Trip to Hatton/Hilton 04-04-2012

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
2234	Sudbury, adj Portway Head	Hatton, adj Church Avenue	1	Arriva Midlands
2251	Hatton, opp Church Avenue	Hatton, opp Salt Box	1	Arriva Midlands
614	Hatton, opp Salt Box	Hilton, adj Alpha House	Villager 1	Trent Barton
4776	Hilton, opp Alpha House	Fenton, adj Travers Court	X50	Wardle Transport

Today I had a day off and as would be expected the weather was awful! We had originally planned to take Matthew to Westport Lake but as the weather was so bad, we decided an afternoon out for dinner and catching a few buses would be the best bet. It was around 8', but there were gale force winds, sleet and snow! Originally I had suggest to mum that we catch the X50 up from Fenton to the Salt Box in Hatton, and then back on the same bus, but mum thought it would be a bit too cold do that. We set off around 13:00 going via Longton Tesco to pick up some petrol and to put some air in the tyres. We filled up with some petrol and as we were going out we saw that the compress was being serviced. We saw 40017 on the #22A as we left Tesco and drove off to drop down onto the East bound A50. As we traveled Eastward we passed Wardle Transport 4895 on a Hanley bound X50. We stopped at the Esso petrol station by Macdonalds in Uttoxeter and eventually managed to get some air for the tyres. As we passed the racecourse we saw an unidentified MPD heading into Uttoxeter on the #1 from Burton. We got to the Salt Box cafe around 13:40. We ordered our meals and sat down by a window facing Station road so we could see the buses go past. As we waited we saw the 13:15 Derby - Hanley X50. It was one of the 2 buses from Leicester that were brought in to work the service, but we didn't see which one. The next bus we saw was the #1 Uttoxeter - Burton which was the returning MPD we saw earlier. It was required 2251. A few minutes later we saw an ALX200 Dart on the next Uttoxeter bound #1, which was required 2234. It would seem that we had completely mis-timed the meal and in order to get an X50 towards Hanley we would have to hang around for over an hour! After we had eaten we used the facilities. We then saw the Derby bound X50 which was 4776, meaning the other X50 we had seen would have been 4777. At this point we formulated a plan to get the two #1 buses in before doing the X50. Mum drove us to the far end of Sudbury to the stop we often get off at when coming from. I knew that it had a bus shelter which was a must today in these winds! At least it had stopped raining by now and the sun was trying to shine. We got to the stop around 14:35 which was the time the bus was due off Uttoxeter. After about a 10 minute wait huddled in the bus shelter, as predicted required Arriva Midlands 2234 appeared from around the corner.

Arriva Midland 2234 in Sudbury

Thing got very hectic for a while... We booked to Tutbury as the bus was scheduled to pass the other #1 between Tutbury and Hatton. As we left the A50 at Foston we ran over a large branch off a tree presumably blown off in the high winds. The bus continued to make clattering noises from underneath as the branch was dragged along for for a few hundred yards. We soon reached the salt Box and then it was a case of timing getting off the bus so we didn't miss the return. We got off only a couple of stops up the road and Matthew got another picture of this fine beast.

2234 in Hatton

As we waited for 2251 I noticed the was another service on the bus stop which was bound for Hilton, somewhere I knew the X50 cam through. The Trent Barton V1 service was due at 15:22 and had a journey time of 7 minutes. I looked at the X50 timetable and saw the 15:15 from Derby came through Hilton at 15:43 so there should be plenty of time. Mum pulled up at the stop and handed me the X50 timetable that I had left in the car. I told her she could drive to the Saltbox and we could stop for a quick drink. So she drove off and within a couple of minutes 2251 turned up. we did it to the salt box where matthew got a picture of the bus as it went off into the distance.

Arriva Midland 2251 opposite the Salt Box

We ordered some drink and some desserts. Whilst we were there I looked at the X50 timetable and saw the 15:15 from Derby came through Hilton at 15:43 so there should be plenty of time if we caught the V1 service. The food and drink came quickly and we were dome in a few minutes. As we came out we could see the Trent Barton bus in the distance so we ran across the road (after checking it was safe to do so) and down to the stop. We just jumped straight onto the bus and booked to Hilton. The journey was a bout 5 minutes and as we came into the village I could see stops on both sides of the road so it would be a good place to get off. We got off and Matthew wasn't able to get a picture of the bus. As it went we identified it as Trent Barton 614. It was required as we had never been on a Trent Barton bus before. We crossed the road to wait for the X50. Mum stayed parked up at the Salt Box and I said I would text here when we were safely on the bus. She hadn't even realised we had left the cafe she thought we had gone to the toilet! After around 10 minutes freezing in the cold wind we saw 4776 approaching in the distance and Matthew got a picture before we boarded.

Wardle Transport 4776 in Hilton

We boarded the bus and went upstairs. The journey back was quite interesting. We passed Arriva Midlands 2251 just East of Sudbury and we passed the other long X50 in Uttoxeter bus station with 4777. We also saw 2317 on the #4 town circular and 2217 was stabled up between duties. We passed the X50 short on the A520 near Meir which as mentioned earlier was Wardle Transport 4895. We arranged to meet mum in Fenton and so when we got to Travers court we bailed off and Matthew got another picture of this bus.

4776 in Fenton

We then jumped into the car on Smithpool Road before driving home. We got back in the house a little before 17:00...Mark