Trip to Hanley / Tunstall 09-11-2013

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
42892	Magdalen Road, Blurton	Newcastle BS	22	First Potteries
37158	Newcastle BS	Hanley BS	25	First Potteries
254	Hanley BS	Tunstall, adj stop M	20	Bakerbus
3615	Tunstall, adj stop A	Bradeley, opp Crediton Avenue	91	Wardle Transport
4802	Bradeley, opp Moorland View	Hanley, adj stop J1	19	Wardle Transport

Today we decided to stay locally as mum had thing to do later. No research was done except to check the weather. and this was for a bright sunny day. It was quite cold as we headed into winter with a maximum temperature of 8' predicted. Matthew got up early for a Saturday at around 09:00. I had been out to check what buses were on the #22's so we would know what was out before we set off. First Potteries 42892/894 were both out and required, the other bus being dud First Potteries 40016. Also seen were First Potteries 40003/375/42726/727 on #23's and Wardle Transport 3616/4813 were out on the #46. I then went to pick up uncle Dave. I headed through Blurton into Heron Cross and then into Fenton. After picking up uncle Dave I returned back through Heron Cross passing First Potteries 42726 on a 23A and we then carried on into Blurton. We worked out that if we wanted to go get required First Potteries 42892 we would have to got out to get the 12:20 from Longton to Newcastle. We left the house around 12:20 and we headed to the bus stop. As expected we saw First potteries 42894 heading into Longton just before our bus was due. I flagged it down for a neighbour who was 100yds away from the stop when the bus appeared. Around 13:32 as expected required 42892 rounded the corner and we flagged it down.

First Potteries 42892 in Blurton

We got on and booked a Smart Day ticket before sitting down near the back of the bus. We headed out onto The A5035 and into Trentham. We passed First Potteries 40155 on the #21A. We turned into New Inn Lane and we passed Trentham bound 61238 on the #21. We headed through Hanford and down Church Lane onto the A34. Here we passed First Potteries 40016 on the 3rd #22 turn. We went through Trent Vale and we headed towards the Hospital along Harpfields Road. We passed through the hospital and back onto the A34. We then headed into Newcastle and into the bus station. When we got to the bus station we let the bus empty and Matthew got a picture inside First Potteries 42892.

Inside First Potteries 42892

When we got into the bus station we saw First Potteries 37158 on the next #25 to Hanley. We decided tho have a quick walk around to see what was about. First Potteries 32633 was heading towards Keele on a #25.

First Potteries 32633 in Newcastle bus station

Wardle Transport 3615 was parked up in between #91 duties. First Potteries 65732 was on a #34 turn and Wardle Transport 4806 on the next #91 to Bradeley.

Wardle Transport 4806 in Newcastle bus station

We also saw D&G 129 on the Crewe bound #85 and D&G 173 on the Hanley bound #85. We decided to have a run on required 37158 on the #25 to Hanley. Once in Hanley we could go get chips! Matthew took a picture of First Potteries 37158 and then we got on it.

First Potteries 37158 in Newcastle bus station

We got on the bus and we went upstairs. The bus was quite full so matthew sat with uncle Dave and I sat on my own a few seats away. The bus left Newcastle on the A53 and then onto George Street. The bus then headed though Hartsill. We headed into Stoke passing 37160 & 37156 on #25's. Having been buses that once did the very intense X1 service, I expected the batch of B7TL's from East Anglia to be worn out. 37158 seemed a very nice bus and seemed to be in tip top condition. We carried on through Stoke and past the railway station. Here we passed Wardle Transport 4895 on the X50 to Derby. We carried on through Shelton and into Hanley. When we reached the bus station we let the bus empty out and Matthew got a picture inside First Potteries 37158.

Inside First Potteries 37158

We got off the bus and we headed to the toilets. After using the facilities we walked down to the chip shop on Cheapside. After getting the chips we headed to John Street multi-storey car park to watch buses whilst we ate our chips. Matthew washed his chips down with a can of Ben Shaw's dandelion and burdock. We then took a few bus pictures. A recent transfer from Wardle Transport to Scraggs was required Optare Solo YJ54 BSX.

Scraggs YJ54 BSX in Hanley bus station

The bus still has it's old Wardle Transport fleet number on it (2545). We also saw First Potteries 40028 on a #8B to Brown Edge

First Potteries 40028 in Hanley bus station

Seen in the layover area of the bus station was required First Potteries 41522.

First Potteries 41522 in Hanley bus station

Other sightings of interest were First Potteries 40173 on the #23A to Blurton, Bakerbus 205 on the X5, Bakerbus 194 was on the #2 to Bentilee. Wardle Transport 4808 was on the #19 to Bradeley. We decided to walk down to the bus station to see what we could catch out of Hanley. We spent around 15 minutes waiting for something interesting to do and then we decided to do a Bakerbus on the #20 up to Tunstall. Matthew was probably thinking of last time we did this and got a cake in the cafe by the bus stop! We had turned down required First Potteries 32633 on a #20A and we were considering doing dud First Potteries 65729 on the next #20 to Crewe. The bus station was incredibly busy and buses were going on stands all over the place. When our bus was due off we saw it take two laps of the bus station just a get a stand nearby where it supposed to be! It turned out to be required Bakerbus 254, which was our first Bakerbus Streetlite we were about to ride on.

Bakerbus 254 in Hanley bus station

We got on the bus and as it was empty Matthew got a picture inside Bakerbus 254 straight away.

Inside Bakerbus 254

We sat down near the back of the bus and the bus set off out of town. We headed down Albion Street and the onto marsh Street. We then headed up Trinity Street and onto Stafford Street. The bus only had 5 passengers on it as we left hanley and headed up towards Burslem. We got up to the bus lane and then we made better progress. When we reached Tunstall we got off and behind us was our last required First Potteries MPD 43875 heading up to Biddulph on the #99.

First Potteries 43875 in Tunstall

We walked down the street to the cafe and Matthew went to use their toilet. Afterwards he had a piece of toffee cheesecake washed down with a glass of orange Tango. After he had finished we went outside and we saw required First Potteries 37159 on the #99 to Newcastle.

First Potteries 37159 in Tunstall

Behind this was required Wardle Transport 4896 on the #91 to Newcastle. This is our last required Trident from this batch and once again Matthew turned it down because it was going in the wrong direction!

Wardle Transport 4896 in Tunstall

The next #91 to Bradley was required Wardle Transport 3615.

Wardle Transport 3615 in Tunstall

I asked Matthew if he wanted to do this and he said yes. This was the first bus from this batch of 4 Volvo B10's that had arrived from Arriva Yorkshire a few months ago. We got on the bus and booked to Bradeley village. The bus set off and we headed down through Pitts Hill and up over High Lane to Fegg Hayes. The bus went through Chell Heath and into the estate before heading towards Bradeley. We decided to get off on the main road and not go to Bradeley village so that we had a choice of buses. The bus was empty at this point so Matthew got a picture inside Wardle Transport 3615.

Inside Wardle Transport 3615

We got off the bus and Matthew got another picture of this fine beast.

Wardle Transport 3615 in Bradeley

We did a check on nextbuses.mobi to see what was due. There was a #9 at 16:18 and a #19 at 16:31. We saw Bakerbus 268 heading the other way on a #9 to Biddulph. Having not seen a #29 on the site we didn't know if it still ran. So we were taken by surprise when First Potteries 60079 made an appearance.

First Potteries 60079 in Bradeley

We turned it down as I thought it was a dud bus. It turned out that First Potteries 60079 was required! Next bakerbus 247 appeared almost silently...

Bakerbus 247 in Bradeley

It was a required bus as we have only ever been on one of these hybrids albeit several times. We turned it down as we were hoping for something more interesting on the #19. We saw the #19 heading the other way and it was required Wardle Transport 4802. Whilst we waited for it to return another First bus made an appearance on the #29. It was dud First Potteries 61553. A few minutes later we saw Wardle Transport heading down Moorland View from Bradeley village. The bus turned the corner and we got on the bus.

Wardle Transport 4802 in Bradeley

We went upstairs and Matthew took a picture of the empty top deck.

Inside Wardle Transport 4802

The bus headed towards Smallthorne and then turned onto Ford Green Road. We turned left onto Community drive and then we worked our way across to the A53. We crossed the A53 and we headed up Milton Road passing Wardle Transport 4808 on a #19 and also First Potteries 40155 on a #18 to Leek. We headed into Hanley and we got off the bus at the top of John Street. We crossed over the road and went into the car park to meet mum who was waiting for us. matthew had a sausage roll followed by a Manchester Tart. We drove out of Hanley down Lichfield Street and across Joiners Square to Victoria Road. We did the A50 link road and then onto the A50 to Longton so we could check out what was parked up at Z Carz today. There were only 3 buses parked on the spare ground. These were Mercedes minibus S952 VMY.

Z Carz S952 VMY in Longton

Next to this was another Mercedes with a different body style, Z Carz W221 CDN.

Z Carz W221 CDN in Longton

Lastly was another Mercedes minibus, M372 NWN.

Z Carz M372 NWN in Longton

We turned into Willow Row to see if there was anything in the yard. LDV minibus T408 JUX, which hasn't moved for a month or two appeared to be receiving some attention. We headed back onto the A50 and we did this up to Heron Cross. We then went through Blurton. We got home around 17:30. For tea we had bangers and mash with carrots followed by a toffee yoghurt. Matthew then chilled out on his computer until bedtime...Mark