2013 - Day Out 05: Weymouth and Poole

Date: Friday 14 June 2013

It is time for our yearly weekend away to Weymouth, with the Vintage Bus Running Day taking place on Sunday, we always pop down for a few days to explore the local area and also the town's public houses on the evening. It seems to have been a long time coming, but the time has finally arrived and we are on our way to the seaside.

Bags packed and finish work early on the Thursday, all ready and prepared for the weekend away, but disaster strikes before we even leave Stourbridge. On Wednesday, my leg started to ache and on the Thursday it was a bit sorer, as I was making my way back from work I was finding it hard to put weight on my left leg, so after a visit to the Walk-In Clinic, I'm told that I have a skin infection and to keep weight off it and rest it as much as I can and am given Antibiotics, it makes a good start to the weekend break in Weymouth. Luckily I manage to get hold of a walking stick to help with keeping some weight of my leg.

The day arrives and it is time to make our way to Weymouth, the leg is still sore to walk on, so after ringing Mr UKBuses, we get a lift to Stourbridge Junction (seeing Mr UKBuses new puppy as we pick him up) and upon arrival a "fresh air break" is taken ready for the first leg of our journey. Our first train arrives and we board the 07:38 Chiltern Railways train which means I can rest my leg as we have to go all the way to Banbury passing through Birmingham Snow Hill, Birmingham Moor Street, Solihull and Warwick along the way and we arrive on time at Banbury at 09:00. The original plan was to have breakfast at J D Wetherspoons and with directions in hand we make our way. Due to my leg hurting and walking slowly we decide to pop into a McDonalds instead to have a bacon roll and I get waitress service and it is bought to my table while Mr UKBuses has to wait for his and carry his own across. After breakfast is consumed it is time for the second leg of our journey and we slowly (well I do) make our way back to Banbury Railway Station, where upon arrival, a quick "fresh air" break is taken before making our way to the platform to get our 09:55 Arriva CrossCountry train to take us to Bournemouth, passing through Oxford and Reading along the way. As the train fills I can't rest my leg on the opposite seat as someone takes the place and as she falls asleep, her legs stretch out underneath the table which means I have less and less room to keep my leg rested and it soon starts to ache. We arrive in Southampton Central and normally we would alight here for our final part of the journey, but we stay onboard and shortly after we arrive in Bournemouth at 12:12.

We have a bit of time, so we make our way to the front of the station enabling me to look after the luggage and have some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses takes some photographs of the vehicles parked opposite the railway station. Photographs taken and we make our way back inside the station where we find that our final train we have to catch is already at the platform, so we board and take our seats and rest my leg. Our South West Train pulls out of the station on time at 12:24 and we pass through Wareham and Dorchester South before arriving in Sunny Weymouth at 13:10. Normally I would run down the platform to the front of the station to get some much needed "fresh air", but I hobble outside to get my fix before returning to the ticket office to get our return tickets to Poole for our evening out. Tickets purchased and we make our way to the hotel to see if we can check in. We arrive at our lodgings for the weekend, The Royal Hotel, situated on the seafront and not too far from The Kings Statue and as we enquire about booking in, we are told that we can't check in until 3pm, but they kindly let us leave our bags at the hotel.

We decide to have a little walk around the Weymouth (a slow walk for me), and our first port of call is J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry" where our first pint of the weekend is sampled. Drinks finished and we make our way into town, but first I sample the lift in The William Henry and decide it is faster to hobble down the steps. As we walk around the town, I decide to get some painkillers to help ease the pain and after taking a couple we make an unexpected visit to "The Cutter", normally we visit this on the evening, but we break with tradition and sample the public house in the daytime. The place was quiet but the friendly banter between the regulars and the bar staff kept us amused. After our drinks, we hobble back to the hotel where we check in and we have a rest for a couple of hours giving me time to rest my now aching leg.

Good to see that Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses are promtoing local attractions (Mr D9 is on the left, with his more balder head)

Time to meet up with Mr UKBuses in the hotel bar before we go to Poole for the evening to meet relatives of Mr UKBuses, as I awake and get out of my bed and put pressure on my leg, I find it unbearable to put a lot of weight on it, I hobble my way down to the hotel bar and after ordering my drink, the barmaid takes pity on me and carries it across to the table I want to sit at. Mr UKBuses makes his way down to the hotel bar and has to carry his drink from the bar himself. I'm in a bit of pain at the moment, so I decide reluctantly to stay at the hotel and rest my leg a bit more. Mr UKBuses makes his way to the railway station and is off to Poole sadly alone. I finish my drink and go to the nearest chip shop, which luckily is only a few doors away before hobbling down to the railway station myself to see if I can get a refund on the tickets I purchased earlier, sadly I could not, so make my way back to the hotel, but do see and advertisement on the way back with Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses promoting the local zoo (even catching Mr UKBuses favourite person Claire Balding in the background), I do get back to the hotel and rest my leg for a few more hours. As I'm resting Mr UKBuses rings me as he has this suspicion that I have "sneaked" someone into my room while he is at Poole, sadly he was wrong.

After resting my leg for a bit, I decide to try a pub that is only two doors away and have walked past for a few years without stepping foot inside. The only problem is that when I get there, I do have to make my way down a flight of stairs and I set foot into "Moby Dicks" for the first time, and as I get a seat to rest my leg again, I am treated to entertainment from a local trio who performs a few songs for us customers. I text Mr UKBuses to let me know where I am and if he wants to join me for a nightcap upon his return from Poole, as the time nears when he is due back in Weymouth he sends a text to say that he is going straight back to the hotel and what time to meet for breakfast in the morning. After a couple of pints in the Moby Dick's pub, I make my way back up the stairs, stopping at the hotel bar for a nightcap before hobbling back up to my room for a well deserved night's sleep.

A tiring and painful day, bit disappointed that I didn't make the trip to Poole in the evening with Mr UKBuses. A bit of rest of my leg will keep it healthy enough for the trips tomorrow, or so I hope

2013 - Day Out 02: Wollaston

Date: Saturday 09 March 2013

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

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

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

Mr SBI in The Unicorn

Mr WME in The Princess

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

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

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

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

Ooosh From Katie Fitzgerald's

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

Not Celebrating The Cheapest Round!

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

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

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 12: Salisbury, Bournemouth and Swanage

Date: Saturday 16 June 2012

It is the second day of our weekend away in Weymouth, Dorset and after a good nights sleep at The Alendale, it is time to explore Dorset further afield as we visit quite a few towns and villages using our Explorer Day Tickets on First and Wilts and Dorset buses.

I wake up early so I decide to have a walk across the seafront up to The Kings Statue and get myself a newspaper from the local convenience store, walking back along the sea front enjoying the morning sea air to have a read before I meet up with Mr UKBuses for our first Alendale breakfast of this year. At 08.00 we take our seats at our breakfast table in the window and our host's Moira and Jim (Denise and Jim, the owners are away for a few days) greet us and take our order, Mr UKBuses opts for the standard English breakfast, but I opt for the Scottish breakfast complete with Potato Scones and Haggis. After devouring our breakfast we crawl back up the stairs to get ready for our tour of Dorset. We pay for our rooms before we leave for the day, and then make our way up The Esplanade in glorious sunshine (weather was wrong again) to The Kings Statue where we have time for a few photographs before catching our first bus of the day. Wilts and Dorset's service 183 to Blandford arrives , see picture left, and we board buying our Explorer Day Tickets (which can be used on both First in Dorset and Wilts and Dorset buses) and taking our seats upstairs before the bus pulls off at 09:10 giving us a chance to let our gut-busting breakfasts to go down. We make our way through Puddletown and Milborne St Andrew before arriving at Blandford. This is not our first destination of the day, this will be at the end of the next service which is service 184, which the bus that we are sitting on changes to, so we don't have to move from our seats.

We make our way from Blandford and arrive at Blandford Army Camp where a soldier boards and checks up and down stairs before we can move on from the entrance, I'm surprised that Mr UKBuses was not chucked off the bus as he is always looking suspicious. We spend the next five to ten minutes riding around the camp before arriving at the entrance, where unbeknown to me the soldier that checked the bus when we arrived was still on board, but he alights and opens the gates for us so that we can make our way onto our first destination. It has been nearly two hours since we boarded the bus, but at approximately 11:20 we arrive at our first destination, Salisbury - We won't be passing Stonehenge today but I did ask Mr UKBuses what it was like to be a part of the construction team, I cannot inform you of his reply. Mr UKBuses gets his camera out straight away, whilst I get my "fresh air" tablets out straight away and have a "break" whilst Mr UKBuses is snapping away. We make our way through the town, getting lost along the way but eventually we find the local Wilts and Dorset bus depot and after taking a few more photographs, we make our way into the Town Centre to have a little explore before heading back to the bus station to get to our next destination.

Wilts and Dorset's service X3 arrives and lays over for a few minutes before we can board, just in time as there are a few raindrops starting to fall, and at 12:10 we make our way to the next destination, Ringwood, home of the Ringwood Brewery, but we won't have time to sample any today as we are virtually just passing through. After a journey of forty minutes, we arrive at Ringwood, which is in fact across the border in Hampshire and with the brief rain shower now stopped, I get some more "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses crosses the road to take a few photographs. I cross the road to join him but as I cross the road he is nowhere to be seen and I walk up and down the street for about five to ten minutes looking for him, I return to the bus shelter and he suddenly appears saying he had been their all the time (but I doubt that). We only have a few minutes to wait before our next Wilts and Dorset bus turns up, which is service X6, a recently introduced Express service to Bournemouth. The bus turns up on time at 13:06, but departs the stop a few minutes late after an enquiring passenger holds up the driver. Despite this delay, we still arrive in Bournemouth for an impressive 13:32 and after taking a few photographs along Gervis Place we decide to have a quick one in J D Wetherspoons, "The Moon In The Square", Mr UKBuses does his usual trick by going to the toilet which means that I am the one having to pay for the round. Fortunately for me, this plan didn't work as when he came back from the toilet I was still waiting to be served and looking like it would be some time before we would get served, we decided that we wouldn't wait any longer and make our way along Gervis Place to our bus stop to wait for our open top bus to take us to our next destination.

It is just after 14:00 and our Wilts and Dorset "Purbeck Breezer" service 50 arrives and we board taking our seats at the back of the open topper, which now as a door between the open top part and enclosed front part, but I wouldn't like to be sitting close to it as it had a nasty habit of swinging open quite quickly whilst en-route. We have a few minutes to wait before we are on our way and we make our way through Bournemouth and into Sandbanks (with a bit of sand getting into our eyes). We wait at Sandbanks for a few minutes for the ferry. We finally board and after a couple of minutes of swaying on the top deck, we decide to continue our journey on the bottom deck, which means that there won't be a chance for Mr UKBuses to be hit over the head with a tree branch, even though his Brylcreem needs to be taken back as his hair has moved!! We come off the Sandbanks ferry and carry on our journey with us reaching Swanage at 15:10 pulling up outside the Swanage Heritage Railway Station, we thank the driver even though it wasn't the pretty driver that we had last year - even though I did keep my eye out for her. We take a few photographs and walk down by the track to Wilts and Dorset's little depot and after taking a few more photographs we make our way back to the bus stop to get our next bus, which is where I see a flaw in Mr UKBuses plan, the next service is not until another half an hour with the summer timetable not actually yet in operation. We decide to have a walk into Swanage town and decide to have a quick pint in The White Swan where Mr UKBuses has a piddle and I have a pint of Piddle (which luckily was not the same thing), see picture right. After finishing our drinks we make our way back to the railway station where our next bus turns up, Wilts and Dorset's service 40, which departs at 16:05. The journey to our next destination takes just over an hour passing through Corfu Castle and Wareham before arriving at Poole at 17:15.

Whilst we wait in Poole we have time to take a few photographs at the bus station and we also have a walk around the corner to the Wilts and Dorset's Poole depot to take a few photographs, with buses being parked up ready to be cleaned for the next day's service. After a walk by the depot, we head back into Poole bus station where we will catch our bus back to Weymouth, and this will be the one and only time today that it will be a First in Dorset bus, but as we board the driver does allows us on as we explain that it is a Explorer ticket and at 17:40 we reverse out of Poole bus station and head back passing through Wareham and Preston before arriving at Weymouth at 18:50. We head back to The Alendale to have a freshen up before we hit the town. I tell Mr UKBuses to meet me in my regular, "The Waterloo" when he is ready and after I have a quick freshen up, I make my way around the corner to my regular and wait for Mr UKBuses. After about half an hour, Mr UKBuses arrives at The Waterloo and times it right as I am just about to go to the bar. Drinks purchased we sit down and he says that he doesn't mind The Waterloo after he thought that it wasn't a good choice when I discovered it a few years ago, but his mind has been changed. We finish our drinks and head up towards the town centre.

Our first stop in the town is a place that Mr WME discovered on our visit last year, "The Globe", and we sample the Jail Ale, there is no room at the bar so we take a seat in the corner. Mr UKBuses also enjoys this discovery and whilst we are in The Globe, we notice that there are a few deaf people that use the pub with a bit of sign language going on for a table discussion. After our visit to The Globe we also take a walk around the corner to another one of our favourites, "The Cutter", a pub that we nearly decide not to go in as the is a fracas going on outside as we near, but it soon dies down and we decide to enter. Mr UKBuses regrets this decision once he finds out that the pub is being host tonight to Karaoke, and even though I cannot tempt Mr UKBuses to get behind the microphone, I belt out a couple of tunes, mainly Metallica and even though we are about to go for a curry, I delay proceedings by about half an hour by belting out a few more of the heavier tunes of Metallica before we leave. After leaving The Cutter we make our way around to Chillies for our curry. After we have devoured our curry, we have a look at the First Depot which is virtually opposite, but we can not go for a drink in The Brownlow as we noticed that the pub has been boarded up as we went past it when we arrived on the train yesterday afternoon. After a look around the depot, we make our way back to The Alendale where Moira and Jim are still up, Mr UKBuses decides to retire, but me and Jim decide to have a nightcap around The Waterloo, but when we arrive it is closed, so Jim goes back to the guest house but I return to The Cutter to sing a few more tunes to the unsuspecting punters, I choose a couple of Metallica tunes, a couple of Bon Jovi tunes and a Robbie Williams tune before I decide to have a slow walk along the sea front with the new lasers lighting up the beach before returning to The Alendale for a good nights sleep, ready for the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day.

Another excellent day exploring Dorset followed by a tour of Weymouth and a return of "The Rog" to Karaoke, I enjoyed it even though I could hardly speak at the end of the night.

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.

2012 - Day Out 10: London

Date: Saturday 19 May 2012

It is time to go to London again, and this will be the last time for a while, we are giving it a miss whilst the Olympics take place when London will be at full capacity. On today's trip we give a warm welcome back to Mr D9, his first trip of 2012 with us so the ARM's are back together at long last.

It is an early start again and I make my way to Wollaston to catch the first National Express West Midlands Service 276 at 06.36am. The bus pulls up in the bus stop opposite at 06.34am, but the driver decides to get off and go for a walk and finally gets back on the bus and pulls up at the stop at 06.46am, leaving ten minutes late. I send the standard text to Mr UKBuses, who boards the bus at Norton, after taking his seat we stay on the bus passing through Stourbridge Interchange before arriving at Brook Road, our stop where we get off for a short walk to Stourbridge Junction. I have time for a quick "fresh air" break before we make our way to Platform 2 and after a short wait, our Chiltern Train arrives at 07.22am, strangely there are two trains on this service, so Mr UKBuses and myself board the second train behind and take our seats where we await the return of Mr D9, a text has been sent to board the second train behind. We arrive at The Hawthorns where Mr UKBuses decides to stand by the door to show Mr D9 where we are, but despite shouting at him, Mr D9 boards the train in front, at least he is on the train. Between The Hawthorns and Birmingham Snow Hill, contact is made and a quick train change is needed by Mr D9 at Snow Hill, it is my turn to stand by the doors, and Mr D9 makes a mad dash from the front of the train to our carriage on the second train, he looks like he is doing a 100m sprint, someone must have forgot to tell him that the Olympics are not for a couple of months yet!

With the group being back together and Mr D9 getting his breath back, we leave Birmingham Snow Hill and make our way to London Marylebone via Solihull and High Wycombe. Disaster strikes, just after we pass Solihull there is an announcement that we are being held up due to signal problems which eventually turns out to be an half hour wait, we pass the time by looking at old pictures of Stourbridge Bus Station in the 1970's to see if we can find the past reincarnation of Mr UKBuses, fortunately we did not see him, but we did not look at the pictures of "The Vauxhall", as he was more probably to show up on those pictures. We are on the move and we arrive at London Marylebone just under half hour later than scheduled, I make my way off the train and leave Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses for dust as I make my way outside to get some "fresh air" which was long overdue. "Fresh air" break over and with Mr D9 with his London One Day Travelcard and Mr UKBuses and myself with our OysterCards at the ready, we make our way onto the London Underground.

First of all we make our way from London Marylebone to Baker Street on the Bakerloo Line, which we could have walked as I found out on a previous trip to London that it is quicker to walk to the next station avoiding the long escalators. Our first journey on the underground is well underway, and we change at Baker Street onto the Jubilee Line and make our way to the second destination of the day (to make up time we miss out our planned London Bridge stop) which is Bermondsey, Mr D9 is pleased as he said that this was the first time that he has actually sat down on a tube train. We arrive at Bermondsey and make our way to ground and turn left down Jamaica Road, where Mr D9 and myself decide to "The Lambeth Walk" as well as singing over some other cockney songs along the way. We arrive at our destination, this being the filming location for The "London's Burning" TV Series, Dockhead Fire Station, which doubles up as Blackwall Fire Station, see picture right, in the TV Series. Pictures taken from the front and back of the station, we make our way to the main road where we luckily catch Stagecoach London Service 47 to Liverpool Street Station, along the way we pass a big crowd of West Ham football supporters, with Mr D9 standing up on the top deck and shouting "Chelsea" out of the window at them, luckily the bus does not stop and we avoid a riot.

We arrive at Liverpool Street Station, and seemingly we are back on schedule, we catch a London Overground train to Whitechapel where we introduce Mr D9 to our London Regular, "The Blind Beggar", Mr UKBuses reminds me that I am buying the first round, so we make our way out of Whitechapel Tube Station and make our usual turn left to take us to our regular. It seems that Mr D9 won't get to sample our regular as it is not open and as it is just before 11.30am, it doesn't look like it will be opening within the next half-hour, so we make our way back to Whitechapel Tube Station where we have a short wait for a District Line train which takes us to Westminster. We arrive at Westminster Tube Station and make our way to ground where Mr D9 is greeted to Big Ben standing proud in front of him (I'm talking about the clock tower!!!), Mr D9 gets his picture taken in front of Big Ben, see picture left, and after the photograph is taken, Mr D9 gets a few shots of the old telephone boxes in the Westminster area, I didn't realise that they were different types, Mr D9 explains the differences along the way as we walk up Whitehall, passing Downing Street and the Horse Guard Parade along the way before we reach our lunchtime destination, J D Wetherspoons "Lord Moon of The Mall" but as we arrive the place is packed with no seats available, we make our way across the road to "The Silver Cross", a pub that we have visited before with Mr WME, but after looking at the price hike on the menu's we decide to leave and make our way to Victoria. We catch London General's Service 24, which takes us back to where we have just come from, it is not long before we arrive at Victoria and we make our way to the second J D Wetherspoons (and a favourite of ours) of the day "The Willow Walk". Mr UKBuses informs me that it is my round, but despite stating that the first round was at The Blind Beggar (wasn't my fault that it wasn't open), he was still insisting that my round is first. As we walk in, the place is packed and there are no seats available again, but we decide to have a drink, with me buying!!! As we start our drinks we keep our eyes peeled for a table to become free, I spot one and try to keep it safe, but when I look around, Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses have disappeared, they have found another table. We take our seats and look at the menu and food is ordered. Mr D9 opts for a gourmet burger, which arrives on a Wooden chopping board, Mr UKBuses has his BBQ Chicken Melt without the Melt and I opt for a Skinny Chicken Burger but I didn't read the menu properly as it arrives with just salad and no chips. We have one more drink before we leave, with Mr D9 paying for the round.

We have a change of plan to get to our next destination, so we enter Victoria Underground Station and board a District Line train to Wimbledon Station, changing at Earl's Court Underground Station along the way, a station which we have never visited before and it does have an old feel to it. We arrive at Wimbledon  Station and it is straight onto the Croyden Tram Link where we alight at Mordon Road to get us to the next filming location of the day. It has been over two years since The Bill has stopped filming, but at the studios, the facade of Sun Hill Police Station still exists, minus the signs, see picture right. After taking photographs, Mr D9 and myself decide to use a footpath nearby where the bushes come in handy for the drinks that we had at The Willow Walk, after our unplanned bladder stop we make our way back to the Mordon Road Tram Stop and catch the Croyden Tramlink back to Wimbledon, where leave the station for an unplanned "fresh air" break. After the break, we make our way back into Wimbledon Station where we catch the District Line train back to Victoria and upon arrival we are in time for the planned "Borismaster", we wait and wait and the "Borismaster" does not show, so we catch a normal Arriva London service 38 to Tottenham Court Road Tube Station, but on our way there we see the "Borismaster" going in the opposite direction, it seems to be eluding us but I am sure that we will get to sample it in the future. We arrive close to Tottenham Court Road Tube Station, but we cannot see it, so instead we have a walk to Holburn Tube Station where we catch a Picadilly Line service to Baker Street, where we change to the Bakerloo Line back to London Marylebone, Mr UKBuses has the right seat though, see picture below.

Upon arrival at the station we notice that we have a bit of time before our planned train, so we visit the public house situated in the station, Mr UKBuses thought that he was going to escape buying a round today, but I bet he wishes that he purchased the first round at The Willow Walk as he ends up paying the most expensive round of the day, costing nearly twice as much as what Mr D9 and myself paid out earlier for our rounds. After supping our drinks, I have a "fresh air" break ahead of our journey and we board the 17.24pm Chiltern Railways service back to Birmingham, luckily we get a table seat right at the back of the train just before loads of Blackpool Football Club supporters board blocking the gangways for the journey ahead, the train does an unexpected stop at Wembley Station to pick up some more. We arrive back at Birmingham and change at Birmingham Moor Street, where after another "fresh air" break and bladder stop, we change platforms and catch the London Midland train back to Stourbridge Junction, as we near The Hawthorns we say goodbye to Mr D9, with Mr UKBuses and myself arriving back at Stourbridge Junction changing platforms to catch the "Stourbridge Dodger" being driven by Bridge Radio DJ Phil Tonks, ensuring a safe journey for the 0.8 miles of track into Stourbridge Interchange. From there we catch Black Diamond's Service 276C back home saying goodbye to Mr UKBuses along the way.

It was a good day out thanks to the good company of Mr UKBuses and Mr D9, and it was all possible thanks to the excellent plan that Mr UKBuses came up with. It's goodbye to London for a while, but I'm sure that we will be back later in 2012.

Andy's Bald Cranium (ABC)

Bald Spot 1: An early shot of the bald spot is captured as we board our tube train towards Bermondsay.

Bald Spot 2: The bald spot is captured opposite Big Ben.

Bald Spot 3: The bald spot is pictured close to the Cenotaph, this was taken with the kind distraction from Mr UKBuses.

Bald Spot 4: The bald spot is making an appearance for the Prime Minister at Downing Street.

2012 - Day Out 07: London

Date: Saturday 07 April 2012

It is Easter, so to start off my four day break, we decide to make an Easter visit to London in what looks like on paper to be a "cracking" Easter trip.

It is an early start and I make my way to Wollaston where I catch the first National Express West Midlands Service 276 of the day at 06.36am. The bus pulls up early so the driver kindly lets me on to warm up, as I am waiting he comes up to me to ask "Is the new bus station open yet, as it is on my paperwork". I could have said "Yes", so that I would be on the first bus to go into the interchange, but I think the security fences across the entrance would have given my game away. As I pass the Stourbridge Crematorium, I send Mr UKBuses his usual text which is to get out of bed and get your arse up to the stop. The text worked as he is waiting when the bus arrives. After he boards, we make our way to Stourbridge Junction, passing the new interchange that I tried to get us in, as we arrive close to the junction, Mr UKBuses asks the driver to drop us off up the road which is a bit closer to the station, he'll do anything to save a bit of shoe leather. We have twenty minutes to wait, so we have a warm in the waiting room before our 07.22am Chiltern Train arrives and this time we don't stay on the train as we have to change at Birmingham Moor Street to change to Birmingham New Street and catch a Virgin Train. We arrive at Birmingham Moor Street at 07.54am and we take a short walk through "The Tunnel" where some tramp asks me for a cigarette, which I duly give him, but as I carry on a few hundred yards up the road, he yells for a light, lets just say he had to wait a bit longer. We arrive at Birmingham New Street, where we get some refreshments ready for the journey ahead and then we decide to have a Bacon Roll from Burger King (in honour of Phil Tonks - The Bacon King). After the rolls are consumed, I have time for a bit of "fresh air" before catching our Virgin Train.

We board our train and before we board we have a long walk to Coach A which is at the back of the train, we have the same problem when we alight at London Euston. The train leaves Birmingham New Street and on the journey we stop at Birmingham International, Coventry and Milton Keynes. I pass the time by messaging Phil Tonks via Facebook asking questions about the Stourbridge Interchange opening, later messages turn to Breakfasts (Bacon!), Health and Safety and Extreme and Unusual Health and Safety regarding Mr UKBuses wallet. Whilst this conversation is in place, Mr UKBuses is having a nap and as we pass Milton Keynes, the snoring gets louder to the amusement of other passengers in Coach A. Just before 09.55am, we pull into London Euston and after a long walk to the concourse, it is time for a break outside, which Mr UKBuses has fitted into the plan enabling a "fresh air break" before we start our day around London.

We make our first scan of the Oyster today (and also our cash on the card is topped up on our first scan), this time at London Euston underground station. After we pass the barriers, we get onto the Victoria Line and go a couple of stations, Green Park, where we alight and change onto the Jubilee Line so that we can get to our first planned destination, which Mr UKBuses has kindly put in the plan for me. After being on the Jubilee Line for about fifteen minutes, we alight at North Greenwich and as we leave the station, we can clearly see our first destination, The O2 Arena, a place I will be visiting on Monday 16 April when I go to see the WWE Raw Supershow, which is being taped to be shown on TV in the UK and United States (Plus more countries around the world) so I may be on the TV again following my first appearance last November. After looking where I need to go when I return to London in just over a week, we have a walk around to the bus station, where Mr UKBuses is in snap happy mode and has started his picture count for the day. From here we catch Abellio London's 188 service to take us to The Cutty Sark Dockland Light Railway Station, but as we pass through the streets and see Deptford Fire Station, we realise that we have gone past our stop, so we alight and cross over, where almost instantly another service 188 turns up to take us a short journey back in the right direction and we alight at the right stop. As we alight there is a J D Wetherspoons right in front of us, so Mr UKBuses leads the way into "The Gate Clock" and as I order the drinks, Mr UKBuses makes a mad dash to use the facilities, which he makes good use of with the amount of time he was gone. We have a few minutes break and make our way to the DLR Station which is located at the back of the pub.

We make our way into the station and we make our way down (!?) to the platform where we board and take the short journey to Canary Wharf, along the way we pass The Britannia Hotel bring memories flooding back from my stays there with work a few years ago. As we arrive at Canary Wharf DLR Station we take the short walk to the underground station, where we go on the Jubilee Line once more before changing onto the Victoria Line at Green Park to get to Victoria. We alight and make our way to the ground and into the bus station where works are causing hold ups, but we cannot see any Borismasters being held up, so we head to our second J D Wetherspoons of the day, "The Willow Walk" and also the place we have lunch. I order the drinks and Mr UKBuses gets a table, the same table as we had on our last visit. After perusing the menu we have the normal, BBQ Chicken Melt "without the melt" for Mr UKBuses and Beer and Burger for myself. The meals take a while to arrive, and we delve into the food once they do arrive. We are a little bit let down on this visit with the food, I found my chicken burger to be a bit dry, whilst Mr UKBuses seemed to have had the "melt" and then taken off again before being brought to the table, which Mr UKBuses found out as he saw bits of it on his chicken. We finish our drinks and head back to Victoria hoping to catch the new Borismaster, with two now being in service, our chances seem greater. We arrive at Victoria bus station and no Borismaster is in sight, whilst Mr UKBuses is taking a few photographs, I go to the traffic enquiry office and ask when one is due. There isn't. On Saturdays and Sundays, the Borismaster's are used for driver training duties, so we won't be catching one for a bit. We get on a standard Arriva London service 38.

We are on service 38 for approximately an hour, so Mr UKBuses has his afternoon nap and I also join in, but we do wake up in time for our stop. As we near our destination of Dalston Junction, Mr D9 seems to have lent me his bladder and luckily after alighting, we spot an "on-the-street" toilet and I put my ten pence in and nothing happens, I put another one in and still the door does not open. I want to "spend a penny", have spent a total of "twenty penny's", and now I am still desperate. We have a walk around to see if we can find another "convenience" and after a few minutes we find the local library. Whilst I enquire about the toilets at the enquiries desk, Mr UKBuses sneaks into the toilet and when I get there I have to wait longer. After our visit to the library, we make our way to Dalstan Junction station for a new experience, The Overground. We are only on the train for a few stops, but it was weird, especially as you can see from the one end of the train all the way to the other end. We soon arrive at Whitechapel, using a different entrance to the station lobby, and we then walk the few steps to our London regular, "The Blind Beggar". We walk in and it is Mr UKBuses round, but he must have had a prior word with the Landlord seeing as we order the drinks at the same time, but he asks us both to pay for our drinks separately. Mr UKBuses does give me the money to pay for my drink in the end. We take our seats and the Malaysian Grand Prix highlights are being shown on TV, and the landlord has a chat with us, making our visit today more special and friendly. After we finish our drinks, we say our goodbyes and make our way back to Whitechapel station, this time going on the underground and after scanning in, we catch a District Line train which takes us on the short journey to Tower Hill.

We make our way from the underground and we appear opposite the Tower of London, where we have a short wait for our Heritage Service 15, or that's what we thought. As we are waiting at the bus stop, we see the Routemaster coming, but at great speed . . . straight past us. We have to wait for a normal Stagecoach London operated Service 15, and it seemed that there may have been problems as it is a long wait. During the wait, I notice that Mr UKBuses has not escaped the clutches of National Express, he may have not seen a coach, but he missed the bus stop! The bus does arrive, and we board, but not without being pushed from the back and side as everyone else wants to get a seat too, luckily Mr UKBuses and myself get a back seat and we get comfortable for the journey ahead. This journey is the first ride on a London bus that I did not enjoy, and the driver must have the patience of a saint as all along the journey, people were standing on the top deck and on the stairs despite being told not to again and again, but the worst part of the journey was when someone continually kept on pressing the button. A bit further along the trip, we decide to get off the bus early and have a little walk to Charing Cross, as I walk along the road I can still hear ringing in my ears. Due to the late running of Service 15, we decide to get onto the Northern Line at Charing Cross and go straight to London Euston, instead of the original plan of  walking to Westminster and getting the Jubilee and Victoria Line trains.

We arrive back at London Euston and we visit Marks and Spencer's to get a sandwich for the journey back. After our purchases, we make our way to the concourse and wait for our train to come up with a platform, as we are waiting Mr UKBuses enquires what sandwich I have purchased, I notice that I have picked up the wrong sandwich, so I go back to Marks and Spencer's to exchange it whilst Mr UKBuses waits on the concourse. When I get back to Marks and Spencer's they inform me that they cannot exchange my sandwich as I have taken it off the premises, so angrily, I leave the shop and make my way back to the station concourse where Mr UKBuses is waiting for me and we board our 5.03pm Virgin train back to Birmingham. Before the train sets off, we both make a visit to the toilet before getting comfortable. Mr UKBuses starts to eat his sandwich, but I get the last laugh as I visit the shop for a replacement sandwich and come back with a hot bacon roll (Mr Tonks will be so proud), and after that is consumed we enjoy the ride stopping at Rugby, Coventry and Birmingham International before arriving back at Birmingham New Street. We take the short walk back to Birmingham Moor Street, with no one asking me for a cigarette this time, where we catch the train on a short journey to Birmingham Snow Hill where we change and catch the London Midland service to Stourbridge Junction. Upon arrival at Stourbridge Junction we change platforms to get "The Stourbridge Dodger", with Mr Tonks not seen (he must have been in the break room having a pot noodle). We make the three minute journey to Stourbridge Town and the driver of Black Diamond's Service 276A, kindly lets us on early, saving us a walk to take us back home, I go back home via the Lucky House Chinese takeaway for my now usual post-trip supper.

Despite the late problems with Stagecoach London Service 15, it was a good day out, which was all down to Mr UKBuses and his excellent plan once more, without his plans, the trips could not happen, Thanks Mr UKBuses.