North East Buses

(12 Aug 2015, 11:05 pm)mb134 wrote [ -> ]Only two journeys in my review today, but seeing as though I haven't done one in a while, I thought I'd do a short one...


10.08 X14 Morpeth Bus Station to Newcastle Haymarket ANE 1792
After asking last night which X14 was the MPD operated trip, circumstances meant that I had no option but to suffer this to Newcastle (even more gutting was the fact I missed the 9.53 X15 by seconds, operated by 7514), I sat at the back, and regretted it almost instantly. Every time the driver accelerated it sounded like it was going to blow up, it was making an unbelievably loud noise, even just driving out of Morpeth. The free WiFi was a blessing, it made the journey slightly more tolerable. General ride comfort was okay, although I was shook half to death every time we went over a slight bump in the road. We arrived in Newcastle 2 minutes early, where 7514 was only just leaving on the X15, it seems that this run was one of few 'on time' Morpeth express runs from then on, thanks to the A1, and various other factors. I must say, the sooner the MPD runs are re-numbered 'X16' the better, 1792 was packed, I heard a few people saying later on that they were going to avoid the X14 as it was always "one of the small buses, and you can never get a seat", not a great image, especially for a supposed MAX service, they didn't really think that one through did they? I really can't see these MPD's lasting too much longer, they all sound like they're going to give up, even when trundling around a town, never mind flat out on the A1. 

A good few hours in Newcastle followed, before I returned to the Haymarket, waiting to be told whether to go to Bedlington or Morpeth

13.04 X22 Newcastle Haymarket to Bedlington Red Lion ANE 7524
The text arrived,I was to head to Bedlington to meet with my friends, as walked into Haymarket, I saw people running into the X21/22 stand, however as I was carrying a few things, and didn't really fancy running in public, I continued walking at a fairly rapid pace, I got to the stand just as 7525's doors were closing, and it headed off to Newbiggin on the 12.54 X21. I sat down, thinking I'd be waiting a good five minutes before my X22 turned up, however only a few minutes later, the headlights of my X22 shone through the windows of the vehicle in the adjacent stand. I was very happy 7524 turned up actually, as by this point my phone was down to 6% battery, and I know that the plugs on 7524 work very well. I boarded, sat at the front of upstairs (amazing leg room!), and sat back. As we got to Regent Centre, we caught up with an X10/11 duo, both hideously late, and thanks to a diversion through Wide Open/Seaton Burn, we were stuck behind the Gemini's to the Seaton Burn roundabout, how slow can they be, no wonder one was 18 minutes late! I'd take my E400 any day over one of those heaps! After we got way from the Blyth 'expresses', we thundered along the road to Northumberlandia, where we got stuck behind two lorries, meaning that we arrived in Bedlington a minute or two late. The contrast between this journey and the one on 1792 was unbelievable, 7524 seemed very capable, smooth and powerful, with the added bonus of comfortable seating and sockets, while 1792 seemed to be constantly straining, in pain almost I walked down the stairs, off the bus and watched as 7524 powered down Bedlington Front Street towards its destination of Ashington. 

 
Thank you for reading, I appreciate it was only two journeys, but at nearly 12PM(12AM?), the night before results day, I'm doing anything I can to avoid sleeping... Cheers

I've heard rumours about new Solos to replace the MPDs but they need bigger buses on the X16!!!!!! 
Great review!

PS: 12pm is midday, 12am is midnight.

(13 Aug 2015, 5:12 pm)GX03 SVC wrote [ -> ]I've heard rumours about new Solos to replace the MPDs but they need bigger buses on the X16!!!!!! 
Great review!

PS: 12pm is midday, 12am is midnight.

I'd love to see Solo's, as I've never been on one before, however, would they be powerful enough (long term especially), and as you say capacity is a serious issue...

Cheers, for 12pm it wasn't as bad, reading back, as I thought it would be  (should have checked before I posted, or just used 'midnight')

(13 Aug 2015, 5:12 pm)GX03 SVC wrote [ -> ]I've heard rumours about new Solos to replace the MPDs but they need bigger buses on the X16!!!!!! 
Great review!

PS: 12pm is midday, 12am is midnight.

I'd say Enviro 200s would be more likely given that other Arriva divisions have gotten them instead of Solos.

Seem as I can't get on the laptop right now I can't upload the photos to Flickr, so in the meantime here is my review for today.

0932 7 Newton Aycliffe - Ferryhill (ANE 1523)
I know lame this is going to sound lame especially as I'm now 21 but for this journey I was joined by my dad who was heading to work. Switched off for this journey, didn't even connect to the WiFi until we reached Chilton. Pretty standard uneventful journey really.

0954 56 Ferryhill - Bishop Auckland (ANE 7456)
With extra buses being required at Belmont due to the Millburngate Bridge roadworks some of the allocations have temporarily changed, the 56 has seen double deckers appear recently and they often seem to be on the journey that leaves Ferryhill at 0954 so I'd thought I'd take a chance and see what turned up, thankfully 7456 was what turned up. Was quite a nice journey was pretty quiet sitting upstairs and there was only me with a mother and child plus one more passenger boarding in Coundon. One downside to double deckers on this section of the 56 is the trees striking the bus.

1022 6 Bishop Auckland - Spennymoor (ANE 1468)
Pretty average journey really, not the best it has to be said, it just sounded a little rough and not very fast, don't know what Belmont are doing to these Pulsar's, even Darlington's 09 reg examples sound better. Decided to jump off at Spennymoor as I wasn't really enjoying this journey too much.

1048 X21 Spennymoor - Durham (GNE 6038)
Wish I stayed on ANE 1468, there was water leaking from the roof which meant it was dropping down onto the seats and passengers and it felt rather damp and cold to. There was also a gap between two of the lights which is not good when you have water dripping down from the roof. Also half the panels on this bus upstairs were different shades of gray. I think it's **** poor that a bus is going around in this state and I am thinking of complaining to GNE as I was not impressed with this which is what saw me abandon ship at Durham (that and I spied 7618 on the 46 and I wanted a photo). See photos of 6038 in the GNE Latest thread.

1116 21 Durham - Chester-le-Street (GNE 6063)
Mercifully much better than 6038 although in typical fashion on the 21 the WiFi wasn't working and the announcements were barely audible, didn't even notice that it was even audible until I took my headphones out and made an effort to listen out for them. Decided to alight in Chester-le-Street in the hope of catching the X25.

1210 X25 Chester-le-Street - Newcastle (GNE 3879)
I caught the X25. Was quite pleased to get a Lolyne on this journey as I haven't been on one in a while and it meant I got to sit upstairs and I got the front seat which meant I got to see the views. Think the X25 is quite a nice route on this section, I am yet to do the Langley Park - Chester-le-Street section but I may do so one day. When we got to Wrekenton I spotted Davie walking past.

1330 X20 Newcastle - Ashington (ANE 7492)
Stupid me, for some reason I thought the X20 left at 1315 for some reason but it actually leaves at 1330, well at least it should do although this journey left a few minutes late. Quite a nice bus inside, the seats were pretty comfortable. Pretty quiet journey, must have been no more than 20 passengers on this journey. Fortunately the few minutes delay was made up and we arrived pretty much on-time.

1443 X20 Ashington - Newcastle (ANE 7491)
After getting a few photos including the Phoenix double decker on the 30 and a quick trip to ASDA to keep out of the rain for a bit and kill a few minutes I made my way for the X20 back to Newcastle. Was kind of hoping for an ALX400 as something different but sadly I got 7491, oh well! I was the only passenger to board in Ashington Bus Station and was the only passenger upstairs until we got further round the route. Was pretty quiet journey again.

1635 X21 Newcastle - Durham (GNE 9119)
Thought I'd get this back to Durham so I could sample it again. Still don't think much of it, seemed pretty slow as we were heading out of Low Fell and past the Angel, think the performance is pretty similar to the Presidents currently used on the service but at least this is nicer inside than most Presidents *cough* 6038 *cough* excuse me! I ended up getting papped as it was leaving Eldon Square although I was sat on the opposite side so it's unlikely you'll see me in that photo.

1732 7 Durham - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 1522)
Ending the day on Sapphire. Pretty standard uneventful journey home with me making use of the free WiFi on offer and zoning out and relaxed on the journey home.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to get the photos on Flickr tonight although I am unable to gain access to the laptop right now so the photos may not be up until tomorrow. Sorry about that!

Jimmi

Anyone heading north to the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum tomorrow? I know many of you have mentioned that you were considering going - but not sure how many actually are?

(14 Aug 2015, 7:50 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Anyone heading north to the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum tomorrow? I know many of you have mentioned that you were considering going - but not sure how many actually are?

Nah, especially as this is pretty much the first I've heard of it.

I think I'm going to be having a quiet weekend at home this weekend and maybe a quiet week with a short trip to Barnard Castle on Wednesday then possibly either Dalesbus or Moorsbus next Sunday (August 23rd).

---

Anyway, the photos from today's outing are now on my Flickr.

(14 Aug 2015, 6:49 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]1635 X21 Newcastle - Durham (GNE 9119)
Thought I'd get this back to Durham so I could sample it again. Still don't think much of it, seemed pretty slow as we were heading out of Low Fell and past the Angel, think the performance is pretty similar to the Presidents currently used on the service but at least this is nicer inside than most Presidents *cough* 6038 *cough* excuse me! I ended up getting papped as it was leaving Eldon Square although I was sat on the opposite side so it's unlikely you'll see me in that photo.

Did sit at the front seats upstairs, would of caught you if you did.

(14 Aug 2015, 8:24 pm)Malarkey wrote [ -> ]Did sit at the front seats upstairs, would of caught you if you did.

I was stood outside by the drop off stand until it arrived in Eldon Square, then I joined the queue. I was sat upstairs behind the staircase.

Did think it was you.

(14 Aug 2015, 8:27 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]I was stood outside by the drop off stand until it arrived in Eldon Square, then I joined the queue. I was sat upstairs behind the staircase.

Did think it was you.

Yeah it was me, seen it on stand as I came into Eldon Square so I darted up the top to get a Photo, I have yet to have a ride on 9119 as I have barely been out in recent weeks.

(15 Aug 2015, 10:47 pm)Adam wrote [ -> ]It’s another Saturday, time for another flurry of reviews. Whilst writing this, I’m drinking Jack Daniel’s whisky, so if my review does get a little difficult to comprehend later on, then blame the drink.

I can tell as your review says the 20A took an hour longer than it should have done to get to Sunderland and it says the 8 didn't leave Sunderland until 1308 when scheduled to depart at 1153.

Good review anyway

(15 Aug 2015, 11:10 pm)Adam wrote [ -> ]swiftly edited

Thank you

Yeah I can't say I'd sit on a StreetLite (or any bus for that matter) in Park Lane for 1hr 15 minutes without moving

(14 Aug 2015, 6:49 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]1330 X20 Newcastle - Ashington (ANE 7492)
Stupid me, for some reason I thought the X20 left at 1315 for some reason but it actually leaves at 1330, well at least it should do although this journey left a few minutes late. Quite a nice bus inside, the seats were pretty comfortable. Pretty quiet journey, must have been no more than 20 passengers on this journey. Fortunately the few minutes delay was made up and we arrived pretty much on-time.

1443 X20 Ashington - Newcastle (ANE 7491)
After getting a few photos including the Phoenix double decker on the 30 and a quick trip to ASDA to keep out of the rain for a bit and kill a few minutes I made my way for the X20 back to Newcastle. Was kind of hoping for an ALX400 as something different but sadly I got 7491, oh well! I was the only passenger to board in Ashington Bus Station and was the only passenger upstairs until we got further round the route. Was pretty quiet journey again.

So close! I was in Ashington between 1325-1350 and I used the 30. 

On Saturday I took an exciting trip around Derwentside visiting independent operators. My first bus of the day was East Lancs bodied Scania GNE 6122. This was working the 8.55 X30 from Gateshead to Stanley. This was a good, smooth ride with no problems. I just sat back and enjoyed the views until we arrived at Stanley Church.

My first operating centre of the day was Go North East Limited Stanley depot. I was able to get some good photos here although the position of the Sun caused an issue with shadows in some shots. There were plenty of vehicles in the depot including a number of 1998 Volvo Olympians and 2015 Wrightbus Streetlites. Next I walked over to New College Durham Academies Trust at the North Durham Academy. They operate a single Ford Transit which I could not photograph as the site was secured.

I then followed the path of the old mineral railway down to Mendip Terrace where I visited the Craghead Development Trust Limited. This charity operates a single Mercedes minibus under the fleetname Stanley Community Bus on a Section 19 Permit. Unfortunately the premises were locked up with no vehicles present. I therefore continued onto Lenin Street and visited the premises of Barrett (Connors Minibuses) and was able to get some photos of the 3 Ford Transits present. Next I visited Bowers (Daves Minibuses), which was a short walk away. I again was able get OK photos of the mixed vehicles present. A quick walk brought me to the premises of Batey (Beeline Minibuses) who had a single Fort Transit present.

I had intended to get the 78 to South Moor; however I had 20 minutes wait so I just walked over since it was a nice morning. My initial destination was Charlotte Street, where I visited the premises of former PSV operator Palmer (Mollys Taxis). Mr Palmer still operates minibuses but as taxis which are predominantly wheelchair enabled for contract work. There were 3 Transits present. Around the corner was Mundell Street garage. This is the official operating centre for Connors Minibuses and Beeline Minibuses. However this was locked up at the time of my visit.

G & P Johnson Limited (Nightingale) was my next stop off point. The friendly staff were happy to let me visit the premises. There were over 30 vehicles present including a number of deckers which have been acquired for school contract work. I was able to get some really good photos and spent a good 20 minutes looking around. Mr Johnson is looking for photos of his buses on the road. If any members have any photos available, please could they get in touch with him. I note Nightingale have a presence on the forum so that could be a good contact point.

Wilson at Derwent Rise was my final visit at South Moor. This operator had a single Transit present. However I note from the most recent Notices and Proceedings, his Operators Licence request has just been refused. My next intended step was to take the bus to the top of the bank and walk over to Stanley Travel. I caught the late running 10.43 130 service operated by Optare Solo 651. The driver however deviated from the route given on the most recent Durham County Council Public Transport Map (June 2015) and went to Stanley bus station via the schools at South Moor. This was annoying and passengers wanted to alight but the driver would not let them do so until the bus station was reached. The bus was also crowded being standing room only.

Due to my enforced change of itinerary, I decided to take the 11.00 78 Coast and Country service over to Annfield Plain. This was operated by Streetlite 5399 and was a nice smooth journey. There were however delays at the junction with the South Moor road which might explain the change of route on the 130. At Annfield Plain I walked down to the Durham County Council depot on the site of the former Morrison Busty colliery. The council operates a large fleet of minibuses on a PSV basis. I fully expected to be turned away by security citing reasons of health and safety and insurance etc. However the guard had no objection to me photographing the vehicles present. There were a number of interesting tri-axel Bluebird bodied Volkswagen Transporters and a single Renault Master in the yard.

After some searching I found the premises of 1st Aid Commercials Limited on the Morrison Industrial Estate. This relatively new operator and has a small fleet of Transits. Their garage is around the corner from Olivers Builders Merchants. The lady present at their garage said I was the first enthusiast to visit the yard. I was able to get some photos of the Transits. Mollys Taxis also share the yard and they had another Transit present. However this was being re-sprayed and had no registration details. I also passed the former Classic Coaches depot which was looking rather forlorn.

Gillinghams Coaches was my next stop after walking through the centre of Annfield Plain. They had 10 vehicles present including withdrawn Volvo B10M GIL1792. This plate has since been transferred to Mercedes 0814D Y333GSM. I therefore had the new experience of seeing two very different vehicles with the same registration in the same place. Mrs Gillingham was happy for me to take photos of her family’s fleet. YN59BKO is a new addition being a Mercedes minibus not painted in the usual company livery. I then walked up to North Road Garage, the operating centre of Walker (Greencroft Coaches & Taxis) but there were no vehicles present.

I caught the 12.08 78 over to Consett outside Greencroft School. This was operated by GNE 5401 and again was a good smooth journey. I am beginning to think Streetlites could be my favourite type of contemporary bus. The bus was busy but we still arrived on time. At Consett I alighted outside Villa Real School. This council operated specialist school had two vehicles present, however I could not get any photos as the site was locked up. So I went past the new leisure centre and down to Blackhill. I visited Hope Street garage, the operating centre of Wilson (A W Travel). Unfortunately no vehicles were present despite the garage being open.

St Mary’s church on Derwent Street was my next stop off. The church operates a single non-psv Fiat Ducato for the benefit of local disabled people. The official name of the charity operating the minibus is The Diocese Of Hexham And Newcastle Catholic Handicapped Fellowship (Consett Group), quite a mouthful! Talking of mouthfuls I was now feeling a bit peckish so I sat in the sunny and quiet churchyard and had a quick snack of an apple and crisps. The church lies next to the premises of Burns (Kaydar Services). This PSV operator runs a fleet of 6 minibuses (mainly Ivecos) in connection with it’s business as a provider of daycare services to vulnerable adults. I was unable to enter the premises, but could get a good view from the churchyard of their fleet.

The weather being good, I decided to explore the site the former steelworks and took a walk along the former railway which forms part of the Derwent Walk. I headed across the former steelworks site with stunning views of the Derwent Valley. After about 15 pleasant minutes walk I arrived at the Emmaus Youth Village. This is owned by a Christian charity, the Youth Ministry Trust. The charity held a Section 19 Permit, however the staff confirmed to me that they no longer own any vehicles. After this slight disappointment I walked into Consett town centre. On the way I passed Derwentside College. The college used to operate a small minibus fleet but no vehicles are currently owned following the transfer of the college to a single site.

At Consett I did a bit spotting in and around the bus station. I got plenty of photos of Venture branded solos and Red Kite branded Streetlites. It being a Saturday, no Weardale Motor Services vehicles were running and GNE was the sole operator using the bus station. I caught Solo 647 on 14.15 V1 service to Delves Lane. This was my quietest bus of the day there being only 3 passengers using the service. All 3 of us alighted at the same stop. I then passed the residence of Wilson (A W Travel), but no vehicles were present at this location either. I headed over wasteland to the industrial estate. My first port of call was the Weardale Motor Services Limited depot. However this was completely empty and looked as though it is no longer in use. This was a disappointment as I was hoping to get some photos of their deckers which are used on school contracts. Undeterred, I crossed the road and visited Croft Business Services (UK) Limited (Croft Taxis). There were 3 minibuses present and I was able to get good photos. The staff present were fine about my visit.

Walking back upto Delves Lane, I caught the 14.52 15A service to Lanchester. This was operated by Volvo B7 6014. I was able to get the front seat above the driver, always a bonus. I alighted near St Bede's Catholic Academy (Lanchester) and was able to photograph their single Ford Transit. Transits seem to be very popular on Derwentside at the moment! After a relaxing lunch on the village green, I decided to head to Burnhope. There was nearly 40 minutes to wait for the next bus there so I walked up the hill and through corn fields and woods. I breathlessly arrived at Burnhope and admired the view of the valley below me. I then took a short stroll to The Haven. This daycentre and surgery is operated by a charitable company, North West Durham Rural Community Care Limited. They have a single wheelchair enabled Iveco minibus running on a non-psv basis using a Section 19 Permit.

Burnhope was nice in sunshine but I noted that the building housing the library had been demolished and the village pub is now a private dwelling. I wondered how the locals felt about this loss of services. I set off along the road to New Warlands Farm. This farm has been purchased by a major local mental health charity, the North East Autism Society. The estate retains a working farm of some 80 or so acres but has also been developed as field study and residential centre. It is one of a number of facilities owned by the charity. The charity holds a number of Section 19 Permits for minibus operation. There were only a small number of midibuses present at the time of my visit however. A public footpath runs through the estate and I followed this to Charlaw.

I remembered there was a nice pub at Charlaw with a good view of valley. So I decided to stop off for a quiet pint before catching my next bus. Unfortunately the pub had closed and is now a private house. This was distressing and I was thirsty! I therefore caught GNE 3822 operating the 16.53 43 service. This vehicle is about 17 years old and was clearly showing its age. It shook and rattled all the way to Craghead and over to South Moor. When it stopped I was nearly thrown down the stairs. I was glad to be off this bus, despite some of the journey’s scenery being pleasant.

Alighting at South Moor with a sense of deja-vu, I headed along the old railway line to Stanley Travel (North East) Limited. Their yard was quite full with many deckers parked up at the rear. I was able to get some good photos, including a decker on lifting gear. There also a number of minibuses and midibuses present. Next I visited the premises of Duncan at Pea Road. This new PSV operator has a single Transit (what is it with Transits in this part of the world!) and specialises in airport work. My final operator of the day was Dalton (KD Taxis) based at Spen Street near Stanley bus station. Guess what vehicles this operator had? That’s right, Transits, one of them is a recently acquired 16 seater and looks very smart in a silver and grey livery. I was able to get some OK photos of this vehicle.

It was now nearly 17.30 so I hurried across to the bus station and caught my last bus of the day back to Gateshead, this was Scania 6129 operating the 17.29 X30. The last 3 passengers were queuing to get on when I made it to the stand after a dash across the bus station apron. This journey was pleasant and uneventful and we arrived back at Gateshead on time. Later, I told my partner all about my day but she just looked at me and wondered how anyone could get so excited about tri-axel minibuses! Guess I will never make an enthusiast out of her! It was a good day despite a couple of disappointments. I would do this trip again but would try and include Hunters of Tantobie if possible.

Hope you enjoyed the review.

Charles

Had a great day out in Durham yesterday, only the five journeys, so I'll put my Sunday trip on at the start as well to bulk the review up a bit,

Sunday 16th
15.12 X18 Berwick Rail Station to Morpeth Bus Station ANE 7532
I arrived in Berwick about 3PM, and made my way to the train station to catch my usual 15.12 X18 back down to Morpeth. It should arrive from it's northbound journey around 15.07, but generally arrives a minute or two early. At 10 past, it still hadn't arrived, so I had a look at the Live Map to find it was approximately 8 minutes late. A few minutes later, I heard 7532 power around the corner and down the bank, I sat upstairs at the front, and we left about 6 minutes late, falling further behind as we made our way through Berwick. Out of Berwick, and after Scremerston, 7532 absolutely flew, keeping up with cars with ease on the A1. By Seahouses, even though we picked up a good 20 passengers at Bamburgh, we were pretty much back on time. Unbelievably impressed at how this handled the hills, and tight bends on this route, much like all of this batch, it seems to have an incredible amount of power. Drivers changed at Alnwick, and due to some idiotic car drivers in Alnmouth, we started to run late. We were quickly in Morpeth, after a thoroughly enjoyable journey. I got picked up by a friend, as 7532 made it's way down to Newcastle.

Monday 17th
10.38 X22 Bedlington Market Place to Newcastle Haymarket ANE 7505
I headed to Durham on Monday morning with a good friend of mine, so I'd managed to get a lift to Bedlington to catch the X22 to Newcastle. 7505 was my ride, it turned up about 5 minutes late, but I was very impressed with it, especially it's performance on the A1068 and the A1 where it performed very well indeed. The plugs weren't working which was a slight disappointment, as I needed to charge my phone, however the company more than made up for that  It was a pretty comfortable journey, temperature wise especially, considering how hot it was outside. For a journey that would have left Ashington at around 10, it was very busy, especially downstairs, which was quite good to see. We arrived in Newcastle bang on time, before we headed to Eldon Square to board the 11.20 X12 to Durham, hoping anything but a Gemini turned up, I kept a look out while walking from Haymarket...

11.20 (11.27) X12 Newcastle Eldon Square to Durham Bus Station ANE 1415 
Nothing showed in the short walk between the bus station, and as 11.20 approached, it looked increasingly unlikely that, whatever was meant to turn up, wasn't going to turn up on time... 20 past came and went, but just before 25 past a Pulsar pulled up at the traffic lights, YES!! I was spared, at least until the afternoon, from death by Gemini. 1415 was my chariot, and on the whole I was very impressed by it's performance, although there was a loud squeeling noise while accelerating up to speed, however as it reached anything over about 40, this went away. As we entered Gateshead Interchange, the various GNE liveries got my attention, but some brands really did puzzle me, such as ""Fab Fifty Six" I can't help but think a corporate livery with some simple route branding would serve better, than pointless brands just for the sake of it- which is what it looks like from the outside, in my opinion anyway. The 'TTX' does look very smart though, it's been quite a long time since I've seen it in the flesh, and is still very eye catching. As we moved further toward Durham, I noticed a lot of 'Angel' branded B5's, I never realised how frequent the 21 was! Loving the 'Angel' livery as well. 1415 pulled into Durham bus station at 12.15, bang on time.

Walking off 1415, into the bus station, my initial impression was "why have I came here", the bus station, and the street immediately off it, until the bridge next to the shopping centre, reminded me of Ashington and Blyth. Across the bridge however, was a completely different story, having only ever visited this side of the river in all of the times I've been to Durham, bar once quite a few years ago now, it was lovely and what I remembered Durham was like!

16.21 X12 Durham Bus Station to Newcastle Eldon Square ANE 7618
As we walked back into the bus station, after a thoroughly enjoyable time in Durham, we checked to see which stand the X12 departed from, 'A' was the answer, as there were buses occupying the adjacent stands, it was hard to see what our vehicle was, praying it wasn't a Gemini, we walked up, and 7618 stood in stand A  There were about 10 people already queueing, and we departed at 16.21. This trip seemed to go far faster than the journey down, and 7618 seemed to cope with the route very well indeed, lacking that bit of acceleration in places, but on the whole it was okay, there were a few things that annoyed me, and I'm not sure if it's just me, but I'm not really a fan of the interior of any Wright Gemini, compared to an E400 anyway, it just doesn't seem as well put together. We arrived in Newcastle late, meaning that as we pulled up to the traffic lights opposite Haymarket, 7504 left on the 17.19 X21, meaning a 20 minute wait for me.

17.39 X21 Newcastle Haymarket to Stakeford(?) ANE 7528
After missing the 7504 on the 17.19, a 20 minute wait for 7528 followed, 7506 was leaving on an X22 as we arrived at the bus station. Seconds after 7506 passed through the traffic lights, 7528 pulled into the stand. 7470 pulled into the adjacent stand on an X20, which we followed through Gosforth, until we turned off to go through Wide Open and Seaton Burn, with it going for the A1, which I think may have been the better bet, as we got stuck in traffic through Wide Open, cars clearly avoiding the A1, which looked to be quite clear through a break in the trees. Running 7-8 minutes late at Seaton Burn roundabout, we were only 2 late by Bedlington, which is credit to the driver and 7528, it didn't half shift, reminding me on why I'm a fan of these E400's. We got off at Stakeford, (I think, can't fully remember the stop name), and said goodbye.

18.53 X21 Stakeford to Bedlington Red Lion ANE 7522
After saying goodbye, I waited for my bus back to Bedlington, for my lift home. As my phone had ran out of juice by this point, I had no clue where it was, and had about 10 minutes waiting at a place I've never caught a bus from before. It showed up on time from what I could tell, and 7522 was my last ride of the day. A fairly uneventful journey, but I find these Enviro's very nice places to be, I'd sooner spend a day on one of these than one of those VDL Gemini's, from the lighting, to the colour scheme and general materials used. The plugs weren't working on this one either, where's 7524 when you need it!! I got off at Bedlington, to end an incredible day

Thank you for reading, hope I didn't bore you to death midway through, may be heading out again on Saturday, so I'll try and get another review done then if this one is okay, again cheers for reading!!

Guess I'll give you the review of my outing today.

0932 7 Newton Aycliffe - Durham Bus Station (ANE 1523)
Starting off the day with 1523, was pretty quiet when I boarded but sadly this didn't last as a large number of passengers jumped on at Chilton Wheatsheaf with a fair few more boarding at Ferryhill Market Place which annoyingly meant someone had to sit next to me for the remainder of the journey. Also when I jumped on two people were having a make out session at the back of the bus and I overheard them taking the mick out of the woman who nearly always boards this journey, chav scum!

1030 15A Durham Bus Station - Consett Bus Station (GNE 3830)
Quickly ran out of the Bus Station for a few photos which sadly all turned out terrible due to the position of the sun but I saw this entering the bus station so my mind was made up as to what I was going to do, yep a trip up to Consett. No-one else was wanting the 15A as I got to stand C so I had my pick of all the seats on the bus and I chose the obvious decision, the front seat upstairs on the drivers side of course! It's still hard to believe these are nearly now 17 years old now and they still perform fairly well although this isn't the best I've been on, that honour goes to it's sister 3831. Anyway back to today this was a pretty quiet journey especially upstairs where I think there was only me, an older man and another young lad. Before we knew it we arrived at Consett.

1125ish X71 Consett Bus Station - Burnhopefield Co-Op (GNE 6122)
This detour caused by 3830 gave me a problem as I was originally intended to head to the MetroCentre and the obvious way of getting there was to get the 45/46 but I didn't like the thought of spending around an hour on a StreetLite so I jumped on this instead. Another pretty quiet and I sat behind the staircase upstairs as there is a fair amount of legroom here. This performed pretty good including on the hills and was pretty smooth and quiet. I thought about getting off at Gateshead then get a bus to the MetroCentre but then I had a brainwave so I checked what times the 43 left Burnhopefield and I had roughly 10 minutes wait so I made the decision to alight here.

1159 43 Burnhopefield Co-Op - MetroCentre Bus Station (GNE 5288)
Diamond 5288 came thundering up the road bang on-time. Fortunately it was pretty quiet when I jumped on so I had a fair few choices of where to sit and thankfully my usual seat was unoccupied so I sat there (so predicable!). This preformed the route well and was an abundance of power and was comfortable, as I managed to get the seat where the legroom isn't reduced by the large air-con/heater is. The journey picked up more passengers as it got closer to the MetroCentre and we got there pretty much on-time which was great as I wanted a photo of the Mellor Fiat Bluebird on the Gateshead Central Taxis service 643.

1233 46? MetroCentre Bus Station - Newcastle, Clayton Street (GNE 5412)
Sadly didn't totally manage to avoid the StreetLite's today. Thankfully this example wasn't too bad, the emergency exit door didn't even rattle. Only real downside on this journey was it was rather stuffy especially with only two of the three windows open (three windows on StreetLite's, seriously!) alighted at Clayton Street outside Poundstretcher. Can't remember if this was on the 45 or 46.

Took some photos around Newcastle mainly around the Market Street and Grainger Street areas as I was wanting a shot of the freshly branded "The Crusader" 5330 but sadly a long time had passed and it still hadn't turned up by about 1350 so I made my way down towards Haymarket Bus Station as I thought the X18 was going to be a Sapphire Enviro 400 although Sapphire base liveried 1527 turned up instead, oh well! I did fear that 5330 would leave whilst I was at Haymarket but I made my way back down towards Market Street where I saw Bazza and someone else and waited in the hope 5330 was going to appear and thankfully it did. After getting my photo of 5330 I said left Bazza and headed to Newgate Street to catch the X21 back to Durham. Whilst waiting for the X21 I thought some woman was going to have my eye out with some plastic curtain rail thankfully this didn't happen.

1437 X21 Newcastle, Newgate Street - Durham Bus Station (GNE 6040)
As I saw the President come up the road I just thought "oh dear, here comes my underpowered steed back to Durham with the uncomfortable seats" although was surprised to see this example has the seats found in most of the ex London Presidents instead of the large chunky seats most of the Pronto branded examples have. Was even more surprised to find this example actually has some power. don't get me wrong it didn't exactly fly down the A1(M) but it's certainly the best I've seen a Pronto liveried President go down here recently. A few rattles and a few other noises of course but not too bad, certainly a much nicer bus than 6038 was the other day.

1537 7 Durham Bus Station - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 1516)
This was a pretty horrendous journey, it was another pretty busy journey so there was little choice of places to sit so I ended up sat near the back and at the back of this bus were three lads who feel the need to shout to each other despite being right next to each other and then there was the content of their conversations which was totally unsuitable for all the passengers to hear especially children and it seemed like every other word was the F-word and one of them kept "singing" along with that fast paced rap crap. Managed to keep my cool until thankfully they got off at Ferryhill Market Place, annoyingly the Sapphire WiFi decided to jump off here as well as at this point it was coming back with "WiFi limit exceeded. please try again later" this seems to be a new feature and annoyingly I always seem to exceed the limit now and it annoyingly applies to all Sapphire buses as it's happened when I've got a 7 to Durham then later jumped on the 22 although the Sapphire Enviro 400s seem to have the standard Icomera screen with Arriva logo so I don't exceed the limit on these. Hope they don't do the same for MAX as I would be a little annoyed if I got a X66 to Middlesbrough then the X93 to Whitby/Scarborough and exceed the limit before we reach Guisborough. Okay I've gone on a bit of a tangent here so back to this journey, was pleased to have the scum at the back of the bus off so I settled back and relaxed for the remainder of the journey home.

Anyway, thanks for reading this review, it's being a mixed day although I just about managed not to get wound up although I did it a bit annoyed trying to snake round all the people in Eldon Square. Unsure when my next outing is going to be yet.

Ill be writing up my Edinburgh review tonight for tomorrow. Absolutely knackered!

Well, here it goes...

This is just a short review for me but I suppose considering how often I do actually use public transport outside of school, its quite big.

Virgin Trains East Coast 91129 Berwick-upon-Tweed (departing 10:38) to Edinburgh Waverley (arriving 11:22)
We arrived at the station at about 10:25 - just as a CrossCountry service north pulled into the station. We purchased our tickets, which only came to around £38 (with a family railcard - don't know how much it would have been without one), and made our way up to the platform. The CrossCountry train was departing just as we were coming down to the platform so we had effectively 'missed' that train eventhough the plan was, from the start, to go for the 10:38 (announced as 10:39 by station staff) departure which we had no choice but to do. While waiting, I noticed the dispatcher walking up the platform and noticed that, despite wearing the Virgin Trains name badge, she was still wearing the East Coast purple uniform. It wasn't until then to which I realised that pretty much all staff was still wearing the old uniform - the new uniform obviously hasn't arrived yet. Anyway, the train arrived bang on time at 10:35 and departed at 10:38 and was a full VTEC liveried set. When I got on, I made sure I sat on the side of the train that was on the platform as that is the side where you can really capture the breathtaking views along the coast. It didn't take long for the train to build up speed and race along the stunning coast. I'd say it only took about 10-15 minutes to get into Scotland to which we got a nice welcome from the train guard. We stormed past Dunbar and after that, it was pretty much another 20 minutes before we arrived in Edinburgh. Quite surprised to get out of the station without having to go through a ticket barrier which I thought was very unusual for a major station but with us just walking up one of the ramps which lead onto Waverley Bridge directly opposite the Airlink 100 stand (which I should comment that the new buses look absolutely fantastic!) 

The first thing we wanted to do is have something to eat so we went into the Princes Mall which is attatched to the station and found the Subway that we had used last year and just ate them in the big seating area in the middle of the 'food hall'. Finally, we discussed what we had planned to do before coming up and decided that rather than getting the 22 or any other service that goes to Ocean Terminal, we'd get the tour bus there instead as it is something we had never done before. 

Lothian Buses (T/A Edinburgh Bus Tours) Dennis Trident Plaxton President 527 (V527 ESC) Waverley Bridge (departing 12:00) to Ocean Terminal (arriving 12:28) 
We found the board which had all the prices up and the separate prices for us 3 added together actually equalled the price of a family ticket - £33. We boarded, got the ticket and went upstairs to which we found an elderly couple already there. We had, of course picked up our free earphones to plug into the bus to listen to the free audioguide which was absolutely fantastic and was quite good at how it kept to time with the bus. Didn't seem to jump ahead if we got stuck in traffic or at a set oft raffic lights. It could, of course, been controlled by GPS meaning that the audio couldn't move on until we were at a certain point. Managed to locate Edinburgh Bus Station too after god knows how many years i have spent looking. It didn't take long for us (well, me in particular) to realise how annoying the elderly couple actually was (they were american!). I'm sure they are lovely people but I do think the personality of all Americans are somewhat over dramatic and slightly annoying. Anyway, the bus reached The Botanic Gardens where few people alighted but quite a few boarded which created a bit of a problem at the stairs. People were trying to go down and alight while people who boarded were going up and everything just came to a complete standstill. Anyway, that soon cleared and we soon reached the next main stop, Ocean Terminal which is the home of the Royal Yacht Britannia, decommissioned in 1997. Like most people, we alighted at this stop.

We entered the building to find that it was a complete shopping centre and that the Royal Yacht Britannia is just a 'shop' which leads out to a boat itself. I'd recommend going to visit it to anybody - well worth it even if it isn't the sort of thing people are interested in. Took us between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes (possibly longer) following the tour path and listening to the free audio guide which was very detailed and made the experience much better as opposed to stopping and reading boards of information. Speeds the process up a lot and saves 'traffic jams' being caused as you are waiting for others to finish reading what you want to read which spoils the whole thing. At least with the free audio guide, you can do the tour at your own pace. Once we finished the tour, we had a look around the shopping centre in more detail and I loved it - mainly because I wasn't expecting coming to see the Britannia and finding that it is next to a shopping centre. After we'd finished in there, we went back out to restart (and finish) the tour.

Lothian Buses (T/A Edinburgh Bus Tours) Dennis Trident Plaxton President 526 (V526 ESC) Ocean Terminal (departing 14:32) to Market Street (arriving 15:05)
We hadn't been waiting long when our bus came around the corner. I was hoping that it wasn't 527 again and it wasn't. As the American couple from earlier also boarded our bus, we decided this time to sit as far away from them as we possibly could and that is exactly what we did. Annoyingly the driver did pull away from the stop before I had a chance to plug my earphones back in to listen to the rest of the tour but i managed to get them in before the continuation of the tour started (when the woman said "if you've just boarded the bus, welcome back") and we continued through Leith before reentering the main city on the Royal Mile (Canongate),South Bridge and Bank Street before terminating on Market Street, around the corner from Waverley Bridge. Oversll, it was a fantastic tour and was well worth the £33 family ticket that we paid for the tour. The commentary was phenomenal and uncovered a lot about Edinburgh that I didn't know previously and saw parts of the city which I had never seen before.

We alighted the bus and headed towards the shops on Princes Street snd beyond. We crossed the road and walked along looking for any shops which looked to sell bags big enough for the small casket which holds my dogs ashes (can't go on a 'holiday' if you'd call being 2 hours away from home a holiday and leave her at home - especially as we are staying at the site where she last spent any major time with us) as we appear to have lost the other one we bought at Scarborough (or thrown away when we sorted our walk in cupboard out in the living room). No luck. We found some backs that were the right width but unfortunately, they were all too shallow. We carried on walking along when we realised that there is a street behind Princes Street with all sorts of shops. It was just a coincidence that we were about to walk up a street with the road closed because Lothian Gemini 807 (SN56 AFV) had been involved in an incident with a pedestrian. While the pedestrian was no longer at the scene (which is good - I didn't really want to walk up a street and see an injured person lying on the floor), it was quite clear as to what had happened and rather than some people who were literally glaring at the bus, I just glanced, saw that all that needed doing to the vehicle from a repair perspective was to fit a new windscreen (as it was cracked) but obviously it will need to be kept out of service for a few days for investigative purposes. Anyway, we carried on walking down this street, continuously looking for a bag and when we got to the end, turned left, back along the section of Princes Street which we had not covered, back up and along the second half of the street, again, the section that we had not covered. By this point, it had started to rain, not heavily but we could all start to feel raindrops falling on our heads (desperate not to start bursting into song there haha! ) Once we'd finished there, we walked down to St James' Shopping Centre on Leith Street (just off Princes Street and Waterloo Place) and had a look around there. While walking there, we saw 807 (SN56 AFV), which had been involved in the incident on George Street earlier in the day, being towed along Waterloo Place presumably back to its home depot and when exiting the shopping centre, I glanced over onto Leith Street and saw a Stanley Travel coach which later revealed itself to be TX63 STX which had been off the road for quite a while having repairs done to it following the incident it was involved in earlier in the year. Time was getting on so we decided to go and get the 18:05 train back down to Berwick but before that, as we had over 30 minutes before the train, we had one proper look around the Princes Mall next to the station where we had got our Subways at the start of the day. After that, we made our way to the Station to find which platform our train would be departing from.

CrossCountry 221127 Edinburgh Waverley (departing 18:05) to Berwick-upon-Tweed (arriving 18:53)
Again, even going into the station through one of the main entrances, we still managed to get onto the main platforms without having to go through any ticket barriers which surprised me quite a lot considering that Waverley is one of the main stations on the UK rail network. Anyway, we found our train on the information boards and discovered that it would be departing from Platform 2. I looked at the board and discovered that it was a service to Birmingham New Street. I immediately knew from there that it was a CrossCountry train. Like the VTEC service coming up, it arrived on time. When I boarded, I walked past a toilet which had its door open. Wasn't the most pleasant smell. We quickly found a table seat which I was surprised at, especially as the service had come from Glasgow. The was somebody already sitting at the seat but she kindly let us sit down and just after we started moving after stopping at Dunbar, we all engaged in a very nice discussion. Especially as she was from Newcastle and she was on her way home from Glasgow after being their for work. She also mentioned how her husband worked for the Tyne and Wear Metro but I just let that one go The train was much quieter on the inside compared to the journey on north on the 91 and we, again, sat on the side which captured the stunning views of the coastline north of Berwick. Although the toilets were quite smelly, the quality of the ride was much better than the 91 - probably down to being a younger train. Anyway, we said our goodbyes at Berwick as us 3 headed off back to the car which we had parked in the main car park as opposed to the railway station as it was free there (saving money, eh )

Overall, we did loads more yesterday than we had ever done before in Edinburgh and we were all absolutely knackered. I could even start to feel my legs giving way but we managed fine. Really enjoyed the whole day, more than I thought I would. Thank you for reading! Forgot to type it up last night so did it quickly this morning and as I did it on my ipad, there may be a few spelling errors. Apologies if there are and let me know if you spot any for me to correct

This Thursday I had a very interesting bus tour of South East Northumberland. The weather was looking good. I did not have a definite plan for the day and just decided to take the first bus that came along. I left Newcastle Haymarket on Arriva 7490 a Wright bodied Volvo B7 taking the 8.48 service 43 to Seaton Burn. The journey was fine with no issues. The bus was relatively quiet and I got a good seat upstairs.

At Seaton Burn I visited the Brenkley Way yard belonging to the Rush family. Various members of the family operate a number of coach companies all based at the same premises. These are KJS Travel Limited, Newcastle Taxis Limited and North East Coach Travel Limited. John Rush also has an operators licence in his own name. I obtained permission to look around and take photos from one of the family members. The yard was pretty full and I got good photos of the many kinds of vehicles present. The staff in the garage were friendly and helpful. The yard is also home to a number of smaller operators. These are Kingston Park Coaches LLP, Mark Rayner (JM Travel) and Helpmego.To Limited. I was able to get photos of all of these operators’ vehicles. Helpmego.To Limited operates the party bus which you can see in Newcastle near the Bigg Market on a Saturday night.

After thanking the staff at Rushes I headed to Seaton Burn College which is ran by a charity, the North Tyneside Learning Trust. The college operates single Peugot Boxer on a Section 19 Permit. The North Tyneside Learning Trust operates approximately 15 minibuses based at various academies and colleges on North Tyneside. At the college there were lots of students going to get their GCSE results. They mainly looked nervous on the way in. You could tell by their faces on the way out how they had done. I cannot remember getting my GCSE results, it was 25 years ago!

I did not have to wait long for my next bus, which was Arriva 7445, another Volvo but with Alexander body work. This was a short journey and I was on this 43 service for less than 5 minutes. I alighted at Dudley and crossed over the road to wait for my next bus. This was an Alexander bodied Volvo B10 4522 operating the 53 service. There were more people on this bus, mainly pensioners. The journey again was short (less than 10 minutes) and I alighted at Annitsford.

At Annitsford I visited both garages owned by members of the Cooper family. A brief family history is that William Cooper (a miner) had two sons, George Parker Cooper (1894-1975) and Henry Cooper (1900-1963) along with other children. George Parker Cooper and Henry Cooper were in partnership together for a time as bus and coach proprietors. George Parker Cooper had two sons who followed him into the coaching business, George William Cooper 1921-1977 and Henry Cooper 1937-.

Two of George William Cooper’s children also entered the bus and coach industry. These are John Cooper (1958-) and James Cooper (1961-). Henry Cooper (1900-1963) had a daughter named Lily. Lily married Norman Garwin Greaves (1922-1988), their son William Graham Greaves now runs Henry Cooper Coaches at Annitsford. James Cooper and his wife run James Cooper & Son (Tyneside) Limited which is also Annitsford based. His elder brother, John Cooper runs Kittybrewster based Coopers Tourmaster Travel Limited and Tourmaster Travel Limited. The extended Cooper family run in the region of 50 PSVs via their various companies. They also have haulage interests.

I visited the garage of James Cooper & Son first of all. They had 10 vehicles present in total. These included a number of Irizar bodied Scania luxury coaches which looked very smart. The garage also contained some interesting withdrawn stock at the rear including a 1989 Alexander bodied Scania N113 and 1982 Duple bodied Volvo B10. I was able to get good photos and the staff were fine about my visiting both garages. Unfortunately I could not photograph the Scania decker as it was parked behind a HGV. Next I headed across to the main garage of Henry Cooper. This branch of the family has a number of AEC Routemasters and I was hoping to get some photos of these. There were no Routemasters in the main garage but I was able to get good photos of the family’s very smart coaches and buses in the yard. The garage building itself was closed though. Also present were Robinson (Abacus Travel) who owns a single Mercedes 0816 and Explore4All Limited. This new company owns two Ford Transits and a very smart looking Mercedes coach. Their vehicles all have been reregistered with an EX prefix. The livery is a very attractive silver and blue on a white background. Again I was able to get good photos of these vehicles. I then went to the filling station part of Henry Cooper’s premises. To my delight there was a Routemaster undergoing maintenance over the pit along with a Plaxton bodied Volvo B10M. I was able to take some OK photos of the Routemaster from the garage forecourt.

After a short wait I caught Arriva Optare 2834 operating the 10.22 53 service to Cramlington. This was a really busy bus and there were very few seats. Luckily I was only on this service for a short time. I alighted at Southfield near the Education Village. I visited the premises of new minibus operator Phillips (Crown Travel). Unfortunately there were no vehicles present. I therefore jumped on the first bus into Cramlington. This was a Wright DB300 (7624) operating the X10. This was a comfortable but short journey. I alighted at Eastfield and visited Cramlington Kids Club. This charity owns a single minibus, but it was not present at their premises. I therefore took a short walk to the registered operating centre of Reed (Target Taxis) on Kettering Place. No vehicles were present for this operator. I was hoping this was not going to be a trend.

I boarded another DB300 (7615) operating the 11.12 X11 back to Parkside, this was another short journey of only 3 stops. It was a very warm day and I did not want to overdo the walking! I alighted near Shanklee School. This primary has a Section 19 minibus licence; again to my dismay no vehicles were present. Nor were there any vehicles present at the nearby Helen McArdle care home. This care home business has a PSV o-licence. They have just purchased a new wheelchair adapted Transit for their Gateshead home. I headed towards the town centre. On the way I visited Hillcrest School who operate a single Iveco minibus and Cramlington Youth Project Limited, a charity with a single Ford Transit.

At the town centre shops I boarded the 11.37 57A service operated by Arriva Dart 1775. This service seemed to be full of complaining old ladies including an obese grandmother who was shouting like mad at her little grandson all the way. I alighted at Cramlington railway station after a few stops with a headache coming on. I therefore decided to walk slowly across recreation land to Nelson Village and the garage of Mullen (Adamsons Coaches).  Mr Mullen was fine about me taking photos. He has a fleet of 3 coaches all with Van Hool bodywork. Also based here is Warwick (Warwick Travel) who operates a single Mercedes minibus in all over white livery and Miller (Millers of Seaton Sluice) who has a single Van Hool bodied DAF

Next I visited the garage of Target Taxis. This is a short walk over a field from Adamsons Coaches on the South Nelson Industrial Estate. There were 8 minibuses and midibuses at the garage which comprises two rented industrial units located back to back. LDVs are the most common type of vehicle operated but Mercedes midibuses are also owned. The LDVs mainly seemed to run on taxi plates, being wheelchair adapted for school contract work. Their livery is a white background with blue and red vinyls depicting a target motif. They looked rather good and the livery suited them well.

My next destination was the Admiral Business Park located on the Nelson Industrial Estate. It took me about 10 minutes to walk there and it well worth it. After passing through the security gate at the front of the estate I visited Green Mountain Travel Limited. I obtained permission from company founder and majority shareholder Tracy Thorpe to take photos. This fleet is very smartly presented and the vehicles are in immaculate condition. The company recently increased its o-licence to 15 vehicles based at the Business Park. There were 12 vehicles present including two stunning King Longs. Also at the garage were a number of Renault Masters and various Mercedes minibuses and coaches. I took my time and got really good photos of this company’s vehicles.

After leaving GMT I walked to the top of the Business Park and visited Parkside Travel Limited. They are located right at the back of industrial estate. There were 4 Mercedes minicoaches and a number of midibuses present. The staff were fine about me taking photos and I was able to get good shots of the Mercedes vehicles. I also noted a Citroen Relay nearby which belonged to the Ashington Learning Partnership. This organisation operates two schools in Ashington. These are the High School (which is currently being rebuilt) and Milburn Road Primary. The primary school has an old Olympian which is used as a classroom situated in it’s playground.

I then walked to Fisher Lane with the intention of jumping on the first bus to arrive. This was Alexander Dennis Trident 7502 on the X22. I took this bus to the centre of Bedlington. It was a good fast journey with no screaming old ladies to get on my nerves. At Bedlington I had my lunch and explored the town centre. After lunch I visited the premises of Kennedy’s Minicoaches (two transits present), Coach 42 (Robson, one Mercedes minibus) and then Craiggs who had a single Van Hool bodied DAF at their new operating centre by the Vulcan Garage. I remember visiting this location in the 1980s to see independent bus operator Raisbeck (now long gone). Raisbecks used to operate a local service in Bedlington and had fleet of 3 vehicles including an East Lancs bodied Volvo B7. This was the only one of its type in the UK I believe. Vulcan Garage was also home of Jordan’s Coaches in the 1980s, they used to operate a fleet of Bedford Ys on miners contracts. Jordan’s and the pit at Ashington are both no more.

The 14.03 service number 2 to Morpeth was my next bus. This was operated by 29 seater Dart 1765. This bus was on time despite being quite busy. I was only on a short tine and then alighted at the Swan pub near Choppington. From here I walked over to the Barrington Industrial Estate which is located on an old colliery site. The first operator I visited was youth training charity Choysez which runs 3 Transits on a Section 19 Permit. I photographed these on the road outside their premises. I then set off to find Robertson (Astley Coaches).

At this point a young guy in his early twenties who was visibly out of shape came bounding up to me and demanded to know why I was photographing the Choysez minibuses. I started to explain I was an enthusiast however he had turned bright red in the face and began panting for breath. I was very concerned, I thought he might collapse. Thankfully after a while he caught his breath and started to recover. We had a good chat about bus enthusiasm as a hobby. He was very surprised as he had never met an enthusiast before. When I saw he was OK I headed towards Astley’s yard. This yard was locked up and there were 4 vehicles present. It did not take long to find. It was most surprising to see an open topped former London Buses 1984 MCW Metrorider in Bedlington! The other vehicles were 3 Mercedes Minibuses, only 1 of which appeared to be in use. I then passed the yard of minibus operator Hoggan (Seaton Sluice Limosines) but only limos were present.

After about 5 minutes walk towards Bedlington Station I passed the premises of Gatis (A2B Travel). This minibus operator is located in the Binks Yard. There was an LDV and a midibus present. However I could not get details of the midibus due to a thick hedge surrounding the premises. There was also a preserved 1975 Devon General Bristol LH in the yard, KTT42P. After arriving at Bedlington Station (which looked scary) I headed towards Bedlingtonshire Community High School. This council run school has a Section 19 Permit for a single minibus, however no vehicles were present.

I did not want to hang about in Bedlington Station; it reminded me of pictures of Tripoli after an air strike. There were chavas hanging around with cans of booze in their hands. Luckily Dennis Dart 1758 arrived operating the 14.55 number 1 to Blyth. This service was well used and we passed the Coopers garage at Kittybrewster before heading over the bridge towards Blyth. I alighted at the first stop in Blyth and walked the short distance to Bebside. Readypay Limited (Phoenix) has a small garage at Bebside. There was a single Nexus liveried Optare present undergoing maintenance.    

I then walked to the new Blyth Academy which also houses the local library. They have a single LDV minibus which has the fleetname Vibe. I was surprised to see there were no bus stops on this housing development; I would have thought Arriva would have a service to visiting the new estate. I then headed towards Premier Bus & Coach Limited on the Kittybrewster Industrial Estate. There were plenty of vehicles present which I was able to spot. However when I knocked at the office, it was empty. I therefore did not want to hang around the premises taking photos without permission.

Phoenix Coaches was my next goal; I walked part of way along the old mineral railway which is now being prepared for a housing development. Phoenix’s yard on Albion Way had 4 deckers present. I had spotted one of their deckers previously in Ashington working the 30 service. I did not think they had so many of them. There over 20 vehicles in their yard ranging from the deckers to midibuses. I was hoping to get some photos of the deckers. However when I asked at reception, they would not allow me into the yard for health and safety reasons. I therefore spotted what I could from Albion Road but could not get any decent photos. I could only get details of two of the deckers. The other two were double parked. I anyone has the details can they let me know. From Albion Road I walked into Blyth town centre and visited the Arriva depot and bus station where I did some spotting. The depot has 3 withdrawn Dennis Darts at the rear which were looking a bit forlorn. Someone had sprayed yellow graffiti on them. Blyth was really quiet and it felt more like a Sunday than a Thursday

My last bus of the day was Arriva Wrightbus 7607 working the 16.52 308 service to Newcastle. I was able to get the seat upstairs above the driver. I was joined by 2 small children aged about 3-4 who amused themselves by playing a game. Basically when a truck or lorry came in the opposite direction, they shouted “baddie” and hid under the seats. The journey was going well until the stretch between Blyth and Seaton Sluice. At this point the little girl shat herself. The smell was intolerable; the little girl meanwhile went downstairs to tell her parents she had had an accident. Luckily the family alighted soon after at the caravan park near Saint Mary’s Island.

The rest of the journey was OK and the bus got busier and busier with commuters returning home from work. The smell had dissipated by the time we arrived in Whitley Bay. It was not a pleasant experience though. At Newcastle I quickly alighted from the bus into the heaving bus station. From there I made my way home savouring the comparatively fresh air. The views on the coastal section of this route are very good and it’s well worth a trip. At Seaton Sluice we passed owner-operator Glynn (Glynn’s of Tyneside) who has a single Van Hool bodied Volvo B10.

I had a really good day all in all, not bad going for an unplanned trip. For my next trip I’m probably going to try Darlo and maybe Newton Aycliffe. Hopefully there will not be any kids crapping themselves on the day!

Hope you enjoyed the review.

Charles

I won't quote all of your post Charles but if you get time is there any chance you could send us (PM me?) details of the fleets so that I can update our independents fleetlists on here?

(22 Aug 2015, 8:54 pm)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]I won't quote all of your post Charles but if you get time is there any chance you could send us (PM me?) details of the fleets so that I can update our independents  fleetlists on here?

I would just get off immediately if someone had an 'incident' near me