2015 - Day Out 07: Weymouth

Date: Sunday 30 August 2015

Following on from last week's coach trip and with there being no Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day this year, we decide to still visit glorious Weymouth for a day trip on this August Bank Holiday Weekend, this week courtesy of Whittles.

Its dark and gloomy as I make my way to Wollaston where we are going to be picked up. Mr UKBuses said he would get a lift to Wollaston, so I wait at the bus stop on the island and just before 07.00am, a taxi pulls up and Mr UKBuses falls out of it, which doesn't do much for his already bruised and battered knees. We cross the road to our pick up point and we are second to be picked up and at 07.10am our Whittles coach pulls up and we board. We have a few more pickups to do along the way before setting sail onto the motorway. We make our way through Wolverley, Kidderminster, Bewdley where we have a bit of a problem with the coach door closing, after a few attempts, the door finally closes and we make our way to the Whittles Depot for our final pickup. Our driver of the day, Graham, boards and some of the passengers make use of the depot toilets before we are given our safety talk and set off to the M5 Motorway. As we make our way a long distance down the motorway we pass Michaelwoods services (avoiding the huge prices - it must run in the family), and stop off at Sedgemoor services, where after "fresh air" is had we head inside to W H Smiths to get some nibbles for the rest of the journey, with Mr UKBuses splashing out on a Pic-N-Mix which cost him a few quid!!

We make our way back to the coach where one of the passengers seems to be having a disagreement with our driver and after some "fresh air", we board and take our seats for the rest of the journey, see picture left. We eventually leave the M5 at Taunton and have just over 50 miles to reach our destination. We pass through Yeovil and then we reach Dorchester where an alarm goes off on the coach, so Graham gets off the coach and walks around to the engine bay, after looking he boards the coach and says that the coach is overheating and with just over five miles to go, he limps into Weymouth and along The Esplanade to our drop off point just outside one of hotels we have stayed in, on previous breaks to Weymouth, The Fairhaven Hotel. Graham lets us alight after telling us that he has asked for a replacement coach to be sent down for our return journey and that we would be picked up from outside The Fairhaven Hotel at 5.00pm. Some "fresh air" is had and we walk along The Esplanade towards The Kings Statue, with the sun now shining down on us, where Mr UKBuses starts to take some photographs and I tell him that I will be going to the Londis Store on the corner. I come back to The Kings Statue and Mr UKBuses is standing there as if he is looking for me and asks where I have been.

Its time for food, so we take a few steps and head to J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry", Mr UKBuses makes his way to the bar and I start to feel faint as he purchases the first round! I find a table and even though the pub is busy I do get one even though it needs a wipe. Mr UKBuses comes back with the drinks and the menu is perused and Mr UKBuses asks a passing waitress if she could wipe the table down, she carries on walking towards the kitchen. We both decide to opt for some different from the normal food that we feats on, with Mr UKBuses having his Chicken Tikka Masala and me, Scampi and Chips. I go to the bar to order and after being served I ask the barman if someone could clean the table, his response was "Yes, if somebody is free", so I walk back to the table in disgust, forgetting our pints. The table is eventually wiped over just in time for our food to be placed down. We eat our food and finish off our drinks and make our way back to The Esplanade and having a walk along the seafront.

We decide to walk past Weymouth Railway Station and pay a visit to the First Hampshire and Dorset depot situated in Commercial Road and take a few photographs, see picture above left. After photographs are taken, we have a little walk along the back streets, emerging back out by The Kings Statue, where after a visit to the underground toilets is had and Mr UKBuses buying an ice cream, we make our way to the bus stops and decide to have a little ride on the open topper to Portland Bill. Our bus arrives and there is a driver change, with our driver being a lady driver with a very short skirt on. Mr UKBuses resists temptation and climbs the stairs to have a seat at the back in the open air. The traffic is quite bad today and we get round by the railway station where our bus seems to be having trouble moving, after a few revs, the bus does eventually get on its way and we go over the Weymouth Town Bridge and we stop at traffic lights, where we have the same problem with getting away, would this be our second break down of the day? We do again get moving and we make our way along Chesil Beach towards Portland and after going through the Olympics Sailing buildings used in 2012, we make our way up the hill towards Portland village, with beautiful views of the beach we have just come across. We make our way through Portland and along the country road to Portland Bill, see picture left. Mr UKBuses decides not to alight and have a pint in The Pulpit (it would have been his turn for the round this time!) and soon we are on our way back. We get another good look at the glorious view of Chesil Beach and Mr UKBuses nearly gets knocked out by low hanging branches.

We arrive back in Weymouth and get back to The Kings Statue, where we have a few minutes wait on the bus, as due to the traffic we cannot get to our bus stop. I notice that Mr UKBuses is looking in the rear view mirror a lot and upon closer inspection I can see why when there is a very revealing view of the lady bus drivers skirt. The bus pulls up at the stop and Mr UKBuses tears himself away from the view. We have a walk through the town and through the back streets, passing behind The Fairhaven Hotel which Mr UKBuses looks up at his old room and remembers being woken up at 1.30am in the morning by some noisy yobs when he stayed there (I have no idea who they were!) and we round the corner and enter one of our favourite pubs in Weymouth, "The Globe". It is quite busy in the pub considering it is mid Sunday afternoon, but there is a quiz on, and having taken a seat by the pool table, we do eventually get to answer a couple of questions that we know, with me blurting out the first answer without realising (I was excited that I knew one!). With our drinks finished we make our way back out to Weymouth and take a wrong turning, so decide to have a sneaky pint in "The Duke Of Cornwall". We do get to sit down for a few minutes and also see a bit of the Superbikes action taking place at Silverstone, before heading back to the seafront, via "The Cutter", which is still its vibrant self and at least the gents toilets were fixed this year. A pint of bitter was had by me in The Cutter, but at first I thought it was Cider as it was being poured out of a box from under the bar. It did turn out to be bitter and it was a fine brew which we supped up and finally made our way around the corner to the seafront and outside The Fairhaven Hotel.

We see our Whittles coach and driver Graham parked up where we were dropped off and it looks like it is the same coach that we travelled down on, as we stand opposite an old looking South Dorset Coaches coach pulls up and we think we have to travel back on this, luckily other people board it and we realise that we will get back in one piece. We board our coach and after enquiring, Graham said that the coach had been fixed and should get us back home alright. With still a few people left to board the coach, I take this opportunity for some final "fresh air" in Weymouth and after everyone has boarded we set off back down The Esplanade and back towards the West Midlands. Heading back through Dorchester and Yeovil, we arrive back at Taunton where we enter onto the M5 Northbound. After ninety miles on the M5 we stop off for a much needed break at Strensham Services, where upon alighting, I have some "fresh air" and Mr UKBuses spots an advertisement for McDonald's Mayo Chicken Burger, so we head inside and Mr UKBuses heads for McDonald's, after being served he complains  that he has been charged nearly double the price than what was on the advertisement, that is until I point out to him that he has actually ordered a more expensive McChicken Sandwich. We make our way outside where Mr UKBuses eats his food and I grab some "fresh air" before boarding the coach again ready for our final leg of our journey.

We leave Strensham Services behind and have about thirty-five miles to go before we reach our drop off point in Wollaston, Mr UKBuses knees are really hurting him so he has about an hour to rest them before we have to alight, and luckily we are the second drop off, as we were the second lot to be picked up on the morning. So we make our way through Gloucestershire and Worcestershire before leaving the M5 and heading through Bell End and Hagley and stopping on Stourbridge Ring Road to drop off the first lot of passengers. Mr UKBuses hopes to catch a bus from Wollaston back home so he can rest his injured knees, but as we leave Stourbridge it looks a bit tight on time before his bus departs. We arrive in Wollaston and do spot that National Express West Midlands Service 276 is still at the stop and as our coach pulls up behind it, Mr UKBuses makes a miraculous recovery when he jumps off our coach and sprints straight onto his bus. Time for a quick goodbye before I have a rest, firstly at Graham's Place and then for a nightcap at The Unicorn, before returning home for a well deserved rest.

A brilliant day was had, the sun may not have been shining, but it was dry and still warm. A big thanks to Graham who managed to limp down to Weymouth and for getting us back with no problems and to Mr UKBuses for his company. Oh, there was a bit of sunlight shining as can be seen from the glare of the bald spot:

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot is caught at the side of the First Depot in Weymouth!

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot is trying to hide outside the main entrance to the First Depot in Weymouth!

Bald Spot 3: The Bald Spot is cannot hide this time outside the main entrance to the First Depot in Weymouth!