2015 - Day Out 12: Pensnett Garage

No coaches this week, we are staying local, heading just a couple of miles up the road and I have been volunteered by Mr UKBuses to help out at the first National Express West Midlands Pensnett Garage Open Day.

It's just after 08.00am and Mr UKBuses is driving today and he picks me up from home and we make our way through Wollaston, Amblecote, Wordsley (with a cyclist thinking he owned the road) and Kingswinford before arriving at Pensnett Trading Estate, home to the Dudley area of bus routes, National Express West Midlands, Pensnett Garage. We set to work before we get to the garage by putting up signs showing the way to visitors on the Pensnett Trading Estate, with our final sign to put up on the bus stop showing the times of the shuttle bus between the garage and Dudley bus station. With that job done, we park up, don our Hi-Viz jackets and make our way into the garage. Mr UKBuses first job is to make him a cup of coffee and finish a few things off, I do see a sign saying "no admittance", asking if that is supposed to be on his wallet, I got a dirty look off him for that one. With everything complete, we make our way downstairs and outside ready for the visitors to flock in.

After putting up a few signs downstairs in the traffic office, we make our way outside, where it starts to rain. A bus driver is getting one of the new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC's ready for the bus wash, which would be the cleanest bus in the garage at the end of the day, the shuttle bus had arrived which was a demonstrator, a Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B5LH which National Express West Midlands are trying out giving it a good test on the garage shuttle service today between the trading estate and Dudley, it seems odd to see a bus with two sets of doors in the West Midlands. A few of the garage's own buses were being put into position being lined up at the top of the garage yard. This gave me a chance to try out these before everybody came, so I tried one of the new Enviro 400 MMC's, a Dennis Trident and also a Volvo B7RLE with the fleet number of 2095. This is also a bus which has been named after one of the Pensnett Garage's own driver, Dave Gerrard, who over the years has raised a lot of money for different charities. Dave was also on hand today and managed to get a picture of him next to his own bus, see picture right, he can be seen in one of his uniforms from when he was working with Midland Red. With the shuttle off out on the first trip to Dudley, it was nearly time for the crowds to arrive, so it was time to do some work and the first jobs was showing the preserved buses that turned up where to park, some of the preserved buses included:

MCW Metrobus, Ex West Midlands Travel (2989)

Optare Excel, Ex National Express West Midlands (693)

Optare MetroRider, Ex Travel Merry Hill (155) - Back in it's old garage!

Leyland National 2, Ex West Midlands Travel / WMPTE (1026)

Volvo B6LE, Ex National Express West Midlands (669)

Mercedes-Benz 0.405N, Ex National Express West Midlands (1707)

Optare Spectra, Ex National Express West Midlands (4001)

Daimler Fleetline, Ex Birmingham City Transport (3472)

Leyland Fleetline, Ex WMPTE (6600)

The crowds arrived on the first shuttle bus which was being driven by Tony Hunter, see picture left, the youngsters went straight for the garage's buses as they could sit in the cabs and it was weird how they knew how to set the destination blinds in the buses and also how to open and close the doors. Luckily they didn't know how to drive them so I can safely say that the buses stayed in the same position all day. As soon as people started arriving, the rain also arrived at the same time which stayed with us on and off for the rest of the day, a fresh air break was needed so we decided to have a stroll to "The Graveyard" where all the withdrawn buses are situated and making sure that no-one was straying behind the fences. A quick break was had after in the office to rest our legs for a few minutes before heading back out to the garage. We were getting hungry now so decided to have a burger and take shelter and eat it away from the crowds on one of the parked up buses in which Mr UKBuses forgot how to close the doors. Dinner over we decide to go on a trip on the shuttle bus to Dudley and back before carrying out our duties for the rest of the day. With the day coming to a close and the rain stopping and blue skies showing, we have a final cuppa before making our way back home, that is after our final job of taking down the signs that we put up this morning and Mr UKBuses driving me back to Wollaston.

National Express West Midlands (Pensnett Garage) Enviro 200 (825)

National Express West Midlands (Pensnett Garage) Enviro 400 MMC (6115)

National Express West Midlands Platinum Liveried (Walsall Garage) Enviro 400 MMC (6721)

National Express West Midlands (Pensnett Garage) Dennis Trident (4199)

National Express West Midlands (Pensnett Garage) Volvo B7RLE (2095) named after Dave Gerrard

A good day was had with the garage staff making everyone welcome and for organising the event and also to the garage's engineering team who went out of the way to make the event even better for some enthusiasts, hopefully Pensnett Garage may do another open day in the future, I've got my hand up for any help needed that day. I did not get any Mr UKBuses bald spots today as he was actually doing some work, so instead you will have to put up with me learning how to drive a bus:

Me behind the wheel of Pensnett Garage's Enviro 200 (825)

Me behind the wheel of Walsall Garage's Enviro 400 MMC Platinum (6721)

2015 - Day Out 11: Blackpool

Back on the coaches again, we go back on Greenline coaches a planned day out in Blackpool and a late return so that we can see the world famous Blackpool Illuminations.

Its an early start and I make my way into Wollaston ready for the 07:05am journey on National Express West Midlands service 276, after getting some supplies for the coach journey, I make my way to the bus stop and the bus turns up ten minutes early, the driver kindly letting me on so I don't have to wait in the cold. I send a text to Mr UKBuses to let him know that the bus is about to depart and as we arrive in Norton, Mr UKBuses boards, but he was not wearing a dress, as he had to pretend to be a woman, see ticket below. and we make our way into Stourbridge Interchange. A "Fresh Air" break is had whilst we walk down towards our pick up point and at 07:45am we do see a Greenline coach which drives straight past us, just after 08:00am the coach returns and we cross Birmingham Street to board. We take our seats, which are still at the front, but behind the driver this time and we set off around all the other pickup points which include, Halesowen, Blackheath, Quinton and Dudley. With our last pick up point at Dudley reached, we set off towards the M6 Motorway just after 09:00am and as soon as we enter the slip road, the traffic is halted due to an incident ahead, after about five minutes we are on the move again.

Did Mr UKBuses wear a dress to get on the coach!

Mr UKBuses has a nap!

At about 10:20am it is time for a break and we exit the motorway and stop at Sandbach Services, a bladder stop is needed first and Mr UKBuses takes his place in the queue at McDonald's, whilst he is waiting I pop to the shop next door where I get myself a sandwich and I find a table and Mr UKBuses is still waiting in the McDonald's queue, he does eventually get served and joins me to eat his meal. With our food finished we make our way back outside for some "fresh air" before boarding our coach for the second part of our journey. The food has taken its toll on Mr UKBuses who drops off on the coach for most of the remainder of our journey, see picture above, We approach Junction 32 on the M6, where we leave and join the M55, where at Junction 4 we leave the motorways behind and have a few miles to go where we arrive at Blackpool just before 12:30pm, with the coach parking up at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, see picture right, our driver Nigel tells us that we have until 06.30pm before we head out and drive through the famous Blackpool illuminations. We make our way to the sea front where opposite the Pleasure Beach we wait and board a tram which takes us to the North Pier stop where we alight and make our way through the town centre.

We decide to pay Preston a visit and we have to find Corporation Street to get our bus, with Mr UKBuses map reading skills, we eventually find our stop just as our bus is about to depart, luckily the bus driver stops and we board Stagecoach in Lancashire service 61 after purchasing our Stagecoach DayRider tickets. We pass through Kirkham and after an hour and ten minutes we arrive at Preston Bus Station, see picture left, which has over 70 stands. A few pictures are taken around the station, which is looking very outdated, it might have been good when it first opened in 1969, but needs to be bought up to modern day standards. We decide to leave Preston early and at 14:32 board our Stagecoach in Lancashire service 68. We leave Preston behind and we are on a different route back to Blackpool this time passing through Lytham, St Anne's and we know we are near when we pass Blackpool Airport. We make our way back into Blackpool and as we arrive in Rigby Road, we alight so that we can visit the depot of Blackpool Transport, also home to the trams. A few photographs are taken and we head back to the sea front.

It's back on the trams again and we board at the Manchester Square stop and go a couple of stops and alight at the Tower tram stop, that is after some uncouth person decides to nearly soak us by knocking over a can of energy drink on the ledge behind our seats. Its time for some refreshment and we make a visit to J D Wetherspoon "The Albert and The Lion", there is a member of staff at the door saying that there are no tables at the moment and it may be a wait for a table if food was ordered. Mr UKBuses makes his way to the bar (he actually purchased the first round!) and as he is served, a table becomes free and we take the opportunity to grab the seats (the fastest I've ever seen Mr UKBuses move!) and we eventually get to rest our feet. With the drinks finished and the pub getting busier, we decide to leave and walk around the corner to another one of our favourite pubs in Blackpool, we enter "The Castle" and as we went upstairs last year, we decide to give the downstairs bar a visit this year. The place is busy but we do get served quickly and music is blaring out at full blast and Mr UKBuses spots the DJ who resembles Paul O'Grady, his name was actually Jim Curran, he may have looked like Mr O'Grady but he had the voice and language more akin to Roy "Chubby" Brown. We liked the DJ and his sense of humour so much, we decided to stay and have a second pint, Mr UKBuses was hiding though as the DJ may have taken the mickey our of him if he was spotted.

We still needed to get some food before we boarded our coach, so we head back to the seafront and it is time for another ride on the trams, boarding again at The Tower tram stop and we have an enjoyable ride along the sea front at Blackpool saving us a walk of one and a half miles as we alight at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach tram stop. Time for food and we make a visit to a new J D Wetherspoon public house, "The Velvet Coaster", which opened in May 2015 and it is the first time that I have visited a Wetherspoons with a lift, but the building has three floors and considering it is a large pub it is virtually packed with us having trouble finding a table. After looking on all three floors, we head back to the ground floor where we spot a table. With our seats found, we peruse the menu and I go to the bar to order our food and get the drinks. Mr UKBuses decides to have his usual a BBQ Chicken Melt, without the melt and I opt for Scampi and Chips. Mr UKBuses sticks with his Guinness and I ask the barman to surprise me with a real ale and I am served Viper and I can say after drinking it, it did pack a bit of a bite. We have a little wait for our food and after finishing eating, we have a few minutes to finish our drinks off before leaving and having a short walk back to the coach, with some "fresh air" taken along the way.

We board our coach and with everyone on board at 6.30pm, we make our way to the seafront where the coach pulls over waiting for the illuminations to be switched on. After a few minutes the power has been switched on and we slowly make our way along the seafront taking in the lights. After we pass the Blackpool Tower, we are able to move along a bit faster to see the rest of the lights before heading back onto the M55 Motorway and then the M6 motorway, the day has taken its toll on Mr UKBuses as he falls asleep, see picture above right. We have a short stop at the Knutsford services, with me having to wake up Mr UKBuses as we arrive, where a bladder stop is taken and "fresh air" break had before boarding the coach and completing our journey. We arrive back in Dudley, our first drop off point just before 11.00pm and then we head off to all the other drop off points doing a late night tour of the Black Country before finally arriving back in Stourbridge at about 11.45pm. We decide to walk up to Stourbridge Interchange and with the last buses home already departing, we decide to get a taxi arriving back home just before 12 midnight.

Another good day out (if a little tiring) with thanks to our coach Driver, Nigel and the Mr UKBuses and luckily we could see the lights without much glare from the bald spot:

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot waits for the tram outside Blackpool Pleasure Beach!

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot is spotted on a stand in Preston bus station!

Bald Spot 3: The Bald Spot is spotted outside Preston bus station!

Bald Spot 4: The Bald Spot spots the trams in Rigby Road Depot, Blackpool!

Bald Spot 5: The Bald Spot is seen outside Blackpool Transport Bus Depot!

2015 - Day Out 10: Cradley Heath and Old Hill

Date: Saturday 10 October 2015

It is time to meet up with Mr WME and do a local trip around the West Midlands, specifically Cradley Heath and Old Hill.

I have a lie in this morning as I don't have to meet up with Mr WME until 11am, so just before 10am, I walk up to Wollaston and catch a National Express West Midlands service X96 to Stourbridge Interchange where upon arrival, I interchange from bus to rail and after buying my return rail ticket to Cradley Heath I board the Stourbridge Shuttle (I still like to refer to it as the Stourbridge Dodger) and luckily there is only three minutes before I get to Stourbridge Junction as the Shuttle is full and also rather bouncy today on the rails. Arrival at Stourbridge Junction and as I make my way across from platform 1 to platform 2 the train towards Birmingham arrives, so I jump straight onto the train and take a seat for my short journey to Cradley Heath. Upon arrival, it will be my second interchange visit of the day as the newly opened Cradley Heath Bus Station as now been integrated into the railway station and now called "Cradley Heath Interchange", see picture left.

Just before I arrive at Cradley Heath, I get a text off Mr WME to say he is in Cradley Heath, so upon alighting the train, I make my way to the bus station part and have a look around whilst also trying to locate Mr WME. The layout is virtually the same as when it used to be the old bus station, apart from a new island with a couple of stands added for Birmingham-bound services. The old bus shelters have now been made all undercover with electronic doors which open when a bus arrives and a new waiting area between the bus station and the railway station. A little improvement has been made for passengers waiting experience, but money could have been spent elsewhere such as Merry Hill to provide a better area for passenger transport.

Mr WME does eventually appear, he was up the road taking a few photographs, so now we have met it is time to start our day. First port of call is to have a walk up to Cradley Heath High Street so that Mr WME can get some money out of his bank for the day ahead. We get to Cradley Heath High Street which is closed due to gas main works and are on the search for a "Barclays", but with none in sight, "HSBC" comes to the rescue with Mr WME able to get the rounds for the day. We take a walk down the side of the HSBC and onto Corngreaves Road, where after a shot walk, we arrive at our first pit stop of the day, "The Plough and Harrow", which is now owned by the Worcestershire Brewing Company and the first pub of the day that I have passed loads of time and never set foot in. We enter and it looks like it has recently been refurbished. As we get to the bar, I notice a few of the famous "Mario Lanza" Beermats and the barman informs us that he thinks the original person who did these has died and that it is now his son that is doing the sneaky placement of the beermats.

After finishing our drinks in The Plough and Harrow, we have a short walk, less than five minutes to next port of call, another place where I have been past a load of times and have never set foot in, or so we thought. We make our way up Surfeit Hill Road and notice that our next public house, "The Bull Terrier" is now a convenience store, so we make our way towards Old Hill, but luckily, a National Express West Midlands service 53 bus is pulling up at the stop, so we board that, saving us a walk up to Old Hill. As the bus pulls into Halesowen Road, we alight and have a walk down the main Old Hill High Street, where Mr WME gets his bearings for his next pub. We walk back into an area I know and tell him that there is no pub up this way and that it has been knocked down. Perhaps I don't know the area as well as I thought and we turn down a road called Mossvale Close and there is a pub I didn't know existed. We make our way into "The Riddins Tavern". A pint of Bank's Bitter is ordered and at £1.99 a pint, who can complain. Luckily, the Russian Grand Prix Qualifying is being shown, so a seat close to the television is required. We came in at the right time as it has just started, so getting another round in wouldn't break the bank, which is what happened. Jenson Button and the struggling McLaren-Honda only make it as far as P13 in Q2 and after seeing Nico Rosberg put his Mercedes on Pole, we sup up and make our way.

We make our way down an alleyway at the side of The Riddins Tavern which brings us back onto Halesowen Road (why didn't we use this way before!), so we, I, take a break at the bus stop and along comes a National Express West Midlands service 141 pulls up, so we board where we only go a couple of stops to Reddal Hill Road and go into our next pub of choice and another which I have been past loads of times and today is my first time entering, "The Waggon and Horses", a pub which is now owned by Ostlers Alehouses. We decide which beer to have and after sitting down and having a sip, we do take our pints back to the bar as it smells and tastes like vinegar. There were no problems with having it exchanged for a different (and more expensive) ale with no extra money being paid and it is a Green Duck Brewery ale which we will sample more later in the day. We are a bit peckish, so Mr WME decides to have a cob, I opt for a delicious hot pork cob which I must admit, was very moorish. With our food and pint finished, we make our way back outside and catch a bus down to Cradley Heath Interchange.

Upon arrival, we make our way back through the new waiting area and onto the Stourbridge-bound platform and after a short wait, our train arrives and we board and with our stop being the next station, after a few minutes we arrive and alight at Lye Railway Station, where our next place to visit is just a few steps away. Having already sampled Sadlers Ales Brewery Tap House "The Windsor Castle" previously, the brewery has also opened new brewing premises in Lye and we make our way to the new Sadlers "Brewhouse and Bar" connected to the brewery and sample a pint of Yoricks Skull and have a comfy rest on the leather seats. With our drinks finished we make our way to another brewery not too far away which also has another bar connected to it. We arrive at the Green Duck Brewery situated on the Gainsborough Trading Estate and upon arrival we see a green door in a wall which is also the entrance to the Badelynge Bar, Green Duck's Brewery bar which you can see a lot of the brewery so you can sup and see how it is produced.

We have a couple of beers in the brewery and we are also joined by Diesel, a lovely fluffy husky dog who seemed to be enjoying the rugby that was being shown on the television screen and he even joined in the celebrations by giving us a few "howls". With our drinks finished, we decide to have a final drink, so we get a taxi from the brewery to Marston's "The Gigmill", a pub which I have been in loads of time but this is a first time for Mr WME. A pint is had before it is nearly time for home. Well for me it is just a few minutes, so seeing as Mr WME took a shine to Diesel at The Green Duck Brewery, before he leaves he comes back home with me and meets another canine, the one and only Doggy SBI, also known as Alfie, see picture right, in which Mr WME passes the test, before he makes his way home.

A good day out was had with Mr WME with a couple of new pubs / brewery bars thrown in and Alfie's seal of approval.