2012 - Day Out 16: Torquay Vintage Bus Running Day

Date: Sunday 02 September 2012

Its our last full day in Torquay and we visit the event of the Torbay Vintage Bus Running Day which has become an annual event and today we have the sun shining down on us so that we can enjoy the classic bus rides ahead.

It is the day of the Torbay Vintage Bus Running Day so we ensure that we go fully fed and meet up at reception where we make our way to the breakfast room for our English Grill, I decide to pig out and have some black pudding and extra bacon on mine, we are a bit later than yesterday so the music is already playing and not being started today by Mr UKBuses coffee pouring skills. With our breakfast eaten, I pop outside for some "fresh air" before going back to my room to pick up the camera ready for the action in today's running day. We hand our room keys in at reception and decide to buy a Stagecoach South West's "Torbay Dayrider", which is good value and will be used to get back from Torquay this afternoon and also will be used when we visit Torquay on our last night of the break. We get off at the stop where the "big hot air balloon" once stood and is just a few steps to the showground at Sheddon Hill Car Park. We arrive a bit early but a programme is purchased from the people behind the Torbay Bus Routes website to enable us to plan our rides later on today, but first we get a few photographs of the vehicles parked up and have a look around the stalls, quickly purchasing "More Room On Top", the latest book about Midland Red's D9 and D10. One improvement this year is that the services were now departing from the show ground, a stop was still available along the seafront. Our first ride is due and we catch the following services:

Even dogs were enjoying the rides.

Journey One: The first service we caught was service 136 to Paignton, this journey departed at 10:30 and arrived back at 10:55 and was operated by a 1972 Bristol LHS / Marshall bodied VOD 88K which originally operated by Western National.

Who is this mysterious person with a bald spot getting in the way again!

Journey Two: The second service we caught was service 118 to Kingswear, we thought we would get this trip out of the way and there were quite a few seats left so we weren't squashed in like last years afternoon trip on this service. Along the way we stopped at Broadsands Viaduct giving us an opportunity to take a photograph at the viaduct with some mysterious person getting in the way again, see picture above. The journey departed at 11:05 and arrived back at 12:40 and was operated by a 1983 Leyland Olympian / ECW bodied A680 KDV and originally operated for Devon General.

Journey Three: The third service was service 141 to Occombe Farm, this departed at 13:00 and arrived back at 13:45 and was operated by Badgerline coach 1978 Leyland Leopard / Plaxton Paramount 3200 MK I bodied PWS 492S.

Having a rest at The Belgrave.

It was time to have a break before a couple of afternoon journeys, and we went to "The Belgrave", see picture above, which is situated next to the show ground, as we were supping our pints I was able to catch up on the Belgian Grand Prix which was being led by Jenson Button. After our drinks we went back to the show ground and carried on our journeys.

Journey Four: The fourth service was service 50 to St Marychurch, this departed at 14:15 and arrived back at 14:56 and was operated by Bayline Ford Transit C526 FFJ.

Journey Five: The fifth and final service we caught today was service 55 to St Marychurch (the reverse of service 50), this was operated by a 1195 Mercedes-Benz 709D / Marshall Dual Door Saloon bodied M245 UTM. This departed the show ground at 15:05, we decided to alight in Torquay town centre, arriving at the Torquay Pavilion at 15:43. It was on this service that I learnt that Jenson Button had won the Grand Prix, Mr UKBuses decided to go back to the hotel and I would stay in the town for a celebratory drink.

A Stagecoach South West service 12 is at the bus stop so Mr UKBuses has a quick dash with me giving him his day ticket on his little jog, I decide to stay in Torquay whilst Mr UKBuses has a bit of rest at the hotel and have a celebratory drink to honour Jenson Button's win at The Belgian Grand Prix. First of all I go to J D Wetherspoons "The Green Ginger" and sit out on the patio to enable me to have some "fresh air", whilst sitting at the table a gentleman takes a seat and as we get talking he states that "I'm from Birmingham", I insist that I am actually from The Black Country. After my drink is finished at The Green Ginger, I have a walk down The Strand and sample a pint at "The Hole In The Wall" which is no different from last year with friendly staff and regulars making me feel welcome. I decide it is time to get a bit of rest before we venture down Torquay for the evening, so I catch the Stagecoach South West service 12 back to the hotel and have a bit of a kip.

After a quick nap, I make my way to the hotel bar to meet up with Mr UKBuses, whilst waiting I get chatting to a gentleman called Glyn who is from Swansea. I introduce Glyn to Mr UKBuses when he arrives and his wife asks me if I could have a look at her I-Phone as she cannot send emails, I duly get them to work and Glyn rewards Mr UKBuses and myself with a drink from the hotel bar. After finishing the drinks, we make our way to the bus stop and after catching Stagecoach South West service 12 into Torquay we have our first drink at "The Green Ginger", we both opt for the "Crag Rat", which I sampled earlier, Mr UKBuses also likes it and as we drink these we look at Sean O'Kanes appearance in Grange Hill via my Blackberry Playbook.

It is now time to eat and opt for a curry so we make our way around the harbour to Curry Ocean which we sampled on our visit last year, but as we arrive it is full so we have a walk into the town and come across Simla Spice where we opt for the buffet, so after our starters we opt for the main course and Mr UKBuses recommends the Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi, he must have known how hot it was and as I sampled a couple of bit's of chicken, my mouth starts to set itself on fire, Mr UKBuses and the waiter found this funny, but a drink was needed so after we finished we went next door to "The Clocktower" where a extinguishing pint was had, I also enjoyed this pub as there was some Metallica blasting out of the jukebox. After we finished our drinks we went to our last pub of the evening and one of our favourites, "The Hole In The Wall", where we actually got a seat inside this year and we were entertained with a singer. Just after 22:30, we make our way back to the bus stop where Stagecoach South West service 12 arrives a few minutes later to take us back to the hotel. Our last hotel drink is had at the hotel bar before we get some much needed sleep ready for our journey back home tomorrow.

An excellent last full day in Torquay and a big thanks go to the organisers of The Torbay Vintage Bus Running Day for the excellent planning of the event and also a thank you goes out to the people behind the Torbay Bus Routes website who helped marshal the event.

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Date: Monday 03 September 2012

It is sadly our last day of this break and we have to sadly say goodbye to Sunny Torquay and head back to the West Midlands after an excellent weekend.

I wake up early on our last day, so I decide to have a little walk around Torquay heading towards Cockington to begin with and returning to the hotel via the Torquay railway station. I return back to my room and ensure that everything is packed ready for our departure later, but first it is time to have our last breakfast, so I meet up with Mr UKBuses and we head into the breakfast room for our final English Grill (without the eggs!), and we are not disappointed even though I didn't get my extra piece of bacon today. Breakfast over we make our way to our rooms ensuring that we have everything and meet up at reception and hand our room keys over for the final time, it is time to say goodbye to The Corbyn Head Hotel and to all the staff who have been marvellous during our stay. We make our final walk in Torquay and after ten minutes of walking by the seafront we turn off to get to the Torquay railway station, before we do we say goodbye to Torquay.

We arrive at the railway station, I pop into the station cafe to get refreshments for the train journey ahead, and we make our way to platform two, but before we stand on the platform we pop outside so that I can have my last Torquay "fresh air" break and once it is over we make our way onto a packed platform where at 10:13 our Arriva CrossCountry train arrives and we board taking our reserved seats and with no changes until we get to Birmingham we make sure that we are comfy. We depart and it is goodbye to Torquay which has supplied us with good weather all weekend and we sadly make our way back to the Midlands. Along the way we pass through the local towns such as Newton Abbott and Dawlish riding right by the sea which is always a good view. Mr UKBuses decides to have a nap, see picture right, and we make progress passing through Bristol Temple Meads and we see the local Midlands stations with the usual Network West Midlands branding which means that we have arrived back in the Midlands. As we near Birmingham an announcement is made to state that the train, which was originally planned to terminate at Manchester Piccadilly will now be terminating at Birmingham New Street due to signalling problems just after Wolverhampton. We take notice of this and quickly get our stuff together and make our way to the door so that we avoid the rush by all of the other passengers, some of which were not too happy.

We arrive at Birmingham New Street and with not a lot of time to get our connecting train to Smethwick Galton Bridge, the "fresh air break" is denied and we make our way to the correct platform. We don't have to wait long and we board our London Midland train which starts to get packed with the passengers of our last train, so it is standing room only and it feels like we are on the London Underground, I keep closing the doors so that people will not try and cram themselves in to the now non-existent space, and after a late departure we make our way across to Smethwick Galton Bridge, where we have to change to the upper platforms to get our connecting train back home. At 13:53 we are back on the plan and our London Midland train arrives and quickly departs stopping at Rowley Regis and Cradley Heath before arriving at Stourbridge Junction, where we again change platforms for the Stourbridge Dodger to get us to the Stourbridge Interchange. Mr UKBuses is asked how the weather was in Torquay when the ticket inspector checks his ticket and as we arrive at the Stourbridge Interchange I say goodbye and thank him for a lovely weekend, the first thing I do when I leave him is to have a well overdue "fresh air" break. I have a quick "good weekend" celebratory pint at J D Wetherspoons "The Chequers Inn", seeing Mr UKBuses going past on his National Express West Midlands service 276 back home and waving at him (I don't know if he spotted me), before making my way back home to unpack and have a rest after a good weekend.

Another classic break which would not have been possible for the great planning and great company of Mr UKBuses - A big THANK YOU for the excellent weekend.