2016 - Day Out 03: Weston-Supre-Mare

Its time to go out on the coaches again and we catch Greenline Coaches for a day trip to Weston-Super-Mare.

I leave the house at 7.50am and make my way into Wollaston, where after a few minutes wait, the National Express West Midlands Service 276 arrives and I board and just as we depart Wollaston at 8.05am, I send the obligatory text to Mr UKBuses to tell him that we are on the way. After 5 minutes we pass through Norton, where Mr UKBuses boards and we then make our way into Stourbridge, where we alight the bus at Stourbridge Interchange and make our way to the coach boarding point in Birmingham Street. After about 10 minutes wait and a "fresh air" break, we are surprised when the Greenline Coaches mini coach pulls up, as we board we are informed that we are meeting up with the main coach en-route. We make our way to Hagley where we expect to change onto the main coach, but we keep on going and after about 20 minutes we arrive in the suburbs of Bromsgrove, Marlbrook to be more precise and pull over at a bus stop outside of The Toby Carvery, where we wait for our main coach. We are surprised when a Nash's coach, see picture below right, pulls up behind us and our driver informs us to alight and board the coach behind.

We board our coach and we are told it is a free for all and to sit where we like, luckily we are able to sit next to each other and get the last couple of remaining seats on the back row. A passenger in front of us tells me that I look uncomfortable and that I haven't got a lot of leg room, which she basically meant that she wants me to move so she can sit next to her mate. I get myself comfortable in my original seat and find out that I have no problem with the leg room at all and once Mr UKBuses has belted up, we leave Bromsgrove behind and make our way to Weston-Super-Mare. We make our way through the suburbs of Bromsgrove and when we arrive at Wychbold, we join the M5 Motorway at Junction 5 and head southbound. We travel about 50 miles where we stop at MichaelWood services to have some "fresh air" and stretch our legs and as we alight, Mr UKBuses has decided to stay on the coach, well he nearly did as he forgot to take his seat belt off as he tried to stand up.

After our break, we make our way back to the coach, having some "fresh air" before boarding and after everyone has boarded, we make our way back onto the M5 Motorway and we pass Bristol and Portishead and after about 30 miles, we leave the M5 at Junction 21 and make our way through the suburbs of Weston-Super-Mare, arriving on the sea front at approximately 11.45am. Mr UKBuses decides to cut his body in half again as he forgets to undo his seat belt for the second time and after he has unbuckled himself, we alight the coach into the fabulous pouring rain, which started as we arrived on the sea front. There is only one thing for us to do now whilst the rain is pouring, we kill two birds with one stone and as we are hungry and getting wet, we quickly walk along the seafront, with me jumping over the sea wall so that I can try and take a picture of a First Bristol, Bath and The West bus which has been painted in traditional Badgerline livery for Mr UKBuses. With the picture taken we carry on with our walk and a bit further down the seafront, we pass the Grand Pier and arrive at our destination.

We head into J D Wetherspoon's "The Cabot Court Hotel" where we can dry off and also have some lunch. Luckily it was not as busy as it was on our previous visit and get served virtually straight away. With the drinks purchased, we find a seat and peruse the menu before we order some much needed food. Mr UKBuses opts for his usual BBQ Chicken Melt (minus the melt!) and I opt for a Beer and Burger meal. It doesn't take long for our meal to arrive and we tuck in, see picture left. After the food has been devoured and we make use of the facilities after finishing off our drinks (and we didn't have to go far!), we make our way back out onto the seafront where it has now stopped raining. We make our way into the town centre and along Regent Street where we take our first bus ride of the day and we board a Crosville service 103 bus to Searles Crescent. We purchase our WestonRider tickets and take a seat and after about 15 minutes we arrive at our destination.

With no seat belts to decapitate Mr UKBuses, we alight at Searles Crescent and the bus stop is directly opposite the First Bristol, Bath and The West depot in Weston-Super-Mare. A few photographs are taken and after taking what we could we have a little walk a few hundred yards down the road, where pictures are taken of vehicles parked up at the depot of Coombs Travel, see picture right. With the pictures taken at both travel companies depots and the lunchtime pint taking its toll, we have a slow walk down the road, where luckily, there is an Asda store with customer toilets available for use. We didn't buy anything but we did make use of the customer toilets. After using the customer facilities, we make our way back to the bus stop by the Asda store and we have a choice of buses back to Weston-Super-Mare and as we caught the Crosville service to Searles Crescent, we decide to use the First Bristol, Bath and The West service 3 back. We travel along virtually the same route into Weston-Super-Mare and after 15 minutes we are back and alight at Regent Street. Upon alighting, Mr UKBuses spots the Badgerline liveried bus that was spotted earlier, so he decides to sprint ahead and get a better photograph of it.

With the little sprint taking its toll on Mr UKBuses, we decide to have a pint and head into J D Wetherspoon's "The Dragon Inn", but after seeing how busy it was and also a stag party taking place, we decide to have a drink elsewhere and we just go around the corner where we pop into "The Tavern In The Town". We have a bit of time to kill before we catch our next bus, so we take a seat and have a rest with Mr UKBuses deciding to sit by facing towards the television so he can watch a bit of the Euro 2016 football action. It is nearly time for our next bus, so we finish our drinks and make our way across the road where we catch Crosville's Service 100, where we take our seats upstairs in the fresh air. We make our way along the seafront and after twenty minutes, we arrive at Sand Bay where we alight to take a few photographs, see picture left and a very, very quick "fresh air" break before we board again and take our open top seats and make our way back into Weston-Super-Mare, spotting some bikes stuck up some trees along the way! We arrive back in Weston-Super-Mare and alight at Regent Street.

Time for another pint and we make our way back into "The Dragon Inn", which is now much quieter and as the sun is shining brightly know, we decide to sit outside to catch some rays. Mr UKBuses decides to go a bit further and sits out on the tables outside the café next door, that is until an employee from the café tells him off and he takes a seat at a table outside of The Dragon Inn, which actually belong to the pub this time. After some "fresh air", we finish our drinks and decide to have a walk down to the sea front, so we walk down Regent Street and arrive at the sea front. We still have a bit of time to kill, so after being handed a flyer for "2 drinks for £5", we decide to head into "Ella's Bar", there is no real ale here so we decide to have a pint of lager and Mr UKBuses gets a seat with his Harlem of women sitting with him, see picture right, whilst I nearly fall flat on my face when I enter the gentleman's toilets as there is a step right behind the door.

We rest our legs and enjoy the atmosphere and also enjoy the music blaring out. It is 80's hour and some classic songs are being played such as Nena's "99 Red Balloons". The pub starts to get busier, with a stag party coming in and I have a bone to pick with one of them as he has a T-Shirt with "Milky Bar Kid" on his back, so I go over and inform him that there is only one Milky Bar Kid in this town and seeing as I'm much blonder, I take the prize! It is nearly time to get to our coach for our journey back home, so Mr UKBuses leaves his women behind, see picture left and we make our way outside and walk up the seafront to our pick up point. Luckily nearby are some toilets, so I decide to make use of the facilities which also cost me 20p for the privilege. It is just before 6.00pm, and after some "fresh air", our coach pulls up and we board and take our seats at the back of the coach and with everyone on board we leave Weston-Super-Mare behind and make our way back to the West Midlands.

We join the M5 Motorway again at Junction 21 and make our way northbound hoping that I can get a good signal as I'm reading live updates on qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. After an hour and a half and 75 miles, the coach pulls of the Motorway for a brief stop at Strensham Services, with Mr UKBuses remembering to take off his seatbelt before alighting. After a quick bladder stop and "fresh air" break, we get some chocolate for our last leg of the journey and reboard the coach. With everyone back on, we rejoin the M5 and make our way back to Bromsgrove, where in a layby near Rubery, we alight our coach and get change onto our mini Greenline Coach which takes us back to Stourbridge, via Bell End and Hagley. We alight in Birmingham Street and having missed National Express West Midlands service 276, we decide to catch a taxi back home. Mr UKBuses gets dropped off first, and I get dropped off in Wollaston where I have a nightcap or two in The Unicorn, which is very quiet for a Saturday night, but seeing as England are playing their Euro 2016 match and The Unicorn not having a television, I enjoy the peace and quiet before making my way back home to rest my legs.

Despite the changing weather, a good day out was had, even though we didn't actually go all the way to Weston-Super-Mare on a Greenline Coach, I would normally thank the driver, but despite not giving his name out after we boarded, I can't really say thank you. I can thank Mr UKBuses though for his company on the day, even though I had to put up with his Bald Spot:

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot passes the Sweet Shop!

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot is feeling all Scottish as he passes Jock after he has been to The Tavern In The Town!

Bald Spot 3: The Bald Spot is on his way to The First Bristol, Bath and The West Depot in Weston-Super-Mare!

Bald Spot 4: The Bald Spot is interested in becoming a bus driver!

Bald Spot 5: The Bald Spot is caught in the act trying to get into Coombs Travel Depot!

2016 - Day Out 02: Llandudno

Due to being made redundant in January (I have now got further employment at another company), the trips have been a bit light for the start of 2016. It's time to fix that and we are going back on the coaches and to the North Wales coast. Today we visit Llandudno courtesy of Greenline Coaches.

It is 7.15am and Mr UKBuses gets a lift and on the way to the coach pick up point, I grab a lift with him and after getting in the car, we make our way to Birmingham Street in Stourbridge (opposite the tip) where we alight and wait for our coach to turn up. A quick breath of "fresh air" is had whilst waiting and a number of passengers are already turning up for our Greenline coach of today which turns up on time at 7.45am. We board and take our seats which are directly behind the driver, who introduces himself as John and we set off for a tour of the Black Country. As John is a new driver, he is following the coach company owner in his Mercedes which Mr UKBuses as christened "The Safety Car" so we have to hurry around the pickup points so the "Safety Car" can take its spot on the grid for the Russian Grand Prix later today.

We follow the "Safety Car" and head towards pickup points, firstly at Netherton, then Old Hill, Blackheath, Lapal and then we have a break as we wait for passengers before leaving and finding out that they decided to go the next pickup point with out informing the coach company. We then make our way to Oldbury, Langley before getting to our final pick up point outside Dudley Zoo (a bit late thanks to our "lost" passengers), where Mr UKBuses hides so he doesn't get mistaken for a loose monkey. The "Safety Car" has now pitted and after the final passengers are aboard and the safety notices have been given by John, it is time to hit the road and make our way through Coseley to get onto the motorway. We finally get onto the M6 motorway, where we shortly head onto the M54 motorway. Because of the times of the pickups, the driver legally needs to have a break, so approximately half hour after leaving Dudley and after approximately twenty-seven miles, we leave the M54 at Junction 4 and stop at Telford Services, see picture right.

We have about forty-five minutes break here, so decide to have breakfast. After some "fresh air", we make our way indoors and decide to use the facilities of Burger King. After our slow member of staff decides to make an appearance, I opt for a Bacon Butty (basically bacon on a burger bun!) and Hash Browns whilst Mr UKBuses is glad that he can order a Chicken Royale meal complete with fries (the Burger King employee was not so happy as he had to cook some fresh fries!). My order is done, so I take a seat and start my breakfast, which I have nearly consumed by the time Mr UKBuses gets his order and freshly cooked fries. After breakfast is consumed, we get some "fresh air" and take a couple of pictures of the coaches parked up but Mr UKBuses has a problem with his camera as the battery seems to be dead. After changing to his spare battery, he starts snapping away. After the photograph opportunities, we still have a bit of time to kill, so we decide to get some supplies for the rest of the journey. I opt for some "Fish and Chips" and a twirl. The staff at W H Smiths decide to overcharge me as the "Fish and Chips" were on offer and decided to charge me the full price. With the discrepancy sorted out, we make our way back to the coach.

We board our coach and take our seats where our supplies are consumed and I wish that I never purchased the "Pickled Onion" variety of "Fish and Chips" as the taste was very strong. We make our way back onto the M54 and head towards our destination, passing by Shrewsbury, Wrexham, Prestatyn and Rhyl before arriving at Llandudno just before 1.00pm. We alight the coach and I grab some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses is roaming the coach park taking some photographs. We make our way around the corner to Vaughan Street, which is where we can catch the free shuttle buses (operated by preserved buses) to the Llandudno Transport Festival, See picture left. After boarding, we head down the seafront to the showground alighting at Bodafon Fields.

We make our way onto the fields and having paid the admission fee, we are "stamped" to show that we have paid. I can understand this as it saves producing paper tickets, but if you follow the advice shown to wash your hands before eating, how are you supposed to get back in if you wash off your admission stamp? We make our way to the classic buses section across muddy fields. Time is spent looking at the vehicles, such as an old WMPTE Fleetline, see picture right and taking photographs of them before meeting up again. After perusing the stalls we make our way to the entrance and find out that the beer tent is at the other end of the field where we have just come from. We do venture to the far end of the field and enter the beer tent to rest our legs, so a pint of ale is had (and I somehow manage to get the expensive first round!) and have a break before finishing our drinks and leaving. We find a tarmac path so we decide to head out of the showground via that, so after getting all the mud off our shoes, Mr UKBuses decides that he needs to pay a visit to the facilities which we have to venture back onto the mud. After his visit, we head back out of the showground and get rid of even more mud before taking a final few photographs and boarding the shuttle bus back into the town.

We arrive back and alight at Vaughan Street and decide to walk past the wrestling ring and take a couple of pictures of the Arriva Sapphire's operating on Route 12 and other Arriva buses, see picture left, before making our way past the railway station and into Albert Street, where we decide to have a pit stop at "The Albert", with Mr UKBuses getting the round in this time. I find a seat and rest my legs whilst Mr UKBuses is at the bar. We still have time left before we have to get back to the coach, so we decide to get something to eat and we make our way around to one of the best J D Wetherspoons we have ever visited and head into "The Palladium". There is no sign of Bradley Walsh, so whilst Mr UKBuses finds a seat, it is time for me to head to the bar and we opt for a pint of "Orme", a local brew celebrating the nearby Great Orme. This was a nice drink and after choosing our food, I go back to the bar to order again and am disappointed as the "Orme" runs out.

Mr UKBuses decides to use the free Wi-Fi to watch the Snooker on the BBC and surprisingly quicker than we thought, our food arrives even though the waitress decides to go to the wrong table first and once the waitress gets the correct table, Mr UKBuses decides to tuck into his BBQ Chicken Melt without the "Melt" and I tuck into my Chicken Burger and chips. Whilst eating and Mr UKBuses watching his snooker, he starts moaning as the snooker starts buffering and tells me to stop looking at my phone even though I was replying to a post of a Hansons driver who was sitting elsewhere in The Palladium. We finish our food and the snooker has stopped for an interval, so we leave our drinks (the replacement for the sold out "Orme") as it didn't taste very nice and make our way back to the coach. We walk through the crowds of the closed main street in Llandudno and make our way back to the coach park. We decide we need to make a visit before we board, but as we get near the toilet on the coach park, there is a long queue which we wont be able to wait in before we leave. After a little walk around the area, we cannot find alternative toilets so board our coach, but before we take our seats, Mr UKBuses  makes use of the on-board facilities.

Just after 5.00pm, we start our return journey and we go a slightly different route this time and follow the North Welsh coast and join the M6, where after a while on the Motorway, we have our service station break at Sandbach Services. We have a quick look around and after the returning Leicester City fans return from Manchester start to get a bit noisy, we make our way back to the coach for a rest whilst waiting for the rest of the passengers, we make our way back onto the M6 and at approximately 8.30pm we arrive back in Dudley for the first drop off. We then spend just over an hour having another tour of The Black Country, before arriving back in Stourbridge where we alight. After some "fresh air", we make our way back to Stourbridge Interchange and having just missed a bus, we decide to catch a taxi back home. Mr UKBuses is dropped off first, so I decide to get out of the taxi after in Wollaston, where a nightcap is had in The Unicorn before heading home to rest my legs.

A good day out was had and after the barren of trips, it was a welcome change. Despite what we thought would be a wet day, the rain stopped falling as we arrived at Llandudno and stayed dry until we left. Thanks to Greenline Coaches and our driver John and also to Mr UKBuses, speaking of Mr UKBuses, did you know that he transports a bald spot around with him:

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot is having battery trouble at Telford Services.

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot at The Llandudno Transport Festival.

Bald Spot 3: The Bald Spot is trying to hide behind a Leyland National.

Bald Spot 4: The Bald Spot is trying to take a picture of that other blokes bald spot!

Bald Spot 5: The Bald Spot may have been caught!

Bald Spot 6: The Bald Spot before leaving the Llandudno Transport Festival.

Bald Spot 7: The Bald Spot seen in Llandundo town.

2015 - Day Out 17: Liverpool

Following on from our weekend break in London, it is time to go back on the coaches and this time Greenline Coaches will be taking Mr UKBuses and myself to Liverpool on what will be our last coach trip of 2015.

Time to go and catch the coach, so I make my way to Wollaston, where just after 07.30am, I board National Express West Midlands service 276 leaving on time, so I send a text to Mr UKBuses to tell him that we are on the way. Mr UKBuses boards at Norton and we make our way to Stourbridge, alighting at Stourbridge Interchange. A quick visit is had by Mr UKBuses to the cash point to top up his ever bulging wallet and we make our way to the pick up point in Birmingham Street where "fresh air" is had while waiting. It is getting cold as there is a sharp wind blowing so to hurry up the coach, I have some more "fresh air" and as I finish my break, the Greenline mini coach "Herbie" arrives. We board and take our seats and get ourselves warm. We are waiting for a few people still and after waiting ten minutes extra and the coach driver trying to contact the missing passengers, the coach driver is about to pull off until he sees a group of people running towards the coach (they waited at the ring road bus stop, the other side of Stourbridge). With all our passengers on board, we make our way to Colley Gate, where a few more passengers board, before making our way to Dudley, where we change onto the main coach.

We depart from Dudley just after 09.00am and we make our way through Bilston and onto the M6 motorway heading north, bypassing Stafford and Stoke on Trent. As we head further north, the coach driver pulls of the motorway at Sandbach Services, where after a comfort break, Mr UKBuses decides to wait in the queue for his McDonald's, whilst I pop next door where I have a BLT sandwich, which I have almost eaten by the time Mr UKBuses gets served and joins me. A "fresh air" break is had before we board the coach to complete our journey, once we take our seats and wait again for the same missing passengers earlier, we head back onto the M6 motorway and after passing Warrington, we turn off onto the M62 motorway which gets us to Liverpool, arriving at our drop off point, The Albert Docks, just before 11.30am, see picture above left. We alight our coach "Bram",see picture right, before we make our way into the city, a "fresh air" break is had.

We don't have far to walk and we make our way out of the docks and virtually opposite is Liverpool One, one of the main bus stations in Liverpool. After a few photographs are taken, we make our way to the travel centre situated in the bus station, where we purchase our Savaway All Areas day ticket. After asking for our day ticket, we are presented with a smartcard, The Walrus, which Merseytravel have recently introduced, so instead of showing the bus drivers our paper ticket, we just simply scan our card upon boarding our buses.

Our first destination in Liverpool (and to get out of the cold), we catch a Stagecoach Merseyside service 86 bus which takes us from Liverpool One, through the city centre streets, where, as we reach Renshaw Street, we alight, and have a short walk into a side street and have a little warm in "The Roscoe Head", see picture left. This pub is under threat of closure with a campaign from the regulars to try and keep it open. After sampling the Roscoe Head, I can understand why they want to save it from closure, the bar staff are pleasant and friendly, it is an old fashioned pub with different rooms, if it wasn't for visiting other places in Liverpool, I could have stayed in The Roscoe Head for a few hours. After we finish our drinks we do have to go back out into the cold and make our way around the corner again into Renshaw Street, where as we arrive at the bus stop another Stagecoach Merseyside service 86 pull sup, so we board and we make our way back to Liverpool One.

We alight at Liverpool One, where we decide to get a few more photographs. Our next destination is Birkenhead, the other side of the River Mersey. Looking at the time, we wouldn't be able to get to Pier Head to catch the famous ferry, so we have a walk through the main city centre streets, which are quite busy in the run up to Christmas. We arrive at Whitechapel, and get confused when we see a destination of Tower Hill on the buses going past, thinking that we are in London, rather than Liverpool. We have a few minutes wait and we board another Stagecoach Merseyside bus, Service 1 which takes us from Liverpool to Birkenhead bus station going underneath the River Mersey through the Queensway Tunnel. We alight at Birkenhead Bus Station and just miss our next bus, so have about twenty minutes to wait for our next bus. Whilst Mr UKBuses is taking a few photographs, I go in search of a toilet as the pint in The Roscoe Head has taken it's toll. I do find one which is out of order, so make my way back into the bus station after being pestered by a TalkTalk broadband man and take our place in the queue for our next bus. Our Arriva North West Bus pulls up and we board service 407, where after ten minutes we alight just past Mallaby Street and cross the road to take some photographs of the Arriva North Birkenhead Bus Depot, see picture right. After taking some photographs, we make our way to the bus stop where we see a Arriva North West Service 437 bus pull out of Mallaby Street, so a quick dash to the bus stop is taken, which we need not have done as their was a driver change about to take place. We take our seats and shortly arrive back at Birkenhead Bus Station.

Time for a warm again, so we decide to have a walk from the bus station past the J D Wetherpsoons (yes, Mr UKBuses did walk past!) and up Claughton Road, where after about five minutes we arrive at "The Mackenzie", see picture left, a pub we have been in before and after a few years away, the place hasn't changed. There are no real ales on, so a John Smith's Smoothpour is chosen and Mr UKBuses has a Guinness. Whilst Mr UKBuses is ordering I go for a long overdue comfort break, which was made worse between the depot and The Mackenzie with the now freezing winds. After watching a bit of football and resting our legs, we make our way back out into the cold and back to Birkenhead Bus Station, via the Pyramids Shopping Centre and being pestered again by a different TalkTalk Broadband person and also where Mr UKBuses makes another visit to the cash machine (twice in one day!). Instead of catching the bus to the ferry terminal at Seacombe, we decide to miss out the ferry due to the cold wind and get the bus back to Liverpool. We board a Stagecoach Gold Service 2 and head back under the River Mersey and back into Liverpool, alighting at Sir Thomas Street. We are getting a bit peckish now, so we make our way around the corner and into Queens Square, passing through the bus station and into the main shopping centre, where we decide to rest our feet and have something to eat at J D Wetherspoons "The Fall Well". Before we go to the bar, we decide to have a look around first to see if there are any tables available as the pub is quite full, we do luckily get a table towards the back after we spot someone leaving. We have a look at the menu and Mr UKBuses goes for the BBQ Chicken melt "without the melt" and a pint of Guinness and myself, I opt for the Gammon and a pint of real ale. I head towards the bar where it is taking ages to get served, but I eventually get served and somehow I end up with two pints of ale and a pint of Guinness, even though I have only ordered one real ale. As my pint was a porter and looks the same as Guinness, Mr UKBuses thinks he has an extra pint!! We wait about fifteen minutes and there is confusion and our meals are offered to someone else, as close by is another table with the same number as ours. We do eventually get our food and tuck in. With us fed and watered, we decide to make our way back outside.

We leave the Fall Well behind and make our way back through the busy shopping centre and back to Liverpool One, it is now too dark to take any photographs, so we head straight towards The Albert Docks and have about forty-five minutes to wait for our coach to pick us up. Mr UKBuses wants to go to "The Beatles Story" shop so he may be able to pick up a Christmas present, so we make our way around to the shop and after having a little look around, Mr UKBuses decides not to get a present after seeing the prices and nearly fainting. We leave the shop behind and still have a while to wait, so we head into the warmth and a few doors away there is a pub / restaurant which we decide to rest our feet. We head into the "Circo" Bar and Restaurant and I decide to nearly faint when it is my round and despite only having a pint and a soft drink, the round comes to over £6. We take a seat overlooking the Albert Docks and before leaving I make sure that every drop is drunk out of the glass. We head back out and around the corner where our coach is waiting. A "fresh air" break is had before we board and we take our seats and get warm again. There are a few people left to board and a few minutes after we are supposed to have departed, the missing passengers (guess who?) turn up and we are on our way.

We head back out of Liverpool and back onto the M62 motorway and eventually back onto the M6 motorway, bound for the West Midlands. There has been an accident further ahead along the motorway, so as we battle our way through the traffic, Mark, our coach driver decides to quickly pull into Knutsford Services so anyone could have a quick comfort break. I opt for a "fresh air" break and board the coach and we are waiting for our favourite passengers again before we head back out onto the M6 motorway, where the traffic is moving more quickly now. We head back towards the West Midlands and are nearing Stoke On Trent where the coach driver decides to have a proper break now and we pull into Keele Services where we have about twenty minutes to stretch our legs. "Fresh air" is had and we board our coach again, where our favourite passengers are yet again late coming back to the coach. We head back onto the motorway and alight at Junction 10, where we head to Dudley arriving at 07.50pm. We change back onto the mini coach, "Herbie" again and yet again even though we are just changing coaches, our favourite passengers take there time. After they board we make our way through to Colley Gate and back to Stourbridge where we alight in Birmingham Street. Luckily this time we have plenty of time to walk up to Stourbridge Interchange and also some more "fresh air" is had along the way. We board the National Express West Midlands service 276 at 08.35pm, saying goodbye to Mr UKBuses when he alights at Norton and I carry on to Wollaston where I alight and have a nightcap or two at "Grahams Place" and "The Unicorn" before getting back home to rest my legs. 

Despite a freezing cold wind, another great day out was had in Merseyside, with thanks to Greenline Coaches, our coach driver Mark and the company of Mr UKBuses, speaking of Mr UKBuses, his bald spot made an appearance in the cold weather:

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot causes glaring issues at The Albert Docks.

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot tries to hide at Arriva Birkenhead Bus Depot

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 09: Portmeirion

Date: Saturday 12 September 2015

We are on the coach yet again for the fourth time in four weeks, this week sees us stay in the country of Wales, but we head up to North Wales and our destination today is the lovely village of Portmeirion, home to The Prisoner.

I make my way to Wollaston, where at 07.35am the National Express West Midlands Service 276 bus pulls up and I board and take a seat, sending Mr UKBuses the normal text to tell him that we are on our way. The bus goes through Norton, where Mr UKBuses duly boards and then we make our way into Stourbridge, alighting at Stourbridge Interchange and taking a short walk down to the coach shelter opposite Stourbridge Tip. We wait about ten minutes wondering if we were told the right time, our worry lessens when another couple turn up and "Herbie" the Greenline minicoach turns up and we board, luckily we only have a couple of pick ups in Lye and Halesowen to do before we make our way to Dudley. We arrive in Dudley and pull up outside of the entrance to Dudley Zoo, we have a few minutes to wait before our main coach pulls up, so I get off and have some "fresh air" whilst waiting. "Jan" turns up and Mr UKBuses gets off "Herbie" and we make our way to the main coach with our regular driver, Mike sorting out the seats. As we are waiting the rain starts to pour down on us and we cannot yet board the coach due to other passengers blocking the aisle, so we get slightly damp, but we find out we have the same seats as last week and get a drivers view of the journey to and from Portmeirion.

We make our way towards Wolverhampton, me slightly damp as my bottle of pop for the journey decides to explode over me as I open it and get onto the M6 Motorway, just for a short while before we join the M54 Motorway. We are on the coach for less than an hour, where Mike informs us that we are going to have a quick convenience stop at Telford Services as some of the passengers have been on the coach far longer than those who joined at Dudley. We duly pull into Welcome Break Telford Service Station where we have time to make use of the facilities and also a quick breath of "fresh air" before boarding again and making our way back out onto the M54 motorway. We then head onto the A5 and head towards Wrexham, where we have a longer stop at Moreton Park Garden Centre, see picture top left, where we decide to have some breakfast in the restaurant. Mr UKBuses is a number (Number 11 to be exact) after ordering his traditional breakfast (no egg or beans, but mushrooms and black pudding as a replacement), I order mine (I am Number 7), asking for no egg and black pudding as a replacement. After about 10 minutes our breakfasts arrive, see picture right, Mr UKBuses is first and without his beans and egg, a lot of plate can be seen. Mine then arrives, with egg on, which I duly put to one side, but I also get my extra black pudding as well, with my plate looking fuller than Mr UKBuses. Food eaten, we have a quick look around the garden centre and decide to have another pit stop, with Mr UKBuses getting confused as he nearly goes into the ladies. We make our way back to the coach with some "fresh air" had along the way back to the coach and Mike returns after having his breakfast and we duly board our coach "Jan" again and take our seats to get us to Portmeirion.

We make our way from Moreton Park and Mike takes us on a scenic route as we bypass Oswestry and Chirk and go through Llangollen, spotting the canal and steam railway as we pass through. We then pass through Corwen and Bethel before driving past the glorious looking Bala lake. We are not too far from our destination now, but we get stuck behind a "Sunday Driver", which adds time to our journey as we cannot get past the driver who doesn't know what an accelerator is for. The driver finally pulls off and we pick up speed again and after passing signs for Ffestiniog, we only have to go through the little village of Minffordd and I keep an eye out for the steam railway station at Minffordd as about twenty years ago I stayed in the Ffestiniog railway hostel when I was in the Venture Scouts, I do spot it and memories come flooding back, right opposite, we turn down a road which is the entrance to Portmeirion, if only I had known that all them years ago, I could have made a visit then. We go down a small road and we are at the entrance to "The Village", Mike gives a toot on his horn and the gates are open so that we are allowed into the coach park, arriving just before 1.30pm. Mike pulls up and as we alight another coach drivers rudely asks Mike to move as he wants to leave, why he couldn't have waited a few minutes, Mike would have dropped off all the passengers and would have got out of his way. "Fresh air" is had before we make our way to the village, see picture left. A trip to Porthmadog is abandoned as we would have had to walk about a mile and a half to the nearest bus stop.

We make our way down towards "The Village", so far so good, there are no big white balloons following me around, Mr UKBuses refers to them as "Rovers", just a person who looks like Stan Ogden with a camera clicking away behind me is the only thing following me around. We have a walk around "The Village" and with Mr UKBuses clicking away, I move further into "The Village". A woman is taking a picture behind Mr UKBuses and as he hears the camera click, he turns around and tells her to "P*** Off!", I think he may have been a bit paranoid about his bald spot. We carry on around the main part of Portmeirion, where we arrive at The Town Hall and we decide to rest our legs for a bit, see picture right. We make our way inside, and Mr UKBuses leaves me at the bar whilst he goes to find a table (good excuse again!) and a pint of cider and lager is ordered. I wake up once the barmaid gives me the change, with the round coming to a staggering £8.55, with Mr UKBuses pint being the more expensive at £4.75 a pint. I take my seat and drink my pint slowly to ensure I get the best out of it and my monies worth. There are a few drops left and I make sure that the glass is left very dry and we make our way back into "The Village".

After visiting the toilet (this building will be used a lot today), we make our way down to the hotel and Mr UKBuses plays about on the Stone boat located next to it. With Mr UKBuses back ashore, I feel ill when Mr UKBuses decides to go on a walk through the woods (yes, I did say a walk!), so we make our way past the lighthouse and onto the forest trail. Luckily, for Mr UKBuses, about three-quarters of the way around there is a bench available which Mr UKBuses decides to have a seat for about ten minutes to recover, which also meant I could get some "fresh air", before making our way back into "The Village". We have another quick look around and we arrive just in time for The Forest Train, we climb aboard and after everybody is on, we set off taking us around a different part of the forest situated in the grounds. We could have walked the route about three times as the train was quite slow, we do eventually get back into "The Village" and alight by The Town Hall. Mr UKBuses spots the ice cream shop, so we head in and decide to have a single scoop cone, with Mr UKBuses opting for Strawberry and myself Cranberrie Cream flavour. Mr UKBuses gets his first and heads out of the shop and then I get mine, but it looks as if I have had an extra scoop judging by the difference in size. I may have had more, but seeing as my ice cream was soft to begin with, it doesn't take long before it starts running all down my hands and by the time I've  finished, my hands are entirely covered in ice cream. Luckily for me, we are right by the toilets, so another visit is made to give them a wash.

We have a further look around "The Village" and then we head to "Number 6" house, which is now home to The Prisoner gift shop. Mr UKBuses wants to get a mouse mat, but after looking around the shop a couple of times and enquiring, he is out of luck and comes away from the shop empty handed. We have a bit of time left and decide to have a look around the other shops just in case there are any floating around in the other shops. We decide to take another break and it is back to The Town Hall where we decide to have a seat outside and Mr UKBuses does go to the bar and pays the same amount. After drinks we decide to make our way back to the coach a bit early just in case we can leave early, we make our way via the pottery shop, see picture left, just in case there is an elusive mouse mat hanging around in there. Unfortunatley for Mr UKBuses there isn't so we board the coach after I have had some "fresh air" and with the coach two-thirds full, we get comfortable and wait for the stragglers. At least we haven't been chased around by a "Rover", but we did get followed by a couple off our coach a few times today, were they "Rovers" in disguise? The last few stragglers board and we leave Portmeirion twenty minutes before planned departure. We escape "The Village" and make our way down to Minffordd, where I say goodbye to my once hostel from years ago and we hit the road.

A few miles into the journey and it looks as if we have come across the same driver as we did this morning, in a different car, as we are stuck behind him for quite a while and he seems to be doing only half of the speed limit. He eventually turns off with a loud cheer from everyone in the coach as he turns off. We eventually get close to our comfort break and have ten minutes in Welshpool, where luckily the toilets are still open, time for some "fresh air" before we set off along the rabbit run and back into Dudley, where we say goodbye to Mike and swap onto "Herbie" again which takes us straight back into Stourbridge, arriving at 9.04pm, which gives us a minute to run from the drop off point to Stourbridge Interchange, where luckily, our National Express West Midlands Service 276 is still on the stand. We board and as we reach Norton, its time to say goodbye to Mr UKBuses and upon arriving in Wollaston a quick nightcap is had at Graham's Place and The Unicorn before heading back home for a well deserved rest.

Another brilliant day was had thanks to our coach driver Mike and to Mr UKBuses for the company, luckily, the weather improved upon arrival at Portmeirion. Speaking of Mr UKBuses, he came away without a mouse mat, but he did have a bald spot, all but one spotted in Portmeirion:

The Bald Spot is seen on its way to the Coach at Moreton Park Garden Centre, all below are in and around Portmeirion.