Following my break from writing reviews, after my holiday, I've returned. I enjoyed a North East Explorer ticket with Adrian yesterday; I would have typed the review up last night, but I was busy. Our plan was to visit the yards of Alpha Recovery in Dudley, Cramlington, and Thorntons Brothers, in North Seaton, Ashington. Despite putting together a rough plan for our adventure, things didn't go to plan from the off, and we ended up just making it up as we went along.
#X21 – Chester-le-Street Black Horse to Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station – (08:56 --- 09:29) – Go North East 3872 – Dennis Trident/East Lancs Lolyne – ''Work, Eat, Play''
I'd set my alarm for 07:40, in order to get ready and walk into Chester-le-Street for the 08:34 21 service to Newcastle; getting me there for 09:13 and allowing a connection onto the 09:30 X20 up to Ashington. However, when I naturally started stirring, I realised the time was 08:31; I had slept in. Without thinking, I got up and started hurrying the usual process along, leaving the house just shy of 08:40. Messaging Adrian to inform him of this change of plan, he joked that my plan was out of the window, before telling me to try and make an X21 or an X12 from Chester-le-Street to speed things up. Fortunately, as I had walked quicker than usual, I reached the top of Front Street at 08:55. On Durham Road; I saw an East Lancs Lolyne coming along, with the ''Pronto'' X21 to Newcastle. Making it to the Black Horse bus stop just as it rounded the roundabout onto Front Street, an elderly woman next to me commented that ''they had put one of the old ones on''. I obtained my Explorer ticket for £9.70 from the driver, and headed upstairs. Every seat was taken downstairs, with a load of about fifteen passengers upstairs. Sitting a few rows from the back, I took the opportunity to relax, having rushed out. Upon arrival in Newcastle, I messaged Adrian again, telling him we were going the long way around via the top of John Dobson Street and St. Mary's Place as opposed to Blackett Street and Percy Street. The driver dropped us off in the very bottom ''set down'' stand in Eldon Square, where I soon located Adrian.
#X21 – Newcastle, Haymarket Bus Station to Ashington Bus Station – (09:33 --- 10:28) – Arriva North East 7523 – Dennis Trident 2/Alexander Enviro400 - ''Sapphire''
We walked into Haymarket, hoping the 09:30 X20 hadn't left yet. Unfortunately, as soon as I clapped my eyes on the ALX400 operating the service; I saw it pull out. Luckily, a ''Sapphire'' branded Enviro400 was sat next to the stand it had been occupying, so to waste no time, we jumped on that. The vehicle was totally deserted, with no other passengers on board. I initially went for the seat above the driver, with plenty of legroom; however Adrian hinted that he was hoping for that one, so I shifted across to the other side. I have to say, I quite liked this journey. The 2014-example Enviro400s on the X21/X22 have loads of power in them in my opinion, and the ''Sapphire'' seating was actually pretty comfortable. Enjoying the ride through the scenic areas between towns, we discussed various topics ranging from the law to Quality Contracts. One thing of note; the window at the top of the stairs rests against the CCTV monitor when opened, I hadn't realised until Adrian pointed it out. Upon arrival in Ashington Bus Station, after an enjoyable run up from Newcastle, we walked towards the site of the old depot; now demolished. We walked around to the main part of the bus station, for a few photos and to pick up a timetable for the 35/35A services. A young boy emerged from the little Arriva office, mentioning that the Volvo B7TL that I was photographing was a nice bus. I later determined that it was Tommy, I didn't recognise you at the time I'm afraid, but it later clicked that it was you when I remember seeing some photos from the ''Quaylink'' launch.
#35 – Ashington Bus Station to North Seaton, opposite South Side – (11:53 --- 12:04) – Arriva North East 1580 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid - ''Eco-Green''
Next up was a trip to The Rohan Kanhai, the nearest Wetherspoons, for a nice breakfast. We located a nice two-seater table, and both ordered a Traditional Breakfast; great value for money at £2.99. Discussing the upcoming Seaburn rally while we awaited our food; we then enjoyed our breakfasts and headed out of the Wetherspoons at about 11:15. Next on the agenda was a walk down to Arriva's Ashington depot. Parked up was ''MAX'' branded Enviro400 7531, a couple of withdrawn Darts at the back, along with an ex-London President, a Prima training coach, and an ALX400. Adrian suggested we asked at the main office to see if we could be granted permission to get some better photos from the inside, however after several attempts at knocking, we realised nobody was in the offices. After a short walk back to Ashington Bus Station, we located the stand for the next 35/35A service which we would catch to Thorntons. A short wait took place, before one of the ''Eco-Green'' branded Wright Streetlites appeared. I was slightly disappointed, as I was hoping for an ALX400, as these services appeared to be a bit of a dolly mixtures allocation from my observations so far. Nevertheless, we boarded this characterless and uninspiring Wright Streetlite; I spent most of the journey watching our progress on the Google Maps app, before I rang the bell for the driver to stop at the nearest bus stop to Thorntons.
#35A – North Seaton, opposite South Side to Ashington, Station Road – (12:41 --- 12:57) – Arriva North East 1761 – Dennis Dart SLF/Dennis MPD – ''Original Arriva''
After walking along the road, we turned off onto a country lane where I determined we would find Thorntons. We could see the site from where we were, and as the rows of hedges seemed to go on for a while, we decided our best bet was to walk through the open field to get to the site. Once we were there, we observed a Go North East Driver Training coach, along with a Volvo B10BLE and a ''Fab56'' Gemini. A Weardale Motor Services President was also present along with an unregistered gold-liveried Enviro400. Around the back, were various First vehicles along with a few Arriva vehicles. I photographed two of the First ''bendy'' Scanias, which I later discovered were part of their Aberdeen fleet. With our business done at Thorntons, we made the long walk back to the main road, and finally reached our bus stop for the next Ashington-bound service at 12:35. We winced when we saw an original-liveried MPD coming along the road, but we boarded nevertheless. This run was operated by 1761, we sat at the very back. With a load of about ten passengers, we replicated the route we took to get to Thorntons. During this time, Adrian showed me a few of his memories on Facebook; in the midst of the discussion, I forgot that the Morpeth-bound 35/35A services don't go into the bus station, which we flew straight past. We got up and rang the bell, hoping the next stop wasn't too far.
#35A – Ashington, Station Road to Ashington Bus Station – (13:02 --- 13:07) – Arriva North East 7492 – Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini - ''Arriva''
We were dropped off at a place called ''Station Road''. Crossing the road for the next bus back to Ashington, we were in luck. One of the ex-London Volvo B7TLs could be seen in the distance, which we flagged down to a halt. As we were only travelling a short distance back to the bus station, following this massive cock-up, we sat in the lower saloon. I could see a few passengers were upstairs when we boarded, and around half a dozen were sat downstairs. Before long, we were pulling back into the bus station, where we were dropped off. Adrian popped into the store for a drink. There was a massive queue for the sole check out, so he queued at the bakery. The woman was blabbing on for about five minutes while we stood waiting, to then be told to go and queue at the other place. That woman could talk for Britain! After just giving up with the drink, we walked back out and into Ashington Bus Station once again. The ''Sapphire'' X22 was just departing for Newcastle as we saw it, so we ended up having to wait for the ''Sapphire'' X21 again.
#X21 – Ashington Bus Station to Regent Centre Metro Interchange – (13:20 --- 14:11) – Arriva North East 7527 – Dennis Trident 2/Alexander Enviro400 – ''Sapphire''
Luckily, we had dodged a 57-plate Enviro400 and landed ourselves a 14-plate example. This time, it was an X21, and had come from Newbiggin, so a few passengers were on board. After a driver changeover, we started boarding. I showed the driver my Explorer; he nodded, however he then proceeded to snatch it out of my hand and give it a closer look. He closely resembled what I would associate with a retarded pig suffering from the mumps. We departed Ashington with about a dozen passengers. Adrian pointed out a man that was a lookalike of Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter, sat at the front. A boy called Davey was sat in front of him, we're assuming he was the grandfather. ''You're a wizard, Davey''... We decided we would alight at Regent Centre and get a few photos, before progressing onto the Tyne & Wear Metro for some bashing. Before long, the robotic Next Stop Announcement lady informed us that Regent Centre was coming up next, so we headed downstairs. Located a nice spot for some photos, and stood there for about ten minutes getting some shots, before we decided to catch the next Metro south to Newcastle Central Station.
Tyne & Wear Metro Bashing
We passed through the unattended barriers at Regent Centre, and headed down to the South Hylton-bound platform. An announcement came on while we waited for the Metro, saying that the network was currently running to time and a good service was expected, before mentioning line improvements between North Shields and St. James(?) on Sunday 23rd August, with details of the replacement buses. Before we knew it, I could hear the sound of an approaching train on the tracks; I turned to see a refurbished Metro heading our way. It was formed of units 4011 and 4086. We sat in 4011, managing to get a seat with no issues. There were a few runners at West Jesmond; who attempted to block the doors open. Upon arrival at Haymarket, a lot of people jumped ship while a decent number boarded at Monument. Our stop at Central was next, so we got up in preparation to alight. We treated ourselves to a Costa (small Hot Chocolate to take away for me) and I went about my duties getting some photos. I saw ''Flying Scotsman'' liveried 82205 on a departing Virgin Trains East Coast service, followed by CrossCountry Voyager 220028 on the next platform. The Thunderbird locomotive today was EWS-liveried Class 67 67024. Down in the smaller platforms, were First TransPennine Express' Class 185 185135, and Northern Rail's Class 156 156451, along with Class 142 142094. As the 14:55 Virgin Trains East Coast service to Inverness was due at 15:05 (running late), I went for a photo. On the next platform I could see Class 91 91109 on a Kings Cross-bound service. Luckily for me; it was a full VTEC HST! I photographed 43302 on the front and 43299 on the rear before meeting with Adrian again. Walked back down into the Metro station to catch the next Metro to appear; it was in the form of 4064 and 4082, which we caught to Gateshead. Adrian sat down while I stood for this short two minute hop across the river. Next, was a service back to Newcastle; which we caught as far as Haymarket, formed of 4063 and 4071. I stood once again until Central, when seats became available.
#21 – Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace – (15:58 --- 16:50) – Go North East 6064 - Volvo B5LH/Wright Gemini 2 – ''Angel''
Adrian and I had a little wander through Haymarket Bus Station, and headed out to the spot that most take their photos at. We spent about ten minutes there before Gary Devlin appeared. We spoke to him for a few minutes before we went our separate ways. On Percy Street, we saw ''Venture'' Solo SR 649 working the X71 to Consett; so we took the opportunity for a photograph. I said goodbye to Adrian as I headed down into the bus station and he caught an X1 back to Washington. 6064 was my ''Angel'' home. One of my preferred examples; all of it's facilities work brilliantly and it sounds very healthy in comparison to one or two (that shall not be named...). Rather than head upstairs like I usually do, I decided to sit downstairs, just next to the Hybrid engine. It was a smooth journey home; a driver changeover in Chester-le-Street saw John Westmoorland take over for the run to Durham. When I alighted, I thanked him and made my way home. I was in the house for about 17:05 before going out for a meal in the evening for my sister's birthday.
All in all, it was a great day out. Despite deciding to pass on the trip to Alpha Recovery in favour of some rides on the Tyne & Wear Metro (the former of which I will save for another day), everything else went quite smoothly. Next Saturday, I've got my train tickets booked for a trip to York with citaro5284, of which I will spend a lot of time planning and familiarising myself with the bus network in the city. Then on Monday 31st August, we've got the NEBPT Seaburn Rally. I shall be in attendance. I hope to see others there as well, should be a good day out. As ever, thank you for reading.
R852 PRG