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.

2013 - Day Out 07: Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day

Date: Sunday 16 June 2013

Our third day in Weymouth and today is the reason for the visit, The Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day. So far we have had really good sunny weather, but you can guess as the day we most want it to stay dry, the weather changes and decides to rain.

I wake up and i decide to slide out of the bed and actually fall out to avoid the first pain of the day of standing on my swollen leg, knocking my head against the wall, so I still get pain when getting up. After getting dressed, I make my way to the front of the hotel for some "fresh air" and as I make my way outside, the weather has decided not to play the game today and it is drizzling and a bit windy bringing a chill to the air. After my break, I meet up with Mr UKBuses and make our way for breakfast to have a full English (no egg, extra bacon and sausage) to fuel us for the day ahead at the running day. After breakfast, we quickly head to the rooms to get our camera's and make our way across the sea front, where Mr UKBuses is way ahead and I hobble my way and take a seat whilst he is taking some photographs, and also purchase an umbrella so photo's can be taken at the running day. To get to the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day Rally HQ (Lodmoor Country Park), we have to catch First in Dorset service 503 which is luckily being driven by Clive, a driver who used to worked with Mr UKBuses, Clive is our driver on the route to rally HQ.

We arrive at Rally HQ and as we hobble to the vehicles on display, the umbrella goes up and photographs are taken, it is Mr UKBuses turn to take photo's whilst I hold the umbrella (unfortunately I missed his head when trying to hit him with it a few times) ensuring that the bald spot is kept dry and then it is my turn to get the camera out and take a few pictures. We still have a bit of time before the rides commence so we have a look around the stalls, and whilst Mr UKBuses is browsing the photographs on sale, I head to the bus stops and take a seat to rest my leg. The rides are about to start and we board our first journey of the day:

Journey 1: Service 454 - Weymouth to Railway Station Circular. This journey was operated by an Ex-Southdown Leyland National 2 HFG 923V.

Journey 2: Service 23 - Weymouth to Bowleaze Cove. This was operated by South West Coaches Mercedes-Benz 709D L317 AUT. This bus would be haunting us throughout the day on our rides. Whilst at Bowleaze Cove there was time to take photographs, so I decided to stay on the bus for obvious reasons whilst Mr UKBuses got off and took a few photographs, see picture below. The rain was stopping and the sun was starting to make an appearance.

Watch out there is a bald spot about.

Journey 3: Service 22A - Weymouth to Portland Bill. This was operated by South West Coaches Volvo B6LE YEZ 6691.

Good old Portland Bill

Whilst at Portland we alighted and as is now customary we have a liquid refreshment break in the expensive Pulpit pub, see picture below, I was looking forward to this as this year it was Mr UKBuses turn to buy the round and even though he tried his old trick of going to the toilet, he didn't get away with it and purchased the round. With a little rest of the leg and drinks finished we make our way back to the bus stop for the return journey and disaster strikes. The journey is being operated by the dreaded Mercedes Benz minibus and obviously there was no room, so we had to wait a further 30 minutes for the next bus to arrive and a big queue was forming for this journey. Unfortunately the arriving bus was packed and no-one got off so there was no room, it looked like quite a wait but the owner and driver of this bus went beyond the call of duty and let us on to stand (at our own risk, which was fair to be honest) and we arrived back at Rally HQ. The return journey was operated by Ex-Wilts and Dorset Bristol VRT JJT 437N.

Mr UKBuses round this year!

Journey 4: Service 23 - Weymouth - Bowleaze Cove. Another visit to Bowleaze Cove, this time on an Ex-Devon General Bristol LH POD 8300H.

It was time for our final journey of the day and we catch the 454 Service to Weymouth Railway Station, where we alight at The Kings Statue and decide to go back to the hotel for some rest and put our feet up. I did nod off for a bit, luckily waking in time for me to visit the shops to get some sweets for work (a tradition when we go away) and a sneaky pint in J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry", avoiding the lift this time. After my pint, I make my way back to the hotel and Mr UKBuses has made an appearance earlier than planned as he is sitting in the hotel bar. I drop my stuff off upstairs and make my way to the bar to enjoy a pint before we go to get tea, this time we sample a curry at our Weymouth favourite, "Chilli's", stopping off at First in Dorset's Weymouth Depot to take a few photographs, see picture left. Mr UKBuses opts for the Chicken Tikka Masala and myself the not so hot Chicken Tikka Korma, and it was a lovely meal too, thanks to the chef.

With our stomachs fed, we decide to have a walk around Weymouth to visit old favourites that we didn't manage to visit last night. First up is The Wellington Arms, a pub first (and last) visited on our trip in 2011, and a pub that I stayed in for five hours after watching the longest Grand Prix ever when the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix was being held in very wet weather (and also Mr UKBuses and Mr WME left me in whilst they enjoyed a visit to Chilli's) and was won by Jenson Button who came from last place to take the lead and the win on the final lap. This visit wasn't that long this time, and we enjoyed a pint of real ale and it was a nice pint too, kept right by the Landlord.

Cheers from The Chapelhay Tavern

Next place to visit was a distance away and luckily my leg wasn't as sore as it was during the day (I found out that the pain wasn't to bad on the evening's) so we hobble across the bridge and up some steps to The Chapelhay Tavern. I've always liked this pub as it has good memento's covering the walls, friendly staff and friendly regulars, but this time was a bit of a let down as the bitter that we purchased tasted a bit vinegary and would've made a good use if we had some chips, see picture above. Luckily we only purchased half and after a quick visit to the toilet (with glass sneakingly in hand), my drink had gone and Mr UKBuses decided to leave his.

A lovely night to sit outside The Boot

We only had a short walk and luckily it was downhill so I didn't have to clamber up steps. Another favourite of ours, The Boot Inn. Again the staff and regulars are always friendly and every visit to The Boot makes you feel very welcome and part of the place. This pub is owned by The Ringwood Brewery so it has to be said that we have top sample a Ringwood Bitter, which was again as always kept right and it went down very nicely, we opted to sit outside again this year in the evening sun, see picture above, and we accompanied by a visit from a ten week old boxer dog.

Stan says "Cheers from The Globe"

One more pub to go and we make our way back to what is Mr UKBuses favourite pub in Weymouth, The Globe where we sample the nicely kept Jail Ale, see picture above, and Mr UKBuses does get his favourite seat in the pub tonight, a bar stool right next to the bar. We get talking to the people we met here last night and Mr UKBuses calls it a night and makes his way back to the hotel. I'm not too far behind and about ten to fifteen minutes later I make my way back to the hotel, where a couple of pints are had for a nightcap for the final night's stay at Weymouth, before heading for bed, I have a last "fresh air" break of the day and have a look across the road to the moonlit sea and also spot that the lasers are on for the first time this weekend. After the fresh air is finished, I make my way to my room where I rest my tired leg, which is now getting very swollen, including my toes which I can now not bend and get one final night's sleep in Weymouth.

A good final day and congratulations to the organisers of the Vintage Bus Running Day. A tiring day but well enjoyed it is nearly time to go back home, but even though the Running Day won't be taking place next year (it is Torquay's turn to host the event), I'm pretty sure that Weymouth will still be visited at some point next year.

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Date: Monday 17 June 2013

Sadly it is our last few hours in Weymouth before we head back to the Midlands.

I wake up early and hobble around the room on by now a very swollen leg and ankle and ensure that everything is packed. Once everything is packed I make my way downstairs for some "fresh air" before meeting Mr UKBuses for breakfast. I go for the healthy option today and opt for cereal. Once breakfast is finished and Mr UKBuses enjoys his fifth cup of coffee, I have a fresh air break before going to my room to pick up my bag and we make our way back downstairs and hand our keys in and say goodbye to The Royal Hotel. There is one last thing to do whilst still in Weymouth and that is to have a final pint in J D Wetherspoons, "The William Henry", see picture right, which is now customary before leaving Weymouth. Pint finished, we make our way, or in my case, hobble to Weymouth Railway Station and after a final "fresh air" break in Weymouth we say goodbye to Weymouth and board our 10:03 South West Trains train for our first leg of the journey.

We arrive at Southampton Central Railway Station and I have time to sneak outside for some "fresh air", and as I make my way back into the station, our train arrives and we board the 11:46 CrossCountry train which is heading to Newcastle, but we will be alighting halfway. Time for a nap for both of us and as we head through Banbury, we realise we are getting closer to home and as we arrive near Birmingham New Street, we get our bags and stand by the doors, it seems to be an eternity as we wait for a platform but eventually we arrive and alight and we have a rush to get our connecting train to Smethwick Galton Bridge on Platform 3B, having a quick glance at the new concourse at New Street along the way.

We arrive at Platform 3B and just about get on our Arriva Trains Wales train which takes us to Smethwick Galton Bridge where after alighting we have to get to our platform for the Stourbridge bound train, but instead of climbing the stairs and my leg, we get the lift to get us there. At 14:43, we board our London Midland train and as we make our way back home, Mr UKBuses rings Mr UKBuses senior to arrange a lift and upon arrival at Stourbridge Junction we get into the car where Mr UKBuses senior kindly drops me off right on the doorstep.

After dropping the bag off and slightly worried about how swollen my ankle is, I head straight off to Russell's Hall Hospital where I am admitted for 9 hours to get two drips pumped straight into my blood to help alleviate the swelling. It was not a fitting end to the weekend, but at least I'm now on the mend.

The weekend was really good, it would not have been possible without the planning of the days by Mr UKBuses. It is a shame we had to come back, but the weekend was really enjoyable with thanks to Mr UKBuses and his company for the weekend. A big thank you to Mr UKBuses who had to put up with my slow walking and my dodgy leg all weekend, who would have thought that I would struggle keeping up with Mr UKBuses. Sorry for the lack of bald spot photo's but Mr UKBuses was too quick for me and I needed one hand free to hold a walking stick to keep me upright.

2013 - Day Out 06: Weymouth, Swanage and Bournemouth

Date: Saturday 15 June 2013

It was the second day of our weekend break in Weymouth and as I wake up and clamber to the window on my poorly leg, the weather looks like it will be fine for a day of riding around the Dorset region followed by a night of sampling Weymouth's pubs.

Normally my first night's sleep in strange surroundings means that I don't sleep well on the first night, but the aching leg and long distance travelled yesterday must have helped me get a very good first night's sleep. I wake up and after the initial pain in my left leg and clamber around the room, I get ready and make my way downstairs for some "fresh air" before sampling our first breakfast in The Royal Hotel. Normally when staying away, I go for a walk around the area before breakfast, but due to my leg problems I decide to sit outside the hotel for a while in the morning sun whilst waiting for Mr UKBuses to make an appearance. He soon appears and we make our way to the breakfast room where we take our seats and wait to be served. We do wait a while as it seems everybody has come down for breakfast at the same time, I try and get up to get some pre-breakfast orange juice but as I struggle, Mr UKBuses comes to the rescue and gets it for me. We finally get served and order the full English breakfast, both of us opting for no eggs and beans but we wished we asked for extra bacon as we find out the size of the meal after it has been served to us. We consume our meals ready for the day ahead and after Mr UKBuses has his fifth cup of coffee, we return to our room to get our stuff and out we go.

Mr UKBuses is first out and walks ahead to the King's Statue so he gets a few photographs before our first journey as I hobble up to the bus stops, after purchasing some pop for the journey ahead, I rest in the bus stop whilst Mr UKBuses clicks away. Our first bus arrives early and the driver kindly lets us board and after 10 minutes resting my leg the Damory 09:10 Service 183 pulls away, leaving Weymouth passing through Dolchester and Puddletown (something that Mr UKBuses missed as he was asleep) before arriving at our first destination of Blandford, where there is also a river called the river Stour, at approximately 10:10. We have to wait just under 15 minutes before getting our next bus, which is Wilts and Dorset Service X8, which will take us to Poole, but first we have a ride around Blandford Forum, before arriving in Blandford again to get us to our destination (Mikey, you are taking me around in circles!).

At 11:23 we arrive in the lovely Poole bus station (not one of my favourite locations), we don't have long to wait for us to catch our next bus and after hobbling across the station we finally arrive at Stand G where we can catch "The Purbeck Breezer" service 40, which departs on time at 11:30. We arrive at our destination of Swanage and Mr UKBuses is on the search for two things, chips to feed his hunger (I couldn't have any as I was on antibiotics and had to have them on an empty stomach) and a cap to stop his bald spot getting sunburnt, so we decide to walk down the main high street, as we reach the bottom of the high street we realise that for the last few years, we have been walking the long way to get us to The White Swan, we had no time for a piddle this year and we made our way back to the railway station to get our next bus. At 13:20 we board another Purbeck Breezer, Service 50 which takes us to Bournemouth passing through Sandbanks along the way. We make our way on top to the "open top" and as we board the ferry at Sandbanks and it being a bit windy and cold we make our way downstairs for the rest of the journey before arriving at Bournemouth at 14:25.

I pop into W H Smiths to get a drink (and a free packet of crisps as part of a deal), whilst Mr UKBuses goes missing whilst taking a few photographs. With no bald spot in sight, I make my way to the bus stop for our next journey and Mr UKBuses finally turns up. We are ahead of schedule and decide to catch the earlier Wilts and Dorsets "More" M1 service to get us back to Poole, departing Bournemouth at 14:48. It was a good decision to catch this bus as there was a bit of traffic along the route, so we arrive at Poole bus station close to our original time anyway. Upon arrival in Poole I decide to rest my leg whilst Mr UKBuses goes to the nearby Wilts and Dorset bus depot to get a few more photographs and I get in a "fresh air" break whilst he is around there. Upon his return we decide to get to our stand at the stop in the station as the queue is getting large for our final journey of the day. We board First in Dorset's Service X53 which takes us back to Weymouth, passing through Wareham along the way with Mr UKBuses having a little nap on the journey before awaking and arriving back at our base for the weekend, Weymouth at 17:23.

We make our way back to the hotel so we can have an hours rest of my leg, which is now starting to swell, and a freshen up before having a night sampling the local pubs in Weymouth, oh and some tea of course. We meet up in the hotel bar where we sample a quick pint before making our way to J D Wetherspoons "The William Henry" where we decide to have some food, Mr UKBuses opts for his BBQ Chicken Melt without the "melt" and I surprise Mr UKBuses by having something different for a change, Scampi and Chips. The obligutary Horse Radish Sauce picture is taken, but we have no horse radish and have to choose the mayonnaise instead, but I don't have none wiped around my face this time. With our food eaten and gone down and drinks finished we make our way further into the town but not before trying out the lift again but as I make my way down the lift gets stuck and the staff have to help me get down to the lower level.

Cheers from The White Harte Tavern

I meet up with Mr UKBuses who is waiting outside after my lift ordeal, and all he can do is laugh. We walk down towards Weymouth harbour, with my walking getting easier, it seems I may have got used to the pain threshold and walk a few steps without the aid of my stick. As we are walking we spot a pub that we haven't been in before, which is "The White Harte Tavern", it looks good from the outside so we pop in and we are not disappointed. We order our drinks and we take a seat by the window so we can watch the people of Weymouth walk past, see picture above. Before we leave a visit to the small room is needed and even though my leg seems better, I discover that I cannot cope with stairs very well as with most new pub refurbishments, the toilets seem to be upstairs. Half an hour later I'm back on ground level and we head to our next public house.

A pub visited (and spotted on his pub radar) a couple of years ago with Mr WME but last year I could not find it, so after walking close to the harbour we walk down a back street and lo and behold, the pub is found and we partake in having a drink at "The Duke of Cornwall", see picture right ,a lovely little cosy pub and still seems to attract a lot of custom, Mr UKBuses was impressed with this one. Drinks finished we head for our penultimate pub of the evening and one of Mr UKBuses favourites, luckily it is not too far away, basically around the corner which makes me not understand why we couldn't find the Duke of Cornwall last year. A couple of minutes walk and we make a visit to "The Globe", there are quite a few people in here so Mr UKBuses can't get his usual bar stool, so he couldn't recreate the "Stan Ogden" look. We do find a couple of seats available at a table and get talking to other holidaymakers visiting Weymouth, whilst drinking a pint of Jail Ale.

Pint finished in The Globe, we head around the corner and visit "The Cutter", see picture left, who have all draught beers on tonight. As we near the pub, there is a bit of a commotion going on outside, but as it was last year we still head inside and the argument with a woman follows us inside too. We drink our pints quickly and make a visit to the small room before we leave to head back to the hotel. Mr UKBuses bids goodnight and I have a nightcap or two in the hotel bar, supping whilst looking out to sea before a final "fresh air" break of the day and heading off to bed. As I get ready for bed I look down at my leg and despite it feeling better and being able to put pressure on it tonight, the lower half, ankle and foot are swelling even more, so it is straight to bed to rest it so I can hopefully enjoy the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day the following morning.

Despite my poorly leg, the day was a success especially with the dry weather and nice evening sampling the ales of Weymouth's finest hostelries, lets hope the weather is perfect for the Weymouth Vintage Bus Running Day for our final full day in Weymouth.

2013 - Day Out 05: Weymouth and Poole

Date: Friday 14 June 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2013 - Day Out 04: Worcestershire

Date: Saturday 04 May 2013

It was time for another trip with Mr UKBuses and this month we decided to do a local trip and visit the county of Worcestershire, and seeing it was a local trip we didn't have to get up early so a lie in was had before we had to set out.

 I meet up with Mr UKBuses at the shops on the Norton estate in Stourbridge, and we have a short walk to the main Norton Road to catch our first bus of the day, and on time Whittles Service 125 arrives from Stourbridge and picks us up, sadly Mr D9 was not on board as planned and after sending a text, he replies saying sadly he cannot make it - see you soon Mr D9. We carry on through the countryside, briefly passing through Staffordshire before arriving in Worcestershire and in Kidderminster. Upon arrival in Kidderminster, we have a bit of time to spare so after a few photographs are taken at Kidderminster bus station of Whittles and newly taken over operator of First buses in Worcestershire, Diamond, a visit to J D Wetherspoons, "The Penny Black" is undertaken where breakfast and refreshing drink is consumed. After our little break, we have a walk around The Bullring which is located just outside The Penny Black and see one of the old clay bus stops which were once a common site in Worcestershire. We make our way back to the bus station where at 09:30 we catch our first Diamond bus in Worcestershire and also we buy the new multi-operator day ticket for Worcestershire called the "Connecta". We board our service 295 bus which takes just under an hour, passing through Stourport along the way and arrive at Worcester Bus Station, where after a few photographs are taken, we board local Worcester service, First buses service 35.

We alight just around the corner from First's Worcester bus depot where a few pictures are taken in the yard opposite the main garage building, mainly School buses were parked up, and we walk back around the corner where, as we arrive a Service 31 bus turns up which we promptly board, taking us back to Worcester bus station. We are due to catch First's service 144 at 11.00am but the driver decides to take his time to board and log into his fare machine, so we depart a few minutes later than planned. We also suffer more delays when a festival being held in Droitwich Spa causes the driver to divert off the normal route and we are stuck for a while in a queue of traffic. The driver picks up speed to claw some time back as we leave Droitwich and we arrive just slightly late in Bromsgrove where we alight and we are due to catch our next bus just after 12:00, we have time to visit the 24 hour toilet where I stand in for Mr D9 and allow Mr UKBuses to take the now standard Bromsgrove photograph. We make our way to our stand and wait for our next bus, Diamond's service X3, which turns up approximately ten minutes late and the driver still in First uniform. The bus departs from Bromsgrove bus station and after some speedy driving we arrive safely in Redditch.

Upon arrival at Redditch, I don't need to visit the toilet and upon past experience I would have a long wait, so we head around to the now Diamond's depot in Plymouth Road, attempting to take some photographs but the vehicles that were in the depot were parked right towards the back of the site. We head back around towards Redditch, past the bus station where we decide it is time for lunch, so we head to J D Wetherspoons, "The Royal Enfield", see picture right, where as if by surprise, I am the first at the bar, so a couple of pints of Old Thumper are ordered. As the pints are pulled, the beer runs out so we have to opt for ??? instead. Mr UKBuses finds a table and its not obvious where he is sat, so after a walk around the pub I eventually find him and then peruse the menu to see what I fancy for lunch. Mr UKBuses opts for his BBQ Chicken Melt without the melt and I opt for a Hot Dog which I had a couple of weeks previously which was nice tasting and in a soft bun. We had to wait a while for our food to arrive and when it arrived I was disappointed. I ended up eating my hot dog sausage on its own and my chips as not even my teeth could stand the force of the rock hard bun (which was actually a baguette) that my hot dog came in. After consumption, we let our dinner go down for a few minutes before venturing out.

Situated around the corner from The Royal Enfield is Diamond's original Redditch base, Church Lane Depot, which has now been transformed into the Engineering Depot since Diamond now operate from another depot in Redditch. A couple of photographs are taken and we head back towards the bus station, but before we get our next bus, we have time to visit our old Redditch favourite, "The Golden Cross", see picture left, and as we enter I find a table whilst Mr UKBuses orders the drinks. The drinks are poured and payment must be made and as Mr UKBuses handed over his crisp note, the barmaid started to have a sneezing fit which must have been from the dust that appeared in the air as Mr UKBuses opened his wallet. Drinks finished, we head over the road to the Redditch bus station, taking more photographs along the way and at 14:10 we board Diamond's service 143, waving to a fellow bus enthusiast as we leave the station. We head back towards Bromsgrove and pass "Birmingham Central Railway Station", sorry I meant Bromsgrove Railway Station before heading through Charford and arriving back at Bromsgrove where, luckily Mr UKBuses has woken up from his afternoon nap and we both alight. We have a few minutes to spare before we get our next bus of the day and have certainly got good value so far out of our Connecta day tickets.

We have found a babysitter for the problem child!

Just before 15:00, we board Diamond's service X3 where we pass through Chaddersley Corbett and Kidderminster along the way. As we arrive on the Rifle Range Estate, "Old Vera" boards and the driver kindly waits until she takes her seat before heading into Stourport. Just over fifty minutes after we board, we arrive in Stourport and after letting Vera alight, we alight and make our way around the corner to the High Street and we make a visit to "The Wheatsheaf", see picture left, where we sample a pint of Banks's Bitter. As we rest our legs, Vera slowly enters the bar to have her half  and from the sound of it, she must be a regular to the pub. We finish our drinks and we decide to go off the plan and catch an earlier bus back to Kidderminster. At 16:10 we board Whittles 192 service which takes us briskly back to Kidderminster where we are in time for the earlier bus back to Stourbridge. As we wait at Kidderminster bus station, a Whittles driver decides to have a break and it is an old Diamond driver that I know very well, Geoff, who used to be a regular driver on the 276A/C service when it was operated by Diamond. A quick chat is had and as he goes for his break our earlier 16:45 Whittles service 125 pulls up.

We board the bus and after going through The Broadwaters and through the countryside we decide to alight by "The Greyhound", the driver kindly letting us alight early, where we decide to have a drink and food before heading home. The beer monster strikes again when two different beers I order decide to run out, so I have to opt for the Smoothpour, which I'm not too keen on. Food and Drink finished we walk back towards Norton and as we get near the estate shops it is time to say our goodbyes, and Mr UKBuses makes his way home and I decide to pop into the newly refurbished "The New Inn" located on Cherry Street before heading home and I can say that there is a vast improvement and especially with the friendly nature of the new management, I wish them all the success in their venture. Pint finished I head back home to rest my weary feet.

A good visit to Worcestershire was had, a county that we hadn't visited for a while. The weather was good, the company was good and the pubs visited was good. Lets not forget the bald spot viewing, which can be seen below.

The Bald Spot visits Worcester Bus Station.

The Bald Spot is at First's Worcester Bus Depot.

The Bald Spot is back at Kidderminster Bus Station.

2013 - Day Out 03: London

Date: Saturday 06 April 2013

It is time to visit the Capital of England, London. This time we head for Euston instead of the usual London Marylebone due to Mr UKBuses ticket radar searching out a good deal on the train tickets online, so we board a Virgin to begin our day in the City.

Due to travelling by Virgin Trains today, I have an extra half an hour lie in and make my way to Wollaston to catch the later than usual National Express West Midlands Service 276, which arrives promptly and leaves on time at 07:06 and I send the normal text to Mr UKBuses to tell him the bus is on the way, as I pass High Park Avenue, I send another text to tell him that the bus has broken down, but he doesn't fall for it and is waiting at the bus stop as the bus turns the corner in Shenstone Avenue. Mr UKBuses boards and takes his seat for the journey to Stourbridge Interchange (Yes, Interchange!), where we arrive at 07:21, just in time to inter-change onto the "Stourbridge Dodger" to take us for the three minute journey up to Stourbridge Junction. Mr Phil Tonks is not on driving duty today as he is in search of bacon, but his trusty colleagues get us to Stourbridge Junction where we board the 07:35 London Midland train, stopping at all stations, even stopping between Old Hill and Rowley Regis as the train looks like it has broken down, but after a couple of minutes we are on the move again and arriving at Smethwick Galton Bridge at 07:56, where we change platforms for the 08:04 London Midland train to take us to Birmingham New Street. We arrive at Birmingham New Street and have time for breakfast, so we walk to McDonald's where we have a Bacon Roll, and Mr UKBuses kindly gives me his Hash Brown. Breakfast over and time for a quick "fresh air" break before we make our way back to Birmingham New Street, stopping via W H Smiths for refreshments along the way, We make our way down to our platform along the concourse for perhaps the last time as the next time we will visit Birmingham New Street the new concourse will be open whilst works are taking place on the current concourse to make the station bigger and lighter.

We get onto the platform and make our way to the end of the platform, where Coach A will be and take our seats ready for the journey ahead. The Virgin train leaves Birmingham New Street on time at 08:50 and we make our way along the West Coast Mainline via Birmingham International, Coventry and Milton Keynes. I try and get a bit of a nap but a large humming noise is preventing me from doing so, but I find out the cause, it is Mr UKBuses snoring keeping the rest of the carriage awake, see picture right. Mr UKBuses awakes in time for arrival at London Euston, and we decide to make our way to the front of the train and even through first class so that we only have a short walk along the platform to the main concourse at London Euston Station. We arrive into the station a few minutes late, but we quickly make our way outside where I get some "Fresh Air" and Mr UKBuses gets a few photographs from the bus station outside London Euston. After our short break, we get our Oystercards out ready and make our way Underground to Euston Underground Station where we tap in (and top up) and onto the Victoria Line for our first underground journey of the day. We are only on the underground for about three minutes before we arrive at our first destination and Oxford Circus Underground Station.

We make our way to ground level and follow Mr UKBuses plan, who obviously needs to invest in a map of London as we walk for about five to ten minutes, completely in the wrong direction. Luckily a London United Service 10 bus is in sight so we jump aboard and get back down to Oxford Circus Underground Station where we alight and walk in the right direction to get us to our first location of the day. We take the right direction this time and turn into Regent Street where after stopping for Mr UKBuses to tie his shoelace, see picture left, we arrive at the BBC Broadcasting House, see picture at the top of this blog post. The BBC TV Centre closed a short while ago and some services have been transferred to this building, where after extensive refurbishment and construction of a new "East Wing", the building looks as like the old is meeting the new, with both buildings standing and looking impressive. After a few photographs are taken , we walk along a back street along to the Oxford Circus Underground Station where we need to get back onto the Victoria Line to take us to Holburn so we can catch the new Borismaster, but Oxford Circus is causing Mr UKBuses a couple of problems today as he takes us to the wrong platform.

We decide to catch the Victoria Line in the opposite direction to Green Park, where we hope to catch up with the New Bus For London, but after arriving at Green Park Underground Station and waiting quite a while with quite a few Arriva London Service 38's going past, we decide to get the next service 38 bus that arrives and sadly it is not a Borismaster. We board and take the journey from Green Park to Victoria Bus Station, and Mr UKBuses seems to be cursed as along the way we pass about five National Express Coaches. We arrive at Victoria and even though we didn't catch a Borismaster, there is one waiting in Victoria so a couple of photographs can be taken. It is now time for lunch and we take a short walk to one of our favourite J D Wetherspoons in Victoria, "The Willow Walk". The pub is quite busy and luckily after a few minutes we spot someone vacating a table so Mr UKBuses swoops in so quick, as if they have dropped a penny on the floor and secures the table whilst I order the drinks. Food is chosen and ordered, with Mr UKBuses opting for the BBQ Chicken Melt, without the "Melt", and myself for a "Beer and (Beef)Burger". The food doesn't take long to arrive and there must be a potato shortage in London as there is not a lot of chips on our plates. Mr UKBuses finishes his food and horses around, see picture right and I'm just on the last few bites of my burger when the waiter comes up and takes our plates away, he could have waited until I actually finished my lunch.

A few minutes are taken to let our food go down and to finish our drinks and time to set off for our next location, so we make our way to Victoria Underground Station, where we take a few photographs of buses that are laying over along the way. We reach Victoria Station where Mr UKBuses remembers a bookmakers in the station so that we can place a bet on the afternoons "Grand National". The bets have been placed and we make our way to the Underground and onto the Circle Line to get us to Aldgate. After fifteen minutes we arrive at Aldgate Underground Station and take a short walk across the road to Aldgate Bus Station, where a few photographs are taken and after a visit to the toilet which actually unlocked after I put some money in this time, we decide to miss out our regular "The Blind Beggar" so that we can visit a public house near London Euston to watch "The Grand National". So to get to our next location, "The Carpenters Arms" in Bethnal Green, we board a Stagecoach London Service 254, which takes us Whitechapel Road past The Blind Beggar and into Bethnal Green. We alight at Bethnal Green and take a short walk to catch another bus to our next location, after a few minutes wait, Stagecoach London's Service D3 arrives to take us to The Carpenters Arms, or so we thought. The bus is on diversion and takes us back to Whitechapel where we decide to alight and visit our first choice, "The Blind Beggar", see picture left. Somehow Mr UKBuses gets out of the round and I have to Take "Courage" and pay, his excuse was that it was supposed to be his round in The Carpenters Arms, even though The Blind Beggar was supposed to be the second pub we were supposed to visit on the plan, in the end I leave him to play with his pussy, see picture below.

After drinks are supped in The Blind Beggar, we go off plan and make our way to Whitechapel Underground Station, where we catch the District Line to Tower Hill. Upon arrival at Tower Hill and getting out of the Tower Hill Underground Station with no problems this time, we make our way to the bus stops located by the Tower Of London, we may have missed the Borismaster earlier in the day, but we make sure we get its older brother, The Routemaster, which is Stagecoach London's Heritage Route 15 which takes us just short of Trafalgar Square, and after no problems with the conductor's Oyster Scanner, we alight at Charing Cross, where we go straight underground at Charing Cross Underground Station and onto the Bakerloo Line, which takes us back to Oxford Circus where we have to change onto the right platform this time and onto the Victoria Line for the short journey to London Euston Underground Station.

We now have to find a location to see "The Grand National", and I remember that there is a pub located to the side of Euston and so we head to "The Royal George", see picture (with Mr UKBuses favourite presenter Claire Balding) right, where Mr UKBuses gets his hand in his pocket for the first time today and purchases a round! After recovering from my faint, we take our seats with a good view to the television, and the race starts. I'm pretty sure that my horse was second and even though it came across the line in second place it was not counted as the jockey had fallen off around the course, I think that the result should stand. We finish our drinks after the race, and head across to the bus station outside London Euston Railway Station to take a few photographs before our journey back. As I'm having some "fresh air" Mr UKBuses carries on ahead and when I try to find him, he is nowhere to be seen. I make my way into the station and still cannot see him, so to get a good vantage point of the concourse, I head for a sneaky pint at "The Britannia" and head out to the balcony whilst supping my pint and after a couple of attempts of ringing Mr UKBuses, I get a call back asking where I am and we are reunited after he tells me he is on Platform Four. We take our seats and at 17:03 our train departs for our journey back to Birmingham, after Mr UKBuses has another nap, we arrive back at Birmingham New Street Station and a quick change of platform is required to get our 18:38 London Midland train back to Smethwick Galton Bridge which is four minutes late leaving Birmingham.

Arrival at Smethwick Galton Bridge where after a breath of "Fresh Air" is had outside the station we make our way back to the platform to catch our 19:13 train back to Stourbridge Junction and London Midland keep up the tradition of running late on an evening when this train is over five minutes late. We board a busy train and make our way back to Stourbridge Junction where it is a quick change to Platform 1 to get the "Stourbridge Dodger" back to Stourbridge Town, Mr Tonks is still not on duty as he must be having his "Pot Noodle" but his colleagues deliver us safely back to Stourbridge Town, where we interchange onto National Express West Midlands Service 276 at 20:05, which takes us back home (via the Chinese Takeaway) after another good day out.

Another good visit to the Capital with thanks to Mr UKBuses for sorting out yet another good plan for the locations of the day, and plenty of bald spot opportunities which can be seen below.

The Bald Spot at London Euston Bus Station.

The Bald Spot outside BBC Broadcasting House.

The Bald Spot makes another appearance at the BBC Broadcasting House.

The Bald Spot is spotted at Victoria Bus Station.

The Bald Spot visited Aldgate Bus Station.