| Bus | From | To | Service | Operator |
| 865 | Northwich Interchange | Northwich, Iron Bridge (SW-bound) | 1 | Arriva NW&W |
| 861 | Northwich, Iron Bridge (NE-bound) | Northwich Interchange | 1 | Arriva NW&W |
| 3360 | Northwich Interchange | Wharton, nr Wharton Gardens | 37 | Arriva NW&W |
| 3329 | Wharton, opp Wharton Gardens | Northwich Interchange | 31A | Arriva NW&W |
| 7644 | Northwich Interchange | Davenham, opp Prospect Drive | 37 | Arriva NW&W |
| 2619 | Davenham, Green Lane (cnr) | Northwich Interchange | 31A | Arriva NW&W |
Christmas is approaching and with it all the potential problems of overcrowding on the buses. As such we decided to go to somewhere a little quieter this week. Matthew chose Northwich from the list of destination we gave to him, and this was good because it also closer than many of the other places we go to. Short journey time are important at this time of year with it going dark before 16:00. There had also been a small snowfall the day before with about an inch of snow falling in Stoke on Trent. Research consisted of going to the Cheshire and Chester west council site and download and printing some Arriva, GHA and Network Warrington timetables and also printing a section of the local area bus route map. We set of a little later than usual at 12:15 and there was heavy traffic on the A500 and M6. For some reason I didn't look up the route and decided to go down the A54 instead of the A556. This route to Northwich took us through Middlewich, and as we passed by the town we spotted a large food van at the side of the road opposite the local garden center. We had already decided that today we would stop on the way to Northwich for something to eat instead of visiting a cafe in town, mainly because we had struggled to get a seat in a cafe when we visited in October and we though it would be even worse today. The food van called The Country Kitchen was on a small car park and after we did another circle of the one way system to get back to i we parked up on the car park. We had a sausage bap, bacon bap and a bacon and egg back plus 2 teas and it all came just over £9. at least the mistake on the route meant that we got to eat as planned. After we had finished our food we headed North towards Winsford, which we skirted around the edge of and then we continued into town. This time we parked a little closer to town than last time in a car park behind the local fish and chip restaurant. We arrived a fraction before 14:00. When we got there there wasn't much about bus wise. There was a #1 service sitting on stand which was required Arriva NW&W 865 and Matthew got a picture of it.
Arriva NW&W 865 in Northwich Interchange (Matt)
We looked up the time of the next GHA bus towards Chester. On a Saturday, the next bus was 14:40 so we would have had a long wait in the cold. We decided to do a filler move on the #1 and then to try and pick up the GHA bus on the way in. 865 had already been standing next to for a few minutes so we jumped on the bus and booked Arriva day rovers. By the time we left the service was reasonable full for the mile or so trip Westwards out of town. We decided to get off near Greenbank Raiway station as we knew the 82 passed by there from our last trip to Northwich. After about around a 5 minute journey, we alighted just after the station.
865 by the Iron Bridge stop (Matt)
When we crossed the road we realised that we hadn't passed the inbound service which was slightly overdue. As it was very cold we decided that if the Arriva bus turned up first we would catch it...Afterall we had already got a ticket. After a couple of minutes, a very full looking 861 appeared and Matthew got a picture!
Close up of 861 (Matt)
2 out of the 3 of us did manage to get a seat, but the bus was quite full of shopper going to pick up thing for Christmas. When we arrived Matthew waited for the bus to empty so he could get a picture inside. As we waited we saw a double decker appear on stand behind us.
Inside 861 (Matt)
Picture taken we went down to see where the double decker was going. It was on a #37 to Crewe, so we decided to do it to Winsford. We got a quick picture and then boarded to bus.
3360 about to work the #37 to Crewe (Matt)
On board the bus, we went upstairs to a virtually empty top deck. We checked Matthew's list and we saw that he had traveled on this bus before. Matthew was able to get a shot of the empty top deck behind our seats.
More smarties...Top deck of 3360 (Matt)
We had booked to Winsford, and we had not got a timetable for this service so we didn't know where we would meet the return service. Looking at the map it could be seen that various 31 and 37 services took different routes through the villages South of Northwich. We wanted to get off just outside Winsford where it was a residential area, and hopefully somewhere where all the service ran through. We got off on Wharton Road and then crossed the road to return to Northwich. Looking at the timetable on the stop it appeared that we had succeeded, as there were buses every 10 minutes. The next bus was a #31A at Wardle Transport minibus 1451. It appeared around the corner and it seem to be a Palatine II. Which as far as we knew there weren't any in the area. As it got closer we could see that it was definitely a Palatine II. The bus approached and we could see it was required 3329.
Nice surprise...3329 on a Northwich bound #31A service (Matt)
We did this very nice bus back to Northwich, and when we arrived back Matthew hotographed to now empty top deck of the bus.
Inside 3329 (Matt)
Back at Northwich there was another interesting bus which Matthew had not been on before. It was Marshall bodied Dart 7644. Matthew got a picture of this and we decided to do this to the edge of town.
7644 about to work a #37 (Matt)
On the bus, Matthew photographed the back which was still empty at this point.
Inside 7644 (Matt)
The bus filled up quite well and we departed towards Crewe. The bus seemed to go on a different route than we remember and the bus traveled a short distance along the A556. as the bus turned back towards Winsford we decided to get off. Matthew got another picture of this fine beast.
7644 in the middle of nowhere! (Matt)
Looking at the bus stop we could see that buses here were every half an hour and only towards Sandbach. We decided to walk forward as on the map this loop that is served by the #37 met up with the #31 in Davenham. We walked until we reached a main road and then asked a local where the stop for Northwich was. The stop was about 50yds away from where we were. On getting there we saw there was a bus back in less than 10 minutes. Matthew had indicated to us that he wanted to go to the toilet whilst there but with the bus imminent we decide to head back into town. I texted mum to see if she could locate a toilet for us so we could head straight there as soon as we got off. The bus soon appeared and it was a Plaxton Centro. Matthew had only been on one of these before so we realised that there would be a good chance of it being required. As it approached we saw it was 2619.
2619 in Davenham (Matt)
On the bus we looked up on his list to find that 2619 was the one of these type he had had before. Mum texted back with the location of the toilet which happened to be right next to the bus stops. When we got off we went straight to the faclilties. on the way back to the car matthew got another picture of 2619 in the fading light.
2619 on arrival at Northwich (Matt)
Back at the car we had sausage rolls and drinks. We turned the radio on to hear Stoke were drawing 1-1 at Wolves. We set off home this time along the A559 towards the A556. Crouch bundled in a goal to give Stoke a late winner, making it a record breaking 4 consecutive wins in the Premiership. As it was a low mileage trip we went straight down the M6 to Hanford, not getting LPG on this occasion. We were back home for around1 17:20...Mark
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