Trip to Stafford / Trent Vale 12-12-2014

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
DV10 JCU	Blurton	Fenton	Charter	Shelton Care Group
65578	Fenton (Stoke-on-Trent), adj Travers Court	Stoke-upon-Trent, adj stop Q	2	First Potteries
66963	Stoke-upon-Trent, adj stop O	Stoke-upon-Trent, adj Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station	3	First Potteries
53208	Stoke-upon-Trent, opp Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station	Fenton (Stoke-on-Trent), adj Albert Square	23	First Potteries
60068	Magdalen Road, Blurton	Trent Vale, adj Riverside Rd	22	First Potteries

Today Matthews day service were taking him to Stafford on the train. They were taking him to Stafford for dinner. Afterwards we were going to the pub for tea. Matthew got up at 08:00 and had toast and orange juice for breakfast.The bus turned up and it was his usual transport Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU. We got on the bus and it picked up another service user before going onto the A5035 and turning left onto Church Road. We went through Blurton and into Heron Cross. We carried onto Heron Street and then turned left onto Christchuch Street before getting to the destination. Matthew took a picture of the bus before heading inside.

Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU in Fenton

To get to Stafford we were catching the bus down to the railway station. We walked down to City Road to wait for the bus to turn up. Across the road we saw Wardle Transport 2278 on the X51 to Cheadle.

Wardle Transport 2278 in Fenton

The first bus that appeared was Bakerbus 1602 on the #26 to Newcastle. We didn't have to wait long before required First Potteries 65578 appeared on the #2 to Newcastle.

First Potteries 65578 in Fenton

We got on the bus and booked to Stoke. We sat down and the bus set off down City Road and under the railway line. We crossed over the A500 and we went into stoke town centre and we got off the bus. We missed dud First Potteries 65705 on the #3 to Crewe. We crossed the road to wait for the next station bound bus. When it turned up it was required First Potteries 66963 on a #3 to Kidsgrove.

First Potteries 66963 in Stoke

We got on the bus and booked to the railway station before sitting down. The bus set off out of Stoke town centre and across the A500. We crossed under the railway line before turning left onto the A52. At the eother end of the road we turned left onto Station Road. We got off the bus and went into the railway station. Sometime around 09:30 we got onto a train and we travelled down to Stafford via Stone and Norton Bridge. We got off the train in Stafford and we set off on foot to Frankie & Benny's. In town we saw dud Arriva Midlands 3759 on a #12 service to Doxey. This was a bus we had first had back in January from Cannock to Heath Hayes back when 3759 was a Cannock allocated bus. Further into town we saw dud Arriva Midlands UVG Dart 2383 on a #12 to Stafford.

Arriva Midlands 2383 in Stafford

This interesting bus was one that we first traveled on from Shrewsbury to Bayston Hill back in February 2013. We carried on further into town and we saw required Arriva Midlands 3730 on a #74 to Stafford and required Arriva Midlands 3773 on a #481 to Stafford. We headed down the A34 and on the way to Frankie & Benny's we saw required Arriva Midlands 4201 on the #74 from Cannock to Stafford University.

Arriva Midlands 4201 in Stafford

We got to Frankie & Benny's some time after 11:30. For dinner Matthew had a Cheeseburger with fries and a glass of Coke. They left the restaurant some time around 12:30 and headed back up the A34 and we saw Staffordshire County Council school bus DX53 LFZ. We headed back to the railway station and we caught the train back to Stoke. it was nearly 14:00 by the time we got back. As we waited for the bus to go back to Fenton we saw Roseville WJ12 GNV go by.

Roseville WJ12 GNV in Stoke

A minute or so later the #23 turned up and it was dud First Potteries 53208.

First Potteries 53208 in Stoke

We got on the bus and booked to Fenton before sitting down. The bus set off along Station Road before turning right onto Glebe Street. This was a bus that we had been on before back in July 2013 from Smallthorne to Hanley. The bus carried on around the one way system before we joined onto Church Street and went across the A500. We crossed under the railway line and onto City Road. We turned right at the Royal Oak pub and into Christchurch Street before we got off the bus adjacent to Albert Square. We walked back to the base and went on the computer for 20 minutes before it was time to go home. Today we had an Intercity taxi back home. The taxi went onto Christchurch street and onto Glebedale Road. We carried on onto Heron Street and through Heron Cross. After crossing the A50 we went through Blurton and onto Beaconsfield Drive. We turned left onto Finstock Avenue and we got home around 14:50. I had viewed the buses on the #22 today and there was only one required bus out. Unfortunately it wasn't on either of the 2 turns that we usually do to the pub... Matthew had some toast and a drink before we readied ourselves to go out and catch the bus We set off on foot all the way to the stop on Magdalen Road getting there a couple of minutes before the bus was due. Whilst we waited for the bus we saw airport transfer bus Daw2Door MA59 KME go by.

Daw2Door MA59 KME in Blurton

The bus turned up a few minutes late, and it was as expected dud First Potteries 60068.

First Potteries 60068 in Blurton

We got on the bus and booked to Harpfields Road. We then sat down towards the back of the bus and the bus set off onto the A5035. We passed dud First Potteries 40020 on the #22 to Dresden and and then we carried on into Trentham. As we passed through Trentham we passed 3 buses on the #21's in quick succession. First we passed First Potteries 41502 on the #21A, followed by First Potteries 40383 only a few seonds behind it. In Hanford we then passed First Potteries 40175 on a #21. We joined the A34 and we saw Beachers of Flint coach BBZ 232 on the Southbound A500 sliproad. We crossed under the A500 and we got off at the first stop in Trent Vale as the bus was about to fill up with kids!

First Potteries 60068 in Trent Vale

As we set off towards the pub we saw First Potteries 41502 heading towards Hanley as well as Stantons of Stoke Dart W227 SNR heading towards Stoke town centre. We then spotted Scragg's unique minibus 8416 VT appear from a side street off the A34.

Scraggs Blue Buses 8416 VT in Trent Vale

We carried on across London Road and as we got level with the pub we saw the one required bus that was out on the #22, First Potteries 60069.

First Potteries 60069 in Trent Vale

We had beaten mum to the pub so we sat on the wall to wait for her to arrive. We didn't have to wait long, but as we waited we saw ABC Supreme minibus FJ53 FBU on a hospital staff shuttle.

ABC Supreme FJ53 FBU in Trent Vale

On the other side of the Road we spotted Alfa coach BU13 ZTR (72) going North towards Newcastle.

Alfa BU13 ZTR in Trent Vale

We met mum and Matthew had a brunch with bread and butter followed by toffee sponge pudding with ice cream. Whilst we ate highlights of the passing buses was First Potteries 40016 doing a #22 short and running back empty 5 minutes after we had seen it before and Stantons of Stoke ONZ 1128 going towards Newcastle. After we had finished eating we called Uncle Dave and we went to pick him up. We drove along the A34 and onto the Northbound A500. We went East at the A50. We came off the A50 at Heron Cross and we dropped into Fenton. After we had picked up uncle Dave, we headed up to Heron Cross and through Blurton, getting home around 18:10. Matthew then chilled out watching bus videos and using his computer before bedtime around 00:00... Mark