Trip to Lichfield / Rugeley 21-02-2015

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
2937	Lichfield BS	Rugeley BS	X25	Arriva Midlands
2938	Rugeley BS	Lichfield BS	X25	Arriva Midlands
3732	Lichfield BS	Lichfield, Opp Cornfield Drive	29	Arriva Midlands
3732	Lichfield, Opp Cornfield Drive	Lichfield BS	29	Arriva Midlands
3808	Lichfield BS	Burntwood, Opp Victory Avenue	X60	Arriva Midlands
2277	Burntwood, Adj Victory Avenue	Lichfield BS	15	Arriva Midlands
3735	Lichfield BS	Pipehill, Opp Hollybank Cottage	35	Arriva Midlands
3809	Pipehill, Adj Pipe Marsh	Burntwood, Opp Victory Avenue	X60	Arriva Midlands
3808	Burntwood, Adj Victory Avenue	Lichfield BS	X60	Arriva Midlands

Today we decided to re-visit Lichfield. The weather was poor and it appeared to be better to the South. We gave Matthew a list of place to go and from these places he chose Lichfield. Matthew got up around 09:30 and had toast and orange juice for breakfast. We didn't do any research for this trip other than to re-check the weather that predicted mainly dry but cloudy weather. We set off around 11:30 and we went onto the A5035. We carried on into Trentham and when we reached the A34 we turned left to head South. As we passed nearby to Stone we saw Bennetts Solo V281 DRC on the #4 service. We carried on South past the town and we went East on the A51. At Weston traffic lights we saw Happy Days coaches 226 going the other way. We carried on East past the edge of Rugeley and we did the last few miles into town before we stopped at the chips shop on the A51 right by the City Line. Matthew had Chips sausage and gravy and a can of Coke an we headed back to the car. We rove across the road to the car park behind the bus station and we ate the food. Once we had finished we use the toilets in the bus station before we said goodbye to mum. We decided to have a quick walk around and take a few pictures before we caught the first bus of the day. On it's usual service was X55 branded Central Buses Enviro200 bus, YX63 ZXL.

Central Buses YX63 ZXL in Lichfield bus station

We walked through the bus station taking picture of the buses in the row. We then saw dud Arriva Midlands 3797 on a X60 service to Cannock.

Arriva Midlands 3797 in Lichfield bus station

On the X60 to Tamworth was required Arriva Midlands 3807.

Arriva Midlands 3807 in Lichfield bus station

This bus was recently transferred from Arivva North West & Wales and used to carry the number 3064. There were 2 coaches parked up at the end of the bus station. The back on of the pair was National Holidays Setra coach NH10 SSH.

National Holidays NH10 SSH in Lichfield bus station

The front one of the two was A1 Link Travel Mercedes mini coach V139 BAN.

A1 Link Travel V139 BAN in Lichfield bus station

We walked back into the main part of the bus station and we saw an Arriva Midlands Versa approaching. It was required Arriva Midlands 2937 on the X25 to Stafford.

Arriva Midlands 2937 in Lichfield bus station

We decided to do this to Rugeley. We got on the bus and as it was empty Matthew got a picture inside Arriva Midlands 2937.

Inside Arriva Midlands 2937

We booked Arriva Midlands Day Saver tickets at £6.20 each. We sat down towards the back of the bus and when it was time the bus set off out of town and up Beacon Street. We joined the A51 to the West of town and we went non-stop up to the edge of Rugeley, entering town own Brereton Hill. The bus turned into the bus station and we got off. We decided to take a few pictures before we went into the market. On a local service was required Arriva Midlands 3701.

Arriva Midlands 3701 in Rugeley bus station

Matthew took another picture of our ride into town, Arriva Midlands 2937.

Arriva Midlands 2937 in Rugeley bus station

We then saw dud Arriva Midlands 3719 on a #24 service to Brereton.

Arriva Midlands 3719 in Rugeley bus station

Something that we have never seen before was the Tesco free bus. Working this service today was dud Arriva Midlands 2315.

Arriva Midlands 2315 in Rugeley bus station

We headed into the market and we brought some spearmint chews and a can of Coke and a can of orange Tango. This cost a very reasonable £1.47. We walked back out of the bus station and walked to the top stop to see when the next service to Lichfield was due. There was an X25 due at 14:51. In the meantime, we saw dud Arriva Midlands 2328 on a #23 to Pear Tree. Which had worked in on a #26 from Springfields.

Arriva Midlands 2328 in Rugeley bus station

A few minutes later we saw another Arriva Midlands Versa approaching... As it got closer we saw that it was required Arriva Midlands 2938 on the X25 to Lichfield.

Arriva Midlands 2938 in Rugeley bus station

We got on the bus and we flashed the Midlands Day Saver tickets before sitting down towards the back of the bus. The bus set off out of town up Brereton Hill before we joined the A51. We carried on Eastwards and just outside of Lichfield we brifly joined the A512 before entering town own Stafford Road / Beacon Street. When we got to the bus station we got up and got off. We then saw dud Central Buses YJ59 PKC about to work the #35 to Walsall.

Central Buses YJ59 PKC in Lichfield bus station

This is a bus that we had on this service back in December 2014 when we came to Lichfield for the Heritage running day. On Arriva's competing #35 service we saw required Arriva Midlands 3732 come into the bus station.

Arriva Midlands 3732 in Lichfield bus station

It was now going on to a #29 local service, something which we had not seen happen before. This is probably because we hadn't been in the bus station at this minute in the hour before. We decided to catch this bus and do a round trip on it. We got on the bus an we asked how long it took to do a round trip, an the river told us it was around 15 minutes. We flashed the ticket to the river and before we sat down Matthew photographed the empty rear of the bus.

Inside Arriva Midlands 3732

The bus set off through the bus station passing Arriva Midlands 3773 which was on the #7 to Burton-on-Trent. We left the bus station and went Northwards. We turned to the East and we crossed over the Lichfield to Burton-on-Trent line before joining Roman Way. We turned left at Austin Cote Way and at the end of the road we did a 180' turn on the roundabout and we returned to the bus station back along the same roads as we came. We got off the bus an Matthew had a moment where he wanted to say hello to someone. He did managed to say hello but he was a bit excitable so we had to hold him back for a few minutes so he could calm down. We had a look around to see what we could catch. We ha missed Arriva Midlands 2277 on the #15 so we thought that the next bus we could do was an X60 towards Burntwood & Cannock. A few minutes later required Arriva Midlands 3808 made an appearance on the X60 to Cannock.

Arriva Midlands 3808 in Lichfield bus station

We got on the bus an we flashed the tickets to the river before sitting down towards the back of the bus. The X60 goes west out of town before passing the new Waitrose store. We headed North up Limburg Avenue and then we turned left onto the A461. As we approached Pipehill we turned right onto the A5190 to head towards Burntwood. We carried on westwards through Edial and into Burntwood Green before we turned left onto Chase Road. In Chasetown we turned right around the tight corner into High Street. At the top of High Street we turned right onto the A5190 before going left Bridge Cross Road. We turned right at Rugeley Road and we got off the bus. Opposite us was required Arriva Midlands 2277 on the Lichfield bound #15 service. Matthew took a picture of Arriva Midlands 3808 before it set off towards Cannock.

Arriva Midlands 3808 in Burntwood

We decided that we were going to trying and get on Arriva Midlands 2277. Matthew took a picture of it before we crossed over the road to get on the bus.

Arriva Midlands 2277 in Burntwood

We got on the bus an we flashed the ticket to the driver. We sat down towards the back of the bus an the bus turned left onto Bridge Cross Road. We carried on straight and into the estate, crossing over Chase Road and carrying on in South Westerly direction. We turned onto Coppy Nook lane an we headed into the village of Hammerwich. We passe through the village and we headed north onto the A5190. We headed through Edial and we joined the A461 at Pipehill. We headed into town along the more direct route not taken by the X60, down Walsall Road. As we came into town we passed a Dart on the #62 to Cannock which was probably Arriva Midlands 2378 which we had seen earlier in the day. When we got to the bus station we let the bus empty and Matthew took a picture inside Arriva Midlands 2277.

Inside Arriva Midlands 2277

We got back to the bus station and we realised the #35 to Walsall was due. It was required Arriva Midlands 3735.

Arriva Midlands 3735 in Lichfield bus station

We got on the bus and we sat down near to the back. We decided to do the bus to Pipehill and then we could catch something else from off the main road. As we left town Matthew took a picture of the empty seats opposite us.

Inside Arriva Midlands 3735

We left town along Walsall Road and we joined the A461. At the Pipehill junction the bus went left and we got up and got off the bus. Matthew took another picture of Arriva Midlands 3735 as it carried on towards Walsall.

Arriva Midlands 3735 in Pipehill

As we left the bus station at 15:41 an there was also an 15:45 X60 we decided to go to the main road to catch the X60 towards Burntwood. As we got to the roundabout I thought I saw the bus approaching... So I decide to run to the bus stop on the main road. Matthew and uncle Dave followed behind. I flagged the bus down and Matthew an uncle Dave caught up with the bus, which was required Arriva Midlands 3809.

Arriva Midlands 3809 in Pipehill

We flashed the tickets an we sat own towards the back of the bus. The bus carried on along the A5190 and we headed into Burntwood Green before turning west towards Chasetown. Matthew took a picture of the empty seats behind us.

Inside Arriva Midlands 3809

We turned right into the High Street an then right at the top onto the A5190 before going left onto Bridge Cross Road. We turned right into Rugeley Road and we got off the bus. Matthew took another picture of Arriva Midlands 3809 before it carried on towards Cannock.

Arriva Midlands 3809 in Burntwood

We decided to have a short break from the buses. We went into Sankeys Fish bar and we had a portion of chips an a jumbo sausage between us. Matthew had some chips and the sausage. We also shared 2 cans of pop. We saw there were people at the stop opposite so we crossed the road to wait for the bus. it was 16:18 an then bus was due three minutes ago. We waited for quite a while and a lady stopped her car and explained that the bus was stuck on the other side of a police roadblock, who were attending some kind of incident. The bus did eventually turned up at 16:30! It was dud Arriva Midlands 3808 for the second time today.

Arriva Midlands 3808 in Burntwood

We got on the bus and flashed the tickets for the final time today before sitting own near to the back of the bus. We returned back to Lichfield through Chasetown and Burntwood Green rejoining the Eastbound A5190. We passe through Edial and we went down Pipehill into the edge of town. we went South past Waitrose before going East along Sainte Foy Avenue. We went into the bus station for the final time and we waited for the bus to empty so that Matthew could get a picture inside Arriva Midlands 3808.

Inside Arriva Midlands 3808

Before we left we decided to have one last walk around the bus station taking some picture before we went home. We saw dud Arriva Midlands 3505 on the #785 to Shuttington.

Arriva Midlands 3505 in Lichfield bus station

We then saw Arriva Midlands 3763 on the #825 to Stafford.

Arriva Midlands 3763 in Lichfield bus station

One one of the town circulars was Rotala Diamond 20893.

Rotala Diamond 20893 in Lichfield bus station

On the #66 to Burntwood was required Central Buses AE06 ZBT.

Central Buses AE06 ZBT in Lichfield bus station

We headed back to the car and mum as waiting with Greggs sausage rolls and small bottle of Irn Bru. We set off out of town and onto the westbound A51. We skirted the North of Rugeley and carried on along the A51 to the A34. Just to the West of Stone we stopped at the Shell garage to take on diesel. We carried on North to Trentham and we joined the Eastbound A5035 and we headed up to Longton. On the spare ground there were two buses. The first bus in the line up was Volkwagen minibus OV05 WSW.

Z Carz OV05 WSW in Longton

Also on the spare ground was Mercedes minibus CE02 LYX.

Z Carz CE02 LYX in Longton

We turned into willow Row to see what was inside the compound. Closest to the gate was Volkswagen minibus S973 OVP.

Z Carz S973 OVP in Longton

Opposite the compound parked on the road was Z Carz taxi minibus YJ61 GYZ.

Z Carz YJ61 GYZ in Longton

We headed onto the A50 and we came off the road at Heron Cross and we turned onto Blurton Road. We went through Blurton and we got home around 18:00. For a late tea we had sausage mash and carrots follow by a iced doughnut. Matthew then chilled out on his computer until bedtime around 00:30...Mark

Trip to Cannock 10-11-2012

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
2328	Cannock BS	Chadsmoor, adj Church Street (Unmarked) failed	26	Arriva Midlands
2390	Chadsmoor, adj Church Street (Unmarked)	Cannock BS	26	Arriva Midlands
3602	Cannock BS	Hednesford, Tesco N1	31	Arriva Midlands
3741	Hednesford, Tesco S2	Cannock BS	25	Arriva Midlands

Today we decided to head South for a change, to fit around mums plans. We had been through Cannock on the 20th of October whilst on the trip to Bath. It looked quite a good place to go and also we saw Arriva Midlands DAF ALX400 decker 4791 on a #26 service. Research for this trip consisted of looking at the timetables and the Cannock day rover area map on the Arriva Midlands sitecked up. The map was downloaded to my phone so we could refer to it on the move. We checked the weather and the night before it was down as a cool day with sunshine and showers. As mum at to meet up her friends around 15:00 we decided to go early. Matt before 10:00 and he had some toast and orange juice for breakfast. We set off around 11:00 and picked uncle Dave on the way. We got on the A50 at Heron Cross and then headed South on the A500. I nearly went North out of habit but Matthew corrected me at the last moment. We then got on the M6 and headed South. When we reached the A5 we turned east and then joined the the A4601 to travel into Cannock. We sould have researched route and parking but I thought Cannock was a small place and there was no way we would miss the bus station. We spent about 30 minute circling the town to first find the bus station and then to find parking. We did eventually park in a multi-storey car park that had different rates and stayping times on different floors. We parked up and then went the wrong way around so we ended up walking 3 times further to the bus station than we needed to. We then vivted the toilet in the small shopping centre by the bus station before having dinner at The Copper Kettle cafe by the bus station. It had a great view of the bus station and we were able to look at some of the buses that we might decided to catch later. Mathew had an 8 item breakfast for £3.20 in it was great value and well cooked to boot. It was very busy though and by the time we had eaten it was close to 13:00. from what we had seen far the most interesting buses we had seen were on the #25 and #26 circulars. The next #26 in was Arriva Midlands Centro 3738 which Matthew didn't really fancy doing.

Arriva Midlands 3738 in Cannock bus station

The next #25 was dud Arriva Midlands 2328 which Matthew decided to do.

Arriva Midlands 2328 in Cannock bus station

This was Matthews 3rd trip on this bus having done it as D&G 30 just before selling there North Staffordshire operation to Arriva Midlands, and just after it had been taken into the Wardle Transport fleet. We got and and purchased our cannock day saver tickets at £4 each. This was the first time we had seen this bus since being repainted in Arriva Interurban colours. It had also been refurbished with the latest moquette as it used to look like this.

Inside Arriva Midlands 2328 back in D&G days

We sat down near the back pf the bus and settled down for the journey. As we sat down we noticed Arriva Midlands Plaxton Pointer Dart 2330 on a #32 Hednesford service. The plan was to do a complete circuit of the #26 and to view Hednesford 'bus station' with a view to possibly doing a move to there later. We set off Northbound out of town towards Hednesford through a quiet residential street. We had done around a mile when we pulled up in the street to let a passenger off. As we were just about to stop the engine cut out dead on the bus. The driver let he passenger off and then attempted to re-start the bus. The engine turned over but it would catch. After two or three attempts the lady driving the bus phoned the garage for assistance. Arriva Midlands 3604 went the other way on a #25 service. We waited for around 15 minutes and then the following #26 pulled up just in front of us. It was Arriva Midlands Dart 2390, a bus which we had travelled on back in July 2009 when it was a Burton allocated vehicle. Matthew got another picture of Arriva Midlands 2328 as we walked up to get on 2390.

Stricken Arriva Midlands 2328 in Chadsmoor

And I got a picture of 2390 as we walked up.

Arriva Midlands 2390 in Chadsmoor

We got on the bus and settled down towards the back. As there were 2 buses worth of passengers on this dart it was a little cosy to say the least. There 3 pushchairs and a couple of shopping trolleys on the bus and at certain stops people had to get off and back on again to let the pushchairs off. We eventually got back into Cannock around 14:00. When we got off Matthew waited for the bus to empty so he could get a could shot of the inside of this colourful bus.

Inside Arriva Midlands 2390

There seems to be flurry of activity in Cannock bus station on the hour. Volvo B10BLE 3610 with it unusual interurban/standard livery mix was seen on a Wolverhampton bound #70 service.

Arriva Midlands 3610 in Cannock bus station

I decided that we could probably fit in a quick trip to Hednesford and back if we didn't hang around. Arriva Midlands 3738 was on the next #26 and Matthew didn't fancy that. As we were wondering what to do we saw Arriva Midlands B10BLE 3602 on a #31 to Hednesford. We decided to do this having never been on one of these despite there being one at that often does the We waited for the driver to ready the bus and Matthew got a picture as he waited.

Arriva Midlands 3602 in Cannock bus station

We got on and sat near the back. The journey up to Hednesford was different than the #26 and it went via the hospital. The journey didn't take more than about 20 minutes and then we got off and Matthew got another picture before it carried on to Rugeley.

Arriva Midlands 3602 in Hednesford bus station

Once we were off the bus we had to consider which bus to catch. We saw Midland 2559 across the road which departed almost immediately.

Midland 2559 in Hednesford

We also saw Arriva Midlands MPD Dart 2290 going back on a #31 which we could have done if we were quicker. Whilst we were there matthew took a picture of the new Tesco that is being built. According to local press it will be open on the 26th of November. There was a #26 due at 14:30 but it didn't seem to turn up. maybe this was a knock on effect of 2328 failing earlier. We decided to cross the road to see when the next #25 was due. There was one at 14:42 and there was a #32 at 14:45. We saw 3741 appear and we thought that it was on a #26 but it was on a #25 so we stood at the appropriate stop and Matthew got a picture.

Arriva Midlands 3741 in Hednesford

As we got on Arriva Midlands 2330 made an appearance again on the #32. Had we had known what we were doing we could have done this bus instead. We travelled down to Cannock on 3741 which was virtually empty as you would expect on an inbound bus at this time of day. When we got back, the bus emptied out and Matthew got his empty bus picture.

Inside Arriva Midlands 3741

As we got off the bus we saw Atrriva Midlands 2328 in the bus station. This must have been restarted and therefore it was only something minor which caused the failure earlier. We then went to the toilet in the shopping centre and matthew and mum whet to buy some sweet from a shop opposite. We walked back to the car and Matthew had a sausage roll and a drink of Cherryade. We put on the car radio to listen to the stoke match and then set off back towards home. We got back on the #4601 which we did down to the A5. mum had arranged to meet her friends at a pub near two truck stops on the A5 and we stopped to let her out. I didn't actually check to see if she got in the other car safely, but as I didn't get an irrate phone call I assumed all was well. We then carried on along the A5 to the M6 which we did Northbound to Junction 15. Matthew was a little unsettled so we asked him if he wanted to pass the Z Carz depot as it was still light. We did the A519 and Whitmore Road to Trentham. We then did the a34 and the A5035 to Longton. We passed the depot which was quite full and he got a few pictures. First was Mercedes minibus BV51 BNO.

Z Carz BV51 BNO in Longton

Further down the row was coach V690 EBC and an airport minibus DL03 HHU.

Z Carz V690 EBC & DL03 HHU in Longton

We then carried on passed Longton bus station. There were a flurry of PMT scania's on #6 and #25 services. These were 60058/073/176/61553. We then down Victoria Road to Hanley and past the bus station we saw 41495 and 41514 woking and 2 of the 3 Bakerbus hybrid double deckers. We went down to Bucknall and on to Adderley Green. in the First garage was 53830 which has yet to receive a fleet number. We then saw Tyrers coach TYR 4R outside a pottery on Sutherland Road. We then headed back on the A5035 to Blurton. We stopped at the McColls shop for a drink and some chocolate before getting home before 17:00. He then had sausages and potatoes for tea and settled down for the evening before bedtime...Mark