Trip to Norwich / Great Yarmouth 03-11-2018

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
DV10 JCU	Fenton	Norwich	Charter	Shelton Care Group
DV10 JCU	Norwich	Great Yarmouth	Charter	Shelton Care Group
DV10 JCU	Great Yarmouth	Caister	Charter	Shelton Care Group
DV10 JCU	Caister	Great Yarmouth	Charter	Shelton Care Group
DV10 JCU	Great Yarmouth	Fenton	Charter	Shelton Care Group

Today Matthew was in the residential unit and he was going to his day service. He was also going out to Norwich and Great Yarmouth later on. Matthew got up around 08:00 and had toast and orange juice for breakfast. Whilst waiting to go to the day service we saw Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU.

Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU in Fenton

Also seen was First Potteries 63101 on a #11 to Newcastle.

First Potteries 63101 in Fenton

Another bus seen was a minibus provided by The Lord Taverners. It was green minibus GX07 FHR going towards Heron Cross.

GX07 FHR in Fenton

When it was time to go out We went downstairs to wait for the transport. Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU. We set off onto Temple Street and we turned left onto Christchurch Street. We crossed City Road onto Manor Street and we ran to the end where we turned left onto Victoria Road to Joiners Square and we turned left onto Warrington Road. We turned left onto the A52 and we ran towards Stoke. We ran forwards onto Glebe Street and we followed the one-way system onto Church Street. We crossed over the A500 and we got onto the Southbound A500. We ran Southwards to Sideway and we got onto the Eastbound A50. We ran Eastwards for around 40 miles and we got onto the Southbound M1. We ran South for around 30 miles and we joined the Eastbound A14. We continued Eastwards for a few miles and we joined the Northbound A605. We joined the A47 near to Peterborough and we continued Eastwards near to Kings Lynn and round the Southern end of Norwich. We turned left onto the A146 and we continued forwards onto the A147. We ran forwards onto King Street and we turned left onto Argyle Street. We stopped and walked into the town centre. We walked up the A147 and Prince of Wales Road. We went past the castle and in to the town centre. We stopped at the market and Matthew went to the toilet. He also had a glass of Coke. When we had finished we walked out of town past along London Street. We joined Prince of Wales Road and we walked down to the A147. We turned right into King Street and back to Argyle Street. We continued to Yarmouth on Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU. We set of onto King street and we ran forwards onto the Southbound A147. We ran forwards onto the Southbound A146 and we joined the Eastbound A47. We ran to Great Yarmouth and went forwards onto New Acle Road. We continued forwards to the coast on Fullers Hill and forwards onto St Nicholas Road. We continued onto Euston Road and to the coast. We parked up and we went to Joyland Childrens Fun Park. After spending a while here we headed up to Caister. We set off onto Euston Road and forwards onto St Nicholas Road. We continued onto Fullers Hill and we turned right onto North Quay. We continued North up to Caister Road and past Tesco onto Yarmouth Road. We ran through Caister and we stopped at the holiday park. Matthew went to the toilet and then had a glass of Coke. We saw First Eastern Couties 30961 on a #8 to New Paget Hospital. When we had finished we returned to Great Yarmout on Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU. We ran Southwards down Yarmouth Road and we ran forwards onto Caister Road. We veered left onto Northgate Street and we turned left onto Fullers Hill. We followed the one way system though the bus station area and we wheeled around onto Regent Road. We went up Howards Street. We stopped and we and we went to McDonalds had a burger, fries and a cup of Coke. Highlight of the bus sighting included Border Bus 200 on a #580 to Bungay and First Eastern Counties 32063 on the Costal Clipper to Lowestoft. Matthew went to the toilet. Afterwards we returned to Fenton in Shelton Care Group DV10 JCU. We ran South onto Howards Street North and we re-joined Fullers Hill. We crossed over the roundabout onto New Acle Road and we ran forwards onto the A47. We travelled East past the South end of Norwich and Kings Lynn and we ran North of Peterborough. We continued to the edge Leicester and we took the Southern by-pass. We past Fosse Park and we joined the Northbound M6. We ran North for around 20 miles and we got onto the Westbound A50. We ran to near to Uttoxeter and into Stoke-on-Trent. We came off the A50 at Heron Cross and we turned right onto Blurton Road. We ran through Heron Cross onto Heron Street and we followed the road around onto Station Bridge Road. We turned left onto Christchurch street and left again onto Masterson Street. We turned right onto Watkin Street and right onto Temple Street and back to the residential unit. Matthew went up to his room and chilled out on his computer. Later on Matthew had a bath and then had toast for supper. He then chilled out in his room until bedtime around 23:00... Mark.

Trip to Stone 18-06-2011

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
182	Trentham Road,	Granville Square, Stone	351	Bakerbus
110	Granville Square, Stone	Prior Road	2	D&G
110	Prior Road	Granville Square, Stone	2	D&G
91	Granville Square, Stone	Stone, Geoff Keys Garage (opp)‎	490	D&G
183	Stone, Geoff Keys Garage (opp)‎	Whitebridge Estate, Filleybrooks Garage (opp)	350	Bakerbus
65039	Whitebridge Estate, Filleybrooks Garage (adj)	Granville Square, Stone	101	First Potteries
200	Stone	Stoke Railway Station	X1	Bakerbus
6	Stoke Railway Station	Church Street, Stoke	41	D&G
115	Church Street, Stoke	Stoke Railway Station	41	D&G
2931	Signal Radio, Stoke road	Maternity Ward, City General	58	Wardle Transport

Today we had decided we were going to head towards Stone again and cover the 350's and the X1. We also saw a Mercedes minibus on the Stone town service last week and as we havn't been on any of the current minibuses we thought that this would probably a new bus for Matthew. Today I went out at 09:30 and 10:30 to see the 350's. The bus buses were on exactly the same turns as last week, so we knew there was one required bus out on the 350. Setting off just before 12:30, we decided to head South on the 350 today so we waited at the bus shelter on Trentham Road. this was a fortunate choice today because it was raining! Whilst we were waiting we saw 181 go north on the #350, 40143 heading towards Newcastle and 40148 heading towards Longton.


40148 on a Longton bound #22 service (Matt)

As the 351 goes from Stoke to Longton before continuing towards Stone, This South bound turn is a few minutes later than the other buses. Eventually as predicted 182 arrives on this turn. This turn is quite well filled compared to some of the other 350's we've done. Presumably because of it's extra run into Longton. We do this bus to Granville Square, Stone where Matthew gets a picture.


Bakerbus 182 in Granville Square Stone (Matt)

Shortly after we arrive in Stone, D&G 110 appears on the Stone town services. The next one was a #2 at 13:05. We book our tickets and we do a complete circle of this service. As we get off Matthew photographs the inside of this bus.


Inside D&G 110 (Matt)

He also gets a good picture of the outside too...


D&G 110 about to work a #1 Stone town service (Matt)

The next planned move was to do the #490 round town and out along Newcastle Road. Whilst we were waiting we started eating our supplies (a 6 pack of mini sausage rolls from wrights Pies). Also D&G 107 appears on the #250 to Longton.


D&G 107 on a 250 to Longton (Matt)

A couple of minutes later D&G 110 come back again to work another #2 town service.


D&G 110 about to work a #2 Stone town service

After that town service leaves again we wait patiently until the 490 appears. It's D&G 91 which is a required bus. As we went around town and headed North, I couldn't remember passing the southbound 350. I thought if we could catch this to the other side of Stone, we could do 183 on the Northbound service back out along Newcastle Road. We got off the 490 on Newcastle Road and Matthew took a picture as D&G 91 headed North(??) towards Stafford...


D&G 91 heading North on the 490 to Stafford (Matt)

We crossed the road hoping that we might catch the 350, but it must have passed us whilst we were going around the town centre. After a few minute we crossed back over the road. I decided we could still do 183 a couple of stops up the road, and we would either get a 101 or the X1 back into Stone. Sure enough, as predicted 183 appears on the Northbound 350.


Bakerbus 183 on a #350 to Hanley in Newcastle Road (Matt)

We do the bus a couple of stops up the road and Matthew is undoing his seatbelt almost as soon as it was done up!


183 continues North towards Hanley (Matt)

In order to make sure we are back in Stone for either X1'a (Bakerbus to Hanley or the D&G to Stone) we decided to do the next bus whatever it is. it started rain quite heavily, but we didn't have to wait long. We were relieved to see the next bus, which happened to be first Potteries 65039.


65039 on a #101 towards Stafford (Matt)

We did this back down to Granville Square, where almost immediately we saw Bakerbus 200 on the X1 Stone. We Rushed off to get this bus and missed seeing what was on the X1 Stafford. After a rapid journey up the A34, through Barlaston, past Trentham gardens and up The A500 we arrived at Stoke railway station.


Bakerbus 200 outside Stoke railway station (Matt)

At this point, we had planned on sitting for a while and having something to eat then doing something D&G or Bakerbus on the tickets we already had. We had to put plans for eating to one side as step entranced D&G 6 appeared on a Newcastle bound #41. We raced a cross the road and jumped on the bus. No time for a photograph, we did this bus to Church Street, Stoke. he did get a picture of the door release as he left the bus, but once again the bus left the stop quite quickly. In Stoke we saw a few buses including D&G 139 on a Hanley bound #41.


D&G 139 on a #41 to Hanley (Matt)

The plan had been to catch 183 on the 350 back to Blurton. Just as 350 was approaching, Matthew spotted D&G 12 on a #41 to Newcastle. We let the #350 go, forgetting the #41 doesn’t stop in Glebe Street and it went sailing past too. We went around to Church Street but it had left before we could get to the stop :-(. Almost immediately, D&G 115 appeared from the other direction on a #41 so we decided to do this back to the railway station.


D&G 115 on a #41 to Hanley (Matt)

When we arrived at the station I was starting to wonder how we could get home. I remember I had the Wardle Transport timetable book in my bag so I looked up the route and timings of the 58. Last time i had seen this service it was ex Arriva Burton 2038 in the new Wardle / Arriva livery. It turned out there was a 58 from outside signal radio in a few minutes, so we walked along to stoke Road. I arranged with mum to pick us up at the hospital. After a couple of minutes Wardle Transport 'BU54 ALL' 2931 appeared.


Wardle Transport 2931 on a #58 to Newcastle (Matt)

We did this to the hospital where we had about a 10 minutes wait for mum. Luckily there was a shelter because it started raining again. Whilst we were waiting we didn't see a single bus. e did see 2 buses just as we got picked up. We had a quick stop in Hanford to pick up food and we went home. As we returned home by car it absolutely poured down with rain so it seems that we timed the end of our day quite well... Mark

Trip to Stafford 11-06-2011

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