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!

2015 - Day Out 01: Worcestershire

Date: Saturday 28 February 2015

Its our first outing of the year and we are staying relatively local to the Midlands and having a tour of Worcestershire.

I make my way up to Norton to meet up with Mr UKBuses and it must be a New Years Resolution as he turns up ahead of the planned time. We walk from the Broadway shops, our meeting point, to Norton Road stopping at the bus stop just up the road from what was once Brewers General Store. We do get offered a lift but we wait for the bus as it would be cheaper for a return fare. At 9:18am, Central Buses service 125 turns up on time and we board and purchase our return ticket to Kidderminster. Central Buses have recently took over operation of this service after the collapse of Whittle's buses and upon arrival at Kidderminster we alight outside the Kidderminster Railway Station where I have time to have a "fresh air" break before our next bus arrives which is Diamond's service X3 and we board purchasing our day tickets, the County Connecta.

We head in the direction of Bromsgrove, with an hour upon arrival so that photo's of First's two heritage liveried buses can be spotted, but before arriving we go past Chaddersley Corbett with Mr UKBuses saying hello to his turkeys as we pass. Twenty minutes after leaving Kidderminster, we arrive in Bromsgrove and upon arrival, Mr UKBuses sprints down to the last stand of the bus station (another New Year's Resolution?), where he has spotted one of the heritage liveried buses on service 147, see picture right, that we are after. It is not on the route that it was supposed to be as the buses have been painted into Retro Midland Red Livery to celebrate 100 years of operation of Route 144. Not long after the 147 departs, a bus on route 144 pulls into the bus station, see picture top left, at Bromsgrove so within a matter of minutes of arrival pictures of both buses have been taken. We have time to spare so we have a walk down Bromsgrove High Street and have our first drink of the day at J D Wetherspoons, "The Golden Cross" with Mr UKBuses purchasing the first round (another New Year's Resolution?). After finishing our drinks we make our way back to the bus station and I make a visit to use the facilities where a lady cleaner just waltzes in without a care in the world and carries on doing her job whilst a load of gentleman carry on with their business.

We have a while to wait for our next bus so we hang around the bus station for some photo taking opportunities, the before mentioned cleaner does a bin emptying around the bus station and gives me a smile as she passes me, I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing. I have some "fresh air" and stand close to our next departure point, Mr UKBuses joins me and whilst waiting we spot a certain Mr Phil Tonks (with no bacon roll / sandwich in hand), he is travelling up and down along the route today as part of research for an article he is writing on the history of Route 144. We decide to go off plan and catch the earlier journey and have a catch up with Mr Tonks on the journey. Along the way we pass through and stop at Webbs of Wychbold Garden Centre and after another 20 minutes on the bus we arrive at our next destination ahead of schedule, Droitwich Spa. As we are ahead of schedule we decide to have a rest and after alighting and saying our goodbyes to Mr Tonks, we walk a few yards to "The Westcroft", see picture left, I can remember the last time we visited this establishment, on a cold dark wintry evening, it was virtually the same today apart from being dark. After having a little warm and rest, we sup up and make our way to Victoria Square, where we have a short wait and I have some more "fresh air", before our next bus arrives.

At 11.45am, iGo's service 145 pulls up so we board showing our Connecta tickets and it takes just under fifteen minutes before we arrive and alight at our next destination of Stoke Prior. We don't have a lot of time here so we head straight into "The Boat and Railway", see picture right, a nice pub situated alongside the canal, this would be a nice little rest in the middle of summer under the blazing sun. Its Mr UKBuses turn to purchase the drinks and whilst he is being served I take the opportunity to use the facilities (It's either because it is icy cold or Mr D9 has lent me his bladder for the day). We have a warm and a rest again and ready ourselves to go back into the cold and make our way to the bus stop to catch our next bus from. Luckily it is only a few steps as it is situated right outside of the pub and we don't have to wait long before our iGo service 145 arrives to take us on our return journey back to Droitwich Spa. The return journey only takes ten minutes to get back to Droitwich Spa, which means that we have just under ten minutes wait and time for some "Fresh air" before our next journey to our next destination.

It's 12:49pm and we board First's 147, not the heritage liveried bus unfortunately and after twenty-five minutes we alight in Worcester by Worcester Foregate Street Railway Station and decide it is time for lunch, so we visit J D Wetherspoon's "The Postal Order". Mr UKBuses finds a table and after an agonising long wait (looks like the locals / regulars get preferential treatment) I finally get served and join Mr UKBuses at the table and peruse the menu. I have a change and opt for the gammon and chips whilst Mr UKBuses sticks with tradition and opts for his usual BBQ Chicken Melt (without the melt) but as my legs are aching from my wait at the bar previously, Mr UKBuses is forced to order the meals. The food eventually arrives and we tuck in. Even though the service was poor the food was good and we rest for a few minutes to let our stomachs settle before making our way back into Worcester. As we were delayed at lunch we have to go off the plan and miss out the First Depot in Padmore Street, Worcester, so we head straight back to Worcester Bus Station, with a bit of time to take some photographs and also a visit to "Andy's News" to get some supplies for our journey ahead.

We wait for our next bus and at the time of arrival due to be 2:53pm the bus is running late and we are worried that we may have to go onto the emergency plan, but Diamond's service 295 does eventually turn up at Worcester Bus Station and we promptly board and depart, there is a screaming child sitting on the bus which thwarts Mr UKBuses plans, but as soon as the bus carries on along its journey, there seems to be a vibrating sound coming from the engine, but upon closer inspection, Mr UKBuses is in fact having a nap, see picture right. We are not too far from our destination as we pass through Stourport, the driver is back on time and we arrive back at our planned time of 15:53 at Kidderminster Bus Station. After a few photographs are taken we decide to get out of the cold and have a warmth and a rest by walking around to J D Wetherspoons "The Penny Black" where we enjoy a pint, or in Mr UKBuses case, a double whiskey and we take our seats looking out onto The Bull Ring which was once a hive of activity and full of Midland Red buses and clay bus stops. It is nearly time to return back to the West Midlands, so we walk back around to the bus station to wait for our final journey of the day.

We plan to catch the 4:52pm Central Buses service 125 back to Norton, this is the last journey back to Norton of the day and we wait and wait and think we may have to walk to the railway station to get the train back. Just under half an hour later Central Buses service 125 towards Stourbridge finally arrives and we have to undergo a driver change which delays us a bit more, luckily it is Geoff who was driving to Kidderminster so we cant have a go at him especially when he informs us he was late because of football match day parking at Bridgnorth was holding him up. We do board and take our seats and get warm passing through the Broadwaters and on to the main Stourbridge / Norton Road towards Stourbridge. We are nearing Marston's "The Greyhound" in Norton and after politely asking the driver he lets us alight just outside of The Greyhound, where we have a warm and a final pint before saying our goodbyes and making our way back home.

A good day out was had with Mr UKbuses devising a good plan yet again and here are his bald spots:

Bald Spot 1: The bald spot is seen in Bromsgrove Bus Station.

Bald Spot 2: The bald spot is seen trying to hide as it enters Worcester Bus Station.

Bald Spot 3: The bald spot can clearly be seen at Worcester Bus Station.

2014 - Day Out 06: Weston-Super-Mare

Date: Saturday 23 August 2014

It has been over ten years since we last did it, so Mr UKBuses and myself decide to go nostalgic and contact Whittle to book a coach trip, there was no Brendan today though and our driver was Ben.

I don't have to walk far to get to the pick up point, a three minute walk to Wollaston, so I make my way up to the village arriving at 07.50am with Mr UKBuses arriving at the same time after getting a lift from his dad. We have time to go to Spar to get a drink for the journey ahead, after making our purchase we make our way to the bus stop situated by The Princess and as we arrive, the Whittle's coach comes into view and we are greeted by Ben our driver and shown our seats, which are the front row, so we have a good view on the journey to and from Weston-Super Mare. As the coach has arrived a few minutes early we do have a few minutes to spare to wait for a few more passengers, so I take the opportunity to get some "fresh air" before they board. With everyone aboard at this pick up point we make our way to pick up the rest of the passengers who have booked today.

We leave Wollaston and go via Stourton to get to the rest of the pick up points, those being Franche, Kidderminster and then a scenic view through Bewdley and finally Stourport at 9.00am before Ben gets to go full throttle to Weston-Super-Mare and onto the M5 motorway. We are on the coach for over an hour before Ben pulls into the motorway services and luckily for Mr UKBuses, we get to visit the Michael Wood Services, which is located twenty-two miles away from Bristol, I wonder if the owner of these services is related to Mr UKBuses. We have about twenty minutes here, so Mr UKBuses has a bite to eat at Burger King and after his food has been cooked, we make our way outside enabling him to eat his food and me to get some "fresh air", break over, we make a little visit before re-boarding the coach, and also Mr UKBuses himself warns of an upcoming traffic problem, see picture right. With everyone on board, we make our way out of the services and onto Weston-Super-Mare, a couple of minutes down the motorway, disaster strikes and we get caught in a traffic jam near Bristol. Our driver Ben looks at his Sat-Nav and informs us that there is about 16 miles of tailbacks and we slowly make our way down the motorway and it seems as the Sat-Nav is right and after we pass Bristol, the traffic jam starts to disappear and we soon gather speed for the final leg of the journey. We arrive at Weston-Super-Mare at 12.30pm, an hour and a half later than planned.

We alight on the sea front near the new pier and after a few photographs are taken and some "fresh air" had, we carry on along the sea front and our first port of call is for food and we soon find the J D Wetherspoons, "The Cabot Court Hotel" where we first order a pint, whilst I am stood at the busy bar waiting to be served, Mr UKBuses conveniently dodges the round to find a table. I eventually get served and find Mr UKBuses and peruse the menu. With Mr UKBuses going for his usual of BBQ Chicken Melt without the Melt, I do indeed opt for the usual Beer and Burger, but instead of the traditional chicken burger, I opt for the pulled pork burger (with onion rings!) and after waiting nearly another ten minutes to order and then a further fifteen minutes for the food to arrive, it was well worth the wait and will be having that option on future outings. With the food quickly consumed, we wait a few minutes for it to go down and for us to finish off our drinks, before trying to find the way back out onto the sea front, Mr UKBuses makes a visit first though so I get some "fresh air" whilst I wait looking out to sea.

We make our way along the sea front and spot an old Bristol VRT bus operated by Crosville on a tour around the town, we do board, but we find out that we cannot buy a day ticket on this bus, so we have a walk around the town to where the main bus stops are and after a few photographs are taken we board First Buses of Somerset's service 3 which will take us to our first destination, and after going through a big estate we arrive close to an out-of-town shopping centre, but we get off one stop before, which is located handily right outside the First Bus Depot, so a few photographs are taken before we walk down the road to another local operator, Coombs, where more photographs are taken. We are both needing a bladder break and luckily a big Asda store is around the corner, so we head inside and use the facilities before making our way back outside and to the nearest bus stop where just as we arrive, service 3 pulls up and we board to make our way back into the main Weston-Super-Mare town centre.

As we arrive back in the town and alight our bus, we spot that the next bus we was going to catch was just departing so Mr UKBuses said that we should go to the second J D Wetherspoons in the town but he wasn't sure where it was, luckily I spotted it just across the road from where we were standing, so we take a few steps and arrive at "The Dragon Inn", see picture above right. Drinks are ordered and paid for this time by Mr UKBuses, but his pint doesn't look to good, but we find a seat and sup our drinks and just before 3.30pm we make our way to the bus stop and board Crosville's service 100, which we take a seat on the open top with Mr UKBuses hair staying still, see picture left, and make our way to Sand Bay taking in the seafront and Kewstoke before arriving at the terminus at Sand Bay. We have a few minutes to spare so I have some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses takes a few photographs before re-boarding and going back along the sea front to Weston-Super-Mare where we alight and decide to have one last pint in Yates, with me this time mistaking a beer pump and getting some traditional somerset cider. Drinks supped, we have one final walk along the front and have a quick look on the pier where I buy a stick of rock and nearly faint when I find that this has cost me £1.25, no wonder Mr UKBuses did not make his way into the shop. Off the pier and a few photographs taken before Ben brings the coach to the sea front to pick us up promptly and on time at 5pm.

With everybody back on board, we depart sunny Weston-Super-Mare on time and make our way back to the West Midlands. Luckily as we head onto the M5 Motorway, there is no sign of any jams, so we head north and as we pass Bristol, we near Michael Woods Services again and Ben decides to pull in and let us stretch our legs for a bit. On the return leg, I decide to join Mr UKBuses for a Burger King, so with the food ordered, we wait and wait and after a couple of people who ordered the same food after us and are getting their food first, a girl behind the till asks if I am OK, when I respond that I have been waiting ages and want a refund, my food suddenly appears, a bit strange that. With the food finally cooked, I devour my burger and make a quick visit outside to get some "fresh air" before joining up with Mr UKBuses and making our way back onto the coach. The coach departs the services and we make our way back along the motorway, dropping off passengers at Stourport, Bewdley, Kidderminster and Franche before we alight and thank Ben at Wollaston. Mr UKBuses is just in time to catch the National Express West Midlands service 276 back to Norton whilst I have a nightcap at Graham's Place before heading back home after a delightful day out.

Despite arriving late, a good day was had and it was nice to go on a coach trip again, so good, that one is planned in late September with Whittles again to Blackpool. Here are the bald spot pictures:

Bald Spot 1: The bald spot is seen having a break at the Michael Wood Services.

Bald Spot 2: The bald spot has arrived and is seen walking along the sea front at Weston-Super-Mare.

Bald Spot 3: The bald spot is feeling sad as it is seen again on the Weston-Super-Mare sea front just before boarding the coach back to the West Midlands.

2014 - Day Out 05: Swanage and Poole

Date: Monday 26 May 2014

Day three of our mini break and after a long journey across to another county to Exeter and back yesterday, we are staying in Dorset today, visiting a few places and having an evening away from Weymouth.

After a good nights sleep, I awake for our final full day in Weymouth and Dorset and after a "fresh air" break as soon as I wake, I make my way back up to the room to have a lie down and watch the morning news before it is time to meet up with Mr UKBuses for breakfast. We have chance to have a bit of a lie in this morning so we meet up a bit later today in reception for breakfast and as we meet up, we make our way to the "breakfast room" to fill up to keep us going throughout the day. Mr UKBuses makes his coffee and gets his toast whilst I get the cranberry juices ready before making a dash and filling my plate up with loads of bacon, sausage, hash browns and beans. We start eating once Mr UKBuses gets his breakfast assortment sorted and after devouring our cooked breakfast we wash it down with a few yogurts, but disaster strikes, there is no vanilla today, so we have to make do with Strawberry and Raspberry. Breakfast eaten, I make my way for some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses finishes off his coffee and once he has supped up his coffee, we make our way back to the rooms to freshen up and get ready for the day ahead. We have to make our way up to the Kings Statue to get our first us of the day, but we decide to have a look at the bus stop opposite and find out that a First Wessex service 503 is due and we decide to get this into the town, especially when we see who is driving it, Clive a former work colleague who used to work with Mr UKBuses in the West Midlands. We arrive early for our bus and Clive has a bit of time for his next journey, so we have a chat about old times and what is happening fleet wise with First in Weymouth. Clive has to depart so we say our goodbyes and make our way to the bus stop at Kings Statue, stopping off along the way to pick up a bottle of pop to keep us refreshed whilst on the bus.

We have to venture onto First Wessex's service X53 again today, but we are travelling in the opposite direction to Poole which means that we will be on the bus for approximately an hour and a half and not three and a half hours as we were yesterday when we caught the X53 to Exeter. Before we board I notice that my trainer is falling apart and the sole is actually hanging off, with no time to go back to the hotel, I hope that we can find a Shoe Zone in Poole to get a cheap pair of trainers as a replacement, so we board at 09:57am and our on our way, I cant quite remember what villages we pass through to begin with as Mr UKBuses and myself had a nap, I know that we passed through Wool as we were stuck for a while at the level crossing whilst a train passed through, which meant that an idiot driving behind our bus was constantly beeping his horn even though it was impossible to move anywhere. We are nearly in Poole and we get confused as it seems that the route has changed as we head down by the harbour area, which also meant we had nice views before arriving at Poole bus station at 11:27am. We have about fifteen minutes to wait, so whilst Mr UKBuses takes a few photographs, I go in the nearby shopping centre to find a cheap shoe shop, but with time not on my side, I have to make it back to the bus station so that we can catch our next bus, even though Mr UKBuses was standing at the wrong stand to begin with. With the bottom of my trainer now becoming worse, we board More's service 52 confusing the driver as we board when asking for the day ticket, which we are on for less than half an hour before we have to alight at Sandbanks at 12:09pm, walking from the stop around the corner to the stop by the Sandbanks Ferry boarding point.

We have a twenty minute wait at Sandbanks, so a bit of "fresh air" is had and we take a seat at the bus stop watching the ferry crossing the water a couple of times. We can see our next bus, but obviously it is the other side of the water, so has to wait for the ferry to go across to bring it to our side. By the time the bus gets across the water, the bus is running approximately 10 minutes late so we board "The Purbeck Breezer" service 50 at 12.35pm, and make our way to our next destination of Bournemouth, we are only on the bus for 25 minutes, and the bus has caught up time. We alight in Bournemouth and Mr UKBuses decides to watch a show that is going on in the main square, with me starting to walk off. He tells me to stay here for a bit, with him thinking I was making my way to the pub, but when I point at my now totally useless trainer, he understands what I'm looking for and we go off in search for a cheap shoe shop. We spend about twenty minutes looking and decide to give up, especially when we find T K Maxx, which doesn't have a good selection of trainers, I decide on a pair of pumps which cost me nearly twenty pounds (and I thought T K Maxx was supposed to be cheap!) and with me not planning on buying replacement shoes, I have to get the credit card out again to pay for them. We make our way back to the bus stops where Mr UKBuses takes a few photographs, whilst I visit W H Smiths to get some more refreshments for our next journey. We take a walk down to where the old bus station used to be (now a car park), before making our way to the bus stop for our next bus, we did arrive nearly twenty minutes early which is a good job as the bus turns up twenty minutes earlier than planned.

We board "The Purbeck Breezer" service 50 again which for some reason the open top buses aren't being operated today and make our way back to the Sandbanks to catch the ferry, but before we depart I change from my one and half trainers I have left, into my new pumps. We board the ferry and it is a good job we aren't on the open top as I can see the ferry bobbing about, which would have made me felt a bit more sick if I was in the open air. We make away across the from Sandbanks and make our way towards our next destination. After a journey of an hour and twenty minutes, we arrive at Swanage and after a few photographs are taken at the railway station, we head around to the depot to take a few shots before walking into the town centre, and it felt so good to walk around properly with out a trainer hanging off as we walk into the town centre, I find a big bin so I can dispose of my old trainers, but I can't complain as I had a lot of use of them over the last couple of years. We decide to have a break and we have a change and head into The Anchor this year, see picture right, and Mr UKBuses takes his seat whilst it is my turn for the round (I don't know how that happened!), and after a pleasant service from the landlord, we take our seats and rest our legs for a bit and mourn the passing of my trainers. We look at the time and notice that as we arrived in Swanage earlier than planned, and we make it back to the railway station on time, we can catch the earlier bus service into Poole which means we can have more time to take a visit to the depot to take a few photographs. So we head back to the railway station and at 3.30pm, we board "The Purbeck Breezer" service 40, even though people tried to push in, we still get good seats and we depart on time and have a journey of an hour an ten minutes, passing through Corfe Castle and Wareham along the way before arriving back in Poole.

As we have more time to spare, we make our way around to the depot to take a few photographs, before going back to the bus station and through the shopping centre to the other side of the depot to take a few more photographs. We are getting hungry and decide to visit J D Wetherspoons "The Lord Wimbourne" for some food and also to meet Mr UKBuses relative. Before we do, we make a visit to the railway station so we can buy our train ticket to get us back to Weymouth tonight. We make our way back to the town and into The Lord Wimbourne and as we are early we order a drink and wait before food and after a while Mr UKBuses brother arrives and more drinks are ordered and food is also ordered too. Mr UKBuses opts for his Chicken and Bacon Melt, "without the melt" and I opt for the Scampi and Chips again as it is soft food as my tooth is still a bit sore and playing up. Food is eaten and we stay at The Lord Wimbourne for a few hours and also a few pints and catch up with Mr UKBuses brother and how he is getting on and what he is getting up to in the area. It is just before 9.00pm so we finish our drinks and make our way to the railway station.

As we are near to the railway station, we say our goodbyes to Mr UKBuses brother and make our way to the platform and wait a while for our train to arrive. It is 9.14pm and our South West Train arrives on time and we board and take a seat and get comfortable for the journey ahead, as no cheers photo was taken in The Lord Wimbourne a selfie was taken on the train on the way back, see picture left. As we make our way back into Weymouth we pass through Parkstone, Hamworthy and Wool, arriving at Weymouth Railway Station at 10.00pm. We alight our train and make our way out of the station and as there are no buses running back to the hotel this time on a night on Bank Holidays, we decide to go for the easy option and visit the taxi office opposite the station. We order a taxi and we wait about five minutes before it arrives to take us back to the hotel. It only takes a few minutes to get us back to the Premier Inn, but it did save us the walk as it had been a long day and we were both tired. Mr UKBuses opts out of a nightcap in "The Lodmoor", but I decide to have one, but have to pop to my room first before popping back down to the bar and having a couple of pints before I retire. After enquiring about what time the bar closes, the barmaid on duty does me a favour by taking for two pints which means that I don't have to rush to down the first pint in time for last orders. I repay the favour when she mentions that she has to bring the big board in from outside, so I bring it in for her before she pours my second pint and after my nightcap is finished, I pop across the road to have some "fresh air" whilst watching the sea in the dark, and also the town illuminated in the distance before I retire and hopefully get a good nights sleep ready for the long trip back tomorrow.

Another beautiful day was had, and a nice final night in Dorset (Poole and Weymouth) was a fitting night to end the mini break.

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Date: Tuesday 27 May 2014

It is our last morning in Weymouth and with our bags packed ready for the trip back home it is nearly time to say goodbye to one of my favourite locations in England.

It is our last few hours, so I wake up early getting some "fresh air" before going back to my room to ensure that everything is packed away ready for departure after breakfast, which I meet Mr UKBuses in reception of the Premier Inn at 08:15am and make our way to the breakfast room / The Lodmoor public house for our final feast in Weymouth. I get the juice in for us whilst Mr UKBuses gets his coffee and toast sorted before making our way to the buffet to load our plates up with bacon, sausage, etc to fill us up until we get back to the West Midlands. We devour our food and the traditional yogurts are had, with Vanilla back in supply today. I nip outside for some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses finishes off his coffee before we go back to the rooms and ensure that everything is all packed up and nothing is left behind. After the final check is done we meet back in reception and make our way to the bus stop opposite the hotel.

We only have to wait for a few minutes before a First Wessex service 503 turns up to take us to the Kings Statue in Weymouth and it is Clive driving again today. It only takes a couple of minutes before we arrive and with not a lot of time left, I leave Mr UKBuses chatting with his past work colleague, saying my goodbyes to Clive myself as I alight to have my now traditional last pint in J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry". I have finished my drink by the time Mr UKBuses arrives and we make our way back to the railway station, but before we arrive we make our first visit of the long weekend to the First Wessex Weymouth depot to take a few pictures, it is situated virtually opposite the railway station so don't have too far to walk. We arrive at Weymouth Railway Station and Mr UKBuses visits the shop so he can get a drink for the journey back, but is frustrated that a few people in front of him are wanting coffees which slows up the process of him getting served (and only a couple of minutes left before we have to board our train). Luckily we have a minute to spare and we board our South West Train which is heading for London Waterloo (we are not going that far), and at 10:03am our train departs and we say goodbye to Weymouth for another year. We have to change for our next train at Southampton Central, which means we are on the train for just under an hour and a half, passing through, Parkstone, Poole and Bournemouth before arriving at 11:28am. We have a bit of a break here so I decide to pop out to the front of the station and have some "fresh air" before we have to catch our next train.

After my break is over I rejoin Mr UKBuses on the platform and at 11:46am our Arriva CrossCountry train arrives and we board and take our reserved seats, which are not occupied this time, ready for our journey back. As soon as we leave Southampton, the refreshment trolley makes it way down our carriage and I opt for a bottle of Sharp's "Doombar" to keep my throat wet during this leg of the journey. We are on this train for approximately an hour and a half passing through Oxford before arriving at Banbury, where we have to change for our third leg of the journey back home, again we have a bit of time to spare so I head outside for some "fresh air" before heading back into the station for our next train.  At 13:43pm, our next train arrives and we board a Chiltern Railways train which will take us to Birmingham Moor Street, luckily as we board we spot a table seat straight away so that we can stretch our legs out and we are on this train for 50 minutes before arriving in Birmingham and we pass Warwick, Leamington Spa and Solihull along the way before arriving at Birmingham Moor Street at 14:34pm.

We only have a few minutes to wait, which luckily I can make use of the facilities before our next train arrives. At 14:39pm our London Midland train arrives and surprisingly it is being pulled by a Class 153 train, a train which used to be used on the Stourbridge Shuttle service. We make our way to Birmingham Snow Hill, waiting at the station a few minutes before it carries on along the homeward bound journey. Mr UKBuses has arranged a lift so as we arrive and alight at Stourbridge Junction at 15:08, we say our goodbyes and I head into Stourbridge via the Stourbridge Dodger visiting the bank and shops and also a sneaky pint in J D Wetherspoons "The Chequers Inn" before I make my way back to Stourbridge Interchange and catching a National Express West Midland's service 276 to Wollaston Junction and after alighting I have a short walk home before I can put my legs up for the rest of the day.

The break in Weymouth has been a brilliant few days with fantastic weather, fantastic company and a big thank you goes to Mr UKBuses who had planned all the bus journeys we went on, if it wasn't for the plans, we may have been stuck in the middle of nowhere. No doubt that Weymouth will be visited next year and hopefully there will be a Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day in 2015. I didn't manage a lot, but there are a few depot bald spot photo's below from our holiday in Weymouth:

Depot Bald Spot 1: The bald spot is seen outside Stagecoach South West depot at Exmouth.

Depot Bald Spot 2: The bald spot is seen at Wilts and Dorset's depot at Poole.

Depot Bald Spot 3: The bald spot is seen outside First Wessex's depot at Weymouth just before it caught the train back home.

2014 - Day Out 04: Exeter and Exmouth

Date: Sunday 25 May 2014

Day two of Weymouth break 2014, today sees us visiting another English county and a long time on the buses.

I wake up early and not having a good sleep, I head outside for some "fresh air" before going back to my room and having a lie down and watching the news before getting ready to meet Mr UKBuses for breakfast before we head out for the day. We meet in reception just before 8:00am and make our way to the "Breakfast Room", which is in fact The Lodmoor public house. Its our first breakfast in Weymouth and as is the case when we stay at Travelodge Docklands, it is an all you can eat breakfast so we can pile up as much as we want on our plates. To start off with I get the Cranberry Juice and Mr UKBuses wants some too, I get this for him whilst he gets his coffee and he makes his toast ready for the feast. While Mr UKBuses waits for his toast, I make my way towards the bacon, and I pile on loads of bacon, sausages, hash browns and beans to fill me up for the day ahead. I start whilst Mr UKBuses gets his selection of food and after finishing the feast, I make my way to the yogurt and help myself to a couple including Strawberry and Vanilla flavours. With the Vanilla being very tasty I get a couple more and it looks like I'm nicking all the yogurt when Mr UKBuses yells across the room to get him a couple. With breakfast finished, we let it go down whilst Mr UKBuses finishes his coffee, and before going back to the rooms to get ready for the day ahead, I have some "fresh air". Once we are ready, we meet back up in reception and make our way to the bus stop opposite the hotel.

When we reach the bus stop, being a Sunday service, we find out that there are no services into Weymouth before we have to catch our bus from the Kings Statue, so we head onto the coastal path and walk by the sea, eventually ending up along The Esplanade and after about a mile we arrive at the Kings Statue ready to get our bus, before we do though, we head into the cafe for a bottle of pop to keep us refreshed on our journey ahead, which will see us cross the border from Dorset into Devon. I keep our place in the queue for the bus as it is starting to increase, whilst Mr UKBuses takes a few photographs. Just before 09:20am, our bus arrives and we board First Wessex's service X53 which will take us three and a quarter hours to get to our next destination. The X53 is branded for The Jurassic Coast and as can be seen in the picture right, there is a question to be asked, which one is the dinosaur? We head off into the direction of Bridport and I copy Mr UKBuses and decide to have a nap to try and catch up on sleep that I lost out last night. Before we arrive at Bridport, we pass through Burton Bradstock and West Bay and whilst I'm enjoying my nap, a passenger next to me decides to wake me up to say how wonderful the views of Chesil beach are as we pass it, thanks a lot I was enjoying catching up on my sleep. Wide awake now, I keep my eyes open whilst Mr UKBuses snores away and just over an hour after boarding the bus, we arrive in Bridport coach station. The driver turns off the engine and shouts down the bus that we will be stopping here for about five minutes, so we can get off the bus and stretch our legs if we want. A perfect opportunity it is then, so I decide to alight and grab some "fresh air" as we have another two hours on the bus before arriving at our destination. Break over, I board the bus and retake my seat and we depart Bridport and before our next destination, we pass through Lyme Regis, Beer (yes, there is a place called Beer!) and Seaton before arriving at 12:32pm at Exeter Bus Station. We have about eight minutes here so I grab some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses pops down to the lower level, as being a Sunday there are a lot of Stagecoach vehicles not in service and parked up.

We make our way to Stand 8, and at 12:40pm on time, our Stagecoach South West service 57 bus turns up, so we board buying our Explorer Tickets and take a seat for our journey of just over half an hour, where Mr UKBuses catches another nap before we arrive in Exmouth at 1:16pm. The sun is shining and seeing as we have been on the bus most of the day, we decide to have a break and Mr UKBuses takes me to J D Wetherspoons, "The Powder Monkey" for a drink (even though he took me there, it turns out to be my round!!!!), Mr UKBuses waits at the bar, with my money, to get served whilst I make use of the facilities, and when I return he still hasn't been served even though there are five members of staff behind the bar. Mr UKBuses copies me and makes use of the facilities and when he returns, we are still waiting to be served. Eventually we do get served and seeing as it is a nice day, we decide to sit outside soaking up the rays of the sun in the beer garden located at the entrance to the pub. Drinks over, we go on a short walk and to Stagecoach's depot in Exmouth, taking a few photographs. Photographs over, we head back into town and to the bus stop, we are ahead of schedule and decide to catch the earlier bus back to Exeter so we can spend more time there before travelling back into Dorset.

We board Stagecoach's service 57 again at 1.58pm and make our way back to Exeter, arriving earlier than planned at 2.35pm, which means we have just under an hour to spend in Exeter. Mr UKBuses takes some more photographs and on the plan is a map showing the locations of two J D Wetherspoons pubs in the city. We head off in what we think is the right direction and even though we have walked halfway around Exeter, we are by the Cathedral where one of the pubs are supposed to be located but we cannot see it and give up the search and head for a pint in "The Ship", where we take a seat and give a little fuss to a black Labrador sitting with his owner on the next table. Rest over we make our way back through the city to the bus station and after taking a bladder break (another three and a half hour journey ahead!!), we make our way to Stand 14. We know when our bus will be turning up as we can see it parked up on the lower level and when it is nearly time, we can see it moving and coming up to the bus stop and we board and take our seats ready for the long journey back. We head back through Lyme Regis and have a bit of trouble in Beer when an old bus is at our bus stop where we have to turn around, the bus moves for us and causes a bit of problems for the traffic, once we pick up the passengers, we are on our way and arrive at Bridport at about 5.30pm, where the driver stops the engine, so I make a bolt for the door and whilst he is in the outstation, I get some "fresh air", before boarding and retaking my seat. The driver has been gone a long time and Mr UKBuses worries that he has done a runner and that we are stuck in Bridport, I offer to drive us back but before I can get in the cab, the driver turns up and we are on our way again and just over an hour later, we arrive back at the Kings Statue in Weymouth, where we alight and run up to the next bus stop which means that we catch First Wessex's service 4 back to the hotel, arriving back at 6.53pm.

We have just under half an hour at the hotel, so we quickly freshen up and meet up in reception and make our way to the bus stop opposite where we catch the final bus of the day into Weymouth, First Wessex's service 4, with the same driver who took us to the hotel previously and being as this is the last bus, it doesn't take him long to arrive at the King's Statue dropping us off before going back to the depot around the corner. We are feeling hungry so we head to J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry" and we make our way to the top bar, Mr UKBuses gets the round in and I search for a table. Two trips around the pub and there are no tables available so it looks like we won't be eating here until Mr UKBuses spots people leaving and faster than a bolt of lightning I get the seats before anybody else has the chance to. Mr UKBuses brings the drinks over and we peruse the menu before I go to the bar to order the food. Mr UKBuses opts for his usual BBQ Chicken Melt "Without the melt!" and as I have a sore tooth I need to eat something soft, so I surprise Mr UKBuses and opt for the Scampi and Chips. Seeing as the pub is quite busy it does take longer than usual for the food to arrive but when it does arrive, we soon get to work devouring it. We give it a few minutes to let our food go down and once we finish our pints we head out and sample a couple of our favourite pubs in Weymouth, we make our way down to the bridge and stop there a few minutes as there is a music festival going on, we then continue over the bridge and up the steps to our first pub, "The Chapelhay Tavern". When we arrive the pub is quite busy and Ringwood's Forty-Niner is ordered and we are pleased this year as the pub is being used a bit more and the beer doesn't taste like vinegar, see picture left. We take our seats close to the bar and listen to the coastguard radio.

We spend a bit of time here and give the pub's German Shepherd dog a bit of fuss, she is starting to look a little old now, hopefully she will still be around when we visit next year. Drinks supped and we leave The Chapelhay behind and take a short walk to our next favourite pub and a few minutes later we are walking down the hill and we can see "The Boot", see picture right. As the sun is till shining, we decide to take a seat outside and I go into the bar to get the round, which seeing as it a Ringwood's pub we opt for the Forty-Niner again, when I come out I realise that I have purchased the last two rounds, here and at The Chapelhay, so no wonder Mr UKBuses has to get a seat quick, as his wallet must be getting heavy for him to carry around. In the space opposite there are a few people enjoying the sun and the pub must have been and still is quite busy with live music blaring out from the pub, seeing as it sunny and also a Bank Holiday tomorrow the people are celebrating the fact and this can be seen with the people enjoying themselves opposite. Whilst we are outside it is rude not to have some "fresh air" and once the break is over we finish off our drinks and head to the next favourite of ours.

We make our way down to the harbour bridge and also try and spot where the webcam is situated and across the bridge we go and down one of the side streets where we come across another one of our favourite pubs and it is also our second visit this year to "The Globe", see picture left. Mr UKBuses purchases the drinks, which are Dartmoor Brewery's "Jail Ale" and once I come round after passing out when he got his wallet out, the pub celebrates his purchase and seeing as his "Stan" stool is not available tonight, we spot the pool table, so decide to have a game. With the balls racked up, we have a good game which sees me being victorious. Whilst we were playing, a young woman put her money on the table and seeing as I was the winner, it is up to me to take her on. She breaks and she gets off to a bad start, but as the game progresses, she starts potting her colours and eventually she gains the win, Mr UKBuses is in the corner having a giggle and being the true gentleman, hands are shaken and congratulations are handed out to her. It is starting to get late now, so Mr UKBuses and myself decide to finish our drinks and make our way back to the hotel,

As there are no buses running to the hotel on Sunday nights, it is decided that we get a taxi and I dial one and we only wait a few minutes before it arrives. I also know what to look out for as when I ended the call to the taxi office, a text came through telling me what colour and kind of taxi is coming to pick us up. We get in the taxi and it doesn't take too long for us to get back to the hotel. With the taxi driver dropping us outside "The Lodmoor", we decide to have a final pint of the night in the Brewers Fayre chained public house, see picture right.  With the bar not closing until 11pm, I decide to have one more for a nightcap whilst Mr UKBuses retires to his room. I bid him goodnight and after I finish my drink, instead of going straight back to the room, I cross the road and take a seat by the sea and have a final "fresh air" break listening to the waves and looking at the lights in the town. Once my fresh air has gone, I make my way back to the hotel room, where I decide to keep Mr UKBuses awake by coughing as I pass his door. I get into bed ready to get some sleep for the next day and I am glad to say that the sleepless night the previous evening had caught up with me and I went straight to sleep and had a good night's kip and due to the later start in the morning it was good knowing that I could have a lie in.

With brilliant weather and a visit to some favourites on the evening, day two has been a brilliant day, and better sleep was had that night.