2013 - Day Out 03: London

Date: Saturday 06 April 2013

It is time to visit the Capital of England, London. This time we head for Euston instead of the usual London Marylebone due to Mr UKBuses ticket radar searching out a good deal on the train tickets online, so we board a Virgin to begin our day in the City.

Due to travelling by Virgin Trains today, I have an extra half an hour lie in and make my way to Wollaston to catch the later than usual National Express West Midlands Service 276, which arrives promptly and leaves on time at 07:06 and I send the normal text to Mr UKBuses to tell him the bus is on the way, as I pass High Park Avenue, I send another text to tell him that the bus has broken down, but he doesn't fall for it and is waiting at the bus stop as the bus turns the corner in Shenstone Avenue. Mr UKBuses boards and takes his seat for the journey to Stourbridge Interchange (Yes, Interchange!), where we arrive at 07:21, just in time to inter-change onto the "Stourbridge Dodger" to take us for the three minute journey up to Stourbridge Junction. Mr Phil Tonks is not on driving duty today as he is in search of bacon, but his trusty colleagues get us to Stourbridge Junction where we board the 07:35 London Midland train, stopping at all stations, even stopping between Old Hill and Rowley Regis as the train looks like it has broken down, but after a couple of minutes we are on the move again and arriving at Smethwick Galton Bridge at 07:56, where we change platforms for the 08:04 London Midland train to take us to Birmingham New Street. We arrive at Birmingham New Street and have time for breakfast, so we walk to McDonald's where we have a Bacon Roll, and Mr UKBuses kindly gives me his Hash Brown. Breakfast over and time for a quick "fresh air" break before we make our way back to Birmingham New Street, stopping via W H Smiths for refreshments along the way, We make our way down to our platform along the concourse for perhaps the last time as the next time we will visit Birmingham New Street the new concourse will be open whilst works are taking place on the current concourse to make the station bigger and lighter.

We get onto the platform and make our way to the end of the platform, where Coach A will be and take our seats ready for the journey ahead. The Virgin train leaves Birmingham New Street on time at 08:50 and we make our way along the West Coast Mainline via Birmingham International, Coventry and Milton Keynes. I try and get a bit of a nap but a large humming noise is preventing me from doing so, but I find out the cause, it is Mr UKBuses snoring keeping the rest of the carriage awake, see picture right. Mr UKBuses awakes in time for arrival at London Euston, and we decide to make our way to the front of the train and even through first class so that we only have a short walk along the platform to the main concourse at London Euston Station. We arrive into the station a few minutes late, but we quickly make our way outside where I get some "Fresh Air" and Mr UKBuses gets a few photographs from the bus station outside London Euston. After our short break, we get our Oystercards out ready and make our way Underground to Euston Underground Station where we tap in (and top up) and onto the Victoria Line for our first underground journey of the day. We are only on the underground for about three minutes before we arrive at our first destination and Oxford Circus Underground Station.

We make our way to ground level and follow Mr UKBuses plan, who obviously needs to invest in a map of London as we walk for about five to ten minutes, completely in the wrong direction. Luckily a London United Service 10 bus is in sight so we jump aboard and get back down to Oxford Circus Underground Station where we alight and walk in the right direction to get us to our first location of the day. We take the right direction this time and turn into Regent Street where after stopping for Mr UKBuses to tie his shoelace, see picture left, we arrive at the BBC Broadcasting House, see picture at the top of this blog post. The BBC TV Centre closed a short while ago and some services have been transferred to this building, where after extensive refurbishment and construction of a new "East Wing", the building looks as like the old is meeting the new, with both buildings standing and looking impressive. After a few photographs are taken , we walk along a back street along to the Oxford Circus Underground Station where we need to get back onto the Victoria Line to take us to Holburn so we can catch the new Borismaster, but Oxford Circus is causing Mr UKBuses a couple of problems today as he takes us to the wrong platform.

We decide to catch the Victoria Line in the opposite direction to Green Park, where we hope to catch up with the New Bus For London, but after arriving at Green Park Underground Station and waiting quite a while with quite a few Arriva London Service 38's going past, we decide to get the next service 38 bus that arrives and sadly it is not a Borismaster. We board and take the journey from Green Park to Victoria Bus Station, and Mr UKBuses seems to be cursed as along the way we pass about five National Express Coaches. We arrive at Victoria and even though we didn't catch a Borismaster, there is one waiting in Victoria so a couple of photographs can be taken. It is now time for lunch and we take a short walk to one of our favourite J D Wetherspoons in Victoria, "The Willow Walk". The pub is quite busy and luckily after a few minutes we spot someone vacating a table so Mr UKBuses swoops in so quick, as if they have dropped a penny on the floor and secures the table whilst I order the drinks. Food is chosen and ordered, with Mr UKBuses opting for the BBQ Chicken Melt, without the "Melt", and myself for a "Beer and (Beef)Burger". The food doesn't take long to arrive and there must be a potato shortage in London as there is not a lot of chips on our plates. Mr UKBuses finishes his food and horses around, see picture right and I'm just on the last few bites of my burger when the waiter comes up and takes our plates away, he could have waited until I actually finished my lunch.

A few minutes are taken to let our food go down and to finish our drinks and time to set off for our next location, so we make our way to Victoria Underground Station, where we take a few photographs of buses that are laying over along the way. We reach Victoria Station where Mr UKBuses remembers a bookmakers in the station so that we can place a bet on the afternoons "Grand National". The bets have been placed and we make our way to the Underground and onto the Circle Line to get us to Aldgate. After fifteen minutes we arrive at Aldgate Underground Station and take a short walk across the road to Aldgate Bus Station, where a few photographs are taken and after a visit to the toilet which actually unlocked after I put some money in this time, we decide to miss out our regular "The Blind Beggar" so that we can visit a public house near London Euston to watch "The Grand National". So to get to our next location, "The Carpenters Arms" in Bethnal Green, we board a Stagecoach London Service 254, which takes us Whitechapel Road past The Blind Beggar and into Bethnal Green. We alight at Bethnal Green and take a short walk to catch another bus to our next location, after a few minutes wait, Stagecoach London's Service D3 arrives to take us to The Carpenters Arms, or so we thought. The bus is on diversion and takes us back to Whitechapel where we decide to alight and visit our first choice, "The Blind Beggar", see picture left. Somehow Mr UKBuses gets out of the round and I have to Take "Courage" and pay, his excuse was that it was supposed to be his round in The Carpenters Arms, even though The Blind Beggar was supposed to be the second pub we were supposed to visit on the plan, in the end I leave him to play with his pussy, see picture below.

After drinks are supped in The Blind Beggar, we go off plan and make our way to Whitechapel Underground Station, where we catch the District Line to Tower Hill. Upon arrival at Tower Hill and getting out of the Tower Hill Underground Station with no problems this time, we make our way to the bus stops located by the Tower Of London, we may have missed the Borismaster earlier in the day, but we make sure we get its older brother, The Routemaster, which is Stagecoach London's Heritage Route 15 which takes us just short of Trafalgar Square, and after no problems with the conductor's Oyster Scanner, we alight at Charing Cross, where we go straight underground at Charing Cross Underground Station and onto the Bakerloo Line, which takes us back to Oxford Circus where we have to change onto the right platform this time and onto the Victoria Line for the short journey to London Euston Underground Station.

We now have to find a location to see "The Grand National", and I remember that there is a pub located to the side of Euston and so we head to "The Royal George", see picture (with Mr UKBuses favourite presenter Claire Balding) right, where Mr UKBuses gets his hand in his pocket for the first time today and purchases a round! After recovering from my faint, we take our seats with a good view to the television, and the race starts. I'm pretty sure that my horse was second and even though it came across the line in second place it was not counted as the jockey had fallen off around the course, I think that the result should stand. We finish our drinks after the race, and head across to the bus station outside London Euston Railway Station to take a few photographs before our journey back. As I'm having some "fresh air" Mr UKBuses carries on ahead and when I try to find him, he is nowhere to be seen. I make my way into the station and still cannot see him, so to get a good vantage point of the concourse, I head for a sneaky pint at "The Britannia" and head out to the balcony whilst supping my pint and after a couple of attempts of ringing Mr UKBuses, I get a call back asking where I am and we are reunited after he tells me he is on Platform Four. We take our seats and at 17:03 our train departs for our journey back to Birmingham, after Mr UKBuses has another nap, we arrive back at Birmingham New Street Station and a quick change of platform is required to get our 18:38 London Midland train back to Smethwick Galton Bridge which is four minutes late leaving Birmingham.

Arrival at Smethwick Galton Bridge where after a breath of "Fresh Air" is had outside the station we make our way back to the platform to catch our 19:13 train back to Stourbridge Junction and London Midland keep up the tradition of running late on an evening when this train is over five minutes late. We board a busy train and make our way back to Stourbridge Junction where it is a quick change to Platform 1 to get the "Stourbridge Dodger" back to Stourbridge Town, Mr Tonks is still not on duty as he must be having his "Pot Noodle" but his colleagues deliver us safely back to Stourbridge Town, where we interchange onto National Express West Midlands Service 276 at 20:05, which takes us back home (via the Chinese Takeaway) after another good day out.

Another good visit to the Capital with thanks to Mr UKBuses for sorting out yet another good plan for the locations of the day, and plenty of bald spot opportunities which can be seen below.

The Bald Spot at London Euston Bus Station.

The Bald Spot outside BBC Broadcasting House.

The Bald Spot makes another appearance at the BBC Broadcasting House.

The Bald Spot is spotted at Victoria Bus Station.

The Bald Spot visited Aldgate Bus Station.

2013 - Day Out 02: Wollaston

Date: Saturday 09 March 2013

Normally at this time of the year, this blog post is all about my five mile of torture, sorry run around the streets (and hills) of Dudley. I didn't take part this year, but along with Mr WME, we took part in some training for a different type of run, the Enville Street run.

Before the run and before meeting Mr WME I decide to get some fuel, so head into Stourbridge first for a J D Wetherspoons traditional breakfast at "The Chequers Inn". After a devouring my fodder, I let it go down for a few minutes and then I catch Hanson's Local Bus Service 250 to Wollaston Farm where upon arrival, contact is made with Mr WME stating his location. Luckily I know the way he is heading and know the shortcut to meet him, well I thought I did, but get confused as to where the entrance to the footpath is but I eventually find it and Mr WME who is basically at the entrance to the footpath from the canal. As we meet, we walk around to the Kingsway shops and decide to make a start on the run, so to get to the starting position, we decide to conserve energy and catch National Express West Midlands service X96 to the stop in Bridle Road, but I misjudge the location of the bus stop and we alight as the bus turns into Bridgnorth Road. We have a little walk up hill to get us to the start of "The Enville Street Run", a locally known pub-goers paradise with a good number of public houses along the road between Wollaston and Stourbridge.

We get to the starting position and we are off and enter the first port of call, The Foresters Arms, a public house which is located on the border of the West Midlands and Staffordshire and this is the first time that Mr WME gets to sample the inside of the place. The time is just after 1pm and as we enter, we struggle to find a seat as there is a healthy number of customers already sampling the pleasant nature of this hostelry, and we start off with a pleasant Young's Bitter, and manage to squeeze into a seat with a sleeping dog (well a painting) keeping a weary eye over us. The Enville Street Run has got off to a good start and we leave the starting blocks, and one of my favourite Wollaston pubs and head downhill towards Stourbridge and the second port of call is The Plough and as we enter, the lounge / restaurant area is looking full, so we decide to sample the bar area at the back of the pub and we get a seat  around the pool table area to avoid the flying darts from a few customers playing. In this establishment, we sample Everard's Tiger Ale, and it was an enjoyable pint to drink too. I am still full from my late Traditional Breakfast, but Mr WME has got some empty space to fill in his stomach and samples a pork pie with Black Pudding included within the meat. For £2, it was a generous portion of pie that Mr WME soon devoured.

Mr SBI in The Unicorn

Mr WME in The Princess

 A good start to the run and we are picking up speed now as we head into Wollaston Village, we head to another popular public house owned by Batham's Brewery, The Unicorn, a public house that we have visited a couple of times before. As we enter, the bar and small back room are full but this does not put us off and we sample a pint of Batham's finest Bitter and we take a seat out in the back area, but I spot that a few people are leaving and we have a little run inside the pub to grab the now vacant table in the main bar area. A chance for a couple of photographs and this is where disaster strikes for me, my camera decides that it doesn't want to play any more, it was expected as it was playing up on my trip to London the camera was refusing to take photographs and was also seeming to overheat in the area where the flash was, luckily I have backup and have to use the camera on my phone. Mr WME likes The Unicorn and is tempted to stay for another pint of Bathams Bitter, but we do have the rest of the run to go and we move to the next one, not to far away is The Princess.

The Princess, which was renamed in 1998 from The Alexandra following the death of Princess Diana, is located in the village on the corner of Cobden Street and we sample Holden's Golden Glow. We take a seat at the back of the pub quite close to the big screen TV showing a West Bromwich Albion match which means that we don't stay here that long. We head from The Princess onto the main straight as we pass the big traffic island in Wollaston and into proper run mode as we actually start walking along Enville Street. We pass what was The Waterloo, which has now been turned into an Indian restaurant and our next port of call is Graham's Place, which was once known until a few years ago as The Cottage Spring. This pub is a haven for real ale lovers with plenty of pumps available dispensing proper beer. We decide to opt for the Angel Ale and as we take our seats it is where Mr Keith Lemon joins us for a "Bang Tidy" pint. We are now hallway through the run and as we finish off our drinks in Grahams Place, I work out who will be buying the cheapest round of the day as my local knowledge knows which pub will be the cheapest and it won't be me that purchases it.

Having a "Bang Tidy" Pint in Graham's Place.

We make our way down the hill with Keith Lemon in tow giving a thumbs up to the passing traffic and enter one of my favourite pubs, Katie Fitzgerald's, a pub which is now host to a Irish theme and host to live music each week. Keith orders the round and Mr WME opts for a Wood's Wonderful Bitter and myself for a pint of Tribute. We take our seats and get talking to one of the regulars, Pete, with our topic for discussion of Mario Lanza beermats which I spot hanging by the bar, from the discussion, the identity was still not revealed and have been a victim of the mysterious beermat leaver from my time working behind the bar at The Bell and The Talbot in Stourbridge. Pints supped, we say our goodbyes to Pete and now over the halfway point we head along even further of Enville Street and up a slight hill to get us to the next pub.

Ooosh From Katie Fitzgerald's

The next pub on the run is The Somerset House, once becoming famous for pints sticking to the wall, but sadly the pub is now a shadow of it's former self and as we enter there are only a couple other customers in the pub. After purchasing Bank's Bitter, we head to the dart board and after three games and breaking the flight on one of the darts, I am victorious after winning 2-1 against Mr WME. We head to the penultimate pub on the run and it is literally a few steps taken to get there as The Queens Head is right next door (Once known as The Queensbury when I did a couple of shifts there back in the late 1990's), and Mr WME gets his revenge by purchasing two pints of Joule's Pale Ale which comes in at a wallet-busting £3.20, the revenge is short lived when Mr WME finds out that Wolves have lost 3-1 at Nottingham Forest. We enjoy our cheap pints before heading to the final pub of the run.

Not Celebrating The Cheapest Round!

It is time to visit another Batham's and the final pub situated along Enville Street before hitting Stourbridge Ring Road, and as we enter the finishing line (otherwise known as the bar), we make up for another lost pub at the end of the run, which would have been The Cottage Spring, by having two final pints in Batham's The Royal Exchange and we sample the brewery's own beer again by having a pint of Bitter and a pint of Mild. Keith makes an appearance in the bar again much to the amusement of other customers in the area (one who I saw the following day who asked where Keith was), and it was a cracking end to the afternoon and a good pub to end the Enville Street Run.

A good afternoon out and even though I was flagging at the end of an exhausting long run, I totally enjoyed it even though I did not get the cheapest round of the day. Now that I have done it from Wollaston towards Stourbridge with great ease, it is time to start training to do it in the opposite direction, all uphill.

2013 - Day Out 01: London

Date: Saturday 02 February 2013

It is time to kick off 2013 with our trips and our first outing is back to where we left off in 2012, the City of London, so with Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses assembled it is time to get 2013 under way.

I get up early to get our first trip of 2013 underway, after getting washed and ready, I make my way to Wollaston, and read the posters on the butchers door before the first bus at Wollaston arrives. The bus arrives early and the kind driver lets me on and lets me get warmed up even though he is not due out for a further ten minutes. I get the standard text ready for Mr UKBuses to receive. Mr UKBuses replies to say "let me know when you are close", and thanks to my new mobile phone network, Vodafone (Good network if you don't need to use your phone) which is rubbish, I get the text just about when I need to send it. I reply just as I'm about a minute away from Mr UKBuses bus stop, so I hope he is there and does receive the text before the bus arrives. I don't have to panic as when we turn the corner he is standing at the bus stop. Mr UKBuses boards and as he sits down he passes me an envelope, it is my spending money for today and payment for the train tickets for Mr UKBuses and Mr D9. Mr UKBuses must have been the last to put his payment in the envelope as it is full of loose change making his ever bulging wallet a bit lighter. We don't have long on National Express West Midlands service 276 before we alight at Stourbridge Interchange where we change our mode of transport to the "Stourbridge Dodger".

On ticket checking duty this morning on the "Dodger" is Phil Tonks, who informs us that if we had purchased him a bacon sandwich we would be upgraded to First Class and could have sat next to the driver. Mr UKBuses wallet is mentioned, and he ensures that security is not broken by ensuring his inside pocket is closed firmly. We arrive at Stourbridge Junction and instead of waiting for our planned train, we jump on a London Midland train which is waiting for us at Platform 2, we decide to keep warm by catching this train and do a sneak attack on Mr D9 by alighting at the Hawthorns. We have time for a "Fresh Air" break as when we get on our next train there is no change of train until we get into London Marylebone Station, so we make our way to the back entrance of The Hawthorns and we keep an eye out on the passing Midland Metro's to see if we can ambush Mr D9. With the "Fresh Air" break over, we make our way back onto the Platform to get our Chiltern Railways train, and we can still keep an eye on the Midland Metro platforms for Mr D9. There is a couple of minutes to go before our train is due and there is still no sign of him, a Midland Metro arrives and we keep an eye out but still no Mr D9, it looks as if we have to go off plan already, but a minute before our train is due, we hear a shout from behind us and as we turn round it seems that we have been the ones ambushed by Mr D9 and we see him walk down the platform towards us and as he gets closer, the Bald Spot comes into view.

Our Chiltern Railway train arrives and it is one of their posh Mainline trains, we board and try and find a table seat, but we do not have to worry as every group of 4 seats has a table, so we choose the closest free table, see picture above right, and get ourselves comfortable for the two hour journey ahead of us to take us back to London for our first time in 2013, but not before Mr D9 and myself are in shock as Mr UKBuses informs us that he has a new camera and he spent more than £10 on it. Before I get comfortable, the first port of call for me is for a bladder stop, and I am impressed as they have Dyson hand dryers in the toilets. As I make my way back to get myself comfortable I get the first sneaky shot of a bald spot (these can be seen at the bottom of the post), and as we make our calls at Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street, the driver picks up speed and we are on our way passing through Solihull and High Wycombe before we will reach our final destination. At 08:40 Mr D9 makes a bladder stop, and as he is away at 08:44 he misses the Cash Counter reporting in! Before I did get comfortable I did have a walk all the way down the train to see if there was a shop on board, I couldn't find one, but as we were getting ever closer to London, people were walking past us with food, so I take a walk to the next carriage (the way I didn't go previously) and find out that the next carriage has the shop but unfortunately there are no bacon rolls on offer so I have to settle on a "grab bag" of crisps. We are nearly in London as we start to see Underground trains so Mr UKBuses and Mr D9 decide a bladder stop is needed before the train arrives at London Marylebone Station, not long after we arrive and I make a bee-line to the outside of the station, see picture left, so that I can get a "Fresh Air" break and Mr D9 rewards my break by spitting on my leg, but he does wipe it off, so I forgive him.

It is time to travel around London and the first couple of places we visit are TV filming locations, so with the "Fresh Air" break over and our Oystercards (or a London One Day Travelcard in Mr D9's case) at the ready, we make our way underground and head back inside London Marylebone station and "tap in" as we go to the underground platforms, and as I tap in I finally get my big refund of £2.60 back onto my card from our previous visit in November 2012, and as we make our way down the escalators I see a poster advertising my favourite musical "We Will Rock You", which I will be watching again in April, and we make our way onto the platform where we only have a few minutes wait before our Bakerloo Line Underground train arrives but we are only on the underground for a few minutes as we only have to go one stop and we alight at Paddington Underground Station, where we make our way back to ground and wait for a bus to arrive. After a few minutes of waiting, our first London bus of the day turns up and we board First London's Service 23 for a journey of just under half an hour and we alight at Alderson Street, where we try and find the location of the scrapyard used in Steptoe and Son, it looks as if the area has been redeveloped since filming, but we do find where we think it was located thanks to the help of a nearby canal and pub. After a few photographs are taken, we head back to the bus stop and retrace our previous bus journey by catching First London's Service 23 again but we are only going half the distance and we alight just outside the Ladbroke Grove Underground Station. It's time to get onto the Hammersmith and City Line, and we board our train after a few minutes wait and Mr UKBuses decides to take a seat under a poster , see picture right, describing him quite well "Even I've been accused of penny-pinching" - I wouldn't accuse him, he is an expert at it.

We arrive at Hammersmith where we change platforms and onto the Piccadilly Line where after boarding we go a few stops and alight at Acton Town Underground Station, where we go for a little walk, or so we thought, after ten minutes of walking, we arrive at our next destination, the original exterior location for "Only Fools and Horses" and the residence of Le Trotter's - the original "Nelson Mandela House", which since filming has had a refurbishment. We spend a few minutes here taking pictures and Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses seems to have been on some kind of drugs as they say that can see low flying planes, I may need to go to Specsavers as I couldn't see any. We have a little  walk to get us to the bus stop to get us to our next location, luckily it is only a short walk and we wait for our next bus, which turns out to be quite a few minutes, but eventually, with Mr D9 complaining he needs to have a bladder stop, London United's Service 440 turns up and takes us for a short journey to West Acton Underground Station. We alight service 440 and we again head underground and make our way onto the Central Line which will take us to our next location and refuelling stop, just over ten minutes of travelling we arrive at Shepherds Bush Underground Station.

As we make our way out of the station we can see our J D Wetherspoons across the road, but we have trouble getting there as when the little man turns green, a maniac driving a Range Rover decides to keep on moving slowly though the barrage of pedestrians crossing. We eventually make it across in one piece and to get to the food we have to enter the Wetherspoons through a shopping centre, I get confused and didn't know that the pub chain had branched out into a sports division as before we get the escalator we walk past a J D Sports shop. Upon arrival at the top of the escalator we enter "The Central Bar" and something weird happens, Mr UKBuses makes a bee-line straight to the bar and gets his wallet out first, Mr D9 and myself order our drinks and then find a table, well Mr D9 does, I head straight for a bladder stop. Drinks are carried over to the table, with Mr UKBuses a bit sad as the zip has just broken on his wallet (causing a full scale security alert) and we decide to order our food, Mr D9 and myself forget to make the usual bet, but we did end up having the usual, Mr D9 had his gourmet burger (gas brewing up along the way), Beer and Burger for myself and Mr UKBuses opted for his BBQ Chicken Melt without the Melt. As we waited for our grub to arrive we admired the views over Shepherds Bush and also the views of the long legs of the Wetherspoons waitress as she kept going past us taking the food orders to other people. Our food promptly arrived, delivered by the long legged waitress and after we stopped drooling we consumed our food and took a few minutes after to finish our drinks before making our way back out into the bush. Photographs were taken and Mr D9 had a special interest with the underground toilets opposite the pub, which has been turned into a nightclub. Pictures taken, we head back into Shepherds Bush Underground Station and back onto the Central Line and we only went one station before arriving at our next destination.

We arrive at White City Underground Station and as we leave the station, we have to go past the BBC Television Centre, see picture at the top of this post, but we couldn't see anyone famous apart from the Prank Patrol Van parked outside the building. After the photographs of the famous building, which is due to be closed during the latter part of this year, we have a short walk around the corner and into White City Bus Station, I couldn't take no photographs as the cold weather seemed to have upset my camera and the battery had stopped working. Mr UKBuses had a good walk around taking a few shots, whilst Mr D9 decided to have a ride on the "Boris Bikes", he would have gone for a proper ride until he saw the prices. We make our way around back to the White City Underground Station and onto the Central Line, until we lose Mr D9, but we soon know where he is when we spot the toilet doors, and after a few minutes, he appears and we are on our way. We arrive at Oxford Circus, where we change onto the Victoria Line and make our way to Victoria Station, where we leave the railway station and start to take a few photo's around the bus station outside, we see the next vehicle we are going to catch, the first time that Mr D9 will catch it, the "Borismaster". We board the bus which is operating on Arriva London's Service 38 and we enjoy sitting upstairs at the front, spending just under half an hour aboard, and as we see our next stop, we run down the back off the bus alighting off the open rear platform. We are now in Bloomsbury Square, and we see a couple of First London's service 25's go past and as they are every few minutes it is not long before another one comes, but in our case it was more like fifteen minutes, and as it eventually pulls up, we board the bus which will take us to the next destination and after a journey of thirty minutes, we arrive and alight at Whitechapel.

It is now time for a visit to our London Regular "The Blind Beggar", and a first visit inside this time for Mr D9, seeing as our last visit, the place was shut. We all take Courage and I need it when the barmaid asks me to hand over £12 for the round. I need to take a seat sharpish and have gone a bit pale, but there is one round left to buy and as Mr UKBuses schemed his way to buying the first round at Wetherspoons, we know where it will be and who has to pay for it, the last laugh will be on Mr D9. We relax for a bit looking at The Krays Memorabilia and watching the scores on the television, see picture right, but we finish our drinks and we make our way to the next bus stop to get Arriva London's Service 254 which takes us from Whitechapel and after ten minutes we arrive at The Krays stomping ground, Bethnal Green. As soon as we arrive we head back Underground and onto the Central Line back to Oxford Circus, where we change lines once again and we head onto the Bakerloo line which takes us all the way back to London Marylebone. As we make our way from the Underground for the final time today we see that there is a train ready to depart, but with only a minute to spare we get some supplies and have a final round in "The Victoria and Albert" and it is Mr D9's round. As he makes his way to the bar and orders the drinks, Mr UKBuses and myself rub our hands with glee, especially after Mr UKBuses last visit here, and we are shocked when the price Mr D9 has to pay is £11.25, much cheaper than the last visit and much cheaper than the round I had to pay for at The Blind Beggar!

To get over the shock, I have a final "Fresh Air" break before we board the 17:06 Chiltern Railway train back to Birmingham, and it is a posh train again so don't have to worry about getting a table seat. We make our way and get comfortable and relax, with Mr UKBuses having a nap and keeping the rest of the carriage awake with his snoring, and after passing through High Wycombe and Solihull, we arrive at Birmingham Moor Street at 19:35. I have fifteen minutes to enjoy some "Fresh Air" outside of Moor Street Station, and at 19:51 our London Midland train arrives and takes us back to Stourbridge Junction, with Mr D9 alighting at The Hawthorns along the way. Upon arrival at Stourbridge Junction, a quick "Fresh Air" break is taken before making our way to Platform 1 and catching "The Dodger" back into Stourbridge Interchange, where we interchange onto a National Express West Midlands service 276, which takes us back home to relax (with my Chinese supper) after another good day out.

A successful start to our trips in 2013, which is down to the good company of Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses, the day wouldn't have been possible without the good planning of Mr UKBuses, here is to more successful outings in 2013, plus it wouldn't be as good without Mr D9 providing us with some laughter throughout the day (and for the endless "Bald Spot" opportunities seen below). With no surprise, Mr UKBuses picked up the cheapest round of the day and myself ended up picking up the expensive round of the day at The Blind Beggar.

Andy's Bald Cranium (ABC)

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot is seen travelling on a Chiltern Mainline Train.

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot is seen "Fool"ing around at the original Nelson Mandela House..

Bald Spot 3: The Bald Spot is beating about the bush in Shepherds Bush.

Bald Spot 4: The Bald Spot is trying to get fame outside the BBC TV Centre.

Bald Spot 5: The Bald Spot goes all "Boris" at White City.

Bald Spot 6: The Bald Spot is let loose in Bloomsbury Square.

Bald Spot 7: The Bald Spot is having a ride on Service 25.

Bald Spot 8: The Bald Spot is escaping from Service 254.

Bald Spot 9: The Bald Spot is causing havoc in Bethnal Green.

2012 - Day Out 20: London - Remembrance Day Parade

Date: Sunday 11 November 2012

It is our last day in the City of London and we hope to get back on TV this year when we spend the morning at the Remembrance Day Parade at Whitehall, it is an early start so after the bags are packed, we make an early start to get the prime spot in front of the BBC TV cameras.

I wake up and after getting ready, make sure that everything is packed before I go downstairs for some "fresh air" and check out before Mr UKBuses rises from his pit. My stomach feels loads better today but we haven't got time for breakfast this morning before we have to leave Travelodge Docklands for the last time this year (I will be back here in April 2013 to watch the WWE at the 02 Arena again). Mr UKBuses said to meet him in reception at about 08:30am, but I think he needs a new alarm clock as he is twenty minutes late again. He checks out and we are on our way to our last London destination for this weekend and we are off to see The Queen - not "We Will Rock You", the real Queen, we are off to Whitehall to see the Remembrance Day Parade. We say goodbye to the hotel for the final time this weekend and we take the short walk to the Docklands Light Railway station at East India for the final time this year. I get my Oystercard out ready and tap in on the point that I have grown to hate this weekend, but at least it lets me tap in. We don't have long to wait before our train pulls up and we go one stop to Canning Town and thankfully, Mr UKBuses decides not to do any singing as we walk to the London Underground platform, which means that the current blue skies will stay that way. Our train arrives and we are on the Jubilee Line, and are on the train for eight stations before we arrive at Westminster Underground Station.

As we make our way outside of the station we see Big Ben in front of us opposite the station entrance and as I get a "fresh air" break and make our way around to Whitehall, the crowds are gathering in big numbers already. As we turn the corner, the police are ready for the security and bag checks which I failed last year due to leaving my Asthma Inhaler in my pocket. This year I leave nothing to chance and take all things out of my coat and trouser pockets including my cigarettes, the policewoman who was checking my stuff turned round and told me "those are mine I'm afraid, I'm going to have to confiscate them for myself!", little did she know that when she was searching in my bag that she would be going through my dirty underwear! Now its time to go through the security metal detectors and this year I pass the test and am able to collect my things and put everything back in my pockets, Mr UKBuses is still being checked, perhaps they were having trouble getting into his wallet. After passing security we head up towards the Cenotaph to get a prime spot for watching the Remembrance service, the location can be seen in the picture above. 

To ensure that we get a good spot, we had to get here early so there is just over another hour to go before the event starts, so we just wait around looking to see if there is anyone famous lurking about. The time soon passes by, even with the help of a jolly gentleman behind us by keeping our spirits up with his jokes. It is nearly eleven and the start of the parade. The bands have started to make their way down Whitehall and are taking there places, we have a band wearing large bearskin hats on their heads which sort of limits our view towards the Cenotaph. As soon as the bands have taken their places, the dignitaries start taking their places with Prime Ministers past and present as they appear from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Once the dignitaries take their places, Her Royal Highness, The Queen makes her appearance, with the press photographers starting to click away, taking over the sound of silence and as Big Ben strikes 11, a shot is heard starting the two minute silence and is ended by another shot being heard. The main service is underway with Hymns being sung and prayers being spoken. After the service is over, the parade starts and we start to make our way back to Westminster Underground Station to get some food before we have to board our train back to the Midlands. Everything is going fine, even passing Jeremy Paxman along the route and as we pass The Red Lion, disaster strikes. Everyone who has watched the parade seems to want to get out at the same time and we hit a bottleneck, we are stuck in the middle of the crowd and we cannot move anywhere backwards or forwards, and I make sure that the person behind me who keeps pushing my spine into all different directions trying to get past when no-one else in front is moving anywhere by calmly SHOUTING at her to stop trying to break my back. Mr UKBuses is quite a way behind me (and he heard me!) and after nearly an hour and a half being stuck, the parade has finished and the police start releasing the crowd by moving the barriers. With a bit of space, I have a well deserved "fresh air" break whilst quickly making our way to the Westminster Underground Station.

Our First Class train is due to depart at 13:20 so we don't have long to get to London Euston Railway Station, we enter Westminster Underground Station and rush down to the correct platform and we don't have to wait long before a train arrives. Somehow after we board, we arrive at London Euston Underground Station and rush up to the main concourse of the railway station to find out what platform we are on. We run down to the train and board with a few minutes to spare. We board our Virgin Train and find our seats in first class and decide that it will only be tea and biscuits for our free food, whilst Mr UKBuses gets himself comfortable I make my way all the way down to the other side of the train to get to the shop and get some sandwiches and crisps. I spot a bacon Ciabatta bread sandwich, so opt for a warm one of those and a couple of liquid refreshments for the journey back. I get back to our carriage after walking a mile back down the train and Mr UKBuses is enjoying biscuits and drink, nice of him to save mine - but at least I get my own back when I pass him his sandwich and I pull out my hot bacon sandwich. After we devour our much needed food we get comfortable for the rest of the journey.

We arrive in Coventry and are surprised how quick it has taken us to get there, it may seem only a few minutes for Mr UKBuses as he has had a kip for half of the journey. We are near Birmingham and we can tell as the train slows down to nearly a standstill just outside of Birmingham New Street, but we eventually arrive and we get our belongings and alight the train and catch our connecting London Midland train to Smethwick Galton Bridge. We arrive at Smethwick Galton Bridge and have the arduous task of walking up a few flights of steps to get to the right platform for our Stourbridge bound train. We have a few minutes to wait even if the minutes on the time estimated board keep changing up and down and we eventually board our train which takes us on the faster journey back to Stourbridge Junction, only stopping at Rowley Regis and Cradley Heath on the way back. We have a bit of time to spare and I am able to have a well deserved "fresh air break" outside of the station before getting the "Stourbridge Dodger" back into Stourbridge Interchange where we go to our stand and catch National Express West Midlands Service 276 back home after a brilliant, if not exhausting, weekend.

Another successful weekend break was had in London again this year, this was due to the good company of Mr UKBuses and also down to the fact that he came up with good plans for each day spent in the Capital, the weekend would not be possible with the good planning of Mr UKBuses (Big Thank you!). Plus when we got home I checked on BBC i-Player and we were on the BBC coverage again, about 2 minutes 30 seconds in.

2012 - Day Out 19: London - Lords Mayor Parade

Date: Saturday 10 November 2012

A busy day is ahead so after a good nights sleep it is time to feed our stomachs with a buffet breakfast (bacon, bacon, bacon!) before seeing the Lords Mayor show today followed by a show of a different kind tonight.

As always the first night away from my comfortable bed, I don't sleep to well and also with my stomach still not right it looks as if I am going to suffer today. I get up and make my way downstairs and have some "fresh air" before Mr UKBuses makes an appearance in time for breakfast, which was at 08:30am. After waiting in reception, I send Mr UKBuses a text to ask him where he is (he must have had trouble finding his industrial strength Brylcreem) and twenty minutes later than planned he finally turns up in reception. We make our way to the hotel bar, but not for beer this time as it doubles up as the breakfast room. It is a buffet breakfast so that we can pile our plates up as much as we want, I love the breakfasts at this hotel, but seeing as my stomach was still playing up I don't over indulge and even though there was not a lot on my plate, I still struggle to eat what is on it. I try and sooth my stomach by having a yogurt or two and after Mr UKBuses finishes his morning cup of coffee and I finish my apple juice, we quickly make our way to our rooms and pick our stuff up needed for today and meet back up in reception to make our way to our first show of the day, The Lords Mayor Show. We make our way to the East India Docklands Light Railway Station, having some "fresh air" en route and as we enter the station, the Oystercard is being accepted this time after last night's refusal to let me clock out, I also discover that I was charged fully for the last journey we made back to the hotel last night.

We go just one stop on the Docklands Light Railway and arrive back at Canning Town, it looks like rain as Mr UKBuses has adapted a famous London song and is singing "Canning Town". Instead of making our way to the Jubilee Line we make our way out of the station to the nearby Canning Town Interchange, briefly stopping off so that Mr UKBuses can get some cough sweets to ease his cold. We have time before we catch our first London bus of the weekend and take a few photographs and I also spot something that I have never seen before, a dual door Optare Solo. Just after 09:45, we make our way to our stand and catch Stagecoach London's service 115, passing through Poplar and Limehouse along the way before arriving at Aldgate, where we have a bit of time and take a walk around the bus station and take a few more pictures. After the pictures have been taken, we cross the busy road that is Aldgate High Street from the bus station and head on the London Underground where we head onto the Metropolitan Line. This is where we catch a new "S-Stock" Underground train which looks weird to begin with as you can see all the way down the train from each end. We are only travelling one station and we quickly arrive at our next stop, Liverpool Street Underground Station.

We leave the Metropolitan Line behind and change at Liverpool Street onto the Central Line where we travel one more station again and arrive at our destination for the first show of the day, The Lords Mayor Show. As we arrive at Bank Underground Station, we make our way to ground level and find a suitable place to stand to see The Lords Mayor Show. We have a bit to go before the show starts and we can see the band assembling opposite us from where we are standing, close to the entrance of Bank Underground in Princes Street. Mr UKBuses keeps his eye out for Fearne Cotton, one of the usual presenters of the television coverage which is shown on the BBC each year. I have a feeling that she will not be presenting it this year as she is currently pregnant. We see one of the presenters but don't know who she is and it confirms that Fearne won't be there when the second presenter appears, Mr UKBuses is not feeling happy now that Fearne won't be there, but a smile beams across my face when the other presenter is one of my favourites (who I had also seen up close when she presented Blue Peter's Olympic Roadshow in Wolverhampton in June), Helen Skelton, (see pictures below). The show begins and there are a load of old lorries, buses, taxi cabs, floats, bands, horses and even dogs going past in the parade. There is also a big piece of meat that goes floating past us, (see picture right). After an hour or so, the parade finishes and before we make our way back on the London Underground, I manage to get one last look at my Helen who is debriefing with the television production team. Back into Bank Underground Station we go and we catch a fully loaded train to our next destination, that is after I'm let through the barrier after being told to "seek assistance" due to the barriers not liking my Oystercard, Mr UKBuses gets through safely and is nearly on the floor with laughter after seeing my predicament again.

I wish I was that dog!

I'm over here Helen!

Helen, come back!

We are on the Central Line and as we feel like a sardine, we go four stations, arriving at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station where we change onto the Northern Line and go one station arriving at Leicester Square to have a liquid refreshment stop. We were supposed to go to J D Wetherspoons "The Montagu Pyke", but end up in J D Wetherspoons "The Moon Under Water", where a "first" is happening, Mr UKBuses purchases the first round of the day. The pub is quite busy and there are no tables available so we stand next to Noel Edmonds, well a Deal Or No Deal fruit machine with his face on it. A couple of people move from the table in front of us and eventually after wrestling with their coats they move and Mr UKBuses is like a whippet and grabs the table so we can have a well deserved rest from standing on our legs for the last couple of hours. Two other people take our place at the fruit machines waiting for the next lot of people to vacate their tables. After finishing our drinks we make our way to the next destination so that we can sample two different types of rear platform buses, so after purchasing fresh poppies for tomorrow from street collectors, we make our way to the bus stop and catch the Arriva London service 24 bus for the short distance between Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square.

Upon alighting at Trafalgar Square, Mr UKBuses decides to go the wrong way and eventually we find Stand S, where we will catch the old guard, an Heritage Routemaster on the heritage route service 9, or so we thought. Due to the Lords Mayor Show, this service was terminating short due to road closures, so instead Mr UKBuses uses his map allowance and we board First London's Service 23 where we alight at Piccadilly Circus and have a short walk to the Arriva London's Service 38 bus stop to at least catch the new guard, The New Bus For London - otherwise known as the Borismaster, or so we thought. We decide to wait at the bus stop for a while and after about four normal buses go past, a Borismaster finally arrives and we board at the front tapping our Oystercards as we pass the driver and after a short while, we arrive at Victoria Bus Station where we this service terminates and we alight via the rear platform. After waiting a couple of minutes for the tourists to have their pictures taken on the rear platform of the bus, I finally manage to get a picture myself, see picture left, whilst I am doing this, Mr UKBuses does his normal trick when he is at Victoria Bus Station and goes missing. I wasn't that lucky though, as after a few minutes I find him again and we decide where to go next. We decide to go off the plan and "go with the flow" and as we didn't make a visit as planned the night before, we head off to our London regular.

We head back onto the London Underground and make our way to Victoria Underground Station (the place where we purchased our Oystercards) and we wait for a District Line train to arrive, we have to wait for a train to pass before our train arrives, and we make our way along the District Line where we alight at our now regular London Underground Station, Whitechapel, where I'm sure that we could walk to our destination from the station blindfolded (due to health and safety and loads of people in the way shopping at the street market, we would never try this), and after a couple of minutes walk, with a "fresh air break" on the way, we arrive at our London regular, "The Blind Beggar", where we take a rest at the bar looking out onto the streets of Whitechapel. My round and I "Take Courage" for my choice of ale, whilst Mr UKBuses opts for his "London Pride". We make ourselves comfortable, see picture right, and take the weight off our feet, the barmaid is getting stuff ready behind the bar to make, what looks like, Mulled Wine and something which would probably be nice to drink and keep you warm at the same time now that Winter has arrived. As this is going on, "The Blind Beggar Cat" makes an appearance and duly jumps up onto the bar looking at what is going on, Mr UKBuses gets the best view as the cat's bottom is right in his face. Despite the view, Mr UKBuses must be feeling ill as he puts his hands in his pocket and purchases another half to sample before we leave. Without getting to comfortable we decide that we have to leave so that we can get back to the hotel ahead of our other show tonight, so we finish our drinks and say goodbye to the bar staff and our regular - till the next time.

It was time to make a move and Mr UKBuses puts his map allowance to good use seeing as we are off plan and we make our way to the nearest bus stop passing a construction company with a similar name to Mr UKBuses (only the "K" is missing in the middle), see picture left, and we wait a few minutes for First London's service 25 to arrive which takes us to Bow Church, which is where we alight to get onto the Docklands Light Railway as we tap in I notice that I need to top up or else I could be short tomorrow, so we make our way onto the platform and have a few minutes before our train arrives. I spot a top up machine and after getting it ready I attempt to make a payment, but the machine is not accepting my notes, I try again and still have no joy, on the final attempt I have to get another type of plastic out of my wallet and pay on my Credit Card, which luckily the machine duly accepts. Our train arrives and we board to make our way back to the hotel so that we can freshen up, we have to change at Poplar whilst on the journey so that we can get onto the other Docklands Light Railway line to take us back to East India and the hotel, enjoying some "fresh air" along the walk. We have a short rest and freshen up before we have to make our way back into the London night to see our second show of the day.

After a quick rest and freshen up, I decide to pop outside for some "fresh air" and a quick Boddingtons before Mr UKBuses makes an appearance. At about 17:10, he appears in reception and we make our way back to East India Docklands Light Railway Station, to make our way in the opposite direction than normal, to Bank and it is a new experience on this DLR journey as towards the end of the ride we actually go underground which makes it easier for us to make our way onto the Central Line at Bank. Once on the Central Line we go three stations and alight at Holborn and make our way outside the station, where we visit our second J D Wetherspoons of the day, "The Penderel's Oak", where we decide to have a bite to eat before our show. Drinks are ordered and table found, I go to the bar to order the food, with Mr UKBuses opting for the BBQ Chicken Melt, without the "melt" and myself a Chicken Burger. It takes about fifteen minutes before the food arrives, and we both get the wrong food, Mr UKBuses BBQ Chicken Melt arrives with the "melt", which I can understand a mistake being made with that choice, but I get a Beefburger, so a complaint is made and after showing the waiter the receipt where it clearly states "Chicken Burger", the food is returned back to the kitchen and fresh meals are cooked. Another fifteen minutes pass and our food eventually arrives with the correct order. We have less time to eat our meals now, and with my stomach not quite one hundred percent, I cannot rush it down me like Mr UKBuses does with his meal, so I have to leave half of my meal so that we can get to our show on time. We make our way back to Holborn Underground Station to get to our important destination of the night.

Upon arrival it is back onto the Central Line and one stop to Tottenham Court Road where we alight and after a "fresh air" break and crossing of the road, we are standing outside The Dominion Theatre, the place where we need to go for our second show of the day, Ben Elton's "We Will Rock You". We head inside and there is still a bit of time before we can take our seats so after purchasing a bottle of Beck's, which at £3 odd is quite expensive for a half a pint drink and after purchasing a Queen T-Shirt from the merchandise stall (I had to really), we take our seats and wait for the show to begin. We are interrupted just as the show starts as people turn up late and have to get past us to get to their seats, but despite the interruption, we make ourselves comfortable and enjoy the show, with me trying not to burst into song every time they sing a Queen song on stage. A thoroughly good show was had and even though it wasn't part of the storyline, the actors at the end came back on stage to give a performance of the classic "Bohemian Rhapsody", but unfortunately it has to come to an end so we make our way back outside and back to the Tottenham Court Underground Station, it must have also been hard for the actors and actresses singing on stage as some words in the Queen songs have been changed to coincide with the storyline of the show.

It is 10:30pm and we arrive at the Central Line platform just in time for our Central Line train to take us to Bank, where we change back onto the Docklands Light Railway and emerge from the tunnels to take us back to East India Station arriving just before 11:00pm, where after tapping out with no problems tonight, we make our way back to the hotel where we say goodnight before heading to our rooms. As I get back to my room, I still have the adrenalin pumping from the brilliant performance I had just seen, so go back outside for a "fresh air" break and a nightcap in the hotel bar before retiring for the night.

A long and successful day was had, with the evening show taken its toll, another well deserved sleep is needed and we hope that the weather stays dry for us tomorrow for when we get to meet the Queen (of a different kind) again on our last day in London. Night Night!