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 01: Worcestershire

Date: Saturday 01 February 2014

It is time for the first outing of 2014 and we decide to stay local and visit a few towns of a wet Worcestershire.

It is our first outing and as I wake up I have a very sore throat and also a nasty cough, a brilliant start to the day. After devouring breakfast, I ensure I have everything for the day ahead including the camera and plan and make my way out up towards Norton to meet up with Mr UKBuses. As I make my way across Swan Pool Park and even though I'm wrapped in many layers of clothing, I can still feel the chill and make my way up The Broadway stopping off at The Broadway shops to get myself a bottle of still Vimto to help soothe my sore throat. There is no sign of Mr UKBuses, so I make my way towards his house, sending him a text along the way to "Get Out of Bed!", I am just around the corner and he appears. With the morning greetings out of the way, we make our way to Norton Road to wait for our first bus of the day and as we are waiting my mom and dad pass by so an obliquity wave is handed out by both of us. We are not long at the stop when Whittle's Service 125 arrives from Stourbridge and we board paying our £3.20 return fare (we can't buy the Connecta Day Ticket until we get past the Old Waggon and Horses at Iverley) and make our way to the back of the bus where Mr D9 is waiting for us (and it is good to see him again). We pass through The Broadwaters on our way to Kidderminster, where at 09:30 hours Mr D9 is pleased when the Cash Counter reports to Mr UKBuses, and after the recent wet weather, the local stream has turned more into a river, up the hill we go from The Broadwaters past The Land Oak and down Comberton Hill past The Railway Station into Kidderminster Town Centre and Kidderminster Bus Station, where we alight.

We don't have long to wait for our next bus, which is good considering the chill in the air, so we hang around the bus station taking a few photographs and also get commandeered by an old man wearing a Severn Valley Railway jumper informing us of the buildings we are standing by which used to be part of one of the biggest employers in Kidderminster, Brintons Carpets. We do eventually get rid of him and make our way to Stand 7 where we board Whittles Service 2C which takes us to our first location of the day Bewdley, to get us there we first purchase our Connecta Day Ticket from the driver. We head past the Safari Park ensuring that no-one mistakes Mr D9 or Mr UKBuses as one of an escaped monkey, before arriving in Bewdley, where as we head towards the river we can see that the recent wet weather has taken its toll on the River Severn and the flood defences have been employed. We alight in Load Street and as it is cold, we make our way to J D Wetherspoons "The George Hotel", see picture right, where we purchase our pints and keep warm. Once the drinks have been supped, we leave enough time to have a walk down by the riverside where we can see that the river has already started to burst its banks, see picture below, slightly before making our way back to the bus stop to get our next bus back to Kidderminster. We wait for our bus, but instead of our original service (292), we catch an earlier bus, Whittles Service 2A which gets us back into Kidderminster a few minutes earlier than planned.

The river Severn breaching the banks at Severn Side North, Bewdley

We alight at Kidderminster bus station, where we all decide to make a visit to the nearby Tesco, not to do shopping, with the drink at Bewdley and the chill in the air, we make use of the toilet facilities and make our way back to Kidderminster Bus Station where Mr UKBuses makes a run across the Tesco car park as he spots our bus on the stand. There was no need to panic as the bus was not due out for a few more minutes, so we take our place in the queue at Stand 10 before boarding our 11:25 Diamond Service 303 which will take us to Worcester. We travel through Hartlebury, where after passing through a tight spot, the bus sets off a car alarm without even touching the car and Ombersley and we have a slow arrival into Worcester, we alight at Worcester Foregate Street Railway Station at approximately 12:15 which means we only have a few footsteps before we make our way into J D Wetherspoons "The Postal Order" where we have dinner. Whilst I have visited this place before, it has always been a pleasurable experience, but this time it was different. As Mr UKBuses found a seat, Mr D9 and myself stand at the bar waiting to be served. Other people (also known to the staff) came to the bar after we had and got served first, so it seems that now, regulars / local people seem to get preferential treatment. We eventually get served and take our seats, with Mr D9 deciding to elbow some of my drink over me along the way. We peruse the menu, with Mr D9 and myself taking the normal bet about what Mr UK Buses is going to eat. I win as Mr UKBuses opts for the BBQ Chicken Melt (without the melt), Mr D9 has the Gourmet Burger and myself the Chicken Burger. Food has been ordered and it arrives quicker than the first time we waited to get served at the bar. The food is devoured so we have a few minutes to let it go down as we finish our drinks off.

We now make our way to Worcester Bus Station where a few photographs are taken before catching First Worcestershire's Service 35, which takes us to their depot at Padmore Street. As soon as we alight, the rain starts pouring down, we still have a look around whilst getting soaked, but no photographs are taken by myself as it is too wet to get the camera out. We walk back around to the bus stop and a little sprint is required as another service 35 bus is pulling up. We board and make our way back to Worcester Bus Station where Mr D9 takes a little visit leaving his newsagent shop unattended, see picture left. We now make our way to Stand P, luckily undercover, where we wait a few minutes for First's Service 144 to pull up and we board to make our way to our next destination. We make our way through Droitwich Spa, where some D9 driving takes place and Mr UKBuses has a nap and arrive at Bromsgrove Bus Station at 14:46. We only have a few minutes here, so Mr D9 makes another visit and has the usual photograph taken before we have to catch our next bus, whilst Mr D9 is making a visit, Mr UKBuses sneaks off and returns with a cone of chips, due to his sneakiness Mr D9 and myself nick a couple of chips, as they were tasty it could have turned into a "Chester" incident. Diamond's service 145 turns up at Stand 4 at 14:58 and we board to make our way to Redditch.

We arrive in Redditch after 20 minutes on the bus and after the bus driver makes us dizzy by going around a roundabout a couple of times and our first port of call is Diamond's Plymouth Road Depot, the rain starts falling again as it did when we were at the First depot in Worcester so no pictures can be taken. Next we decide to take cover and we scupper Mr UKBuses round plans and visit J D Wetherspoons "The Royal Enfield" first, once we have had a rest and finished our drinks we visit Diamond's Church Lane Depot, see picture right, and after photographs are taken, we head to the bus stop and wait and wait. I decide to walk it and beat Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses to our next port of call, "The Golden Cross", I wait outside for the pair to arrive as it is Mr UKBuses round and whilst Mr D9 makes a visit to use the facilities, Mr UKBuses gets the round in and he surprises us by having a whiskey, and after his round plans were scuppered, his round at The Golden Cross turns out to be cheaper than what we have already paid in Wetherspoons. Our time in Redditch is nearly up, so we make our way across to the bus station, stopping off at the newsagents along the way to get a couple of snacks for the journey back. Mr D9 makes a visit to the dreaded toilet in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre, this time with no waiting. We wait at the bus stop whilst Mr D9 is undertaking his business and we decide to wind him up as he rejoins us by saying that we have just missed our bus and that we are now stranded in Redditch. A few minutes later our bus does turn up at Stand F and we board Diamond's Service X3, which departs at 16:48.

We are on the bus for about 45 minutes passing through Bromsgrove and Chaddersley Corbett along the way and discussing Mr UKBuses turkey which he gets off the farm in Chaddersley Corbett each year. We arrive in a dark Kidderminster at 17:33 and after getting value for money on our Connecta tickets, we make our way back around to the bus station where we have to wait about fifteen minutes for our bus back to Stourbridge. It is getting rather cold now and on time Whittle's Service 125 bus turns up at stand 8 and after showing our return ticket, we depart Kidderminster at 17:52 passing through Iverley and Norton before arriving back in Stourbridge at 18:13. We have time for our last drink of the day and it is my round which Mr UKBuses gets his own back by going to J D Wetherspoons "The Chequers Inn" rather than "The Edward Rutland" where I can get a discount off the pints with my CAMRA Card. We get in the warmth and Mr UKBuses finds a table whilst Mr D9 and myself purchase the drinks. We have a thirst on and Mr D9 evens the rounds total up by purchasing a second round and whilst we finish our drinks off, we log onto the phone to see what times Mr D9's connection at Dudley will turn up. Drinks finished, we make our way back to Stourbridge Interchange and whilst we say goodbye to Mr D9 who makes his way to the 246 stand, Mr UKBuses and myself makes our way to our stand to catch the final bus of the day, National Express West Midlands Service 276, with Mr UKBuses bidding farewell and alighting at Norton, and I continue to the terminus at Wollaston. Before I make my way into the warmth at home, I stop by the Chinese to order my meal and whilst it is getting cooked, I sneak next door for a crafty pint of Bathams Bitter at "The Unicorn" before picking up my meal and getting back to a nice warm home where I rest my feet after a good, but cold, day out.

Despite the cold and damp weather, the first outing of 2014 was a success, which was in part of the company of Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses, this outing should set the precedence of the rest of the outings for 2014. Even though it was chilly, some bald spots did make an appearance (the heads must have been cold), these are below.

Bald Spot 1: Mr UKBuses bald spot makes an appearance outside Diamond's Church Lane Depot at Redditch.

Bald Spot 2: Mr D9's bald spot investigates the flood waters at Bewdley.

Bald Spot 3: Mr D9's bald spot looks at Diamond's Chruch Lane Depot in Redditch.

Bald Spot 4: Mr D9's bald spot has another look at Diamond's Church Lane Depot in Redditch.

Bald Spot 5: Mr D9's bald spot receives medical attention at Redditch.

2013 - Day Out 08: Worcester

Date: Saturday 10 August 2013

In April at the Stourbridge Beer Festival, I became a fully fledged CAMRA member and to take advantage of discounts to members I decide to visit another beer festival which is being held at Worcester racecourse.

Disaster strikes before I even leave the house as vandalism on the line at Kidderminster means that there are no trains running between Kidderminster and Worcester, undeterred I make my way into Stourbridge and visit J D Wetherspoons, "The Chequers" to sample a traditional breakfast to help soak up the ale sampled at the beer festival. Breakfast eaten I make my way to Stourbridge Interchange, catching the Dodger to Stourbridge Junction, on the way I receive a phone call from Mr WME to inform me that the Great Malvern train has been cancelled and that he will be on the earlier train, luckily I arrive in time for the train to Kidderminster and meet up with Mr WME, Mr WME senior and Nickolenko. We arrive at Kidderminster and Mr D9 must have lent me his bladder as I need to visit the toilet straight away (and that is even with sampling no beer), so a visit to the Severn Valley Railway station is needed and after business is taken care off we make our way to the normal railway station to wait for our replacement coach to take us to Worcester. I light up to have some "fresh air" and lo and behold the coach arrives and pulls up mid break. We board our coach which takes us to Worcester via Droitwich and arrives at Worcester Foregate Street, just after 11.45am.

We alight and make our way for the short walk to Worcester racecourse, the venue of the 14th Worcester beer, cider and perry festival, with Mr WME senior chatting about F1 along the way. We enter the venue and everyone has their 1/2 pint glasses in hand and for some reason I ended up with a pint glass. A photo is taken by Mr WME before we sample the ales and we are under way with beer tokens in hand to sample the ales. I look for the Ginger Tosser, but it eluded me that day, but when I said to Mr WME that I was looking for the Ginger Tosser, I don't think the bloke behind the bar was too impressed with me, it was the barman with ginger hair! The first ale is sampled and I have a pint of the Settles Signal Light, in honour of the failure on the railway line earlier, whilst Mr WME Senior has the Black Hill Stout, Nickolenko has the Plum Dunkelweizen and Mr WME has the Exmoor Beast. We find a picnic table in the huge tent and take our seat for the afternoon, see picture right. My Signal Light goes down well and we are off to sample the second ale of the day, I opt for a pint of the Cannon Royal's Blonde Bombshell, whilst Mr WME senior opts for Old Dairy's Gold Top, Nickelenko opts for the Ginger Doodle Stout and Mr WME has the Raspberry Wheat Beer.

Mr D9 is catered for by his own loos!

Still full up from my breakfast, Mr WME senior and Mr WME have their packed lunch whilst Nickelenko has a good portion of the vegetable curry available at the festival. Whilst they are eating I opt for a visit to the facilities and Mr D9 even has the supplied toilets named after him, "Andyloos".  After some "fresh air" I make my way back to the table and finish off my Blonde Bombshell, before finding my next ale. Normally at festivals I would try different ales and not have any local brews which are always available for me at local pubs, but I decide to sample an Enville Ale beer which has eluded me all the years it has existed and opt for a pint of the Cherry Blonde, and Mr WME also samples the ale too, and what a wait it was with a distinctive taste of Cherry's. Mr WME senior samples Friday Gold and Nickelenko samples Clash London Porter. We take our seats again and as the festival gets busier we are treated to a gang of Stormtroopers, I make another visit and get a photo of the Stormtroopers, see picture left, who are enjoying the sun outside and after some more "fresh air", I make my way back inside. Nearly out of beer tokens, it is time to look for a last ale and Nickelenko kindly gives me some of his tokens so I can enjoy a last half at the festival, I opt for Monty's Desert Rat, Mr WME senior opts for a Joshua Jane (and also has enough tokens left to have a half of the Old Slug Porter), Nickelenko opts for a Exmoor Beast and Mr WME has a last half of Skullduggery.

With our last ales finished, we make our way to sample a few of the pubs in Worcester, but before we leave, Nickelenko, Mr WME and myself have a go on the tombola and I am the only one that wins a prize and opt for a Fullers beer towel. We make our way from the festival and head into the city, with our first inn being The Plough which is located on Fish Street and I show off my beer mat flipping skills and I opt for a beer mat advertising the beer festival we have just left. Drinks consumed we make our way to the next pub, which is The Cardinals Hat, a nice traditional pub, which is one of the oldest pubs in Worcester, next up we make a visit to King Charles II, a joint venture between the Sadlers and Craddocks breweries and was also the pub sponsoring the beer festival, seeing as it is owned by the local Stourbridge breweries it meant that we should visit the place with Mr WME senior opting to buy the round on this visit. Drinks purchased and we make our way upstairs and if feels like we are drunk as the floor and table didn't seem to be level.

We leave the King Charles II and make an unplanned visit to the pub next door, The Swan With Two Nicks, on our visit it was renamed The Swan With Three Nicks as Nickelenko was with us, we opt for Draught Bass and Malvern Hills Trevor Stout on this visit, see picture above right. I check Twitter and find out that the rail services are restored and running normally albeit with a few delays, so we have time to visit another couple of pubs before making our way back, and it is time to visit The Paul Pry, see picture left, which is located on The Butts and after that whilst we have time we visit our last pub of the day and whilst Nickelenko and Mr WME senior visit Tesco Express to get some food for the trip back, Mr WME and myself make our way to The Dragon, see pivture below; for our final pints of the day and we don't have too far to walk as it is located near to the Worcester Foregate Street railway station.

Cheers from The Dragon!

With the beer starting to take its toll we make our way back to the station and catch the 18:51 London Midland service back home with me saying goodbye and alighting at Stourbridge Junction before making my way on The Dodger and catching National Express West Midlands service X96 back to Wollaston and I get visit my local Chinese to get my traditional trip tea, but I opt for something different and decide to have a chinese curry.

Overall, a good day out sampling many different ales at the Worcester Beer Festival and visits to local public houses afterwards and even though the beer took its toll on me at the end of the day, it was a successful trip and a good beer festival.