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