoach Lancashire 47329 in Chorley

We had been on Stagecoach Lancashire 47329 on our first ever visit to Chorley back in June 2013. We watched Transdev Lancashire United 566 depart on a #24 to Blackburn. We also saw Fishwicks 40 on a #119 to Preston. when we got to the corner of the bus station and the A6 we saw BV Coach Hire FN52 GUG head North on rail replacement work.

BV Coach Hire FN52 GUG in Chorley

We carried on walking around the outside of the bus station. The hedges around the outside of the bus station appeared to have been trimmed down from our previous visits so it was much easier to take pictures. Whilst there we took another picture of the bus we had just ridden on, Stagecoach Lancashire 15581.

Stagecoach Lancashire 15581 in Chorley interchange

Parked next to this was dud Arriva NW&W 2680, which has been refurbished and given the Sapphire treatment.

Arriva NW&W 2680 in Chorley interchange

This is basically an upgrade to the seats and Wifi installed and plugs to charge up phones and laptops! The bus looked very different to when we had it back in June 2012. By the time we had walked around the bus station and Matthew had been to the toilet it was around 15:10. A quick check on the departure board revealed that there was a #109 to Preston via Leyland, so we decided to hang around and see what was going to work this bus. The bus eventually cam on stand at around 15:25 and it was a little disappointingly required Stagecoach Lancashire Solo 47333. We decided to do this bus despite it being a Solo as we could go and get an ice cream in Leyland. We got on the bus and as it was nearly empty at this point Matthew took a picture of the empty seats behind us.

Inside Stagecoach Lancashire 47333

Just before we set off Stagecoach Lancashire 47330 arrived on a #109 from Preston. The bus had filled up and was nearly full. The bus set off out of town and we headed towards Euxton Balshaw Lane railway station and then onto the Northbound A49. We carried on Northward for a while before turning East on Euxton Lane. We turned left to run past Buckshaw Village and then left again for the run in along the B5248. By this point the bus had almost completely emptied out. When we got to Tesco in Leyland we got up and got off the bus.

Stagecoach Lancashire 47333 in Leyland

We got off the bus and set off around the back of the Tesco extra store and onto Church Road. We were heading for the ice cream shop which we first encountered in February this year. The shop Ice Dreams and Coffee Beans is located in a small arcade of shops just off Church Road. When we got there Matthew used there toilet and he had a small cone of vanilla ice cream. We went outside to site at the aluminium chairs and tables on the pavement. Matthew often photographs foods he likes...

Ice cream... Yum!

Whilst me and Matthew had been in the shop uncle Dave had spied a #109 to Chorley. as the buses run 20 minutes and 40 minutes apart and we hadn't passed a #109 as we traveled up. We thought there might be another one due. We had never causght the bus from outside Tesco, but we new it came past from our previous trips. We visted the chip shop next door to the ice cream parlour and brought a can of Coke and two small bottles of pop. We walked over to the first stop and this was for the #110 and #11 services. At the next stop we saw that there was #109's as well as other services such as the #113 from Preston to Wigan. A look at the stop revealed that the bus was due in 3 minutes! The time past very quickly and we spied a Dart approaching. We assumed it would be required as we have never had any of the ADL / Plaxton bodied Darts from Chorley. As it turned the corner we saw it was required Stagecoach Lancashire 34620.

Stagecoach Lancashire 34620 in Leyland

We got on this nearly empty bus and we sat down near to the back. The bus set off back towards Buckshaw Village. We passed the wicker man and I tried and failed to get a picture though the bus window. The bus carried on South the Euxton and we ran into Chorley and into the interchange. When we got to the interchange Matthew waited for the bud to empty before taking a picture inside Stagecoach Lancashire 34620.

Inside Stagecoach Lancashire 34620

We got off the bus and we saw required Stagecoach Lancashire 47327 which was departing on a #109 to Preston.

Stagecoach Lancashire 47327 in Chorley interchange

We waited for the next pair of buses on the #125's. Whilst we waited Matthew drank one of the bottle of pop that we had brought in Leyland earlier. Stagecoach Lancashire 15581 was on the next Bolton bound #125 but we had been on this bus earlier. Required Stagecoach Lancashire 15578 was on the next Preston bound #125 so we decided to do this bus. We flashed our tickets and went upstairs. Matthew photographed the inside of the top deck as it was empty from behind the staircase.

Inside Stagecoach Lancashire 15578

We decided to go a bit further North than we had done previously. The bus set off out of town and we joined onto the A6 opposite Asda. The ticket was valid up to the M6. We passed our prevois Northern limit which was Moss Lane in Whittle-le-Woods. We carried on North along the A6 for a good couple of miles and we decided to get off before we got to the motorway. We got up and got off and Matthew took another picture Stagecoach Lancashire 15578 before it carried on North towards Bamber Bridge and Preston.

Stagecoach Lancashire 15578 in Clayton Green

We crossed the road on what was a busy fast moving section of the A6. When we got to the stop we saw we had a 10 minute wait. The time passed quickly as we waited for the bus and we saw another double decker approaching. As it got closer we saw that it was dud Stagecoach Lancashire 15574.

Stagecoach Lancashire 15574 in Clayton Green

We flashed our tickets to the driver and reconised us from earlier when he sold us the tickets on our first run on Stagecoach Lancashire 15574! The bus carried on South down the A6 and I called mum to tell her we were on the last bus of the day. Mum was already at the bus station as she needed to use the toilet there! I checked the result of the Stoke vs Aston Villa game and disappointingly Stoke had lost one nil... The bus got back into the interchange and we got off Matthew went to the toilet and then we visited to shop where Matthew had some pop and chocolate an a large cola bottle chew. We set off back to the car taking pictures on the way. In the interchange we photographed Stagecoach Lancashire 47335 on a #2 to Coppull

Stagecoach Lancashire 47335 in Chorley interchange

Outside the interchange on the end stand we saw Tyrers SJ54 GDA which was on a #14 to Buckshaw village.

Tyrers SJ54 GDA in Chorley interchange

Seen earlier in the day but not photographed, we saw Transdev Lancashire United 270 on the #24 to Blackburn.

Transdev Lancashire United 270 in Chorley

Another bus and service which we ha seen earlier in the day but not photographed was Stagecoach Lancashire 25228 0n the #115 to Preston.

Stagecoach Lancashire 25228 in Chorley

We then stood at the exit of the bus station to take a few pictures. We took another picture of Stagecoach Lancashire 47335 as it left on the #2 service to Coppull.

Stagecoach Lancashire 47335 in Chorley

We walked back to the car and waiting for us were some Greggs sausage rolls and Matthew had a 500ml bottle of Irn Bru. We set off out of town down the A6. As we climbed out of town towards Horwich we passed Grayway SF06 WMB on rail replacement works followed by Tyrers R469 RRA on a #13 service. We carried on until we reached Frederick's ice creams and we turned right onto the A5106. We did this road until we reached the South End of Standish and then we turned right to head into town. In the centre of Standish we turned left to head onto the M6. On the M6 just North of juntion 21A we caught up with Mikro Coaches TAZ 9612 which was heading back to its home base in Crewe. We joined the A500 at junction 16 we went South through Stoke-on-Trent and onto the Eastbound A50. We passed an unidentified Bakers coach before coming off the a50 at Longton to check out what was parked up at Z Carz. Nearest to the A50 was Mercedes minibus M372 NWN.

Z Carz M372 NWN in Longton

Next to this was former Alton Towers Transport coach M534 RSO.

Z Carz M534 RSO in Longton

There was an unidentified whit minibus behind the coach and next to the coach was red LDV minibus DS51 ZJU.

Z Carz DS51 ZJU in Longton

Next in the line up was Mercedes minibus BV51 BNO.

Z Carz BV51 BNO in Longton

Finally we had Ford minibus FP06 WTW.

Z Carz FP06 WTW in Longton

We turned right into Willow Row and in the compound were YE52 UZX and long term SORN LDV minibus T408 JUX. We headed back onto the A50 and we came off the A50 at Heron Cross. After a quick stop on Blurton Road we headed through Blurton and we caught up with First Potteries 43876 which was waiting time on Beaconsfield Drive. We got home at just after 19:00. For a late tea Matthew had bangers and mash followed by a flapjack. He then chilled out on his computer and also watch yesterdays 'On the Yorkshire Buses' before going to be at around 01:00... Mark