Trip to Southport 29-12-2012

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
2141	Esplanade Park & Ride	Southport, adj Duke Street	PR1	Arriva NW&W
3084	Southport, opp Duke Street	Crossens, on Rufford Road	49	Arriva NW&W
7648	Crossens, on Preston New Road	Southport, Chapel Street (Stop EA)	44	Arriva NW&W
4103	Southport, Monument (Stop CA)	Crossens, on Rufford Road	49	Arriva NW&W
7651	Crossens, on Preston New Road	Southport, Chapel Street (Stop EA)	44	Arriva NW&W
2725	Southport, opp The Wellington	Crossens, on Preston New Road	44	Arriva NW&W
3084	Crossens, on Rufford Road	Highpark, High Park Place (W-bound)	49	Arriva NW&W
7654	Highpark, adj Roe Lane	Southport, London Street (Stop Hb)	43	Arriva NW&W
2143	Southport, Monument	Esplanade Park & Ride	PR1	Arriva NW&W

Today we decided to go to Southport. No research was done for this trip, other than to check the weather. When we checked on Friday it was down for sunshine, but by Saturday morning it was forecast rain. Matthew got up around 10:00 and had some toast and orange juice for breakfast. As it was a longer trip we set off around 11:15. We headed toward Heron Cross, passing Lightning Travel NX03 JYJ parked up in Heron Cross. We also saw First Marshall Dart 40173 on a Hanley bound #23 service. At the A50 we headed West to the A500. We did this North to Etruria where we came off on shelton New Road to get LPG. After filling up we got back on the A53 which we did West to the A500. We then got on the Northbound M6. It was quite busy and wet, and we averaged around 50mph as we headed North. Traffic improved a little as we headed North and we eventually got onto the M58. At the A570 we headed North and the road to Ormskirk was quiet. At Ormskirk we pulled into Morrisons to have dinner. Matthew had a small breakfast and his favourite lemon meringue pie for afters. After we had eaten we go back into the car and carried on along the A570. We headed into Southport passing a Volvo B7TL on the inbound #385 service. As the Kew park and ride site was shut for the Winter, we had to head into town and throughtto the Esplanade park and ride site. As we approached we saw an Arriva liveried Enviro 200 so we knew it was going to be a required one if we parked up quickly enough. We parked up and went straight for the bus, forgoing a toilet stop. Matthew got a quick picture of required Arriva NW&W 2141 before we boarded the bus.

Arriva NW&W 2141 at the Esplanade P&R site

We did the PR1 to the last stop on Lord street. We saw Arriva NW&W 7654, seen on a #43 service. Matthew got a better picture as we got off the bus.

Arriva NW&W 2141 in Lord Street

We crossed the road to see what was working. At the stop was Tyrers Optare Solo SJ54 GDA on a #347 service. This is the first time we have seen this operator in Southport.

Tyrers SJ54 GDA in Lord Street

There was a long time to wait for the next #375/385 service. so we decided to do a #49 up to Crossens so we could see what was out. The net #49 to turn up was dud Arriva NW&W 3084, but we decided to do it anyway. As we got on we passed Volvo B7TL 4103 heading South on a #49. We also saw required Marshall Dart 7648 on a Northbound #42. We thought that if the #49 was quick enough. We might catch up with 7648 at Crossens. The bus was fairly quiet today and we made good time as we headed North. When we got to the end Matthew got a picture of the empty interior of 3084.

Inside Arriva NW&W 3084

He got off and then took a picture of the outside of the bus too.

Arriva NW&W 3084 at Crossens

We walked down to the stop on the Preston New Road to see when the #44 was due and it wasn't fo another few minutes. Then we saw 7648 approach from the South. Matthew wen to the toilet as he is such a cool character and I waited for him to come out. He then got a picture of 7648 before getting on it.

Arriva NW&W 7648 at Crossens

As it was empty he also got his empty bus picture too.

Inside Arriva NW&W 7648

We sat down and wait a minute or so for the bus to depart. as we came into town we also saw two other required buses. Marshall's 7643 and 7646 were out on the #43/46's. I thought it might be a good idea to do a #49 South to Carr Lane. to see if we could get one or the other of these buses. We waited for 5 minutes for the next #49 to appear and it was dud Arriva NW&W 3085. Matthew decided he didn't want to do this bus and was a little unsettled for a short while. We then spied B7TL 4103 approaching from the South so we decided to do this instead. It took ages to get across the road but it took the bus even longer to move up Lord street! We got on and went upstairs. I asked Matthew if he wanted to go to High Park to meet the #43 or go all the way and he chose to go all the way. the top deck was nearly empty but it didn't empty out complete until the end of the run. matthew then got his empty bus picture.

Inside Arriva NW&W 4103

We got off and got a picture of the outside of the bus too.

Arriva NW&W 4103 at Crossens

We checked the time and we saw that there was a #44 due. It was already at the stop and it was dud Arriva NW&W 7651. It's always nice to do one of these Marshall although they are starting to show their age a little.

Arriva NW&W 7651 at Crossens

This bus was empty too and so he got his picture here.

Inside Arriva NW&W 7651

We headed South into town. past the 2 co-op food shops on the #44 route. When we got to the edge of town we saw Arriva NW&W 2727 on a #300 service. We did this to the stop on Eastbank Street again and as got off. We saw One of the required Marshall pull off the stop in front on a Souhbound #43. We saw required Volvo B10BLE on a Nortbound service #44. I asked Matthew if he wanted to do it and he said yes. He took a picture across the street before we coolly crossed the road to get on the bus.

Arriva NW&W 2725 on Eastbank Street

He must have know there was a drive change taking place because we had to wait a short while to get on. We then formulated a plan which might help us get one of the required Marshalls. It was starting to go dark and we knew it would be out last trip out before returning home. We thought we could go to Crossens on this #44, do a #49 to High Park and then get off for a #43 into town, hopefully doing one of the required Marshalls. The journey up was nice on this fine beast. and when we got to the other end he got his empty bus picture.

Inside Arriva NW&W 2725

We got off and crossed the new Preston Road and walked up to the #49 stop. The bus was already on the stop and it was dud for the day Arriva NW&W 3084.

Arriva NW&W 3084 at Crossens

We waited for the bus to be readied for the return journey and then we got on. Matthew then took another empty bus picture. We sat down and I downloaded the #43 service timetable to check on times and frequency. The next bus was due of High Park at 16:59 so we had 10 minutes to get there. It was every 30 minutes so we didn't want to miss it. We set off on 3084 and I think we only picked up 1 other passenger as we traveled in. We got to High park with about a minute to spare and we leapt off 3084 before jogging around the corner to a waiting Marshall. Unfortunately it wasn't one of the required ones it was dud 7654. Matthew got a picture before we boarded.

Arriva NW&W 7654 at High Park

He got on and got his inside picture too.

Inside Arriva NW&W 7654

We called mum to ask her to meet us at the stop at the end of Hoghton Street. when we got there we got off and e got a picture of this bus.

Arriva NW&W 7654 on Hoghton Street

We crossed the street and we saw Arriva NW&W 4101 on a North #43 too.

Arriva NW&W 4101 on Hoghton Street

We met up with mum and then visited a papershop for a chocolate bar and a can of Coke before walking to the monument to catch the returning PR1 service. We arrived at an empty bus stop and the bus turned up almost immediately. It was dud Arriva NW&W 2143. We got on the bus and almost immediately a dzen peopl turned up to get on the bus. We did this back to the Esplanade P&R site before a quick visit to the toilet. We then went around the end of the building to get a picture of the bus.

Arriva NW&W 2143 at the Esplanade P&R site (Mark)

We will have to return to ride on the Marshall Darts 7639,7643 and 7646 on another day. The journey back was quite quick. We set off around 17:30 and we headed through town and onto the A570. we went around Ormskirk town and on the A570 down to the M58. We did this back to the M6. We headed south to the A500. It was quite busy as there was and accident between junctions 16 & 15. We were able to keep moving and then we got on the Southbound A500 down to the A50. We then went past the Britannia stadium, scene of the earlier 3-3 draw with Southampton. we then went along Stanley Matthew Way and past the Hen Heath pub before getting home around 19:00. As it was a longer trip we ordered some food in and matthew chiled out on his computer before bedtime...Mark

Trip to Southport 23-06-2012

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
MIB 986	Longton Hall Road	Southport	Charter	Copelands Tours
3084	Southport, opp Duke Street	Crossens, on Rufford Road‎	49A	Arriva NW&W
7673	Crossens, on Rufford Road‎	Highpark, High Park Place (W-bound)	49A	Arriva NW&W
3085	Churchtown, High Park Place (E-bound)	Crossens, on Rufford Road‎	49A	Arriva NW&W
3309	Crossens, on Rufford Road‎	Southport, Market Street (Stop BE)	49A	Arriva NW&W
3083	Southport, opp Duke Street	Scarisbrick, opp Bullens Lane	385	Arriva NW&W
3082	Scarisbrick, adj Bullens Lane	Southport, adj Duke Street	375	Arriva NW&W
3041	Southport, opp Duke Street	Crossens, on Preston New Road‎	47	Arriva NW&W
3079	Crossens, on Preston New Road	Southport, Chapel Street (Stop EA)	42	Arriva NW&W
MIB 986	Southport	Longton Hall Road	Charter	Copelands Tours

Today it was decided to go to Southport. I'm still nowhere near 100% at the moment and mum thought it would be a good idea to go on a coach trip so I don't have to worry about driving. Choices of trip for today on Copelands website were for Blackpool, Bury and Southport and Matthew chose Southport. Research for today trip was minimal as we have been here a few time before however I did wish I'd taken the Arriva Southport map with me to help with choosing which buses to catch to where. The weather forecast for today in Southport had been for rain all day. The only thing that varied during the week as we checked it for today was how heavy it was going to be abd whether there was going to be any sun. We drove down to Longton Hall Road a little after 08:15 getting there around 08;20 just before the coach was due. Whilst we waited we saw First Potteries 40146 on a Newcastle service. A few minutes after the booked time we saw a Copelands Tours coach approach. As it got closer we could see it was MIB 986 which we thought was required. A quick check of the page revealed it to be true and so we picked up another new coach. OUr coach was also picking up Bury passenger as there were only a half a coach full going to each destination. We whizzed around the city quite quickly with very few pick-ups. We also saw required MIB 293 going around town and when we passed it we could see it was doing pick-ups for a holiday trip to Weymouth. from this we assumed MIB 293 to be one of the newer vehicles and it therefore mainly does the holiday work. When we reached Newcastle some of the passengers transferred onto MIB 270 on the Bury trip. We then set off towards Southport non stop. The coach took the route that we always take once it had dropped onto the A500 at Wolstanton. The route was via the M6,M58 and then the A570 through Ormskirk. It was much quiter and easier to navigate Ormskirk around 10:30 in the morning! On the way in we passed a couple of the Wigan turns and these were both Pulsars. We turned left onto Lord Street and then we circled around to the prom, setting down outside the pier around 11:00.

Copelands Tours MIB 986 in Southport

First things first we had to get something to eat. We had spotted that the Cleveland cafe was open today. Its a place we had been before, but the last few times we had been it had seemed to be closed. It was a fair walk down to here from the pier. As we walked down we saw required Arriva NW&W 7653 on a #43 service. When we got there we ordered 3 slices of home made meat and potatoes pie and a breakfast for Matthew. Whilst we ate we saw required Arriva NW&W 7673 heading towards Woodvale on a #49A as well as another Pulsar on the Wigan turns. We also saw an unrefurbished Arriva double decker heading North but we did not see what it was on and where it was going to. The food was really nice but the only downside was that there is no toilet in this cafe. So we made a quick trip into Morrison's to use the facilities, and we promised Matthew that we would go back later for a cake and a drink. Back on Lord Street we thought we would head northwards on a #49A. If it wasn't Arriva 7673 next then perhaps it would be on the following service. We waited for the #49A and turned up with a required Pulsar Arriva NW&W 3084.

Arriva NW&W 3084 in Lord Street

As we headed Northwards along Lord Street we passed required Arriva NW&W 3309 on a southbound #49A. It is quite a big working for a step entranced double decker to be out on a Saturday so we had to go after this. We also passed Arriva 2343 on a #43 service which we would try and go after if we could. We decided to go the Crossens on 3084. We had never been that far north on a #49A before, but it meant that Matthew would be able to photograph the bus empty when we reached the end of the run. When we got to Crossens Matthew did just that.

Inside 3084

We got off and decided to wait for the next service with the hope it was required 7673. Mum who doesn't usually go on the buses kept herself occupied by reading. We let 3084 go on the 12:25 and waited at the stop. We also noticed that this was a great stop to see other services such as the X2, 47, 42 and 44. With a 12 minute Saturday frequency we knew we wouldn't have to wait to long. Sure enough after a few minutes we saw a Marshall Dart round the corner in the near distance. We were lucky in that it was 7673 and Matthew got a picture.

Arriva NW&W 7673 in Crossens

We got on a Matthew photographed the inside too.

Inside 7673

The plan was now to go back towards Southport and get off, trying to guess how far to go to pick up 3309. We decied to go back to High Park / Churchtown area to try and intercept the double decker. On the way we passed a Marshall and a Pulsar along the route. We got off and crossed the road to wait for the 12:58 towards crossens. It turned up and was required Pulsar Arriva NW&W 3085.

Arriva NW&W 3085 in Churchtown

Back at Crossens we let 3085 go on the 13:13 service. The Next one turned up and this was required Arriva NW&W SPD 2292. We let this go as we didn't want to miss 3309. As we waited we saw 2722 coming off the #42 about to work to Formby on a #44.

Arriva NW&W 2722 in Crossens

The next one appeared around the corner and it was what we wanted and well worth the wait. Very much required Arriva NW&W 3309...

Arriva NW&W 3309 in Crossens

So off we went on the bus we thought would probably be the highlight of the day. These double deckers are only usually used on schools work, but with a couple of the buses that usually work to Wigan in the refurbishment programme, this has taken Pulsars off local routes and these need to replaced with something. The journey back was OK. It was nice to see thing from a different / elevated angle, but the journey was made less enjoyable by a bunch of rowdy teenagers. Back at Southport Matthew got another picture of this fine beast.

Arriva NW&W 3309 in Lord Street

We decided to have a bit of a break from buses at this point. We sat outside the Pound bakery and we had some cream doughnuts and drinks. Doughnuts that are 2 for £1 suddenly become £1.35 each when you put a plate under them... Go figure! As we ate we saw required Arriva 4105 arrive and depart on the #375 to Wigan. We knew that we wouldn't see this bus again today as the round trip takes nearly 4 hours. However, Matthew decided he wanted to do the next #385 out at 14:46. We waited for around 20 minutes and it turned up unrequired Pulsar 3083.

Arriva NW&W 3083 in Lord Street

It's amazing how many times we get unrequired Pulsars considering how few of them we had been on before today. Mum had decided to sit this round trip out in order to do a bit of shopping and to get the sausage rolls in for later. As we left town we passed another Pulsar on inbound #385 service. We decided to get off in Scarisbrick to catch the next one back. When we got off it took us quite a while to cross the busy A570. Once across the road we only had to wait around 2 minutes for the #375 to appear. It was another Pulsar! As it got closer we could see it was required Arriva NW&W 3082. We did the bus back into town. We stopped opposite the Arriva office for two or three minutes where we had a driver change before completing the journey onto Lord street where Matthew got his picture.

Arriva NW&W 3082 in Lord Street

We met up again with mum and this time we decided to go to Morrisons with Matthew like we had promised him earlier. After a visit to the toilets we went into the Cafe and Matthew had a lemon meringue pie and coke before we left for one final out and back trip. We had just over an hour to go out and back and to get back to the coach. We decided to do a #47 to Crossens on the most direct route, and then we would have a choice of buses back. We turned down 3084 again on a #49A and then the slightly late running #47 turned up with required branded Arriva NW&W 3041. We did this to the roundabout at Crossens.

Arriva NW&W 3041 in Crossens

Matthew had gotten his picture and then we crossed over to the toilets. We had a choice of 3088 on the #49A and the next #42, which turned up and was required Arriva NW&W 3079. We got on this and as we set of we passed one of the commanders that was going to do the next #44.

Inside Arriva NW&W 3079

The #42 is one of those service that dont stop on Lord street because they cant stop going the other way when they turn right and right again. We ended up getting off in front of the Arriva offices. We saw another double decker on the incoming Wigan - Southport service as we walked back towards the coach. We stopped to get some pop for the journey back and we also stopped for an ice cream. We nearly died of shock when we were told the price for three ice creams was £9! We wont be going back to that ice cream place that is for sure...Back on the promenade we didn't have to wait for long for the coach to appear. I needed he toilet so as we weren't due to depart for 10 minutes I raced off to the arcade to use the toilet there. Matthew was waiting for me as he wouldn't get on the coach without me. Despite the last minute hitch I still wasn't the last person back on the coach. We set off on time and we saw another double decker on the edge of town on the incoming Wigan service. We also passed 4105 which we had seen around 14:00 on the run back down to Ormskirk. There seemed to be only 3 out of a possible 8 buses that were double deck on the Wigans and we weren't lucky enough to get near any of them. At least it gives us something to do another time at Southport. The journey back was quick and it started to rain as we headed Southwards. Despite it being forecast for rain all day in Southport we only had an odd drop or two. We were back in Newcastle just after 19:00, and with only a few drop offs on the return we were back on Longton Hall Road well before 20:00. As it was late and as we hadn't had any chips today we decided to drive to Smithpool road for a small fish with a few chips for tea. Matthew had a cheeseburger instead. We got home a little after after 20:00 and settled down to eat our food...Mark