2014 - Day Out 01: Worcestershire

Date: Saturday 01 February 2014

It is time for the first outing of 2014 and we decide to stay local and visit a few towns of a wet Worcestershire.

It is our first outing and as I wake up I have a very sore throat and also a nasty cough, a brilliant start to the day. After devouring breakfast, I ensure I have everything for the day ahead including the camera and plan and make my way out up towards Norton to meet up with Mr UKBuses. As I make my way across Swan Pool Park and even though I'm wrapped in many layers of clothing, I can still feel the chill and make my way up The Broadway stopping off at The Broadway shops to get myself a bottle of still Vimto to help soothe my sore throat. There is no sign of Mr UKBuses, so I make my way towards his house, sending him a text along the way to "Get Out of Bed!", I am just around the corner and he appears. With the morning greetings out of the way, we make our way to Norton Road to wait for our first bus of the day and as we are waiting my mom and dad pass by so an obliquity wave is handed out by both of us. We are not long at the stop when Whittle's Service 125 arrives from Stourbridge and we board paying our £3.20 return fare (we can't buy the Connecta Day Ticket until we get past the Old Waggon and Horses at Iverley) and make our way to the back of the bus where Mr D9 is waiting for us (and it is good to see him again). We pass through The Broadwaters on our way to Kidderminster, where at 09:30 hours Mr D9 is pleased when the Cash Counter reports to Mr UKBuses, and after the recent wet weather, the local stream has turned more into a river, up the hill we go from The Broadwaters past The Land Oak and down Comberton Hill past The Railway Station into Kidderminster Town Centre and Kidderminster Bus Station, where we alight.

We don't have long to wait for our next bus, which is good considering the chill in the air, so we hang around the bus station taking a few photographs and also get commandeered by an old man wearing a Severn Valley Railway jumper informing us of the buildings we are standing by which used to be part of one of the biggest employers in Kidderminster, Brintons Carpets. We do eventually get rid of him and make our way to Stand 7 where we board Whittles Service 2C which takes us to our first location of the day Bewdley, to get us there we first purchase our Connecta Day Ticket from the driver. We head past the Safari Park ensuring that no-one mistakes Mr D9 or Mr UKBuses as one of an escaped monkey, before arriving in Bewdley, where as we head towards the river we can see that the recent wet weather has taken its toll on the River Severn and the flood defences have been employed. We alight in Load Street and as it is cold, we make our way to J D Wetherspoons "The George Hotel", see picture right, where we purchase our pints and keep warm. Once the drinks have been supped, we leave enough time to have a walk down by the riverside where we can see that the river has already started to burst its banks, see picture below, slightly before making our way back to the bus stop to get our next bus back to Kidderminster. We wait for our bus, but instead of our original service (292), we catch an earlier bus, Whittles Service 2A which gets us back into Kidderminster a few minutes earlier than planned.

The river Severn breaching the banks at Severn Side North, Bewdley

We alight at Kidderminster bus station, where we all decide to make a visit to the nearby Tesco, not to do shopping, with the drink at Bewdley and the chill in the air, we make use of the toilet facilities and make our way back to Kidderminster Bus Station where Mr UKBuses makes a run across the Tesco car park as he spots our bus on the stand. There was no need to panic as the bus was not due out for a few more minutes, so we take our place in the queue at Stand 10 before boarding our 11:25 Diamond Service 303 which will take us to Worcester. We travel through Hartlebury, where after passing through a tight spot, the bus sets off a car alarm without even touching the car and Ombersley and we have a slow arrival into Worcester, we alight at Worcester Foregate Street Railway Station at approximately 12:15 which means we only have a few footsteps before we make our way into J D Wetherspoons "The Postal Order" where we have dinner. Whilst I have visited this place before, it has always been a pleasurable experience, but this time it was different. As Mr UKBuses found a seat, Mr D9 and myself stand at the bar waiting to be served. Other people (also known to the staff) came to the bar after we had and got served first, so it seems that now, regulars / local people seem to get preferential treatment. We eventually get served and take our seats, with Mr D9 deciding to elbow some of my drink over me along the way. We peruse the menu, with Mr D9 and myself taking the normal bet about what Mr UK Buses is going to eat. I win as Mr UKBuses opts for the BBQ Chicken Melt (without the melt), Mr D9 has the Gourmet Burger and myself the Chicken Burger. Food has been ordered and it arrives quicker than the first time we waited to get served at the bar. The food is devoured so we have a few minutes to let it go down as we finish our drinks off.

We now make our way to Worcester Bus Station where a few photographs are taken before catching First Worcestershire's Service 35, which takes us to their depot at Padmore Street. As soon as we alight, the rain starts pouring down, we still have a look around whilst getting soaked, but no photographs are taken by myself as it is too wet to get the camera out. We walk back around to the bus stop and a little sprint is required as another service 35 bus is pulling up. We board and make our way back to Worcester Bus Station where Mr D9 takes a little visit leaving his newsagent shop unattended, see picture left. We now make our way to Stand P, luckily undercover, where we wait a few minutes for First's Service 144 to pull up and we board to make our way to our next destination. We make our way through Droitwich Spa, where some D9 driving takes place and Mr UKBuses has a nap and arrive at Bromsgrove Bus Station at 14:46. We only have a few minutes here, so Mr D9 makes another visit and has the usual photograph taken before we have to catch our next bus, whilst Mr D9 is making a visit, Mr UKBuses sneaks off and returns with a cone of chips, due to his sneakiness Mr D9 and myself nick a couple of chips, as they were tasty it could have turned into a "Chester" incident. Diamond's service 145 turns up at Stand 4 at 14:58 and we board to make our way to Redditch.

We arrive in Redditch after 20 minutes on the bus and after the bus driver makes us dizzy by going around a roundabout a couple of times and our first port of call is Diamond's Plymouth Road Depot, the rain starts falling again as it did when we were at the First depot in Worcester so no pictures can be taken. Next we decide to take cover and we scupper Mr UKBuses round plans and visit J D Wetherspoons "The Royal Enfield" first, once we have had a rest and finished our drinks we visit Diamond's Church Lane Depot, see picture right, and after photographs are taken, we head to the bus stop and wait and wait. I decide to walk it and beat Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses to our next port of call, "The Golden Cross", I wait outside for the pair to arrive as it is Mr UKBuses round and whilst Mr D9 makes a visit to use the facilities, Mr UKBuses gets the round in and he surprises us by having a whiskey, and after his round plans were scuppered, his round at The Golden Cross turns out to be cheaper than what we have already paid in Wetherspoons. Our time in Redditch is nearly up, so we make our way across to the bus station, stopping off at the newsagents along the way to get a couple of snacks for the journey back. Mr D9 makes a visit to the dreaded toilet in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre, this time with no waiting. We wait at the bus stop whilst Mr D9 is undertaking his business and we decide to wind him up as he rejoins us by saying that we have just missed our bus and that we are now stranded in Redditch. A few minutes later our bus does turn up at Stand F and we board Diamond's Service X3, which departs at 16:48.

We are on the bus for about 45 minutes passing through Bromsgrove and Chaddersley Corbett along the way and discussing Mr UKBuses turkey which he gets off the farm in Chaddersley Corbett each year. We arrive in a dark Kidderminster at 17:33 and after getting value for money on our Connecta tickets, we make our way back around to the bus station where we have to wait about fifteen minutes for our bus back to Stourbridge. It is getting rather cold now and on time Whittle's Service 125 bus turns up at stand 8 and after showing our return ticket, we depart Kidderminster at 17:52 passing through Iverley and Norton before arriving back in Stourbridge at 18:13. We have time for our last drink of the day and it is my round which Mr UKBuses gets his own back by going to J D Wetherspoons "The Chequers Inn" rather than "The Edward Rutland" where I can get a discount off the pints with my CAMRA Card. We get in the warmth and Mr UKBuses finds a table whilst Mr D9 and myself purchase the drinks. We have a thirst on and Mr D9 evens the rounds total up by purchasing a second round and whilst we finish our drinks off, we log onto the phone to see what times Mr D9's connection at Dudley will turn up. Drinks finished, we make our way back to Stourbridge Interchange and whilst we say goodbye to Mr D9 who makes his way to the 246 stand, Mr UKBuses and myself makes our way to our stand to catch the final bus of the day, National Express West Midlands Service 276, with Mr UKBuses bidding farewell and alighting at Norton, and I continue to the terminus at Wollaston. Before I make my way into the warmth at home, I stop by the Chinese to order my meal and whilst it is getting cooked, I sneak next door for a crafty pint of Bathams Bitter at "The Unicorn" before picking up my meal and getting back to a nice warm home where I rest my feet after a good, but cold, day out.

Despite the cold and damp weather, the first outing of 2014 was a success, which was in part of the company of Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses, this outing should set the precedence of the rest of the outings for 2014. Even though it was chilly, some bald spots did make an appearance (the heads must have been cold), these are below.

Bald Spot 1: Mr UKBuses bald spot makes an appearance outside Diamond's Church Lane Depot at Redditch.

Bald Spot 2: Mr D9's bald spot investigates the flood waters at Bewdley.

Bald Spot 3: Mr D9's bald spot looks at Diamond's Chruch Lane Depot in Redditch.

Bald Spot 4: Mr D9's bald spot has another look at Diamond's Church Lane Depot in Redditch.

Bald Spot 5: Mr D9's bald spot receives medical attention at Redditch.

2013 - Day Out 09: Manchester

Date: Saturday 07 September 2013

It is time to go further afield and we decide to visit a new location. I meet up with Mr UKBuses and make our way to Wolverhampton before getting the train to make our way to Manchester.

Its 07:36 and our first journey of the day is about to start and I board National Express West Midlands Service 276, sending Mr UKBuses the standard text to say that the bus is on its way and as we head around Norton Mr UKBuses duly boards and we make our way to Stourbridge Interchange to wait for our next bus. As there aren't many early morning journeys on Saturdays direct to Wolverhampton we have to catch National Express West Midlands Service 246 to Dudley, where upon arrival we don't have long to wait before the National Express West Midlands Service 126 arrives and at 08:36 we depart on our way to Wolverhampton. Along the way and very close to Wolverhampton disaster strikes, the ABS brakes fail on the bus we are travelling on so we have to alight and wait for the next service 126 to arrive, which is only ten minutes which means I can have some "fresh air" and Mr UKBuses also reminds me it was his birthday the other day (sorry Mr UKBuses - Happy Birthday you "Old Git"!). Our next 126 arrives and takes us on the now short journey arriving at Wolverhampton Bus Station a little later than planned.

Upon arrival we make our way across the new footbridge to the Wolverhampton Railway Station, but before we do, it is time for some "fresh air" before making our way to the platform via W H Smiths for some liquid refreshments. We have just over ten minutes to wait before our train arrives and the platform guard keeps us occupied with her pleasant smile. At 09:49 our Arriva CrossCountry train arrives at Platform 1 and we board and get our seats to make ourselves comfy for the journey to Manchester. The train departs and just as we come out of Wolverhampton disaster strikes, we are stuck on the track due to a points problem up ahead on the line. We are stuck in the same spot for about half an hour before we are back on the move and we make our way through Stafford, Stone and Stockport before arriving late in Manchester, but I think the train may have a problem also until I find out that it is Mr UKBuses who is having a nap and making a loud snoring noise! We walk along the platform to the concourse and we now have to buy our day ticket, a One DaySaver ticket which covers travel on bus, rail and trams in Manchester, but after walking twice around Manchester Piccadilly Station we end up where we started before we spot where we have to get them from.

With more time wasted we quickly make our way to the platform for the Manchester tram which once we alight we have to go one stop and as we depart the main railway station we start to see the sights of Manchester City and after a few minutes on board we alight our tram at Piccadilly Gardens, a big public square where buses and trams terminate and stop so this is a good photo taking spot and a good welcome to the city. As we are running late we decide it is time to have lunch, with our J D Wetherspoons located in the area we search for it, and search for it, and search for it and after walking around five different streets we give in and ask a man standing outside of another bar. He points us in the right direction and we eventually spot it and find out that we must have walked straight past it two or three times. We enter "Wetherspoons Piccadilly", and it is quite busy, so Mr UKBuses finds a table whilst I wait at the bar to get served. It is a while for me to get served and it doesn't help when the barman keeps asking customers for ID, I finally get served and order a "Spitting Feathers", which is what describes my mood when the same barman asks me for ID!!! Seeing as I'm in my mid thirties I don't carry any ID on me so after showing him my bank cards with my name on, he says he can't accept them, I then produce my CAMRA card which has the same name on and explain that I wouldn't be able to be a CAMRA member if I was underage so he agrees and pours the drinks. I take the drinks to the table and we choose our lunch, Mr UKBuses orders his usual BBQ Chicken Melt without the melt and I opt for the Gammon, Mr UKBuses thankfully agrees to order the food after my experience at the bar previously. The food doesn't take too long to arrive and despite the staff, the food was brilliant and went down quickly.

To catch up, we decide to head out to get the tram to our next destination and we board at Piccadilly Gardens and go a couple of stops to Shudehill, another interchange between trams and buses so more photographs could be taken at this location. We don't spend a lot of time here so we can catch up after our delay at Wolverhampton earlier, so we head back onto the tram and alight at St Peters Square where we have a little walk and toilet break before arriving at Albert Square (and no there wasn't a sighting of Phil Mitchell or Alfie Moon!!!) to catch our first Manchester bus of the day. We don't have long to wait before our Stagecoach Manchester Service 50 turns up and takes us on a journey of approximately 20 minutes to the Harbour City tram stop, we actually alight a stop before (Mr UKBuses Map Allowance has not been paid!!) and have a short walk to the tram stop. We just miss our tram so "fresh air" is taken before our tram turns up and takes us one stop to MediaCity UK, which is the location where most of the BBC production has moved to and soon will also be the new home of the ITV Studios, across the water replacing the old "Granada TV" Studios a few miles away, this will also be the new home of a newly built Coronation Street set.

We have a walk around MediaCity and also have a quick look around the Imperial War Museum North, having a look at the displays from past wars that Great Britain have been involved with. After our museum tour, we decide to make our way back across the water passing the BBC studios and decide to have a liquid refreshment break, we find a place called "Lime" a bar / restaurant. I'm informed when we get to the bar that the first round I purchased was Mr UKBuses birthday drink so it is my round here also. A pint of Fosters for Mr UKBuses and a pint of Bitter for me works out at £6.90, no wonder he wanted to miss out on this round!!!! We rest our feet and decide to savour the drinks (especially at those prices) before making our move to get back to the city centre. We deviate from the plan and decide to catch the Stagecoach Manchester Service 50, we keep an eye out for the Granada TV Studios on the way back, but with no luck we alight at Albert Square (Still no sign of Phil or Alfie), and take a walk up to Piccadilly Gardens where more photographs are taken.

Whilst Mr UKBuses finishes off his photo taking, I get some refreshments fro the train journey back and we board our final tram of the day and alight at Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station. We have time to have some food before our train is due to depart so we head to Burger King. I ask for a plain beefburger and when I am served and about to eat, I find out that I have relish and gherkins all over my burger, so I head back to Burgerking to complain and get a replacement, they change it but the manager tries to charge me again because they had to throw my original burger away, I refused to pay and the manager gives me my replacement begrudgingly after I tell him that it was the person who originally served me for giving me the wrong food. We take our seats and eat our food. We have a bit of time left and I decide to have a quick drink in "The Balcony Bar" located inside the railway station meeting back up with Mr UKBuses after the pint is finished, the barman recognises my accent and reveals he is from Walsall originally, this is the only person today who has served me who seems to have good customer service.

We make our way to the platform to get our train back to Wolverhampton, at 17:06 our Arriva CrossCountry train departs and it doesn't seem that we are on the train long when we arrive at Wolverhampton at 18:15. Upon arrival we walk to the bus station and get our National Express West Midlands service 126 which departs at 18:40 and arrives in Dudley at 19:10 which gives us 5 minutes waiting time for our last bus of the day. At 19:15 we board National Express West Midlands Service 276 and for me (Mr UKBuses just misses out) I travel the entire route from Dudley to Wollaston, alighting at 20:18 and I head to San Wu House (my normal Chinese is closed due to holidays) for a hot Singapore Chow Mein to devour when I get back home.

A good day out was had with good company and a good first visit was had to Manchester, not the top of my location list, due to bad customer service in Manchester, but would return for a further investigation of the area and below are the bald spots caught whilst out touring Manchester.

The bald spot is caught at Piccadilly Gardens.

The bald spot is having a look around MediaCity UK.