Trip to Crewe and Sandbach 14-01-2012

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
3330	Crewe BS	Sandbach o/s Common	37	Arriva NW&W
4489	Sandbach o/s Common	Haslington opp Oakland Avenue	38	Arriva NW&W
3331	Haslington nr Oakland Avenue	Elworth nr railway station	37	Arriva NW&W
861	Elworth adj railway station	Sandbach o/s Common	37	Arriva NW&W

Today we had planned on going Crewe, but the intention was to catch a #85 from Hanley to Crewe. I had misread a post on the Staffordshire and Merseyside bus group saying that the D&G Crewe to Newcastle service was being extended to Hanley from the 13th January, when in fact it was down as changing on 13th February. By this time Matthew had got is heart set on going to Crewe anyway! Having been to both Crewe and Northwich Last year, we decided to cover buses on the Crewe to Sandbach corridor. Preperation for the trip consisted of printing out the 31,37 and 38 timetables plus a map of these 3 routes from the Arriva site. After a bit of a hiccup, we set off for Crewe around 12:45. Arriving around 13:30 we parked up in the car park on Delamere Street and walked over to the bus station. We saw a couple of #84's and the spare at Crewe and these were all Plaxton Centros. What has happened to the Winsord allocated Cadets? Also seen at this point were D&G 27 on a local service and D&G 172. Before we traveled, we decided to have dinner at Les's Fish Bar. We all ate and drank and it came to around £17. After a quick toilet stop we headed back to the bus station to see what was working. There were 2 different services to Northwich just after 14:00. There was a 14:01 #31A and a 14:17 #37. As we got to the bus station, recent arrival to Winford 3330 came in on the #37. We decided to do this as it was required, and it would be only the second of this type we have ridden on. The bus parked on stand and the driver went for a quick break. Whilst we waited, Matthew got a picture of this fine bus.

Arriva NW&W 3330 in Crewe bus station

As we left I looked up what possible bus we could do next. We were scheduled to pass an inbound #38 from Macclesfield. The plan was that if it was an old double decker that we could get off and wait for it by the railway station and then do it back towards Macclesfield. As it approached we could see it was one of the 3 brand new double deckers allocated to Winsford. We passed the bus and it was required 4491. As it was a new bus we decided to stick with the one that we were on and travel further North. I worked out that the next bus we would pass was a #37 a couple of minutes out of Sandbach. Behind that by 18 minutes would be the next #38 to Crewe. It was decided that we would go to Sandbach Common and if we passed a good bus coming from Northwich on the #37, we could catch the following #38 and intercept it just outside Crewe on it's return. As we approached the roundabouts in Sandbach we could see it was another Palatine II like the bus that we were on. It was required 3331 so we were definately getting off to catch it on it's return. As we pulled into the Common, Matthew got a picture of the top deck as we filed off the bus.

Inside 3330

Getting off the bus, We decided that we could get a better picture than the one we took at Crewe...

3330 at Sandbach Common

We now had a 18 minute wait. We decided to fill the time with a it of shopping. We walked over to the local McColl's shop and brought some pop, a chocolate bar and Lottery Tickets. After doing our shopping we walked back to the Commom. D&G 64 was seen on a Nantwich to Rode Heath Service.

D&G 64 at Sandbach Common

The next bus in was a #319. I didn't even know where a #319 went to let alone who operated it! It eventually turned up and it was a very smart looking GHA Solo...

GHA S280 AOX at Sandbach Common

We then had 5 minutes before the #38 to Crewe was due. I guessed it would be one of the new ADL Enviro 400's and I was not wrong. It was required 4489.

Arriva NW&W 4489 at Sandbach Common

We got on the bus and worked out how far we could go. The buses would pass somewhere between The railway station and the bus station at Crewe. With the road by the railway station being very busy and the next section of road being a dual carriageway, I decided to get of at the Crewe end of Haslington by Oakland Avenue. It's a stop that we have been before when I used to take Matthew out on my own but didn't want to take him into Crewe. We got off and we had about 15 minutes to wait for the return bus. It wasn't too bad in the cold but very sunny afternoon. There should have been a #20 to Hanley First, so we stood on the green so we could get a better picture of it when it turned up. The # 20 was due at 15:22 and the #37 due at 15:26. Whilst we waited we saw 2 #20's head into Crewe. First was Potteries 60081 and this was followed 5 minuets later by Potteries 60196 which took a bizarre right turn down Primrose Avenue! Eventually our bus turned up a few minute late with a First bus right behind it.

Arriva NW&W 3331 in Haslington

We got on the bus and it was 3331 as was expected. It was quite full which explained the delay as it must of taken a while to load up at Crewe. We now had to decide where to catch the bus to and where we were going to meet up with mum. I decided that if we did the bus up to Sandbach Railway station, we could ride back to Sandbach on the shorter #37 Northwich to Sandbach service. That would take us to 4 buses for the day, and would be a good place to finish. I tried to call mum as we went through Haslington and Wheelock, but the signal was poor. She eventually called Uncle Dave back and we arranged to meet back at the Commom. We passed the next #37 and this was a Plaxton Centro so of no interest at this point in time. I had misread the timetable and I thought we were going for a dead time at Sandbach Station. We got off the bus at 15:52 and Matthew took a quick picture before we crossed the road.

3331 by Sandbach Station

We quickly crossed and headed to the stop. I check on the stop timetable and the bus wasn't due until 16:01. At this point we didn't know what was going to show up. Winsford has an allocation of around 50 buses and we have been on very few from this depot despite it being our closest Arriva NW&W depot. We thought it Could be a double decker, a Marshall bodied Dart or even a Plaxton Centro. The bus tuned the corner and we could see it was a Plaxton bodied Dart. As it got closer we could see it was dud 861 which we had travelled on on our last trip to Northwich. The bus was empty and Matthew took a picture as we boarded.

Inside Arriva NW&W 861

I think this bus must have swapped ready for the evening service. As it seemed to be a small vehicle for this service. about 5 minutes later we arrived back at the Common. direction and she just happened be on the Common. We got off and were able to get a good picture here.

861 at Sandbach Common

Mum had tried to follow the directions for Sandbach Common on her GPS but it wasn't there. She stopped to call us for directions and she just happened to have stopped on the Common next to 4489 on the #38 to Macclesfield. She could even hear us in the background. We walked over to the car and headed home. I drove NW to the M6 and then we traveled down to the A500. We listened to the Stoke match (away to Liverpool )as we traveled home and it was 0-0 still. We stopped at Longport for LPG and then drove home. We arrived home just before 17:00 and the result stayed at 0-0... Mark.