2014 - Day Out 02: London

Date: Saturday 05 April 2014

It is our first visit to London of 2014, despite the early start, the weather is looking good so it is off we go.

It is just after 06:15am and I make my way up to the Wollaston to get our first bus of the day and at 06:30am National Express West Midlands Service 276 turns up and after the driver letting me on to get warm, we wait a few minutes before we set off and at 06:35am, I send the standard text to Mr UKBuses to say that the bus is on its way and we pick him up from his stop in Norton at 06:41am and we head into Stourbridge Interchange where we interchange from the bus to the railway station and at 06:55am we board the "Stourbridge Dodger" to take us to Stourbridge Junction where we jump onto the 07:01 London Midland train which takes us to Smethwick Galton Bridge where we interchange once again onto platform 4 where we catch another London Midland train into Birmingham New Street arriving at 07:44am which means we have a bit of time to kill before catching our train to London, so we head to the nearest McDonald's where we devour a bacon roll and we then make our way back to Birmingham New Street, having a "fresh air break" before entering the station and finding out which platform our London train will be departing from.

First Class Travel!

We find and make our way to the platform and the 08:30am Virgin Trains to London Euston is already waiting at the platform so we make our way to Coach H and take our seats in First Class, see picture above, which means we get free water (or coffee in Mr UKBuses case) and a breakfast snack box to feed us along the way. We pass through Coventry, Rugby and Milton Keynes before arriving on time at London Euston alighting the train at 09:59am and we don't have to walk far to the main concourse as the First Class carriages are closest to the station. First thing to do as we arrive in London is for some "fresh air", and Mr UKBuses decides to use the break to take some photographs around the bus station at London Euston. Fresh air break over we make our way onto the London Underground and after tapping in on our OysterCards, credit is added for our day ahead and we make our way onto the Northern Line to make a quick journey to Charing Cross making our way from the underground to Trafalgar Square. We make our way across Trafalgar Square, which is closed off for a jet wash, but we do get to see the fourth plinth being occupied by a massive blue cock, see picture at the start of this post, as we pass it. We leave Trafalgar Square behind and make our way top the bus stop where we catch our first London bus of 2014 (also seeing the special liveried BorisMaster celebrating London's Year Of The Bus, see picture right) and our bus turns up, so we board Go-Ahead London Central service 12, tapping in our OysterCards as we pass the driver and we take our seat for our journey of approximately half an hour to our first destination of the day, Peckham, and we arrive at 11:18am at Peckham Bus Station where a few photographs are taken before we catch our next bus.

At 11:26, we board Arriva London Service 197 to take us to Nigel Road, where we alight and see the public house that made this area of London famous, "The Nags Head", see picture left. As we walk towards it, it looks as if we won't be able to sample the place as it looks like it is closed, so a couple of pictures are taken of the exterior and I double check the door to see if we can enter, and luckily the door is unlocked and a few people are already consuming pints, so it would be rude not to sample Del and Rodney's regular. Unfortunately there is no real ale available so we have to opt for a tastelessly smooth pour bitter, but despite this, The Nags Head seems to be popular with the locals and with no sign of Marlene or Boycie, we make our way back to the bus stop on Nigel Road to take us to Peckham Rye Railway Station, with Arriva London service 197 being used again, but as we make our way down the road, we come to a standstill and after a few minutes we decide to follow other people and alight and walk the rest of the way to the railway station, as we start walking down the road, the traffic is on the move again and our bus flies past us. It is 12:15 and our South Eastern Railways train arrives and takes us to and terminates at Victoria Railway Station at 12:28, where we decide to get some lunch, but before we do that we visit the Ladbrokes shop in the station to place a bet on "Tea For Three" who is taking part in the Grand National later that day. Once the bet has been made, we make our way to one of our favourite J D Wetherspoon pubs, "The Willow Walk".

We enter "The Willow Walk" and at the most of times, this is a busy pub, but Mr UKBuses does find an empty table which he takes his seat whilst I'm left at the bar to buy the round (I think that may have been planned!), drinks are purchased and its is now time for food. Whilst the menu is perused, I discover that we were lucky to get a table today as half of the pub is closed off due to a flood in the empty offices above The Willow Walk. Food is chosen and Mr UKBuses opts for his standard BBQ Chicken Melt, without the melt and myself opting for a Chicken Burger and chips. The food doesn't take long to arrive and after devouring the meal, we are ahead of schedule and with The Willow Walk getting busier, we decide to ditch the plan for the afternoon and "go with the flow" for the rest of the day. First of all we make our way to the bus stop opposite and we board a BorisMaster, being operated by London Metroline, on service 24 which takes us to Leicester Square, passing Westminster and saying hello to Trafalgar Square again before arriving at our destination. We alight at Leicester Square and jump straight onto the Underground where we catch a train on the Piccadilly Line to take us one stop to Piccadilly Circus Underground Station, we make our way back up to ground level and decide to take a short walk with Mr UKBuses leading the way we are lost and actually end up back at Leicester Square where we started from.

We make our way to the bus stop at Leicester Square and catch London Metroline's service 24 again to take us on the short journey to Charing Cross. We decide to go back onto the plan and visit our London regular "The Blind Beggar", so we go back underground at Charing Cross and onto the Northern Line where we get off at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station to change onto the Central Line, disaster strikes when we find out that there are engineering works taking place this weekend on the Central Line, so we have to abandon the plan again and decide to give The Blind Beggar a miss, so we head back onto the Northern Line and decide to go to Westminster, which means that we are going to be nearly catching all of the underground lines today, as we arrive at Warren Street where we change onto the Victoria Line where upon arrival at Green Park, we change lines once again and we go onto the Jubilee Line to get us to our destination of Westminster Underground Station. Seeing as we can't make it to The Blind Beggar, we decide to have a pint at Westminster and visit a pub we first tried out on Remembrance Day last year, "The Red Lion", see picture right. The pub is quite packed and seeing as it was sunny, we decide to take a seat on a bench outside of the pub and think back to November when we were standing nearby watching the service at the Cenotaph. Drinks over, we decide to make our way back to London Euston a bit early so that we can see The Grand National and hopefully pick up some winnings, we make our way back to Westminster Underground Station and onto the Jubilee Line and Northern Lines to get us back to London Euston.

We arrive at London Euston at 03:54pm and make our way out of London Euston and visit "The Royal George" where we get to have a pint and watch The Grand National, an added bonus is that we also get to see the Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on the screen next to the one that is showing The Grand National. Whilst Mr UKBuses finds a seat I'm stood at the bar again getting the round in (I sense a pattern emerging here) and we then take our seats in time for the start of the National. Mr UKBuses concentrates on The National whilst I'm concentrating on the qualifying, speaking to other F1 fans on the next table at the same time, and from the look on the face of Mr UKBuses I know that something has happened and am informed that "Tea For Three" has fallen. We drown our sorrows and make our way back across the road to London Euston station where we get supplies for the train back, whilst we don't know what platform our train will be leaving from, Mr UKBuses suffers with the bladder and we decide to enter "The Britannia" so Mr UKBuses can use the facilities and I get a quick pint whilst he uses them (All this to save him 20p!). We make our way back to the concourse and have some "fresh air" before finding out which platform we will be leaving from and make our way to the train where we board and upgrade to first class, see picture left, and leave London Euston on time at 05:03pm.

We make our way back through Milton Keynes, Rugby and Coventry along the way on our Virgin Train, with Mr UKBuses taking his usual nap before arriving on time at Birmingham New Street at 06:27pm. We only have a few minutes spare before getting our connecting train to Smethwick Galton Bridge, but since alighting the train and making our way to the concourse, Mr UKBuses disappears and after a phone call we are reunited on Platform 4B where we board our London Midland train leaving Birmingham New Street at 06:38pm and arriving at Smethwick Galton Bridge at 06:46pm. We have just under twenty minutes to wait before having to catch our London Midland train to Stourbridge Junction, so we head out of the station for an overdue "fresh air" break. With the break over, we make our way back down to the platform where we board our London Midland train at 07:02pm and we are lucky to get a seat as the train is busy, we arrive back at Stourbridge Junction at 07:22pm and have three minutes to get to the other platform and catch the Stourbridge Dodger promptly leaving on time at 07:25pm and arriving back at Stourbridge Interchange at 07:28pm, where we interchange for the last time of today and at 07:35pm our National Express West Midlands Service 276 turns up to take us home, as we pass through Norton, I say my goodbyes to Mr UKBuses and stay on the bus until the terminus at Wollaston popping into the Chinese takeaway for tea / supper before heading home to eat it and relax.

Another good day out in the Capital, hopefully the first of many in 2014, good weather was had and thanks go to Mr UKBuses for doing the plan, speaking of Mr UKBuses here is his bald spots -

Bald Spot 1: The Bald Spot makes an appearance at Trafalgar Square.

Bald Spot 2: The Bald Spot awaits the bus for Peckham.

Bald Spot 3: The Bald Spot arrives at Peckham Bus Station.

Bald Spot 4: The Bald Spot visits the Cenotaph.

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.

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 18: London

Date: Friday 09 November 2012

Following the successful weekend break in London last year, we thought we would do it again. So with the Oystercard ready, hotel booked, rail tickets purchased and another type of ticket booked, we depart Stourbridge at dinnertime so that we can spend the evening around the Capital.

I wake up and don't feel to good, I have picked up a stomach bug and feel a bit queasy, but with all the plans made and tickets purchased I do not let this get in my way and finish off my packing ready for the day ahead. I have to pop into Stourbridge before meeting up with Mr UKBuses and decide to surprise him by catching the National Express West Midlands service 276 to his bus stop in Norton and after a ten minute wait he walks around the corner where we wait a few minutes before our 13:56 journey arrives and we, well myself, are back on the 276, which takes us into Stourbridge where upon arrival at Stourbridge Interchange, we alight and change onto the "Stourbridge Dodger" which takes us from the Interchange to Stourbridge Junction where we wait a few minutes for our train to take us to Birmingham. At 14:39 our London Midland train arrives and our first leg of our journey to the Capital is complete as our train takes us to Birmingham Snow Hill.

Upon arrival at Birmingham Snow Hill, I get my train ticket out ready to show the ticket guard at the barriers as when we normally try to escape the station, the ticket barriers do not recognise our tickets and do not let us out. Mr UKBuses decides to give it a go and he gets through, so it is my turn and with my experience with these ticket barriers I fear the worst, but the ticket barrier lets me go through too. As we leave Birmingham Snow Hill I get some "fresh air" and we have a bit of time to kill in Birmingham, so we decide to go to J D Wetherspoons, "The Briar Rose", where we sample a real ale and decide to have a second one as we still have a bit of time to kill. With the drinks finished, we take a walk down to The Pallasades and into Birmingham New Street Station, where we have a change and catch the Virgin Trains to London. We board our train and get our reserved seats making ourselves comfortable with our train departing at 16:10, we pass through Birmingham International and Coventry before arriving at London Euston at 17:34, along the way I have some new kind of "fresh air" break on the train, a legal electronic cigarette.

At this point I would normally have some "fresh air" but we don't have time (luckily I had a few drags on my electronic version on the train) and with the Oystercard at hand, it is straight onto the London Underground and onto the Northern Line at Euston, making our way to Bank where we change onto The Docklands Light Railway to take us to our final destination. We arrive at East India and as we make our way out of the station, I have a well overdue real "fresh air" break whilst we have a short walk to our accommodation for the weekend, Travelodge Docklands, a place where we stopped last November and I also stopped in April this year when I came down to watch the WWE Raw TV Taping event at the nearby 02 Arena. Cigarette extinguished we make our way to the reception to check in. I end up being on the 2nd Floor this time and they cater for the elderly with Mr UKBuses having a room on the ground floor. We go to our rooms to drop our stuff off and have a freshen up.

There is a bit of time left before we meet up so I decide to have a sample of the hotel bar and have a pint of Boddingtons, as I sup my ale I decide to have some "fresh air" and when I return, Mr UKBuses has the same idea and has made his way to the bar and is sitting at a table with his pint, it is a shame that my pint is on another table, but I decide to join him and we finish our pints before heading to East India for our night ahead. We get on the Docklands Light Railway and go one stop to Canning Town where we change our mode of transport and go back on the Underground and onto the Jubilee Line. We alight at Waterloo and change onto the Bakerloo Line which takes us to Charing Cross where we sample our first proper public house of the weekend, J D Wetherspoons "Lord Moon Of The Mall".

After finding a table we decide to have a pint and some food, with my appetite not being up to much, I just opt for a bowl of chips whilst Mr UKBuses has is Masala. After our grub is finished and pints supped, we consult the plan and the next place to visit is our London regular, "The Blind Beggar", but as I'm not feeling too good, we decide to make our way back to the hotel and have an early night.

Despite my tummy bug, it was a successful first day, we get some well deserved sleep ready for a busy day ahead tomorrow, night night!

2012 - Day Out 16: Torquay Vintage Bus Running Day

Date: Sunday 02 September 2012

Its our last full day in Torquay and we visit the event of the Torbay Vintage Bus Running Day which has become an annual event and today we have the sun shining down on us so that we can enjoy the classic bus rides ahead.

It is the day of the Torbay Vintage Bus Running Day so we ensure that we go fully fed and meet up at reception where we make our way to the breakfast room for our English Grill, I decide to pig out and have some black pudding and extra bacon on mine, we are a bit later than yesterday so the music is already playing and not being started today by Mr UKBuses coffee pouring skills. With our breakfast eaten, I pop outside for some "fresh air" before going back to my room to pick up the camera ready for the action in today's running day. We hand our room keys in at reception and decide to buy a Stagecoach South West's "Torbay Dayrider", which is good value and will be used to get back from Torquay this afternoon and also will be used when we visit Torquay on our last night of the break. We get off at the stop where the "big hot air balloon" once stood and is just a few steps to the showground at Sheddon Hill Car Park. We arrive a bit early but a programme is purchased from the people behind the Torbay Bus Routes website to enable us to plan our rides later on today, but first we get a few photographs of the vehicles parked up and have a look around the stalls, quickly purchasing "More Room On Top", the latest book about Midland Red's D9 and D10. One improvement this year is that the services were now departing from the show ground, a stop was still available along the seafront. Our first ride is due and we catch the following services:

Even dogs were enjoying the rides.

Journey One: The first service we caught was service 136 to Paignton, this journey departed at 10:30 and arrived back at 10:55 and was operated by a 1972 Bristol LHS / Marshall bodied VOD 88K which originally operated by Western National.

Who is this mysterious person with a bald spot getting in the way again!

Journey Two: The second service we caught was service 118 to Kingswear, we thought we would get this trip out of the way and there were quite a few seats left so we weren't squashed in like last years afternoon trip on this service. Along the way we stopped at Broadsands Viaduct giving us an opportunity to take a photograph at the viaduct with some mysterious person getting in the way again, see picture above. The journey departed at 11:05 and arrived back at 12:40 and was operated by a 1983 Leyland Olympian / ECW bodied A680 KDV and originally operated for Devon General.

Journey Three: The third service was service 141 to Occombe Farm, this departed at 13:00 and arrived back at 13:45 and was operated by Badgerline coach 1978 Leyland Leopard / Plaxton Paramount 3200 MK I bodied PWS 492S.

Having a rest at The Belgrave.

It was time to have a break before a couple of afternoon journeys, and we went to "The Belgrave", see picture above, which is situated next to the show ground, as we were supping our pints I was able to catch up on the Belgian Grand Prix which was being led by Jenson Button. After our drinks we went back to the show ground and carried on our journeys.

Journey Four: The fourth service was service 50 to St Marychurch, this departed at 14:15 and arrived back at 14:56 and was operated by Bayline Ford Transit C526 FFJ.

Journey Five: The fifth and final service we caught today was service 55 to St Marychurch (the reverse of service 50), this was operated by a 1195 Mercedes-Benz 709D / Marshall Dual Door Saloon bodied M245 UTM. This departed the show ground at 15:05, we decided to alight in Torquay town centre, arriving at the Torquay Pavilion at 15:43. It was on this service that I learnt that Jenson Button had won the Grand Prix, Mr UKBuses decided to go back to the hotel and I would stay in the town for a celebratory drink.

A Stagecoach South West service 12 is at the bus stop so Mr UKBuses has a quick dash with me giving him his day ticket on his little jog, I decide to stay in Torquay whilst Mr UKBuses has a bit of rest at the hotel and have a celebratory drink to honour Jenson Button's win at The Belgian Grand Prix. First of all I go to J D Wetherspoons "The Green Ginger" and sit out on the patio to enable me to have some "fresh air", whilst sitting at the table a gentleman takes a seat and as we get talking he states that "I'm from Birmingham", I insist that I am actually from The Black Country. After my drink is finished at The Green Ginger, I have a walk down The Strand and sample a pint at "The Hole In The Wall" which is no different from last year with friendly staff and regulars making me feel welcome. I decide it is time to get a bit of rest before we venture down Torquay for the evening, so I catch the Stagecoach South West service 12 back to the hotel and have a bit of a kip.

After a quick nap, I make my way to the hotel bar to meet up with Mr UKBuses, whilst waiting I get chatting to a gentleman called Glyn who is from Swansea. I introduce Glyn to Mr UKBuses when he arrives and his wife asks me if I could have a look at her I-Phone as she cannot send emails, I duly get them to work and Glyn rewards Mr UKBuses and myself with a drink from the hotel bar. After finishing the drinks, we make our way to the bus stop and after catching Stagecoach South West service 12 into Torquay we have our first drink at "The Green Ginger", we both opt for the "Crag Rat", which I sampled earlier, Mr UKBuses also likes it and as we drink these we look at Sean O'Kanes appearance in Grange Hill via my Blackberry Playbook.

It is now time to eat and opt for a curry so we make our way around the harbour to Curry Ocean which we sampled on our visit last year, but as we arrive it is full so we have a walk into the town and come across Simla Spice where we opt for the buffet, so after our starters we opt for the main course and Mr UKBuses recommends the Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi, he must have known how hot it was and as I sampled a couple of bit's of chicken, my mouth starts to set itself on fire, Mr UKBuses and the waiter found this funny, but a drink was needed so after we finished we went next door to "The Clocktower" where a extinguishing pint was had, I also enjoyed this pub as there was some Metallica blasting out of the jukebox. After we finished our drinks we went to our last pub of the evening and one of our favourites, "The Hole In The Wall", where we actually got a seat inside this year and we were entertained with a singer. Just after 22:30, we make our way back to the bus stop where Stagecoach South West service 12 arrives a few minutes later to take us back to the hotel. Our last hotel drink is had at the hotel bar before we get some much needed sleep ready for our journey back home tomorrow.

An excellent last full day in Torquay and a big thanks go to the organisers of The Torbay Vintage Bus Running Day for the excellent planning of the event and also a thank you goes out to the people behind the Torbay Bus Routes website who helped marshal the event.

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Date: Monday 03 September 2012

It is sadly our last day of this break and we have to sadly say goodbye to Sunny Torquay and head back to the West Midlands after an excellent weekend.

I wake up early on our last day, so I decide to have a little walk around Torquay heading towards Cockington to begin with and returning to the hotel via the Torquay railway station. I return back to my room and ensure that everything is packed ready for our departure later, but first it is time to have our last breakfast, so I meet up with Mr UKBuses and we head into the breakfast room for our final English Grill (without the eggs!), and we are not disappointed even though I didn't get my extra piece of bacon today. Breakfast over we make our way to our rooms ensuring that we have everything and meet up at reception and hand our room keys over for the final time, it is time to say goodbye to The Corbyn Head Hotel and to all the staff who have been marvellous during our stay. We make our final walk in Torquay and after ten minutes of walking by the seafront we turn off to get to the Torquay railway station, before we do we say goodbye to Torquay.

We arrive at the railway station, I pop into the station cafe to get refreshments for the train journey ahead, and we make our way to platform two, but before we stand on the platform we pop outside so that I can have my last Torquay "fresh air" break and once it is over we make our way onto a packed platform where at 10:13 our Arriva CrossCountry train arrives and we board taking our reserved seats and with no changes until we get to Birmingham we make sure that we are comfy. We depart and it is goodbye to Torquay which has supplied us with good weather all weekend and we sadly make our way back to the Midlands. Along the way we pass through the local towns such as Newton Abbott and Dawlish riding right by the sea which is always a good view. Mr UKBuses decides to have a nap, see picture right, and we make progress passing through Bristol Temple Meads and we see the local Midlands stations with the usual Network West Midlands branding which means that we have arrived back in the Midlands. As we near Birmingham an announcement is made to state that the train, which was originally planned to terminate at Manchester Piccadilly will now be terminating at Birmingham New Street due to signalling problems just after Wolverhampton. We take notice of this and quickly get our stuff together and make our way to the door so that we avoid the rush by all of the other passengers, some of which were not too happy.

We arrive at Birmingham New Street and with not a lot of time to get our connecting train to Smethwick Galton Bridge, the "fresh air break" is denied and we make our way to the correct platform. We don't have to wait long and we board our London Midland train which starts to get packed with the passengers of our last train, so it is standing room only and it feels like we are on the London Underground, I keep closing the doors so that people will not try and cram themselves in to the now non-existent space, and after a late departure we make our way across to Smethwick Galton Bridge, where we have to change to the upper platforms to get our connecting train back home. At 13:53 we are back on the plan and our London Midland train arrives and quickly departs stopping at Rowley Regis and Cradley Heath before arriving at Stourbridge Junction, where we again change platforms for the Stourbridge Dodger to get us to the Stourbridge Interchange. Mr UKBuses is asked how the weather was in Torquay when the ticket inspector checks his ticket and as we arrive at the Stourbridge Interchange I say goodbye and thank him for a lovely weekend, the first thing I do when I leave him is to have a well overdue "fresh air" break. I have a quick "good weekend" celebratory pint at J D Wetherspoons "The Chequers Inn", seeing Mr UKBuses going past on his National Express West Midlands service 276 back home and waving at him (I don't know if he spotted me), before making my way back home to unpack and have a rest after a good weekend.

Another classic break which would not have been possible for the great planning and great company of Mr UKBuses - A big THANK YOU for the excellent weekend.

2012 - Day Out 14: Torquay

Date: Friday 31 August 2012

After our successful trip to Weymouth in June, it is time for another mini break down to Torquay which will also be where the Torquay Vintage Bus Running Day will be taking place on Sunday. We will be staying at The Corbyn Head Hotel, which we used last year and hopefully experience a good weekends accommodation again this year.

It is an early start and with the case already packed weeks beforehand I do my first task of the day and send Mr UKBuses a text to say that I am on the way, but I won't be on the bus, I have saved Mr UKBuses some money by saving some shoe leather and Mom SBI picks him up in the car and drops us off at Stourbridge Interchange where we make our first journey of the day on public transport and we board the Stourbridge Dodger, but Mr Tonks is not driving this morning, but Roger is, luckily they didn't let me lose behind the wheel. Safely delivered, we alight at Stourbridge Junction where we board our London Midland train to Birmingham Snow Hill where we alight at 08:45 and make our way to the barriers. We don't even attempt to try and use the barriers and show the attendant our tickets who duly let us threw explaining that they wouldn't  have worked. We have a bit of time to spare, so we decide to go to J D Wetherspoons "The Square Peg" where we feed ourselves with bacon (making sure Mr Tonks was not around), and after finishing our breakfast we make our way to Birmingham New Street to get our next train to take us to the coast. Before we enter the station, I decide to have my last "fresh air" break in the Midlands (and have to wait three and a half hours for the next one!!!) and we also get some refreshments from W H Smiths before boarding our train operated by Arriva CrossCountry and departing at 09:42. We take our seats and have some rest, passing through Bristol Temple Meads, Weston-Super-Mare and following the coast around Dawlish before arriving at Torquay just after 13:00.

The first thing I do when I get off the train is leave Mr UKBuses for dust as I run out to the front of the station to get some "fresh air", with my break over we make our way along the seafront and after a five minute walk we arrive at our accommodation for the weekend, The Corbyn Head Hotel. We book in and the receptionist remembers us from last year and after our keys are handed to us, we make our way to our rooms and have a rest and freshen up before meeting in reception to get our first bus. We only have to take a few steps as the bus stop is virtually outside the hotel. We don't have to wait long before our bus turns up and we catch the Stagecoach South West Service 12 which takes us to the town centre in Torquay, which is where we alight and walk down The Strand to our next stop and after about ten minutes wait Stagecoach South West's Service 11 arrives which will take us to our first destination of the day. We pass through Shaldon and after forty minutes we arrive.

We pass through the railway station at Teignmouth and as we head into the road opposite we hit a problem, the bus in front cannot move as there is a car parked (with a disabled badge) in the road which means that the buses cannot get round the corner see picture right, so we alight and make our way into The Triangle. On the way we decide to pop into "The Brass Monkey" for a quick drink. Mr UKBuses decides to have a quick look outside to see if the buses have moved, I can clearly see what he is up to as I can see him on the pub's CCTV and after we finish our drinks we make our way back round to The Triangle where we catch our next bus, Stagecoach South West service 2 which passes through Dawlish and Dawlish Warren before reaching our next destination, the City of Exeter, as we left Teignmouth the buses were still stuck, but the police were in attendance. After arriving at Exeter, we alight our bus and take a few photographs around the bus station and coach park and also the bus depot opposite. We make our way back to the bus station to get our bus, even though we do see a First X53 service to Weymouth about to pull in, but our stuff is at the hotel so we decide to wait a few minutes when our next bus turns up, Stagecoach South West's service X46 which leaves Exeter just after 17:20 and takes us back to Torquay and drops us right outside our hotel. We go back to our rooms for a rest and refresh before our evening out.

We both meet up about and hour later and have a drink in the hotel bar to decide where we would go tonight (See picture left), eventually we decided to visit Brixham so we finish our drinks off and cross the road outside the hotel, where we waited a while for Stagecoach South West service 12 to turn up, but it did and we catch it and after a journey time of just over half an hour we arrive in Brixham. The first stop is J D Wetherspoon's "The Vigilance" where it did take a while to be served but we eventually did and sampled Weymouth Bitter. We were going to have food here but it was quite busy and looked like we would be in for a long wait if we ordered. It did quieten down so we thought we'd give it a chance and ordered our food, Mr UKBuses opts for his Chicken Tikka Masala with Poppadoms and I opt for the Beefburger and Beer. I arrived at the table and Mr UKBuses enquired how long the food would be, I must admit I did joke and say "40 minutes", but we were quite shocked when it arrived just after ten minutes. We eat our food and decide to try a pub that we liked last year, so we walk through the town working our food off to get to the next pub.

After a ten minute walk we arrive at "The Hole In The Wall", see picture right,  a pub that we tried twice last year and it deserved a welcome return this year due to the friendliness of the place last year. After ordering our drinks, we decided to sit at the bar, but the atmosphere felt different this year and it seemed that it must have been weirdo's night judging by the few people in our area of the pub. We soon drink up and before we catch the bus, we spot another pub over the harbour so decide to have one last drink in Brixham and sample "The Rising Sun", a nice pub with the people seeming more friendlier than they were in The Hole In The Wall tonight. We have a quick drink here and walk back to the bus stop and as we arrive the bus is waiting for us, so we board and take the ride back through Paignton before reaching our hotel. A quick nightcap in the hotel bar is sampled before getting rest for the day ahead tomorrow.

A perfect start to the weekend with perfect weather and perfect company, a welcome return to the coast.

2012 - Day Out 11: Weymouth and Parkstone

Date: Friday 15 June 2012

It was that time of the year where we go for a mini-break to Weymouth which also coincides with the Vintage Bus Running Day held on a Sunday, giving us a couple of days to explore the Dorset area.

With the case packed, I make my way to Wollaston to get the first and what turns out to be the only bus of the day, National Express West Midlands service 276, which arrives on time at 07:56, I send the standard text to Mr UKBuses to let him know we are on the way, and at 08:02 the bus turns up at his stop, Mr UKBuses gets a bit of exercise in as I see him running to the bus stop so that he does not miss the bus. Mr UKBuses has a few minutes to get his breath back before we arrive at Stourbridge Interchange and change onto the "Stourbridge Dodger" to take us to Stourbridge Junction. We arrive and only have to wait a short while before a London Midland train arrives and takes us to Birmingham Snow Hill where we alight in time to have some breakfast. We decide to go to J D Wetherspoons, "The Square Peg" where we sample the delights of their Bacon Roll, we devour it as quick as it arrives just in case there is a certain Mr Tonks around. With breakfast over, we make our way to Birmingham New Street, stopping off along the way at W H Smith to get us some reading material for the journey ahead and also time for a quick "fresh air" break which I make the most of as I won't get another one until we arrive at Weymouth. It is nearly time for our train so we make our way down to the platform to catch the 10:03 Arriva CrossCountry service to Southampton Central, pictured left.

We take our seats and we are off ready for our weekend which looking at the BBC Weather website before we left it looks as if we are going to have a wet weekend. We pass through Oxford (with me saying hello to work colleagues as we pass Didcot Power Station), Reading and Winchester and after a journey of over two and a half hours we finally arrive in Southampton Central at 12:51. There is no time for a "fresh air" break, so we stay on the platform and stretch our legs but we have a little longer to wait as our connecting train is delayed. At 13:01 our Stagecoach South West train pulls up and we board and take our seats for the final leg of the journey which will take us just under an hour and a half passing through Bournemouth and Poole before arriving in Weymouth at 14:25, I leave Mr UKBuses in a cloud of dust, despite him trying to stop me getting off the train, as can be seen in the picture right looking like an "Angel with his halo", as I make my way to the front of Weymouth Railway Station so I can get a long overdue "fresh air" break, also it looks like the weather report was wrong for today as the sun is shining brightly in the sky. We have a few minutes around the station and we cross the road so we can look at First's depot in Weymouth before making our way to the seafront and across The Esplanade / Dorchester Road arriving at The Alendale to drop our cases off and have a quick freshen up.

After a change of clothes and change of room between Mr UKBuses and myself (which meant that I had the same room that I had when we stayed here three years ago, which has since been refurbished) we decide to stay local this afternoon and have a walk around Weymouth Town Centre with us taking a few photographs around the main bus terminus at The Kings Statue and disaster strikes when I turn my camera on, I find out that the LCD screen on the back of my camera is broken, with a big black line down the middle and a big white spot along the top left hand corner, it looks like someone has either banged my camera or stood on my coat whilst it has been in my pocket, so the rest of the weekend it looks as if I will be pointing my camera and hoping for the best. I console myself by going into the nearest J D Wetherspoons which is right opposite, "The William Henry", where we sample our first pint's of the weekend and also decide to have a bite to eat with Mr UKBuses opting for his BBQ Chicken Melt - without the "melt", and myself opting for the Gammon and Chips. After we eat our food we have a few minutes to recover, as can be seen left, before heading back to the guest house to refreshen up ready for our evening away from Weymouth.

It takes a while for Mr UKBuses to finds his Brylcreem so I have a head start and head down to an old favourite public house of mine which is situated around the corner from the guesthouse and one that I haven't visited for a few years, "The Waterloo", where I have a pint before going back to the guesthouse where Mr UKBuses is finally ready. We make our way back to Weymouth Railway Station (not to go home), to catch a train to Parkstone, which is a journey time of just under forty minutes passing through Hamworthy (apparently there is a good chip shop there) and Poole along the way. We arrive at 18:47 and we plan to visit a couple of pubs in Parkstone, the first being "The Cow" , which is just a couple of steps away from the railway station. We have a couple of drinks in The Cow before moving to another pub, "The Bermuda Triangle", which we nearly get lost in along the way to find the place, we have a couple of more drinks in here watching England play on the big screen. Whilst in The Bermuda Triangle, I do pop out for some "fresh air" and Mr UKBuses is stood next to an open window, so he could have got another drink in and passed it me! It is time to make our way back to Weymouth, so we walk back through the lovely village of Parkstone and past The Cow to arrive at Parkstone Railway Station in time for our 21:35 train back to Weymouth, arriving just after 22:15 we make our way back to the guest house to get a good nights sleep ready for our tour of Dorset tomorrow, well Mr UKBuses does, I have a nightcap in The Waterloo before retiring.

An excellent if not relaxing first day in Weymouth, expecting it to be wet, the weather was quite good to us with the sun shining down on us all afternoon and evening, hopefully another couple of good days ahead.