2011 - Day Out 10: Solihull and Birmingham

Date: Saturday 07 May 2011 

Another trip and it is just the RP's, so I catch the 08:39 National Express West Midlands Service 276 to Stourbridge Junction, where I jump on the local London Midland Service to get to Smethwick Galton Bridge, where just after 09:30 I meet up with Mr WME who catches the train form Wolverhampton. After meeting up and saying our hello's, we make our way to Platform 4 and get aboard the next London Midland train which takes us to our first destination of the day, Solihull. Upon arrival in Solihull, the good weather we have recently had decides to hide and we are treated to a deluge of rain. Whilst trying to avoid the huge raindrops, we make our way to the bus station outside the railway station, and find out that the bus we have to catch, the S3, doesn't actually depart from the railway station so Mr WME decides we have to get into the town centre, walk to the town centre in this rain - no way, we are catching the bus, so we duly catch National Express West Midlands Service 76 for a short ride into Solihull Town Centre.

After a couple of minutes aboard the 76, we arrive in Solihull where we get off the bus and find our stop for the S3. We have a little time to wait for our next journey, so Mr WME decides to find a Barclay's and after a few minutes of searching, he has to use the machine at the HSBC. I've decided to wait in the dry and wait in the shelter, but I did pop in the National Express West Midlands travel shop and pick up the latest version of the Sandwell and Dudley map, even though I had to navigate my way through the waterfall that is in place above the doorway to the shop. It is not long to go before our Central Connect S3 turns up, this is supposed to be operated by an Optare Solo with a branding for the "Signature" network, but we are presented with a "Bus2work" bus. We make our way from Solihull and it takes just over half an hour and we end up at our second destination of the day, Hockley Heath. We alight just before the terminus, and make our way to the village centre, with Mr WME taking pictures of "The Barn", a Beefeater establishment and The Harvester along the way. After crossing the road numerous times to avoid getting soaked by passing cars and big puddles we arrive by the canal and next to "The Wharf Tavern", a pub that we were supposed to be visiting and enabling us to watch the F1 Qualifying for the Turkey Grand Prix, but this was shut. We walk up towards the village centre again, and with the rain still pouring down upon us, we have to abandon a planned canal walk and it is decided to catch the X20 to Shirley, so that we can find somewhere to watch the qualifying which Mr WME had planned for viewing to watch at 13:00, I should have informed him beforehand that the qualifying was on at 12:00 this week, but he knows a possible pub in Shirley to watch it.

Not long to wait as our Johnson's Service X20 turns up and it isn't long before we arrive at Shirley. It is just before 12:00 and Mr WME knows finds the pub that we can go into and hopefully watch the qualifying. It is just a short walk past the shops and we arrive at The Red Lion, from the outside it doesn't look like it will be a nice pub to visit, but we enter and I am surprised to find a splendid decorated pub with the appearance much much better than the outside. We order our drinks and find a table which happens to be in front of one of the many televisions situated in the pub. A quick word with one of the barmaids and she duly comes by our television and turns it over to BBC2 and we are just in time for Q3. The usual suspects go out in the first round, and between qualifying sessions, we decide to order lunch and we both go for the home made curry. Q2 starts and Schumacher finally makes it through to Q3 and our dinner turns up in time for Q3, but one of the regulars, Brian, pipes up "Who cooked this? It's flamin' hard!" Good timing Brian as we are just about to tuck into our dinner. Brian gets a replacement, I think he opted for the turkey, and we tuck into our dinner. Q3 and home made curry, with no complaints from me, and Vettel takes his fourth pole of the season with Webber second and Rosberg makes an unusual appearance in fourth, Hamilton is fourth and Button a lowly sixth, a bit of work for him to do in the race. Qualifying over, and looking out of the window it seems to have stopped raining, even though the cloud is lurking about ready to drop some more later in the day.We make our way back into the main street's of Shirley, where we decide to catch National Express West Midlands Service 5 to Widney Manor. It is not long before we arrive and as we alight by the railway station, we decide to take a few photographs. We are on the platforms and our train to Dorridge is making its way into the station, but we are on the wrong platform, a very quick dash across the footbridge, and luckily we both make it onto the London Midland train but we miss first class, which everyone else has also decided to do on this train, and we catch our breath for the short journey to Dorridge.

A few photographs are taken around Dorridge station by Mr WME, and after the photographs are taken we make our way to the front of the station where we see our usual bar in Dorridge, "The Forest Hotel". I had bought the last round so this one would fall to Mr WME, and an expensive one it would be too, we make our way indoors and a wedding party had just turned up and the bar was choc-a-bloc, so with a while before our bus was due it was time for a little walk around Dorridge (and hopefully, our next visit to Dorridge it will be someone else's round at the hotel). After our little walk, we make our way to the bus stop for our next bus, we are due to catch the S2A, but it is a little confusing that this service in both directions serve the same stop. Our bus turns up and after making sure we have the correct bus, it is another service operated by Central Connect and the "Signature" brand. Our signature branded bus turns up this time and we board and make our way to the back, the bus clean and complete with leather seats, giving us a comfortable ride, even though the seats were a little slippy. Service S2A is a nice little service using country roads, giving us splendid country views. We arrive at our next destination, Balsall Common, a place that Mr WME and myself have visited before, so we know where we are heading and it is a 10 minute walk through the village and we head down towards Berkswell railway station. Situated close to the station are two pubs, and we pass "The Brickmakers Arms", a pub we visited on our last visit, and give the other pub a try, one right next to the railway station, aptly titled "The Railway". After Mr WME's escape from the Dorridge round, he gets this one and we take a seat and update our notes and the barmaid flicks through the sports channels to find one of the many football matches taking place today, but she has no joy and has to contact somebody to find out which channel it is on. Time for a cheers photo, see left. After a little rest it is time to make a move and we walk a few steps to the Berkswell railway station where there is currently new platform buildings being erected, replacing the old station house and we are timing things right today, as it is not long before our London Midland train turns up, at least we haven't got to dash to get to the other platform. We only have to stay on the train briefly as the next station is our next destination, Hampton-in-Arden.

We have an hour before the next train is due, so we have a little walk around the village and we arrive at "The White Lion", a pub that we have visited before with Mr UKBuses, where after we order our drinks, we make our way into the long room and take our place by the window, where the clouds have given way to reveal a blue sky. Mr WME takes a seat and I then take mine, with my chair deciding to swallow me up as I rest my behind on the very soft cushion. I manage to escape and take my seat properly, remembering to take note of what happened when it is time for our cheers photo. We enjoy our time in the pub with some very nice background music, we then realise that the music is being sung in French, with the singer at one point saying "Allo", I respond back and the music must have been a live track as the audience decide to respond to me with cheers! Time for another cheers photo, see right. Mr WME makes a visit to the toilet ready for our walk back to the railway station, whilst he is doing this, the singer decides to sing in English. It is only five minutes before we arrive at the station and we have about just over ten minutes to wait for our next train to take us into Birmingham. The ten minutes flash by and our London Midland Train arrives, and we head off into Birmingham, via Birmingham International and Marston Green along the way. We have a minute or so to wait before a slot becomes available at New Street Station, so it is a good job that Mr UKBuses isn't on board, and we arrive at the station. We make our way into Birmingham going past The Shakespeare in New Street Station, and as we make our way up to Victoria Square, we pass another pub called "The Shakespeare". We make our way through Victoria Square, and head to Cambridge Street, the location of our next public house, but as we make our way there, we pass another pub called "The Shakespeare", which is located next to the Birmingham College of Food (at this point we decide to make sure that we never meet up in Birmingham in a pub called "The Shakespeare", as it may cause confusion). We have a little walk down Cambridge Street, and just behind the Birmingham ICC is "The Prince Of Wales", a splendid looking pub from the outside, but as we enter we realise the pub is quite small on the inside. Whilst Mr WME orders the drinks, I head for a bladder stop, wishing that I followed Mr WME's example in Hampton-in-Arden. We have a quick drink here, and after we finish we make our way to Broad Street to get our next bus.

We arrive in Broad Street, and we don't have to wait long before our next bus turns up, a National Express West Midlands Service 9, which will take us just past Halesowen to get us to our next public house. There are a few people on the bus, so we make our way upstairs and luckily find a seat and we head under the five ways underpass, and down the Hagley Road, spotting that they have demolished the old Five Ways Shopping Precinct. We carry on down Hagley Road, and we find out that The New Talbot has been shut down, and we pass through Bearwood, where as we head into Quinton, The Dog has been refurbished. We are halfway along on our journey and it is not long before we end up in Halesowen, and we get off the bus just after Halesowen to make our way to our next pub. As soon as we get off our bus and head down the road, a passing car toots me, and pulls up. It is my big brother who asks us if we want a lift anywhere, I think it would be cheeky to ask him to drop us off around the corner, so we have a short walk and end up at our next pub, The Hawne Tavern, a pub that Mr WME and myself have been to a couple of times in the past, but it was never open for me to sample, but at last I actually make it inside. A pub that was well worth the wait and unlike The Prince of Wales, The Hawne Tavern looks small from the outside, but it turns out to be a TARDIS, as it looks quite roomy on the inside. Drinks ordered and we make our way into the lounge and rest our legs. This pub has appeared in The Good Beer Guide a number of times and the company is quite pleasant, with a gentleman on the table next to us joining us to talk about the local beer festivals, as Mr WME has been to a few festivals in his time, I leave it for him to have most of the conversation. Time for a quick cheers photo, see left, before we leave, it is time to make our way.

A short walk is taken to the main road, and we turn up at our stop, with a few minutes to wait for our next journey. It is a shame that my brother doesn't make an appearance now and we could get a lift into Lye, our next destination for a visit to one of the local pubs. Our NXWM Service 9 appears and it is only a short journey of about ten minutes and we arrive in Lye, and we alight on the main High Street, where we decide to take a short cut to our next pub, and just as we pass "Jim's Gym", we cross the road where opposite is "The Holly Bush", and we have timed it right, as Mr Rain decides to make another appearance. We opt for a quick drink in The Holly Bush, and as we sup our halves, we watch a bit of Doctor Who Confidential, and it is time to make our way to the bus stop, located just after the Lye Cross, so a short walk is required and the rain is still coming down, albeit slower than the downpour this morning. As we approach the cross, we spot a NXWM Service 9 bus, so a quick sprint to the stop is required, but thanks to the red light, we don't miss this one, and within five minutes we arrive back in Stourbridge, where we decide to end the day with a drink inside "The Duke William", not far from the temporary stands in Birmingham Street. Between catching the bus in Lye and arriving back in Stourbridge, the rain is coming down faster, so we run all the way from Birmingham Street to Duke Street and arrive a little damp in The Duke. This pub has only been open under its new guise for just over a year, but since opening, I've never really seen this pub empty and luckily we find a spare table (just), to rest our feet and end the day. It seems that The Duke is one pub that Stourbridge people enjoy and the pub has recently opened a small brewery at the back of the premises, a good story and this pub is bucking the trend of the moment and is actually wanted and is avoiding the ever increasing number of local pubs to close, long may it survive. We end the day chatting about the trip and it seems that we have the same taste in our usual awards of the day. We both agree that the "pub of the day" goes to The Hawne Tavern, whilst the "barmaid(s) of the day" goes to a late runner and is working behind the bar of The Duke.

It is time to make our way to Stand F in Birmingham Street, where both of our buses will arrive to take us both home. The rain is coming down heavier since we have been in The Duke, so it is a sprint, rather than a jog, to get to Birmingham Street, and Mr WME's NXWM Service 256 turns up first to take him back to the land of Wolverhampton, and not long after my Black Diamond's Service 276A arrives to take me back home to dry off (a sprint across the park is required before I have the chance to get dry). Overall another good day out, with the rain not dampening our spirits, it was due after our recent long spell of sun, but it could have waited another day or so. Despite the wet start and finish, I think Mr WME will agree that this day out was another good day out.

2011 - Day Out 9: Wolverhampton

Date: Saturday 30 April 2011

It's the end of a glorious April and the sun keeps shining for the last trip in April this year. I catch the 08:56 National Express West Midlands Service 276, where I purchase a NBus One Day ticket for our trip today, from Wollaston, and the bus picks up Mr UKBuses along the route. We arrange to meet Mr D9 in Dudley, so we decide to be lazy and stay on the bus for a full journey of the 276 into Dudley. After a journey time of just over 1 hour and 10 minutes, we arrive at Dudley bus station and have about 20 minutes to wait for Mr D9, so I make a visit to the station toilets, only to find that they are shut, and Mr UKBuses and myself have a walk round to the market place so that I can empty the bladder (in the market place toilets I assure you). We walk back to the bus station so that we are there to meet up with Mr D9 at 10:30, but we get a phone call to say he is running late.

After another 15 minutes, Mr D9 turns up after getting off his National Express West Midlands Service 74, and with the gang for today together, the WAR's (The P will make a brief appearance later in the day) make their way through the stands to catch their next bus. We catch National Express West Midlands Service 527 to Wolverhampton, a long route that travels through Wren's Nest, Gornal Wood and Sedgley. We arrive in Wolverhampton where we get off the bus just before the Central Library, to see if the rumours are true and that "P", Mr WME, does do some work. We are in the library and Mr WME's main place of work, the reference section, is closed for refurbishment, so after looking in a couple of broom cupboards to see if he is shirking, we find him in the Learning Centre - actually doing some work, but we don't want to distract him from his job, so we decide to head to Wolverhampton's JD Wetherspoons, "The Moon Under Water" for lunch, but Mr D9 shocks us and actually pays a visit to the ATM on the way, where Mr UK Buses states that it must be his round first!

After a short walk through Wolverhampton, we are in Lichfield Street and at the location of lunch, so we head to the bar to get our first drink of the day and Mr D9 recognises that barmaid from his visit's to McDonald's near home. Drinks purchased, Mr D9 and myself have a search around the pub, to find Mr UKBuses who has got us a table. After a couple of minutes we find him. It is time for lunch, and seeing as we are in Wetherspoons we decide to have a look what is on the menu. What shall we have? Looks like the usual!! Mr WME is on his lunch break and pops in to see the WAR's and so for just under an hour, the WARP's are complete. Mr WME turns up in time and we all order lunch, and he has his usual too. Mr D9 does the honours and orders for us, and after the food is ordered, Mr D9 decides to chat up the barmaid, with the classic chat-up line - "Didn't you used to work in McDonald's?" I don't think that worked but it did offer some amusement. Whilst waiting, we have a chat and catch up with Mr WME, and Mr UKBuses does the enforcements by taking the horseradish sauce off me and the salad cream off Mr WME. Dinner arrives and it all goes quiet as we eat up all our nosh. Plates cleared and it is nearly time for Mr WME to head back off to work, so before he pop's back, it is time for a photo, left, - Cheers!

Dinner over and it is time for our next destination, and Mr D9 makes a quick phone call, and the next destination is established, we walk to the nearest 529 stop which is located at the back of The Wheatsheaf, and after a few minutes of waiting, the National Express West Midlands service 529 turns up and driving us is the brother-in-law of the person who we are going to meet up with in Willenhall. We take our seats at the front of the bus, upper deck, and we make our way out of Wolverhampton, and after a short ride which is held up by some temporary traffic lights, we arrive in Willenhall town centre. We have a little further to travel, and Mr UKBuses spots the car of the person we are going to meet. The bus pulls out of the bus stop and we travel around the corner, where the bus is held up by said car, so we rush down stairs where we alight and climb into the car, and after a minute we arrive at our next pub. We clamber out of the car and head into "The Robin Hood", a pub which I think has just been reopened and is owned by Black Country Ales. The pub is situated on Willenhall Road, a couple of minutes from the town centre. We order our drinks and we have a drink with Ray, a work colleague of Mr D9 and Mr UKBuses, and Mr UKBuses comes with another quote of the day after he says to Ray that he has brought his mom a new iron, when asked why, he replies with the classic, "Well, I don't want to stop her from doing her weekend job". Ray finishes his drink off and makes his way to the football match at Bescot, and we finish off our drinks to make our way back to Wolverhampton, as can be seen right, - Cheers!

We make our way from The Robin Hood and to the nearest bus stop, which is a couple of minutes walk away, and along the way Mr UKBuses spots something that Network West Midlands have missed, a WMPTE bus stop, which is no longer used. We turn up at our bus stop and after a minute or so, our NXWM 529 turns up to take us back to the city, and our driver is the same as before, Ray's brother-in-law, we weren't expecting that! After making our way back into Wolverhampton, through the roadworks and temporary traffic lights, it is not long when we are back by The Wheatsheaf, and we need to have a little walk to Queens Street to get our next bus. We walk back by the new bus station in Wolverhampton, which is, having a few last finishing touches being made before opening to the public, which I believe will be in June or July. On the way, Mr UKBuses spots a place for Mr D9, a portaloo, so it is a photo opportunity for the D9'ster, it is a pity that Mr UKBuses didn't spot the post behind him, but he does when he turns around and begins to walk! We make our way to the Queens Street, and after Mr UKBuses is moaning about his knee, but Mr D9 and myself cannot stop laughing about it, we get on our next bus, NXWM service 255 which will take us to our next destination, Swindon.

We make our way from Wolverhampton and we pass through Penn, down the main Penn Road, and we head through to Wombourne. After a ride through the village centre, we spend the next 5 to 10 minutes on the bus going through the Wombourne estates and through a couple of country lanes, which is quite nice in the sunshine, and we arrive in Swindon. The bus stop is situated right outside Marston's "The Greyhound", which a pub I have been past a few times but never visited, so we make our way inside and it is time for our third drink of the day. The pub seems to be a good local to have, with friendly staff and regulars. It is my round and Mr UKBuses pipes up "And don't forget the scratchings" just before I'm due to pay, a trick he has done several times before. We have a chat whilst supping our drinks and chew on the scratchings, and it is time for another photo, left, - Cheers! After our drinks have been supped we still have a bit of time left in Swindon, so we make our way through the village and decide to have a drink in another pub. Virtually opposite is "The Old Bush", but we decide to walk a bit further, down past the canal and we come to an old terminus which brings back memories to Mr D9. A few photographs are taken by Mr UKBuses of the terminus, and upon closer inspection we actually find a bus stop in the undergrowth, and it looks like that this terminus was used quite recently, with a "Travel West Midlands" sticker on the bus stop.

Opposite the terminus, is our second pub stop in Swindon, "The Green Man", a pub that I have visited before with Mr WME, and there has not been a lot of change to the pub since my last visit, which is quite good as it doesn't ruin the atmosphere of the pub, which was quite good the first time round. The sun is shining brightly now so we decide to sit on the bench outside the front of the pub, and opposite the old terminus which starts Mr D9 off with stories about the previous life of Mr UKBuses, and questions of "Can't you remember popping in this pub in the olden days before you were run over outside The Vauxhall". Mr UKBuses can't remember, but we have to sup up so that we can catch our next bus, and we walk back into the village where we are by The Old Bush, and we spot our bus, which despite the many attempts of getting the bus drivers attention, it goes flying past, so we have to kill another half hour in Swindon, so we make another visit to The Greyhound. To ensure that we don't miss the next bus, we sit on the bench outside the front so that we can see the next bus coming down the main road. We bask in the afternoon sun and it is time to make our way to the bus stop opposite ensuring that we catch this bus, and after a few minutes wait our next NXWM service 255 pulls up and lets us on.

We leave Swindon behind and we pass through a couple of country lanes, before the bus pulls up at the back end of Wallheath and spends a few minutes at the Blaze Park terminus before venturing on. After our brief stop in Wallheath, we spend another few minutes on the 255 and we arrive in Kingswinford, where we alight at the stop at the back of The Cross public house. We walk up Market Street and down a side street where we have our pub stop in Kingswinford and we sample a pint in "The Leopard", a pub down a side street but there are a few people in the pub, so it must be well known. Mr D9 and myself sample the toilets where we make it back into the room after sticking to the floor. A brief chat about the old times on the buses courtesy of Mr D9, we sup our drinks and make our way back to Market Street, where we catch our next bus. It is only a few minutes wait and we make our way back into Stourbridge, courtesy of NXWM's Service 256, which takes us through Dudley and Amblecote, where Mr UKBuses spots a few pubs along the way which he has never visited, looks like a local Stourbridge trip may be in order.

We arrive back in Stourbridge, where we decide to pay a visit to The Bell, so that Mr UKBuses and myself can do a Mr D9 and reminisce about the times that we worked in the pub, "back in the day", we do this whilst sitting in the conservatory and after finishing our drinks and getting nostalgic, we make our way up Stourbridge High Street and visit our last pub of the day, JD Wetherspoons' "The Chequers Inn", although we briefly pass through "The Edward Rutland" along the way without stopping. A table is found by the bar and Mr UKBuses spots Mr Tonks in the pub, who has himself spent a day in Bridgnorth before going on to host the "Saturday Nite Disco" on The Bridge later in the evening. We spend our last half hour together talking about our day out and how well it had gone.

It is now time to say our goodbyes, Mr D9 has bagged a lift and is waiting for his "taxi", whilst Mr UKBuses and myself make our way to Birmingham Street to catch our bus home, Black Diamond's Service 276C. Another good day out for the WAR's (P had a nice lunch hour), the weather held out for us and let;s hope the good weather continues for future trips.

2011 - Day Out 8: London

Date: Saturday 23 April 2011

It's the Easter weekend, and Mr UK Buses and myself decide a visit to London is in order. Preparations have been made in the weeks running up to today's visit to the big city, with myself booking the rail tickets in advance which gives us big savings and reserved seats, and Mr UK Buses using his Good Friday to get the travel cards needed for our transport in London.

It is an early start and I catch National Express West Midlands Service 276 from Wollaston, which is already waiting for its 0706 departure, I let Mr UK Buses know that I'm on the bus and send him a text, at which he panics that the bus is leaving early and phones me. To make sure that he catches this bus, I text him again to say that the bus has left Wollaston when we depart. Mr UK buses joins me when he gets on the bus at Norton, and it is a quick journey through Stourbridge to Stourbridge Junction where we catch our first train to Birmingham.

We catch the 0735 London Midland train which gets us into Birmingham Snow Hill for 0810, and after a quick walk through Birmingham, we have our bacon roll breakfast from McDonald's, and we make our way to New Street Station. There is no platform for our Virgin Train to London yet, so we go outside so that I can have a cigarette, and as all the smokers are outside, a lady comes to have one herself and as she is bending down to get something out of her case, we see the moon in the glorious sunshine, but out of all the men in the smoking area, Mr UK Buses is the one who gets caught looking! Cigarette break over, we go back inside to look at which platform our 0850 Virgin train is departing from, only to find out our journey has been cancelled, so we have to wait an extra 20 minutes on Platform 4b and get onto the 0910 journey, and due to the extra passengers expected on board we make a dash to find seats.

After a journey time of just over 1 hour and 20 minutes, we arrive in London just over twenty minutes later than expected, so we head out of Euston and onto onto the main Euston Road, to get our first London bus of the day, Service 73 operated by Arriva London, and this journey takes us from London Euston to Victoria Bus Station. Upon arrival a few photographs are taken and we wait for our next bus, Service 211, operated by Abellio London, which will take us to Westminster, but we decide to get the tube for the short journey which will enable us to get back on track with our plan, and we get onto the Circle and District Line where we pass St. James Park Station before we arrive at Westminster Station, and we come back out of the underground to a splendid view of Big Ben in the glorious sunny weather. We walk past Parliament, and head to Westminster Abbey, ahead of the Royal Wedding, which Mr UK Buses takes a few photographs but before I get chance to, I'm stopped and have some "Lucky Heather" thrust upon me, which I have to pay for, "For the kids" I'm told. 

After this, we head up Whitehall and after a walk of about 10 minutes, we arrive at JD Wetherspoons "Lord Moon of The Mall", which we stop off at for a refreshing drink and a bite to eat. Table found, Mr UK Buses gets the drinks, and we peruse the menu for our dinner, and the menu is not needed as we opt for the regular lunch, with Mr UK Buses opting for his Chicken Tikka Masala, and the Beer and Burger for myself, so it is time to pop to the bar to order, and get the condiments. I return to our table and for some reason Mr UK Buses tells me to put the horseradish sauce back, so I do, and after a wait of about 10 minutes our food arrives. We tuck in but I'm sure that I've been given "Chester Portions" with my chips, so I finish before Mr UK Buses. We let our dinner settle and time for a "Cheers" photo, right, and we make our way to the next destination, so we head out onto Whitehall and a short walk past Trafalgar Square, we arrive at Charring Cross where we get onto the Northern line to Waterloo.

We make our way from the tube and into the main Waterloo railway station, where we have a discussion about whether this was where Del met Raquel in Only Fools and Horses. We think it is, and as of writing this, I've found out that it is infact correct. We make our way across the platforms looking for our train, and we arrive at Platform 3 where our South West Trains service is in the station ready to take us to Wimbledon Station. On the way we pass Battersea Power Station, where Mr UK Buses states that is where Helen Skelton did a tightrope walk across there for Blue Peter, he knew this even though he does not watch Blue Peter, or does he? We also pass through Clapham Junction, Britain's busiest railway station. We arrive at Wimbledon and make our way across the station so that we can catch the Croydon Tram Link from Wimbledon to the Morden Road Stop, which is only a couple of stops away from the Wimbledon Terminus. We arrive at Morden Road, and a short walk is made from the tram stop and walk up Lombard Road and onto Deer Park Road, where we are at South Wimbledon Studios, which was where ITV's The Bill was filmed. We walk to the front of the studios into Windsor Avenue and we are surprised to see that "Sun Hill" is still standing, see left, nearly a year after filming had stopped on the series. We make our way back towards the Morden Road Tram Stop, but instead of catching the Croydon Tramlink, we decide to catch service 93 to Putney Bridge Station, which is operated by Go-Ahead London, whilst on journey we pass through scenic parts of London with Wimbledon Common acting as the backdrop. We saw no Wombles though!

We arrive at Putney Bridge, and it turns out to be a good location for a few photographs, with the bus drivers being a friendly bunch whilst doing so. It is time to get to our next destination, so we head onto the underground again (even though you have to climb up stairs to get to Putney Bridge tube station) and onto the District Line where we head towards Whitechapel. On the way we pass through quite a few tube stations including Earls Court, Embankment, Monument and Tower Hill. We arrive at Whitechapel and make our way onto the main street and we notice that since our last visit to this station, the Overground has been opened, even though the station is still undergoing decoration works. A quick walk up Whitechapel Road, where we make our way to our London regular, The Blind Beggar, and we both opt for a refreshing Coke to whet our thirsts. The pub seems to be quiet since our last visit, with a patron asleep in the corner, even though the barman wakes him up, he does seems to walk up the main street with a bit of a wobble. 

We are ahead of schedule and we decide to catch a bus, and we opt for service 25 from Whitechapel, and we arrive at Oxford Circus. It is busy so we decide to head onto the underground for a short trip to St Paul's, where back outside the tube station, where we wait for our next bus service 100, which is on diversion, so have to make a quick walk to get onto Service 15, which takes us to Tower Hill.

We have a bit of time to spend at Tower Hill for our Heritage Routemaster on Service 15, so we decide to have a drink from the ice cream mean outside the Tower of London. Whilst waiting there is another Routemaster at the stop, a pink one, and after a few minutes the passengers disembark and it seems that it is a hen party, so despite the view of the Tower of London, we are treated to some more views, of which Mr UK Buses is closest to and he tries to get into the view of the photograph being taken of the party. After a few more minutes, the hen party makes it way back onto the pink bus after a little help from a "passing" fireman, which must have been the stripper as the pink bus makes its way and he is still on the top deck amidst the sounds of screams and laughter! It is a few minutes and our Heritage Routemaster on Service 15, operated by Stagecoach East London, turns up taking us from Tower Hill through London and ends up at Charing Cross.

Upon arrival at Charing Cross, we make our way back onto the tube for our last underground journey of the day, and in the nick of time to as rain starts to come down with a bit of thunder and lighting added in, and so we go onto the Northern Line for our short ride back to London Euston. As we make our way to the railway station we are passed by a few West Bromwich Albion fans, who have made their journey to the capital to see their team against Tottenham Hotspur, so we make a dash to "The Britannia" at the station for our final drink of the day. After a cigarette before our train journey back, we check for our train and discover that the trains aren't working in our favour today as ours is late, but once the platform is announced, a mad dash is made to the train to enable us to beat the WBA fans to our reserved seats. We get our seats and we relax for our journey back, that is after we have our sandwiches to re-energise ourselves.

We arrive back in Birmingham, but due to the train being late, we are held up whilst a spot becomes free at New Street, but finally we get into the station where we make our way to Snow Hill. We have a bit of time to kill before our train is due to Stourbridge Junction, so we try out a pub which is located down the side of Snow Hill, The Old Contemptibles, a place which I have spotted a couple of times from the train and now I have visited this establishment, which seems to be a real ale pub hidden away, but there are a few people who know where this place is and looks quite used with the company in the pub being friendly. Drink over, we head to Snow Hill and catch our train into Stourbridge Junction, where upon arrival, we swap platforms before getting onto to the Parry's People Mover back into Stourbridge Town.

A final journey of the day, and it is Black Diamond's Service 276 giving us the honours, taking us back home after a brilliant day out at the Capital. The weather was fantastic, sunny all day apart from the thunder just before we left Euston, and it also a day in which Mr UK Buses has to walk around carrying his coat, yes hard to believe! I cannot wait for our next visit to London, which will be in November for the Lord Mayor's Parade.

2011 - Day Out 7: Shropshire

Date: Saturday 09 April 2011

Time for the WARP's to meet up again for our first trip in British Summertime and this time we head to Shropshire. First up, I catch the 08:06 National Express West Midlands Service 276 from Wollaston on which a One Day NBus ticket is purchased for the first and leg of our journey today, and Mr UK Buses boards during the journey into Stourbridge. We arrive in Stourbridge, where we change onto National Express West Midlands Service 257 to Kingswinford and we change onto National Express West Midlands Service 255 to get us into Wolverhampton, on which we pass through Swindon and Wombourne along the way. We arrive in Wolverhampton at about 09:15 where we meet up with Mr Lunn. After Mr Lunn gets his breakfast from Gregg's, and Mr UK Buses actually gets cash out of an ATM, see picture evidence left, the gang is complete when we meet up with Mr WME, who throughout the day have many conversations about Mr UK Buses actually carrying cash on him (we are all getting over the shock of the ATM and Mr UK Buses using it, the Stafford Road "Hub" and bikes.

Time to get to our first destination and we join the big queue in Lichfield Street for our journey on Arriva Midlands 09:45 891 Service to Bridgnorth and we manage to squeeze into our midi bus and it is standing room only where, along the way, we pass many people waiting at bus stops for this hourly service, with the driver not letting anyone on because there is "no room", but just before we arrive in Bridgnorth, we head onto the Stanmore Industrial Estate to pick up a couple of Arriva drivers from the Bridgnorth outstation, so the health and safety rules DO NOT apply to drivers then! We arrive in Bridgnorth shortly after where the sardines, sorry passengers, alight at Bridgnorth High Town.

We have an hour before our next journey, so we head to the local JD Wetherspoons, "Jewel of the Severn", where we have a well deserved drink after our journey from Wolverhampton. It is also a place where we chat about "Book-A-Banga" with Mr WME, could this be part of the upcoming Wolverhampton Transport Review? I also check the latest F1 news and find out who qualified where for the Malaysian Grand Prix - no surprises to find out that Sebastian Vettel is pole, with Hamilton second, Webber third and Button fourth. Chats and checking over, and bladder stops out of the way, we head to the bus stop in the glowing sun to catch our next bus, Arriva Midlands 11:37 437 Service to Shrewsbury. We wait and wait, and it is now midday so it is decided that we head back to the Wetherspoons and as we do, the law of sods kicks in and the bus appears so it is a quick dash back to the bus stop to catch our late Service 437. We head through the Shropshire countryside on a bus with plenty of room for this journey, and despite the bus turning up nearly half an hour late, the driver has managed to catch up time and we arrive in Shrewsbury a few minutes later than planned.

It is nearly time for lunch, so we spend a few minutes taking photographs at the bus station, while Mr Lunn spends a penny, and we then make our way to our second Wetherspoons of the day, "The Shrewsbury Hotel" and since Mr UK Buses and myself visit to this establishment a couple of years ago, we find out that the speed of service has not vastly improved. After a near 10 minute wait at the bar to purchase our drinks, we finally take a seat and study the menu for lunch, but it is the usual meals, with Mr UK Buses opting for the curry, Mr Lunn and Mr WME opting for the gourmet burger and beer meal, and myself opting for the standard beer and burger meal deal. Meals ordered, and we find out that the kitchen staff are beating the bar staff for speed of service and it is not long before our meals are on the table and being demolished by us. We spend a few more minutes to let our grub go down with Mr Lunn spending a penny before we decide to have a brisk walk in the summer sunshine through the town centre where Mr WME's pub radar is in top working order and we head up by the church and pay a visit to "The Three Fishes", a splendid little pub with friendly staff, so a "cheers" photo, see picture right, is required. It is now time to go back to the bus station to catch our next bus, so we have another walk through the town centre and arrive at the station where it is not long before our bus arrives and also a chance for Mr Lunn to spend a penny before we board.

We board the Arriva Midlands 519 Service to our next destination and we make our way again through the Shropshire countryside and also with the countryside smells making there way through the open windows into the bus, I hope it was the country air and not the curry air from Mr UK Buses. This journey takes about an hour to get to Newport passing through places such as Roden, High Ercall, Tiberton and Edgmond. This route seems to be taking its toll on Mr UK Buses, see picture left, and he has a little nap during the journey, which means that we have a quiet journey except for the murmuring sounds coming from the direction of Mr UK Buses. We arrive in Newport, and we get off our bus at the bus station, which is just off the main High Street, and it is time for a bladder stop, and also a time for Mr Lunn to point out that there are new bladder facilities being built opposite, so we know where to go on our next visit to the town of Newport. We make our way to the next drinking establishment, and we go to The Barley, which is situated on Stafford Street and it is time for the Grand National, but we don't get to see which horse has won as we need to leave to get our next bus, so Mr UK Buses finds out that he has not won anything when we get on the bus.

We catch our next bus at Newport Bus Station and it is the Arriva Midlands 16:30 Service 481 journey which takes us out of Shropshire and into Staffordshire, where it is only a thirty minute journey to Stafford. As we pass Stafford railway station, we get ready to get off our bus and it is a little stroll to take us on our drinking establishment and we head to "The Lamb Inn", where we have a chat about our day whilst also watching the news to confirm who has won the Grand National, something that Mr UK Buses wanted to avoid. we spend just under half an hour in the lamb before we make our way to the nearest bus stop in Chell Road to get the gang back into Wolverhampton, but Mr Lunn has to make a dash back into The Lamb Inn to spend a penny before we catch the bus.

We board the 17:40 journey to Wolverhampton on Arriva Midlands 76 Service, which will take approximately one hour, passing through Penkridge along the way. As we arrive in Wolverhampton, we say goodbye to Mr WME who gets off close to home, but Mr UK Buses, Mr Lunn and myself stay on the bus into the City, and we get off at Broad Street, with a short walk, which Mr Lunn is finding hard and desperate to empty his bladder, so we go to Wetherspoons "The Moon Under Water" for the required bladder stop and a quick drink before we head back home. After a quick drink, Mr UK Buses and myself say our goodbyes to Mr Lunn, and we head around the corner into Queen Street, to catch our 19:15 National Express West Midlands 256 Service back to Stourbridge.

It takes us just under an hour before we arrive back in Stourbridge, and it is our turn for a bladder stop, so we make a quick detour and use the facilities at Wetherspoons "The Chequers Inn" to relieve our bladders and a final drink before we catch our bus home, the 0835 Service 276A operated by Black Diamond. I say my goodbyes to Mr UK Buses and make a visit to "Happy House" in Wollaston for a Chinese take away tea when I get back home.

Another good trip, with the sun shining all day for us on our first trip of British Summertime. Let's hope the sun stays with us for our trips during the rest of 2011, with the next trip for Mr UK Buses and myself planned in a couple of weeks, where we make our first trip of the year to London.

2011 - Topic 01:SBI Fotopic Sites

It has been nearly two weeks, and it looks like Fotopic has ceased trading, which also means that the Fotopic sites that are part of SBI - SBI Fotopic, SBI Bus Station Redevelopment Fotopic, and SBI Past Fotopic are no longer available.

There has been no reason for this outage, and if Fotopic have not gone bankrupt, I will not be using their services no longer, as there has been no contact explaining the downtime, and would not like hosting with Fotopic in the future incase this happens again, I would not like to host my pictures with an unreliable website.

It remains to be seen if Fotopic does come back to life, but the Webmaster will be looking at new photo sharing sites in the near future to host his photographs. I will no longer be updating Fotopic, if it does come back to life, until a new photo sharing site becomes available.

There has been talk of a new photo sharing site launching in the next few months, pikfu.net, which looks promising. The webmaster will look at this site when it becomes available to host the picture side of SBI.

The webmaster cannot be responsible for Fotopic issues, as it is beyond my control. If Fotopic does come alive again, the pictures that are currently on those sites will be available to look at, but will not be updated until a new photo sharing website becomes available.

I will keep you updated on the issue of SBI Photographs and the hosting of them, when information becomes available.

2011 - Day Out 6: Dudley Action Heart 5

Date: Sunday 27 February 2011

Following yesterdays exploits around Worcestershire, it was time for another outing and also time for my first ever run, the "Dudley Action Heart 5" Run, five miles of different gradiant starting and finishing at Russells Hall Hospital, and raising money for Action Heart. After a colleague from work entered for this race, he challenged me to do the same and enter, this was after saying I could beat him hands down,  and considering that I have never run in my entire life, I foolishly accepted - I think there is times when you should keep your mouth shut! 

Its 8am and its time to meet up with Mr UK Buses, that is after I purchase supplies of energy drink, one of which I drank whilst walking into Stourbridge to ensure that the drink kicks in just in time for the start, the other one to run with and give me much needed liquid. We end up at the bus stop located on the Stourbridge ring road just before 8.30, ready to catch National Express West Midlands service 246 to Dudley, dropping us off at Russells Hall Hospital along the way. According to the real time information, the first bus was due just after 8.45am, so a little wait ensues. The bus arrives on time, and away we go, I purchase a One Day NBus ticket, priced £3.80, and we sit down with me dreading what will happen in the next hour. We pass through Brierley Hill, so I do a strip on the bus, down to my race gear, and get some surprised looks off a person sitting opposite. Mr UK Buses uses this chance to take a photo of me donned up, that is after he has stopped laughing. Its not long after and we arrive at Russells Hall Hospital, and for some reason, I don't want to get off the bus, but it is for charity, so I alight and psyche myself up in preparation for the race, that is after a quick visit to empty the bladder from my first energy drink. It seemed that a lot of other runners had the same idea.

We leave the hospital reception, and make our way round to the back, where the start / finish line is situated, as we make our way, past Accident and Emergency - a place where I may end up after, there are quite a few people in running gear emerging, so it is a good sign that we are heading in the right direction. We turn the corner and we didn't realise that Mr Lunn was coming, but his needs were catered for - two rows of portaloos. We head around the next corner and I can see the start / finish line, the fear is kicking in, only fifteen minutes to go. We walk towards the start, and John from work spots me and comes over to give me his advice, and tells me what Mr UK Buses said earlier, do it at your own pace, try and do as much as you can, and don't worry if you can not complete the course. Only a few minutes to go, my nerves are twitching, but I think I'm having Mr Lunn trouble, I need the loo again, so John and I walk back to the portaloos, and join the queue of runners who have the same idea. Bladder emptied and back round to the start, I take my position and after a "before" photo (see below left) by Mr Wood, I do a few stretches and warm up, only a minute or so to go.

The start: In place, and the klaxon sounds, we're off. Just as we start off, the clouds open, quite quickly it turns from spots into a downpour - good timing! I make my way through the back of the hospital onto Bushey Fields Road, the marshals are holding back the traffic, I run up a slight hill to the main road at the end, I make my way onto the pavement, where I turn left into Kingswinford Road, I pass a few runners along the way, and the going is good. I am now at the main island at the end of Kingswinford Road, and I turn left into Stourbridge Road, heading uphill towards Dudley.

1 mile: Halfway up Stourbridge Road, and I see the first mile mark, it seems like I have run two, this put doubts into my head, will I be able to run the whole course? I'm not feeling any fatigue yet, so I carry on up Stourbridge Road, I am now at the traffic lights and it is a left turn into Wellington Road, running up to Dudley Leisure Centre. I'm halfway up the hill and I am now starting to struggle. I am now at the top of Wellington Road, where I turn left into Stafford Street, I am now gasping for breath, I make it to the end of Stafford Street, turning left into Wolverhampton Street, it is at this point that I am suffering, fatigue has kicked in, and my run turns into a walk, I take this time to have a drink and I am just coming to the main island.

2 miles: I am at the island and this is where the 2 mile marker is, I turn off left into the Himley Road. After my drink, and the worst of the course is out of the way, I begin to run again, and at least it is down hill. I make my way past Grange Park, and feel that my body is running faster than my feet, but with renewed energy, I manage to pass a few runners (the ones who past me on Wolverhampton Street, plus a few extra), I've got a good rythmn going now. I carry on along Himley Road, and am now coming accross the backmarkers who decided to walk the course, and left Russells Hall Hospital at 9am.

3 miles: I am now at the island at the end of Milking Bank, I think just past here was the three mile marker, my running is good now and haven't noticed, so this is a guess at the three mile mark. Anyway, I go straight on at the island where Milking Bank meets Himley Road, and I carry on up Himley Road, which is slightly uphill, and now a marshal is standing there with a sign telling us to turn left, at this point I shout out to him "When is the coach arriving to pick us up?", the marshal laughs. I now turn left into Coopers Bank Road, and it is another road that is going downhill, so on I go. I'm two thirds of the way down Coopers Bank Road, and I see the sign for Gornal Wood Crematorium, the way I'm feeling at this point, I don't feel like I belong there, which is a different thought I had at the start of the run. I carry on down Coopers Bank Road, the road now becomes Smithy Lane. There is a slight uphill gradient to this bit of the course, and towards the end of the road, my legs are starting to suffer again. I come to the end of Smithy Lane, and it is a left turn into Tansey Green Road. I can see the mile marker up ahead.

4 miles: I manage to run to the four mile marker, and that is when I begin to suffer and fatugue kicks in again, so it at this point my run becomes a walk and from here to the main road, Pensnett High Street, it is chance for me to have another drink. I turn left into Pensnett High Street, and it is not far to go till the end, so I try an muster up the energy and try running again. It is currently a bit of a steep gradient, so I'm still in a bit of a crawler run, but as I get past the "High Oak", my legs are beginning to come back to life, and it is just a straight road from here to the hospital. I'm now gathering pace I pass a few more walkers, and I am now by the "Fox and Grapes" - How I wish this was open now, this is the last gasp bit of the course and also another steep gradient. Just before I attempt to run up the hill, it looks like the front runners have come back to give us at the back moral support, so with shouts of encouragement I manage to give a last splurt of energy, I'm past Vicarage Road and I can see the turning ahead, I can also hear the marshals shouting "Come on, not far to go". I turn into the hospital road, the end is near......

5 miles and the finish: I haven't managed the five miles yet but as I turn into the hospital road, I'm on the route to the back of the hospital, I'm passing some more marshals and they are giving claps of encouragement.  A few more corners to go, first corner down and I spot Mr UK Buses to my right  - he seems shocked, so do I when I look at my watch, it is just before 10.20am. This gives me a major boost of adrenaline, two corners to go. One corner down, and I make my way past the portaloos, and the final corner is coming closer, final corner down, and the finish line is in front of me. This morning, I didn't think I would see this sight, a few more metres to go, and my number is mentioned by the hospital radio broadcast, "202, come on, keep going, don't give up now". A few more steps and I cross the finish line, and my run goes back to a walk. I crossed the line at 50 minutes and 58 seconds, I'm totally surprised at my time - my original thought this morning would be 1 hour 15 minutes! I see John ahead and he congratulates me, and he is also shocked at my time. John ran the course  in 42 muntes, if I didn't have those two breaks whilst on the course, I could have only been a minute or so behind him.

We walk a bit further and get my free t-shirt for completing the run, something I'm glad of as I am soaked. Speaking of rain, it is stopping, so some more good (or is that bad) timing by the clouds. We walk back down past the finish line, where we meet up with Mr UK Buses, and he gives me much needed congratulations and expresses his surprise at how fast I completed the run. The adrenalin seems to be calming down, and I have a little rest (see above right). John says his goodbyes and a couple of minutes later, I put my jeans back on, and swap my totally soaked running top with my free t-shirt and I'm ready to go. Mr UK Buses and myself  walk down towards Bushy Fields Road to get back to the front of the hospital, spotting the t-shirt stand, Mr UK Buses asks if I could get one for him, I tell him they are only for runners who have completed the course. We carry on, and finally get round to the front of the hospital, I spot the smoking shelter, and take this opporunity to have a well deserved cigarette before getting our bus to Dudley. We walk to the bus stops and not long after we get a service 246 to Dudley, which takes us on a short ride to Dudley Bus Station.

We arrive at Dudley Bus Station and after about ten minutes we get a National Express West Midlands Service 527, which makes it's way through Wrens Nest, Gornal Wood and The Straits before reaching Sedgley. We alight in Sedgley, and pain is starting to take over, my ankle is starting to throb, but it is only a few hundred yards and we get to the J D Wetherspoons, "The Clifton". Mr UK Buses gets a well deserved drink in, and we sit down enabling me to rest my now weary legs. Mr UK Buses gets his normally hidden wallet out to pass his sponsor money onto me, he passes me a tenner, and as I go to give him his fiver change, he tells me to keep the rest and add it to the sposnorship fund - big thanks to Mr UK Buses for that. We finish our drinks after a chat about the run, and how surprised I was with the timing etc, and we have a little walking to do, but I manage it as we go a few metres next door to "Montys". We have a window seat, and Mr UK Buses keeps an eye out for a work colleague who is known to visit Monty's. After we finish our drinks here it is decided to catch the Midland 297B service back into Stourbridge.

We go back to the bus stops in Sedgley and wait for our 297B which is due at 1310. We have about 10 minutes to wait, and the temperature has dropped and the wind is getting up. With a few minutes to go, we see a Midland bus turn out of a side street up ahead and it seems to drive straight on. A few minutes have passed and the bus is late. It is now 1315, and a National Express West Midlands service 558 appears so we decide to jump on that, and make our way to the top deck, something which is hard for me to do as the aches are starting. The bus pulls off and Mr UK Buses looks out of the back window and sees our 297B pull up! We are now heading towards Dudley, and as we pass Upper Gornal, we come to the Himley Road Island, where I point out that it was the 2 mile mark and that is where I had my first "walking" break. Not long after and we arrive back in Dudley. We are both suffering "Lunn syndrome" and walk through the bus station to find out that the toilets are shut. We have a bit of time to kill before our bus back to Stourbridge arrives, so we head to "The Castle Inn", to use the facilities, but seeing as the pub is empty, the eyes are staring from the landlady, so a quick half is purchased before we make use of the loo!

After we are emptied, and a quick walk back to the bus station and we wait for our service 246 back into Stourbridge. A few minutes late, we board and we make our way, back through Russells Hall Hospital, a place which I'm not too keen on now, and then the last part of the journey through Brierley Hill and Amblecote, before arriving at the temporary stands in Birmingham Street. A little walk up the road, and we are at our stand to catch our final bus of the day, Black Diamond's service 276, which takes us back home to Norton. I say my goodbyes to Mr UK Buses and after a little walk, I arrive back home, where I have a well deserved rest.

Another cracking day out, and also an achieving day. I accomplished something that I wouldn't have thought I could do - a five mile run. I'm proud of myself for completing the course and still can not get over the shock of what time I did the run in. After the event and a little more training next time, I think that I may enter the run next year. Perhaps Mr UK Buses will enter next year?

2011 - Day Out 5: Whittles Worcestershire

Date: Saturday 26 February 2011

Time for the second outing of the year for the WARP's and we aim to have a little ride around Worcestershire travelling on local Whittles routes. Time to meet up and I make my way to Stourbridge Town to meet up with the rest of the gang. After purchasing my £2.60 return ticket to Kidderminster I catch the Parry's People Mover, or as I like to call it, "The Dodger" up to Stourbridge Junction. Upon arrival, I wait a few minutes on Platform 3, when Mr UK Buses and Mr WME arrive after finding out that they were on Platform 2 for a few minutes. Our "normal" train arrives on time at 0919 and we board and find Mr Lunn towards the back end of the train. After stopping at Hagley and Blakedown we arrive at Kidderminster, where after alighting we have a walk down Comberton Hill and through the town centre, with a brief diversion to the toilets close to the library for Mr Lunn, to the bus station situated by Tesco's.

It is just a short wait until we get our first bus, and we board Service 11 and purchase our Whittles day ticket costing £5.50 for unlimited travel all day on Whittle services, and after a short journey, passing the Severn Valley Railway station along the way, we arrive in Bewdley. With a bit of time to spare we head off for our first visit of the day to "The George Hotel", a Wetherspoons, and entered via a door we did not know about. A bladder stop is needed by myself so I go to the back of the establishment and up the stairs and realise that I have walked into the ladies, so I quickly exit and find out the gents are at the front of the building, and I must admit that the ladies in "The George" are quite posh. We finish our non alcoholic round and make our way to the bus stop to visit our next location of the day.

Its not to long before our next bus arrives, and it is Whittles service 125 to Bridgnorth. We board and we are on our way with a bit of "D9" driving being demonstrated by Mr Lunn as we make our way through Button Oak and Kinlet before reaching our destination of Highley. We alight at Highely and as we walk up the road, we discover that we got off a stop early, Mr UK Buses is up to his tricks again - I can remember him doing this on our last visit to London, with me getting the blame again. Anyway, we make our way up the main street and it starts to rain, so we time it right to take cover underneath the bus shelter, the one that we were supposed to get off at, with Mr WME walking ahead to see if he could make any discoveries. After a few minutes he returns and he states that there are no open pubs in that direction, so to kill about half hour, we have a little walk round the village, eventually popping up by the church, and Mr Lunn has a sneaky "visit", we then find out that we have done a loop and arrive by the bus stop we alighted at earlier. We see a sign for the Severn Valley Railway station at Highley and have a little wander in the direction and find out that it looks quite a distance, and with time getting on, we make our way through the village again and wait for our Service 125 back in to Bewdley. After waiting an extra few minutes, the bus arrives and we make our way to Bewdley via Kinlet and Button Oak after our "Highley  Disappointing" visit to the village.

Upon arrival in Bewdley it is time for lunch and we make our second visit to "The George" where we get a table sorted ready for our lunch. After a perusal of the menu we make our choices and we guess each others choices before Mr WME and myself make our way to the bar to get our food order, which is delayed by the fact that Mr UK Buses choice is not available, Mr UK Buses mentions that a letter may be arriving soon at Wetherspoons headquarters. It is not too long before our food arrives and we munch away. Stomachs have been fed, so just before we leave it is time for Mr Lunn to take his customary bladder stop and upon enquiring, I point him in the direction I went earlier - he is out of sight, and the gang can let out the laughs, but fair play to Mr Lunn he takes it in his stride and does inform us that he did his business before he came back down to us, I also ask him if he used the sofas that are provided in the ladies room, how come they can get all nice mod-cons in their loos - I think a letter to Wetherspoons is on the way from myself and claims of sexism!

We make our way down Bewdley High Street and wait outside The Angel, for our next bus, Whittles Service 11 to Stourport. The bus makes it's way to Stourport, when Mr UK Buses comes up with a good idea, and we alight the bus just before one of Mr UK Buses previous places of employment, The Brinton Arms. Mr WME decides to have a walk into Stourport to have a look around, whilst the rest of us settle down for a while in this establishment. Whilst in the pub, I try and get a cheap round in whilst Mr Lunn is taking a bladder stop, but he soon pipes up and I get him a drink, when he emerges from the toilet, the correct ones this time! We soon get a text off Mr WME and we make our way into Stourport to meet up with him, and we end up at the bus stop by The Wheatsheaf public house, with Mr WME emerging from the bottom half of the town. We have a few minutes to spare before our return Service 11 arrives to take us back into Kidderminster. A quick journey ensues, with the swapping of drivers along the way.

We arrive in Kidderminster and we wait by the town hall for a few minutes before our next bus arrives. What's this? Mr Lunn hasn't made his usual visit to The Swan to make his customary use of the facilities. Whittles Service 5 to Franche arrives and we board to get to our next destination of Wolverley. After a quick journey we arrive and alight by Wolverley Church, where we take a little walk and we arrive at one of our favourite drinking establishments, "The Queens Head". Drinks are ordered and it is decided that we make use of the pool table. A few games are played, with Mr UK Buses deciding to try his hand at magic and mysteriously makes the black disappear, this seems to answer a question from our last outing where the black ball had once again disappeared. With the pool games out of the way, we find out that we haven't got enough time to visit the "other" Wolverley public house, "The Lock", so a "half round" is ordered and we spend a bit of time in the lounge, a room that we have never used in this establishment on previous visits, and find out that we have missed out on comfort. Time for a "cheers" photo (see left), and we make our way back past the church to get our final bus of the day, Service 5 back to Kidderminster.

We arrive in Kidderminster just in time for tea, so we alight the bus just by The Swan Centre, where a short cut is used through the centre to get to our next Wetherspoons, "The Penny Black". A quick bladder stop is needed before we make our way down to the bar to order our drinks. The pub is quite busy during the early part of the evening and we find a table where it is down to Mr WME and Mr Lunn this time to make our food order. A short while after our food arrives and Mr UK Buses recovering from the shock of myself having something different off the menu, modestly priced Fish and Chips. Whilst we are busy eating our food we hadn't realised that the staff are in fancy dress - Police woman, fire woman - and we also distracted by a show of legs from other customers in the pub. Food is going down well and after another bladder stop, we make our way through Kidderminster and crawl back up Comberton Hill to the railway station for our train back home.

Disaster strikes, we arrive a couple of minutes late, so we have just under half an hour to wait for the next train. We think it is a bit stupid to wait in the cold, so it is decided to visit "The King and Castle", the public house and one of my personal favourites, situated at the Severn Valley Railway station at Kidderminster. After our little warm, we make our way across the forecourt to the modern day station and whilst waiting the final few minutes, the gang decide on dates and possible locations on our next outing. The train arrives and we board for the short journey to Stourbridge Junction, stopping off at Blakedown and Hagley along the way, and it is a good night to Mr Lunn who stays on board to alight at Rowley Regis, whilst Mr UK Buses, Mr WME and myself quickly swap platforms for our "Dodger" back into Stourbridge Town. Not too long to wait and a brief journey gets us back into Stourbridge Town, where Mr UK Buses spots our Black Diamond Service 276 back to Norton waiting by the railway station, so after a quick goodbye to Mr WME, we get a bit cheeky and ask to board, which the driver lets us, thus saving a walk down to the stop situated in  Birmingham Street. We give a little wave to Mr WME as we go past, whilst he makes his way to his bus stop.

Another good outing, with a bit of a let down courtesy of the weather, and a bit of disappointment with our visit to Highley. An April date has been set for the next WARP outing, the first one of the year in British Summertime, lets hope the weather has a summer feel to it.

2011 - Day Out 4: Staffordshire

Date: Saturday 12 February 2011

It is time for my first planned trip in February and Mr WME and myself have decided to visit locations in Staffordshire. So to start the day off I walk into Stourbridge to get my first bus of the day, National Express West Midlands 256 to Wolverhampton. Whilst waiting for the bus, I look at the 256 timetable and am surprised that there are only three buses on Saturday mornings before the half hourly frequency kicks in at 0930. The 256 arrives and I'm on my way to Wolverhampton. After a pleasant journey it is not long where I alight the 256 in Wolverhampton and wait in the temporary stop in Queen Street for Mr WME to appear, which he does after a couple of minutes. We have a bit of time before catching our first bus, but I seem to have taken over the bladder duties from Andy for today, and we head to the nearest toilets which are located in the Mander Centre. I was so desperate, I did not notice the sign that the female attendant was cleaning, nor did I see her in the toilets cleaning, but I could not have stopped once I had started.

After my little visit, we make our way to Stafford Street to catch our first bus of the day, so we head across Queens Square, where we seem to spot more discarded garments along the way, this time being a pair of tights, and it is not soon after we arrive at our stop to catch Arriva Midlands Service 76 to Stafford. Our bus arrives just slightly after its intended time of 1016, and we make our way to Stafford, hoping to catch our connecting bus to our first proper location of the day. After a pleasant ride, in which there seems to be members of CAMRA sitting next to us stating the pubs they have or have not visited, we arrive close to Stafford where we go around some local estates (with Mr WME informing me that these will no longer be served in upcoming Arriva service changes), before we get to Stafford town centre. With a bit of a build up of traffic and the fact that I cannot take any more of the female CAMRA member screaming at every pub she see, Mr WME and myself decide to get off just after the rail station and walk it through town to Gaol Square hoping to catch our connecting bus. We arrive at Gaol Square at nearly 1140, and we realise that the Arriva Service 432 which we need to catch is actually the same bus that we caught from Wolverhampton, even with the same driver taking us! It seems that our seats had been warmed up (by ourselves previously) and we start off on our journey to Eccleshall.

We arrive at Eccleshall, where we alight the bus. We have a walk around the village with Mr WME taking his customary photographs of public houses and libraries. After our tour and visit to the library where I seem to have upset the librarian by turning the speech on the information machine (not on purpose!), we visit our first public house of the day, The George Inn, where we decide to have our drinks by the roaring fire, until Mr WME gets too hot and we then move to our big table at the window to watch the world go by. After our drinks have been supped, we walk up the high street to The Bell, a rustic public house, which seems to be the locals pub of choice. We take our seats by the bar, where we are greeted not one but three barmaids serving. After a while, one barmaid enquires if the Bank's bitter is alright after she has changed the barrel, so it is up to me, The Bells previous cellar man (Not in Eccleshall, but Stourbridge), to have a look at the beer and even sample a sup to make sure it is okay, and it seems to be a lovely drink. After our drinks have been supped, in which Mr WME had to have two halves because he could make his mind which drink he wanted, and our opinion on the changed barrel, we make our way to the bus stop to catch our service 432, which arrived a few minutes later than the advertised time of 1320, to take us back to Stafford, it also seems a shame that this lovely village may be losing its public transport link with Stafford, after hearing the news from Mr WME that Arriva are cancelling the buses they operate there.

We make our way back to Stafford, when the bladder that Andy has loaned me today needs emptying, so we get off just before Stafford town centre, in which Mr WME remembers a public house that he spotted in the area on our way to Eccleshall earlier, and he cannot find it, which is great seeing that my legs can't move much farther with the fact that they are nearly crossed twice over!! With the bladder requiring immediate attention we spot The Hop Pole Inn, in which the bladder is serviced and Mr WME gets the drinks in, plus a bar snack of Scampi Flavour Fries. With time to pass whilst supping our drinks, we cant beat a bit of bully, and have a go on Bullseye on the quiz machine, which we leave empty handed, he beat us! After our visit to The Hop Pole, we walk through Stafford, pass the jail and Mr WME needs to make sure he gets past quick before any guard thinks he has broken out, to get to Gaol Square and catch our next bus, Service 3 to Queensville, to get to our next public house. We are not long on the bus from the town centre, when Mr WME spots our next public house, so we alight the bus sharply and walk over the railway bridge to visit The Spittal Brook, a public house that is situated on the end of a block of terraced houses, it was also recommended by a colleague at work. The Spittal Brook is a lovely pub, with saucy postcards adorning the walls and is also included in the Good Beer Guide. We spot a collection of board games in the corner, so whilst having our drinks we decide to have a game of "four in a row" with myself beating Mr WME 3 games to 2! (see picture above) After his beating Mr WME decides he needs to get some fresh air, so we go out into the beer garden, which is nice peaceful surroundings, at least until the trains behind the hedge go roaring past! Whilst in the garden we see quite a few buses go past, and it is not long before we make a move, that is after the fact that Mr WME has been arrested by two young kids who are playing in the garden for "punching their dad". Whilst he can, Mr WME makes a break for it and we head off to the nearest bus stop to catch our bus into town, he may have escaped the police kids, but I later find out that my colleague spotted us leaving. We wait a while, which may give the reason why we saw so many buses go past in The Spittal Brook, so we decide to walk, that is until we spot a Service 825 heading towards us and we make a quick dash to the bus stop which the driver spots us and kindly stops. We barely make it to our seats before we alight outside our next public house, The Sun, which is the latest opening of the Titanic brewery. We only have a little time in The Sun, before we have to catch our next bus, which stops right outside.

We catch our Service 76 bus, which takes us to our next location, Penkridge, and after our return visit to the local estates on the suburbs of Stafford, it is not long before we alight at Penkridge, and we visit The Horse and Jockey, a pub in which Mr WME finds out the final score of the match between Wolves and Arsenal, bad news is, it is Wolves which have lost with a score of 2-0 at Arsenal. After a quick drink in "The Jockey", we make our way up Market Street, and visit The Star Inn, a pub that Mr UKBuses and myself have spotted on a previous visit to Penkridge. We have a quick half in The Star Inn (see picture left), where hunger is kicking in, so we head back to the bus stop with a visit to "Jasper's", a bakery which we purchase some pasties to nibble on, and also cakes for our journey ahead. We catch the Service 76 again, with a short journey to our next location, Brewood.

We arrive in Brewood, where we visit the next Public House, The Swan, where it is my round and get some more bar snacks, some Pork Crunch, to nibble on whilst watching the Six Nations rugby match between Wales and Scotland, with Wales having a good lead. The pub seems quite busy and we found a table in the corner by luck. After resting our legs, we decide to visit another public house in the area, and it is a short walk to The Admiral Rodney, in which we take our pews at the bar, even though there is a vast amount of tables to choose from. It seems a shame that the pub was quiet, as it seems to be a nice little place. It is nearly time for our next bus, so we sup up and make a move and walk past the church and graveyard to the bus stop which is situated opposite The Swan. We are nearly there and I spot the bus coming so another quick sprint is needed to get to the bus stop before the bus does. I manage to, Mr WME seems to just walk at a leisurely pace. Despite the running, the bus is actually early so it is a few minutes before the bus departs on its way to Wolverhampton.

After our last journey of the day on Service 76, we arrive in Wolverhampton, and with a bit of time to spare, we have a drink in The Posada, a lovely little place situated in Lichfield Street close to The Art Gallery. A bladder stop is also needed, so whilst in the toilet, Mr WME finds us a seat, and we rest our legs a bit. Its not long before we revisit another pub in Wolverhampton, The Wheatsheaf. It seems to have been taken over since our last visit, and the pub does not seem as busy as it once was, which is a shame. We end our night playing darts with a game of 301, which Mr WME takes the game, even though i just needed a score of just 1 (No finishing on doubles as we would still be playing!), with Mr WME having a big score to finish, he managed to win! I scored the victory of the second game, this time playing a game of 101 to make it more quick to finish the game, and I beat Mr WME with a final score of 13. So a decider is needed, but due to the time and the dart board oche being taken over by a disco, it is a game for a future trip. It was also time for myself to catch the Service 256 back to Stourbridge, with Mr WME accompanying me to the bus stop in Queen Street, before he makes his way back home.

Again, another good trip with Mr WME, and there seems to be no let down on the trips with it seeming to be a good start to 2011. My pub of the day would have to be The Spittal Brook in Stafford, and the barmaid of the day goes to three! The barmaids were all good in The Bell in Eccleshall, but they alas do not beat the barmaid at The Swan on our recent visit to Chaddesley Corbett. Looking forward to our next trip, that's if Mr WME does not get caught whilst being on the run from the police kids!