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.

2016 - Day Out 01: London

Its a new year and for our first trip of 2016, we are back on the coaches again, our first operator being Whittles and our first location is London.

Its an early start and Mr UKBuses makes his way to Wollaston, with myself meeting him halfway, after meeting up, we make our way on the frost covered pavements up to Wollaston village where we quickly pop into the Spar to get some liquid refreshments for the coach journey ahead. After paying five pence for a carrier bag, we make our way to the bus stop situated on the main Wollaston Island and wait for our coach to turn up. As we get nearer to pickup time, a few more people appear to catch our coach and the coach is running late. I decide to get some "fresh air" and as soon as I light up, yes, the coach arrives and pulls up at 07.50am. We board our Whittles Coach with coach driver, Pete, greeting us as we board, we take our seats, getting comfortable and warming up as we make our way to the last pick up point at Stourbridge Ring Road, before doing another tour of the ring road and making our way to Hagley and then onto the M5 briefly before going onto the M42 and then onto the M40.

We make our way along the M40 and as we reach Junction 8a, we leave the motorway and have a break at the Welcome Break Oxford Services, so we alight the coach and after some "fresh air", we make our way indoors. We decide to have a bite to eat and breakfast is still being served, so we visit Burger King and have a "Bacon Buttie" and I also opt for a hash brown. When our meal is served we are asked if we want any sauces, we ask for brown sauce and get offered BBQ sauce, so we decline and tuck in and our bacon buttie is basically a couple of slices of bacon on a burger bun which already had tomato sauce on it and the hash brown is a load of small mini hash browns. With the breakfast not being as expected, it did go down well and certainly hit the spot. We walk back around to the coach and some "fresh air" is had whilst we wait for the driver to return, see picture right. We board our coach and Mr UKBuses decides to take a couple of fingers off his hand by firstly getting one trapped in the overhead locker and then he decides to take another one out by getting it trapped when he raises the arm rest. Just after 10.30am we make our way back onto the M40 and get to London, leaving the M40 and onto the A40 passing RAF Northolt and passing through White City, just getting a glimpse of the old BBC TV Centre and passing Kensington Palace before alighting at Park Lane.

We are dropped off just by the bus stop where we have to catch our first bus of the day, so after some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses takes a few photographs, our Arriva London service 73 arrives and we tap in for the first time today and also this year, using our Oystercards. We go through the "Streets of London" and after about fifteen minutes, we arrive at Victoria Bus Station where a few minutes are had taking some photographs, see picture left. We make our way through Victoria Railway Station, to get to our bus stop and we catch Metroline's Service 24 from Victoria, which takes about 10 minutes to go round in a circle, and we arrive at Trafalgar Square about 20 minutes later, where we alight. After a few more photographs are taken, we decide to have a drink and some food, so we head to J D Wetherspoon's "The Lord Moon of the Mall", where Mr UKBuses gets the first round in. Whilst he is at the bar waiting to get served, I look around the pub for a table and cannot find one, so food may be have to taken elsewhere. I do wait around the front of the pub and luckily a few people leave and I swoop in for the kill and lay claim to the table. We decide to have some food despite a half hour wait and Mr UKBuses decides to opt for the BBQ Chicken Melt "without the melt", I opt for the Chicken Burger with a free pint. Another round is purchased as I ordered the food.

After a "fresh air" break, I make my way back inside and re-join Mr UKBuses and just after half an hour later, our food eventually arrives so we tuck in. The chips we had were slightly limp and then I went to eat my chicken burger which half of it was rock solid and must have been left on the griddle far too long. After eating what I could, I put my plate to one side and when a member of staff came round to collect our plates he decided to ask the question, "Was everything alight with our meals?", I then demonstrated with a fork, that the fork couldn't even penetrate my burger and after about five minutes away he comes back to the table, he comes back with a full refund for both our meals. Whilst it was not the member of staff's fault about the food, I must congratulate him on the way he dealt with the complaint and how quickly he responded. We finish our drinks off and then make our way around to the Charing Cross Underground Station, where we make our first journey of the day and year, on The Tube.

We make our way onto the Bakerloo Line and go a couple of stops to Oxford Circus, where we alight and make our way onto the Central Line and we make our way to the East End and just after ten minutes we arrive and alight at Bethnal Green Underground Station. We make our way to ground level, and we make our way to the bus stop opposite the station and we catch Stagecoach London service 8 to Barnet Grove, where we alight and make our way down St Matthews Row and into a public house which was once owned by The Kray Brothers, so we enter into "The Carpenters Arms", see picture right, where Mr UKBuses decides to make a dash for the toilet, leaving me to get the round in (which means that I have purchased two rounds in a go as I purchased the second drink at the Lord Moon of The Mall!!), which came to a staggering £8.80 for two pints. We eventually find somewhere to sit, in the hallway next to the carpenter's tool's hanging on the wall (or were they a reference to tool used by The Krays?). We think Ronnie and Reggie were haunting the place as when we both took a "cheers photograph", both came out not in focus, see picture below left.

We finish our drinks and after passing a public house close by on the bus earlier, we decide to go off the plan and walk down Cheshire Street and onto Vallance Road, where upon on research we found out that we were standing in front of the building that now occupies what would have been The Krays family home, we walk to the end of Vallance Road and enter The Krays local pub, "The Marquis Of Cornwallis". We have a quick drink here, before we make our way out onto the East End streets and we again catch Stagecoach London service 8, where we alight at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station, looking at The Dominion Theatre for the first time without the giant statue of Freddie Mercury standing outside. We decide to pop into McDonald's opposite for a quick bite to eat and then we get onto our final tube journey of the day tapping in at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station and onto the Central Line alighting at Marble Arch Underground Station.

We make our way back to ground level and we still have half an hour left before the coach arrives, luckily in the area we know that there is a J D Wetherspoons pub just around the corner from our pickup point in Park Lane, so we decide to get in the warmth and visit "The Tyburn" and it is my turn for the round, even though I got an extra round in at The Carpenters Arms, and we rest our feet for a while before making our way back around the corner to Park Lane, where on time, our Whittles Coach arrives and we all board and take our seats ready for the journey back up the motorway. We start our journey back and it is not too long before snoring is heard when Mr UKBuses decides to have a nap. Luckily for the other passengers it is less than hour of hearing the noise as we arrive at Welcome Break Oxford Services where we have a brief break and time for some "fresh air" before we board again.

We leave the services and it is back up the M40, M42 and M5 with Mr UKBuses having another nap, before leaving the motorway and making our way back through Hagley, before arriving in Stourbridge, the first drop off point at around 08.15pm. Mr UKBuses makes sure that people get off quickly so that we can carry onto Wollaston where at about 08.20pm we arrive and alight. Luckily for Mr UKBuses, National Express West Midlands service 276 is running a few minutes late, but it does arrive and he boards for his short journey back home. I bid goodbye and have a quick nightcap in Graham's Place and The Unicorn before retiring back home and getting a well deserved sleep.

Despite the cold chill, the weather was kind to us and a good first day out of 2016 was had, thanks to Pete, our coach driver and Mr UKBuses for the plan, speaking of Mr UKBuses, his bald spot did make an appearance in the cold weather:

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot lurking at London Victoria Bus Station.

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot nearly getting run over by a Borismaster at London Victoria Bus Station.

Bald Spot 3: The winter sunshine is reflected by the Bald Spot at Trafalgar Square.

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 16: Return from London

Its our final morning in London and we wake up for the last time this year at Travelodge Docklands hotel and enjoy our last breakfast before making our way back to the West Midlands.

After making sure everything is packed, I make my way downstairs for some "fresh air" before Mr UKBuses surfaces and we make our way into the Bar Cafe where we fill up with a large breakfast to ensure we are full until we get back to the West Midlands. With a table chosen it is time to get our food and Mr UKBuses spends a few minutes again at the coffee machine and I think today he has got the hang of it. Whilst he is messing about with the coffee machine, I make my way to the food and load my plate up with bacon, sausage, beans and hash browns and make my way to the table. Mr UKBuses gets his plate filled up and we eat our breakfast. With my main breakfast out of the way, it is time to wash it down with some more apple juice and a few yoghurt's. Whilst Mr UKBuses finishes his breakfast off, I go outside for some "fresh air" before making my way back in. It is nearly time to leave and we make our way back to the rooms and make sure that everything is packed. I say goodbye to my room and make my way down to reception and check out. Time for a quick break of "fresh air" whilst waiting for Mr UKBuses and he checks out and we make our way to East India DLR station saying goodbye to Travelodge Docklands, see picture left.

We climb the stairs for the last time this year and tap in and make our way to the platform where after a few minutes we catch our DLR train to Canning Town, where we change onto The Underground and onto the Jubilee Line where we board a packed train. Luckily we do get chance to sit down for a few stops before we alight at Green Park, where we change onto the Victoria Line and catch our final tube this year to Victoria station where we alight and tap out. We make our way to ground, where Mr UKBuses asks if I want some "fresh air", only because he wants me to look after his bag whilst he goes around Victoria bus station to get a few photographs. Mr UKBuses has been gone for a while and expecting him to come around the corner, he pops up behind me as he has been in the station to get an extra OysterCard for when he comes down with family. Its time to say goodbye to London and we make our way to Buckingham Palace Road, where after a few minutes waiting at the bus stop, we board a London General service 11 bus. We don't have to go to far before we arrive at our stop and we alight at the same stop that we caught our first bus from on Friday, so you could say that we have come full circle and now is the time to leave London.

We are at Victoria Coach Station, see picture right, it is a bit different this time as we have to go in the main departure building and after getting some liquid refreshment for the journey back, we find out where we have to depart from. Once we find out, we make our way to Gate 14 and have a rest before our journey. With the coach due to arrive soon, I decide to get some "fresh air" leaving Mr UKBuses looking after the luggage this time. I make my way back to gate 14 and we still have about fifteen minutes to wait. A young girl comes running around the corner trying to get out but as the doors are locked she starts to panic but eventually she does get the attention a member of staff and luckily she does get to board her coach, a few seconds before it was about to drive off. It is nearly 11:00am and our coach is ready to board, we show our tickets to the driver who loads our luggage and we board our National Express Coach, this time taking the back seat as the front seat was unavailable due to a passenger deciding to leave his luggage there and using the seat opposite!

Just after 11:00am, we depart Victoria Coach Station and make our way through the streets of London and I follow suit as a fellow passenger takes his shoes off, so I take my boots off. After about 40 minutes we make a stop at Golders Green Underground Station, where a few more passengers board and then we make our way out of London and onto the M1 Motorway. Mr UKBuses decides to have a nap so he misses out on passing through Milton Keynes and Coventry and just before Birmingham, he wakes up just in time to alight when we arrive at Birmingham Coach Station at 13:50pm. With our luggage, we make our way to the bus stop and this time catch a National Express West Midlands service 60 bus from Digbeth to the Bull Ring where upon arrival, I forget we are not in London anymore and try to make my way to the non-existent central doors. After finally getting off our bus, we make our way around to Birmingham Moor Street Railway Station, where a late running train means we are able to board and get to Stourbridge a bit quicker.

We make our way through Birmingham Snow Hill, Jewellery Quarter, Smethwick Galton Bridge, Rowley Regis and Cradley Heath before arriving at Stourbridge Junction just shy of 14:30pm. Mr UKBuses has a lift, but I decide to pop into Stourbridge so I can visit the bank and also have a post-trip pint at JD Wetherspoons, "The Chequers Inn", so after saying goodbye to Mr UKBuses, I make my way to Platform 1 where I don't have to wait long for the Stourbridge Shuttle, where upon arrival at Stourbridge Interchange, I make my way to Stourbridge High Street and have a relaxing pint. On my way back to Stourbridge Interchange, I spot a Hanson's Service 250 coming down the High Street, so quickly make my way to the bus stop where I board and catch the bus into Wollaston, where after another quick pint of Batham's at "The Unicorn", I make my way home where I give my legs a well deserved rest.

Another great break was had in the Capital and a big thankyou to Mr UKBuses, as the break wouldn't have been possible without the planning by Mr UKBuses. Speaking of Mr UKBuses, his bald spot made an appearance over the weekend:

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot makes an appearance at Canning Town Bus Station.

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot makes another appearance at Canning Town Bus Station.

Bald Spot 3: The Bald Spot pays tribute to "George" outside the Copthorne Tara Hotel, Kensington.

Bald Spot 4: The Bald Spot ready to catch the coach at Victoria Coach Station.