2014 - Day Out 03: Bridport and Weymouth

Date: Saturday 24 May 2014

It is time for our yearly visit to Weymouth. Due to no Vintage Bus Running Day taking place this year, we have decided to still visit the Weymouth area but have changed our days we usually stop and have also decided to visit Weymouth a bit earlier in the year than we normally have our break.

It is time for our yearly visit to Weymouth and after months of waiting, the time finally arrives for us to make our way down to the south coast. This year there are no Vintage Bus Running Days in Weymouth or Torquay this year but we still decide to have a break in Weymouth and also we decide to visit over the Bank Holiday weekend, a few weeks prior to our normal dates of visiting. It is 07:20am and making sure that I have everything packed, I make my way to Wollaston to get our first mode of public transport and catch National Express West Midlands 276, which arrives promptly at 07:36am and I board sending Mr UKBuses the standard text telling him that the bus is on it's way (which he did not receive until we boarded the train at Stourbridge Junction - Vodafone giving good service again!) and to make sure he is at his stop. The bus departs and we make our way through Norton, picking up Mr UKBuses before arriving at Stourbridge Interchange to get the Stourbridge Dodger to Stourbridge Junction where we have to change trains for our first leg of the train journey and as we make our way to Platform 2, we discover that our train to Birmingham Moor Street is in actual fact waiting at Platform 3 (the normal platform for Worcester bound trains), so we rush under the platforms to get to Platform 3 and out of breath, we board our London Midland Train, which virtually upon boarding, departs and passes through Smethwick Galton Bridge and Birmingham Snow Hill, before arriving at Birmingham Moor Street, where we have to change to start the second leg of our train journey. We have a bit of time to spare so we make our way out to the front of the station where I have some "fresh air" and Mr UKBuses pops to the shop to get refreshments for the journey ahead. We make our way back inside the station where, at 08:55am, we board our Chiltern Railways train which takes us via Solihull to Leamington Spa, arriving at 09:24am, where we alight to change for out third leg of our train journey.

We have a bit of time to kill in Leamington Spa, so we make our way out of the station for some "fresh air" and the rain from Stourbridge has followed us here, we hope that we leave it behind in Leamington Spa as we make our way back to the platform to get our next train. As we arrive at the platform we look at the departure board and notice that disaster strikes and our Arriva CrossCountry train is going to be late by 11 minutes. Fortunately we had a break of 14 minutes at our next destination and hopefully this train would be able to make up time, so at 09:49am, our Arriva CrossCountry train arrives and we board coach F looking for our reserved seats, luckily we had a table seat, unluckily though we had squatters, but they soon moved with a few dirty looks off other people who knew them. We were on our way now and after a two and a half hour journey passing through Oxford and Reading plus a snoring Mr UKBuses, with me keeping awake and sipping a bottle of Sharp's "Doombar", we arrive on time at Bournemouth at 12:11pm. With the break now at 14 minutes before our next and final leg of the journey, we head outside the station where myself has some "fresh air" looking after Mr UKBuses bag whilst he pops over to Bournemouth bus station opposite to take a few photographs, that is after Mr UKBuses has to "Seek Assistance!". Pictures taken and break over we head back inside Bournemouth Railway Station where Mr UKBuses makes use of the facilities and as he comes back onto the platform our last train of the day arrives and we board knowing that we are only 50 minutes away from the seaside and our final destination. The train departs Bournemouth on time at 12:24pm and we pass through Poole, Parkstone, Hamworthy (An award winning chip shop is situated here, I have been informed) and Dorchester South before we arrive on time at 1:13pm at Weymouth Railway Station. We alight the train and make our way to the front of the station and the sun is shining on our arrival.

We cannot check into our hotel until 2:00pm, so we make our way towards the residence of the weekend and have a well deserved pit stop and first pint in Weymouth at one of my favourite back street pubs in Weymouth and one that we didn't get to visit last year, "The Waterloo", see picture right. Two pints of Knob were ordered and whilst I'm at the bar, Mr UKBuses finds a comfy sofa to sit on, I know he has found a seat as I hear him scream as he falls into the sofa as he didn't realise how soft it was. Pints ordered and taken to the table we have a well deserved break before checking in. With our drinks over and nearly time to go to our rooms for a freshen up, we make our way to the seafront and walk to the hotel situated next to "The Lodmoor Pub" and also the next to the site where the rally normally takes place, we arrive after a five minute walk at the Premier Inn. We have to wait a while as there is no one on reception and when the receptionist finally arrives we have to wait even further as the person in front is trying to pay for Wi-Fi access but the receptionist has no change to give her. It is our turn now and Mr UKBuses gets his room sorted and my room isn't even ready for me to check in yet. We also decide to book our breakfasts for the days we are stopping and our forced to pay by credit card, as money seems non-existent in this reception. Seeing as my room won't be ready before we leave for our trip this afternoon, Mr UKBuses kindly lets me drop my bag off in his room and seeing as I don't have anywhere to freshen up, I make use of "The Lodmoor" next door for a refreshing pint, whilst Mr UKBuses prepares himself ready for our journey this afternoon. After about twenty minutes Mr UKBuses meets me in The Lodmoor and we make our way to the bus stop virtually outside the hotel, I enquire about his room and he informs me after having a wash, they had left no towels in his room, luckily a cleaner was outside his room as he was preparing to make his way to reception. This doesn't look like a good start for our stay at the Premier Inn group of hotels.

We only have a few minutes to wait before we catch our first bus in Weymouth, our First Wessex service 31 arrives at 2:49pm and we board and get our return tickets and take a seat towards the back of the bus. This is the last day of operation of service 31, which will resume tomorrow in service as X31 (starting from Dorchester instead of Weymouth). We are on the bus for just over an hour, passing through Dorchester and Winterbourne Abbas before arriving at our destination of Bridport, alighting at East Street. We have a short walk and arrive at J D Wetherspoons "The Greyhound", see picture left, and after drinks are ordered (Mr UKBuses round this time), we take a seat and have a rest. It is whilst sitting down that we decide that we are getting a bit hungry, so we decide to have our tea here instead of waiting a couple of hours before arriving back at Weymouth for a bite to eat. Mr UKBuses opts for a Chicken Tikka Masala for a change and I opt for my usual Chicken Burger and Chips. It doesn't take that long for the food to arrive and we soon tuck in, also having our free pint that comes with the meals. With our food devoured, we wait a few minutes before finishing our drinks and walking down to the coach station to take a few photographs, when we arrive there, we find out that there is no vehicles at the First Wessex outstation situated here and also they have knocked down a couple of buildings opposite from the last time we visited. The buildings were a bit rundown and the demolition of them makes the area look more pleasant. The rain has followed us from the West Midlands and a downpour ensues, which means we take cover in the bus shelter. A few minutes later our First Wessex service 31 arrives to take us back to Weymouth and at 5:11pm, we depart Bridport and make the return journey stopping outside the hotel at 6.16pm. We make our way to reception and my room has become available and I can now freshen up before we go around Weymouth for the evening. We make our way to our rooms and luckily my room is opposite to Mr UKBuses, so I pick up my bag and make my way to my room and freshen up and unpack my clothes for the weekend.

With me now freshened up, I decide to have a sneaky pint in The Lodmoor whilst Mr UKBuses finishes getting ready and I opt for a pint of Budweiser as I found out they had it on draught earlier. I make my way to the hotel reception to meet Mr UKBuses and he spots me coming out of the "Breakfast Room", as he comes out of reception to meet me, he informs us that we have just missed a bus five minutes previously so we both make a visit to The Lodmoor (Budweiser's all round), whilst we wait for our next bus. After finishing our drinks, our next bus is due and we make our way to the bus stop opposite and catch First Wessex service 4 this time which takes us to the Kings Statue, where we alight. A few photographs are taken before we head into J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry", but as we make our way to the top bar, we find the place really busy and decide to go to another pub to start the evening off. We decide to walk to "The Clipper" which is not too far away but as we arrive we find out that the pub has closed down, but looking at a notice in the window, it looks like it will only be a temporary closure. With two pubs down and no drinks purchased, we decide to visit one of our regular pubs in Weymouth, "The Cutter", drinks are purchased and we find out that in the back bar there is a Karaoke taking place, so it would be rude not to have a song and I opt to take the Microphone and sing Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters", with Mr UKBuses taking a seat nearby, I found out that he is videoing the performance. With the song finished and our drinks finished we head to another pub and we decide to walk around the corner and make a visit to one of our favourite places, "The Globe" and after purchasing a "Jail Ale", Mr UKBuses takes his "Stan" stool, see picture right, and gets himself comfortable for a pint or two.

Drinks finished, we make our way back to The Cutter to have a few more songs on the Karaoke with Mr UKBuses hearing going, he decides to call it a night and heads back to the hotel whilst I stay for a couple of more pints and songs, calling it a night just before midnight, I finish off my drink and have a slow walk along the Esplanade taking in the sea air and head back to the hotel and straight to bed to get (hopefully) a good nights sleep ready for day two of our Weymouth break.

Apart from a short downpour of rain in Bridport, the weather has been quite good for our first day in the Weymouth area. Hopefully a good nights sleep will be had before our visit to Exeter tomorrow.

2012 - Day Out 13: Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day

Date Sunday 17 June 2012

It is our last full day in Weymouth and we will be spending most of the day at the now annual Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day, which is held at Lodmoor Coach Park, offering rides to local destinations on classic buses.

I wake up and go outside for some "fresh air" before going back inside for our second Alendale breakfast of the year, Mr UKBuses arrives downstairs and we take our seats in the window again and order the same as yesterday, Mr UKBuses has the English and I go for the Scottish, complete with my Haggis and gorgeous Potato Scones. Once devoured we have a couple of minutes before we return to our rooms to get ourselves ready for the rally ahead. Once ready we make our way to Lodmoor and as we walk down the road to get to the coach park, Clive, an old Pensnett Garage driver passes on a First in Dorset Dennis Dart and stops and says hello to us. We arrive at the rally site and whilst the rides aren't in operation yet we go around the buses that are ready to be used today and take our photographs and look around the stalls before the crowds do eventually appear, now that these are out of the way we can concentrate on the rides for the day ahead.

Our first ride was on an ex Devon General Leyland Olympian (A680 KDV) which was operating the 10:10 journey on Service 454: Weymouth - Railway Station, arriving back at Lodmoor at 10:30. We have a little break and then catch another ex Devon General vehicle, an AEC Regent (CTT 518C), which was operating the 10:35 journey on Service 420: Weymouth - Littlemoor arriving back at Lodmoor at 11:05. Next up was another ride on the AEC regent, this time on Service 23: Weymouth - Bowleaze Cove which saw the vehicle struggling to get up the big hill close to the cove. We get off at The King's Statue as we are not sure if we would make it back to Lodmoor on time to get our next bus. Whilst Mr UKBuses is taking a few photo's I pop in the shop for a bottle of pop and when I come back out I do a classic "Interceptor" ambush on Mr UKBuses and creep up behind him squealing in his ear, Mr UKBuses did not find it funny, but the woman who was sitting outside the shop couldn't stop laughing.

It is now time to go to Portland Bill, and we are not sure if we would get there when a South West Coaches Mercedes-Benz minibus, pictured above, turns up operating the 12:00 journey on Service 22A: Weymouth - Portland Bill and we go a different route this year due to the Olympics due to take place in August. We arrive at Portland Bill at 12:40 so we have a bit of a break and decide to have a lunchtime pint at The Pulpit, see picture right (even the camera couldn't cope with the prices), after last years astonishing price, Mr UKBuses decides that it is my round so that he won't faint this year, we sit down in the big room overlooking the lighthouse and it is just before 13:00 so we make our back to the bus stop and catch an ex Plymouth Citybus Dennis Dart, pictured below, which takes us back to Weymouth, arriving at 13:40. When we arrive back at Lodmoor I have to rush to "The Lodmoor", a Brewers Fayre pub which is close to the rally site, which comes in useful as I am bursting for the toilet, whilst Mr UKBuses is on the rally site taking a few more photographs, I decide to have a sneaky pint before returning. After my pint goes down nicely I make my way back to the rally site and we catch South West Coaches Mercedes Minibus again on a mystery tour which is due to take about 50 minutes, we eventually took 1 hour and 30 minutes after the driver had to make a detour due to traffic problems en route which we went through Chickerell, Aylesbury and Burton Bradstock. We arrive back at the rally site and we catch an ex Stagecoach Devon Volvo B6LE (P701 BTA) which is operating the 15:20 journey on Service 23 to Bowleaze Cove, on the way back we decide to call it a day and get off at The Kings Statue and have a walk along the seafront back to The Alendale, with Mr UKBuses having an ice cream along the way.

We return to The Alendale to have a bit of a rest and a freshen up before we have a night touring the pubs of Weymouth. I have my usual starter around the corner in "The Waterloo" whilst Mr UKBuses gets himself ready and when it is close to time to meet back up, I make my way back around the corner, but before I make my way back I get to say hello to The Alendale owners Denise and Jim who have returned back from their few days off. Our first stop is our usual J D Wetherspoons, "The William Henry", where we decide to grab some tea before we venture around the planned pubs for this evening, I surprise Mr UKBuses by having Scampi and Chips rather than my usual choice of meal. After our food has gone down, we decide to make a move and we walk around the corner and down the main High Street and decide to pop into an unplanned pub, which is "The Clipper" for a quick one before we enter our planned session, see picture left. We are surprised at how nice and relaxing The Clipper is and why we haven't used the place before, I think we have been put off previously by the rowdiness of some of the people that have used the pub when we have previously walked past, but it is a difference when we actually went inside. Drinks finished we move onto the next public house.

Next we walk down to the end of the High Street and walk across the bridge to get to our next couple of pubs. For the first one we walk up Trinity Terrace to get to "The Chapelhay", we walk inside and nothing has changed with all the marine memorabilia still adorning the ceiling and walls and the pub dog still going strong with the sound of the Coastguard radio in the background, the only thing that surprised me on this visit to The Chapelhay is at how quiet it seemed, at the time of our visit, we were the only people using the place and I felt sorry for that landlord that we had to leave to get us to our next pub. We had to finish our drinks off and make a move and we walked down Dorset Terrace and Chapelhay Street and past the old Weymouth Town Hall to get to another favourite of ours, "The Boot Inn", which is situated near the harbour just off a side street. We decide that the weather is still pleasant and decide to have a sit on the bench outside sitting next to a big porcelain boot outside of The Boot!

Drinks finished at The Boot, it is time to look for another of Mr WME's finds from last year "The Duke of Cornwall", so we make our way back across the bridge and into the small back streets around by the harbour, but after walking down so many side streets and not quite remembering where about it was (I had no map allowance!) we get ourselves on the right track when we spot "The Globe" and seeing as how Mr Wood enjoyed the place last night we decide to give up on the search of The Duke and pop into The Globe for some more Jail Ale. We are luckier tonight as we get the highly coveted bar seats so we enjoy the atmosphere and friendly nature of the local regulars, but the last night is nearly over and we have one more pub left to try so we return back to "The Cutter", which is located just around the corner from The Globe and surprisingly this year they had everything on tap that we asked for. We got talking to the landlord and after having a couple of pints it is time to say goodbye to the pubs of Weymouth for another year and we walk back along The Esplanade back to The Alendale for our final nights sleep in Weymouth.

Another good day out visiting the likes of Bowleaze Cove and Portland Bill on the classic bus rides on a dry and rather sunny day (improving on the rally's weather from last year), it will be a sad morning tomorrow as we have to pack our cases and say goodbye to the friendly atmosphere of Weymouth.

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Date: Monday 18 June 2012

Its our last few hours in Weymouth before we get the train and return to the West Midlands, at least we console ourselves by enjoying our final cooked breakfast at The Alendale.

It is nearly time to leave Weymouth behind but at least before we leave, we get chance to have our final Alendale "gut-busting" breakfast to send us on our way. I make my way downstairs to have some "fresh air" before Mr UKBuses appears and when I arrive at our breakfast table, the host Moira has left me two cigarettes at my seating to say thanks for the one that I lent her yesterday afternoon in "The Waterloo", a nice touch for what have been nice hosts this weekend which has made our stay at The Alendale the more enjoyable, Moira and Jim do us proud by cooking us a large breakfast which will make us last until we return home. We devour our breakfasts and let it settle for a few minutes before we go to our rooms and ensure that everything is packed. Mr UKBuses and myself meet up downstairs and we sadly say goodbye to Moira and Bill and also to Denise and Jim. We now have a final walk up The Esplanade to The Kings Statue where we take some last day photographs at the bus stops and we make a final visit to J D Wetherspoons, "The William Henry" for a last pint in Weymouth before heading back to Weymouth Railway Station. The time that I dread each year is walking from The King's Statue to the Weymouth Railway Station, but it has to be done and we sluggishly walk down the streets leading to the station. I have chance to grab a "fresh air" break before we board our train and it is now time to sadly say goodbye to Weymouth as we board Stagecoach South West Trains 10:03 journey, which will take just under an hour and a half to reach our first destination of Southampton Central Railway Station and as we depart we wave a goodbye to Weymouth.

At 11:28, we arrive at Southampton Central and on the return journey I do get a chance to have a "fresh air" break here, so we make our way to the front of the station, but we have trouble getting out of the barriers with us trying all of our tickets, luckily a guard is nearby and after looking at the tickets, she lets us through and after the "fresh air" break is over, she is still by the barrier and kindly lets us back through. We have a couple of minutes before our Arriva CrossCountry train arrives, we board and after evicting a couple of people from our booked seats (they got off at the next station so we waited until then), we take our proper seats and rest for the rest of the journey with me raiding the buffet trolley a couple of times on the way back. After two and a half hours we arrive at Birmingham New Street at 14:18 where we promptly change platforms to get a train to Smethwick Galton Bridge where we change platforms again so that we can catch a  London Midland train to get us back to Stourbridge Junction. Upon arrival at Stourbridge Junction, we have a few minutes before "The Stourbridge Dodger" arrives so I make my way to the car park for a "fresh air" break, where we bump into Phil Tonks who has just finished his shift on "The Dodger" and comments on the Facebook check-ins we have made over the weekend. Break over, we make our way to Platform 1 where we board "The Dodger" which takes us the 0.8 miles back into Stourbridge Town Station and we walk over to the Stourbridge Interchange where we get the final journey of the day, National Express West Midlands service 276, which takes us on the final leg of the journey back home where we can unpack and get a bit of a rest after a long and sad journey back from Weymouth.

Overall it has been an enjoyable weekend with good company courtesy of Mr UKBuses, who I must give big thanks to for organising most of the week with the plans which is always appreciated and also a visit to old favourites and a big thank you goes out to Moira and Bill and also Denise and Jim from The Alendale - See you next year Weymouth, missing you already.

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.