Trip to Stafford 26-07-2012

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
2344	Chell Road, Stafford	Weeping Cross, opp Baswich Lane	1	Arriva Midlands
3762	Stafford, opp Radford Bank Inn PH	Stafford Town Centre, adj Railway Station	825	Arriva Midlands
3736	Stafford Town Centre, adj Railway Station	Stafford Town Centre, opp Bridge Street	76	Arriva Midlands
2352	Stafford Town Centre, Gaol Square (Stand 2)	Stafford, adj Radford Bank Inn PH	3	Arriva Midlands
3729	Stafford, opp Radford Bank Inn PH	Stafford Town Centre, Guildhall Shopping Centre (Stand 1)	74	Arriva Midlands

Today we went to Stafford. Its the holidays and due to one reason or another we had been able to go out and do anything. So we promised Matthew we would out today, somewhere reasonably local. When asked if he wanted to got to Stafford Matthew said "yes". Matthew didn't get up until after 11:00 today. Before he got up I had looked out for the #22A to see if it was anything good. Today it was First Potteries 60196. Wardle Transport 1626 was seen about to Hanley. It was another hot and humid day. Since it stopped raining all the time we had experienced a week of sunshine, By the time we had eaten some breakfast and got dressed to go out it was close to 13:00. We headed North to Etruria to pick up LPG before heading Back South down the A500 and then onto the A34. We parked up in Stafford in a car park by Wilkinsons and behind Chell Road. This was a perfect place to park for visiting Theo's cafe, which is where we stopped for dinner. Matthew used the facilities before have a brunch. After eating we walked through the passageway opposite the market onto Chell Road. The first bus we saw was Arriva Midlands 2347, which had pulled up out of service.

Arriva Midlands 2347 on Chell Road

Across the road we saw Wardle Transport 2407 on the #482 service. We decided to stand at the last stop on Chell Road as this is where the local services go from and where the most interesting buses were likely to stop at. We didn't have to wait for long before required Arriva Midlands 2344 turned up on a Baswich service.

Arriva Midlands 2344 on Chell Road

We got on and booked to Baswich, getting an Arriva Staford day saver too as once again mum was travelling with us. We went right around the loop, and when the bus emptied out Matthew took a picture of the inside of the bus looking forward.

Inside Arriva Midlands 2344

Getting off at the end of the loop, we decided to walk down Radford Bank so we didn't have to wait 30 minutes for the next bus. Before we did we stopped at the Weeping Cross bus stop for a few minutes to have a drink. It wasn't very pleasant walking along this road in the hot sunshine. Matthew propelled me down the road as fast as he could and mum lagged behind. It's lucky that we were going downhill or else it might have been even more unpleasant. As we walked down the hill Matthew got a picture of Arriva Midlands 2338 on a #2 service.

Arriva Midlands 2338 on Radford Bank

When we got to the stop and there were a few people waiting. Matthew sat on the seat in the bus stop between two people. I told him he had to give up the seat for his mum so he sat on the floor instead. The first bus to turn up was a Pulsar. We asked Matthew if he wanted to do it and he said yes. As we had never been on a Midlands Pulsar we knew it would be required. It was Arriva Midlands 3762.

Arriva Midlands 3762 on Radford Bank

We did the bus back towards town. As the bus stopped at the railway station we decided to get off to use the facilities. Matthew got another picture as the bus went off into the distance.

Arriva Midlands 3762 by Stafford Station

As we went on the platform we saw 90047 rush through on a Northbound Freightliner. Matthew may not like me saying this, but he even attempted to get a picture of it! After we had done in the station we brought some more pop from the station stall before walking back to the bus stop. We saw a Plaxton Centro approaching, another type that had never been on with Arriva Midlands. I asked Matthew if he wanted to do this and he said yes. We soon saw that it was required Arriva Midlands 3736.

Arriva Midlands 3736 by Stafford Station

We did this into town. The bus service ended at South Walls so we got off and Matthew got a picture of the empty inside of the bus.

Inside Arriva Midlands 3736

We then walked off towards Gaol Square. On the way we saw Ex Arriva NW&W 2114 which now carries the number 2359 in the Arriva Midlands fleet.

Arriva Midlands 2359 former Arriva NW&W 2114

We walked up the road at little further and then stopped for a rest. Whilst we were there we saw Arriva Midlands 2299 parked up, Arriva Midlands 2337 went past as did Arriva Midlands 2231.

Arriva Midlands 2231

We carried on walking up the bank to the stops at Gaol Square. Whilst we there we saw 3 ALX Darts. Arriva Midlaands 2231, 2232 and 2233 were all present at one point. After a few minutes Required Arriva Midlands 2352 appeared on a #3 Walton service, so we decided to do this. We got on the bus first and as such Matthew was able to photograph the bus empty as we got on.

Inside Arriva Midlands 2352

We did this bus to Radford Bank and got off. As we walked to the crossing we saw Heyfordian coach B16 HTL coming along the road.

Heyfordian B16 HTL on Radford Bank

We crossed over and waited at the stop. We didn't have to wait long and another Pulsar appeared. I asked Matthew if he wanted to catch it and he said yes. As it approached we could see it was required Arriva Midlands 3729. We did the bus back past the railways station and the bus went behind Chell Road close to where the car was parked. We had promised Matthew a visit to Morrisons for a snack before we went home and so that is what we did. We got in the car and drove North up the A34 to Stone where we parked up at Morrison's. It was now gone 17:00 as we went into the cafe. We used the facilities and we got to the cafe in time for Matthe to have the last slice of lemon meringue pie. He also wanted something to eat so we got him a very small chips sausage and beans meal with some bread and butter. After we had eaten we went into the store to buy some pop. We left and drove to the Morrisons garage to put some air in the tyres before we set off homeward. We headed around the one way system and then back onto the A34. matthew wanted to go back via Barlaston, so we turned off just before the Darlaston Inn. We then went through barlaston and over the level crossing. We then headed out through rough close to Meir passing Wardle Transport 2408 on the #250 service to Stone.. Onto the A50 we then did a slow pass of the Z Carz depot so Matthew could take a few pictures.

Z Carz V690 EBC in Longton

We then looped around Longton and we to Adderley Green. As we passed near the Wardle Transport depot we passed on of the Caetano Nimbus's running out of service and 1647. At the Adderley Green roundabout we saw 40154 on a #1 service. We then traveled on to Bentilee, We saw Scraggs Blue Buses 38 turned by the Hillberry. We then went to Bucknall, along Leek New Road and then Victoria Road and past Duke Street. We then headed through Heron Cross and then home. We got home around 18:45. For a late supper we had a sausage sandwich before bedtime...Mark

Trip to Birkenhead 25-10-2011

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
7556	Birkenhead BS	New Brighton	410	Arriva NW&W
4158	New Brighton	Gorsey Lane	433	Arriva NW&W
2460	Gorsey Lane	Birkenhead Park Station	410	Arriva NW&W
2344	Birkenhead Park Station	New Brighton, Seabank Road (NE-bound)	410	Arriva NW&W
3007	New Brighton, Seabank Road (SW-bound)	Birkenhead	410	Arriva NW&W

As it is half term we have planned to tae him out a few times this week. Matthew chose to go out today and given the choice of a few destination he chose Birkenhead. Research for today consisted of downloading and printing parts of the Wirral public transport guide as well as finding details on the saveaway bus ticket. Today we set off around 11:00 and picked up Uncle Dave on the way. It was a fine Autumn day and the roads were relatively clear. We made good time and we were parked up and eating in Birkenhead market around 13:00. After eating our food we went to the end of the bus station to choose which buses we were going to catch. As we ate Dinner Matthew noticed a few older Dennis Darts working on the 410 New Brighton service. We watched and photographed buses for a few minutes and then we saw an interurban liveried dart approaching. With no time to get a picture we hurried off to the stand to pick up the bus which was required Arriva NW&W 7556. The bus was quite full and we decided to do this all the way to New Brighton. The bus emptied out a little in Liscard and when we arrived in New Brighton we noticed that it looked a little different. Somebody had gone and built a massive supermarket by the seafront! As we got off Matthew got a picture of the inside of the beast...


Inside 7556 (Matt)

At this point we would usually have to chase Matthew around the tennis courts, but he decided he wanted to visit the new Morrison's instead! We purchased some Coca Cola and A Twix before Matthew decided to use the facilities. He also tried to go into the cafe and photographed the cake display. When we got outside Matthew didn't get a picture of the outside of 7556, but dad did.


7556 lays over in New Brighton (Mark)

There seemed to be a constant stream of buses and we didn't have to wait for long for something else to appear. 7554 turned up on a #411 service.


7554 in New Brighton on a service #411 (Matt)

For the first time we saw an Avon bus on a #10 service, I'll have to do some research on this one...


Avon 509 about to work a #10 to Arrowe Park (Matt)

Matthew had already chosen to do one of the refurbished DAF double deckers which had been parked across the road. It was required 4158. After a short while it turned around and came back and Matthew got a picture.


4158 on a 433 to Liverpool (Matt)

We'd already decided that we wouldn't go to Liverpool today, so we decided to get off at the bottom of Gorsey Lane, so we could catch a 4#410 forwards. As we got off Matthew got another picture of 4158.


4158 in Gorsey Lane (Matt)

We decided to let the first bus to Birkenhead go, because it was full to standing. It was required 2455. 10 minutes later another bus appeared which had empty seats so we decided to get on. This time it was dud 2460.


2460 on a #410 in Gorsey Lane (Matt)

We got on with the intention of going back to Birkenhead, but we thought if we went back all the way we would not be able to do much else today. We decided to get off at Birkenhead Park station and cross over and head back towards New Brighton. After we got off and crossed the road, we saw Marshall Dart 7642 going the other way.


7642 disappears into the distance on a #410 by Birkenhead Park station (Matt)

After around 10 minutes, another interurban liveried Dart round the corner. We thought it was 7556 again but as it got closer we saw it was required 2344.


2344 outside Birkenhead Park station (Matt)

The bus was quite full, and we decided to do this to the other side of Liscard but not all the way to New Brighton. We eventually got of at the Seabank road stop and then crossed the road. We had just missed the dud Dart 2285 going in the other direction. After around an 8 minute wait, surprisingly 3007 rounded the corner!


3007 by the Seabank Road stop, New Brighton (Matt)

We did this all the way back to Birkenhead and alighted at the stop behind Wilkinson's near the bus station. Matthew got another good picture of 3007.


3007 behind Wilko's in Birkenhead (Matt)

When we got back we walked back to the car. 7538 passed us on a #411 to Woodside. In the car Matthew tucked into a sausage Roll and a Bakewell Tart. We set offa little after 16:00 and we stopped in Longport for LPG. We got back home around 18:00 just as it was starting to go dark...Mark