Had a really enjoyable day out today, so much so I've decided to write a little about it. I am a North-East exile currently residing in Stoke-on-Trent so my outing today was in North Staffordshire. Getting this out straight away as not to waste your time if something non-local won't interest you! Thank you to anyone still reading, I'll try to tie in some North-East references as best I can.

Started off in Hanley, which is better known as Stoke-on-Trent's city centre. Stoke's a peculiar place in that the folk here consider the city to be six towns as opposed to one city. Hanley is the centre, commercially, politically and somewhat geographically. Most importantly the big bus station is here. 

First 65027 YN05HCL Scania CN94 Omnicity  Route 18: Hanley Bus Station - Leek Bus Station
My plan for today was to sample some of First Potteries' long distance and rural services, something I've yet to do despite living in the area for over a year now. Route 18 is semi-fast run out to the Moorlands town of Leek, not too from Alton Towers. The standard allocation is of Scania Omnicities which are route branded as 'Fast, Frequent & Fabulous' *Ahem*. I think Best Impressions, of trentbarton fame, are at least partly responsible for that one. My ride, however, was not one of the branded examples but one of two Omnicities in Potteries' fleet which proudly wears the classic red & yellow PMT colours; the link below shows it off well and I think it's fair to say the boxy Omnicity wears the horizontal livery very well indeed:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128987711@...465366323/

The branding for route 26 came off over a year ago leaving the plain livery as a sort-of heritage bus. As good as the Scania looks, it's difficult to imagine a Streetlite would pull it off as well. The bus itself is well-kept, clean and comfortable inside with unique Scania branded seats. I would go as far as this older example performed better than Go North East's 56 plate examples or even Arriva's. Maybe there's an argument Scania took more care with this batch as I believe it was part of the first major order for Omnicities in the UK, starting in 2003. The main thing I did notice about the interior is that all of the coving adverts were either about cancer or diabetes. To top it off there was an advert raising awareness about suicide on the cab wall. By the time the bus had finished loading I was feeling suitably morbid and wondering what was going to kill me first, cancer or myself.  

The bus left the station fairly full, cue screaming baby. I couldn't see the offending infant from were I was sat at the rear offside quad, but I could certainly hear it. The wails were muffled every now and then, presumably as the mother attempted to smother it. When more passengers boarded at the high street I gained a seat neighbour who had a poor concept of personal space. At least the screaming died down. As we headed away from the city and the bus emptied out I was wondering if my neighbour was going to move onto a now free set of seats. What's the correct etiquette here? The bus was now less than half-full but she still seemed intent on seat sharing. Starting to hope for a sharp right turn; the lack of grab rails in this section of an Omnicity would have sent her flying into the aisle. Had to wait until arrival into Leek for my freedom, surprised to see mother and now-quiet baby still on bus, maybe she had smothered it. 

Leek bus station is a simple affair, essentially one long bus bay with aprox six stop flags affixed to the canopy. Some research shows it's looked exactly the same since at least the 1960s. Noticeably absent was any information about buses. No times, routes or places served. Presumably as Leek's bus services are a hodgepodge of different operators not one has decided it's worthwhile investing in some publicity. I gave up on council provided information around here a while ago. It was refreshing to see some public toilets still open in these times of council cuts, especially in a rural area. The graffiti on the walls inside served as a reminder as to quite why local authorities have decided it's generally easier to close such facilities. I swiftly left, taking care not to touch anything or look at anyone. 

D&G Bus 138 YJ55BHO Optare Solo M990 Route 31: Leek Bus Station - Cheadle High Street
This vehicle was parked in the station on layover when I arrived. My plan was to catch a returning First 18 to Hanley, but I worked out the Solo must be working the bi-hourly 31 route. Seeing as it was pretty lucky to land just as such an infrequent service was due to depart it seemed logical to hop on this instead. Considering my previous steed on the 18 was roughly the same age as this Solo, this bus was a real credit to D&G. Immaculate both inside and out, could have easily been passed off as a 2010-2011 model by first impressions. The ride itself was, in all fairness, as dull as dishwater - it's a solo. The route it took on the other hand was breathtaking. I'm struggling to think of a fair comparison in the North East, it really is something very different. We went through villages which charming names such as 'Ipstones', 'Froghall' and 'Foxt'. The roads linking them were not built with modern vehicles, particularly a 9.9m bus! I'd urge you to Streetview some of the roads around there to see what I'm twittering on about. At one point were wheelie bins were 'double parked' by the entrance to a farm the road was so narrow the driver had to get out and move them to get through! There were 5 to 10 passengers on the bus at any point though, some getting on and off in remote locations,; it was good to see a rural bus being supported.  

First 32639 KP54AZA Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini Route 32: Cheadle High Street - Hanley Bus Station
I was pleased to grab a B7TL back to Hanley for a few reasons, firstly to enjoy the views of the moorlands from a height and a lovely sunny day. Secondly, they remind me of when the batch were delivered to GNE for the X10. With the metallic paint and personalised seat moquette I was blown away as a young lad by these. I still swear I once got in Middlesbrough and there was BBC radio playing through the speakers. Can anybody confirm this? Anyway, I've not been on one in a while and despite First's examples being bashed through the countryside most days I image they're fairing better than GNE's after their beatings on the A19. A great ride sat above the driver nonetheless.

What made the journey all the more interesting was the conversation of the two ladies opposite. Both well dressed, one maybe 50 years old and one maybe 25? I could't help but hear their mindless chatter but what perked my interest was when the younger casually mentioned she smokes canabis. The older lady has plenty to say on the subject and is loudly discussing what drugs she's done and where the best dealers in Cheadle are. The conversation continues on this course, with brief discourse on a holiday to New York and what they're each having for tea. As we get into Hanley the younger suggests they should go for a pint sometime, introduces her self formally to the older and goes to leave. They didn't even bloody know each other! The mind boggles. 

First 53209 CN07KZM Optare Solo Route 5: Hanley Bus Station - Bucknall
I spied this Solo pulling into the bus station in front of the B7TL I was already on. I really like this pair of Solos from first as they feature 'traditional' dual purpose seating, i.e deep cushions and cloth fabric with headrests. I imagine this was more suited when they were used in rural Wales with Veolia (remember them?!) than Staffordshire local runs. Again, nothing special about the ride. Noticed the adverts this time advertise careers with Phones 4 U who were founded and based in Stoke-on-Trent. I'm sure the hundreds of people made redundant last year in the area when the company defaulted don't appreciate First's reluctance to take these down. Still, at least there's no cancer on this one. 

First 53120 EO02NFA Optare Solo Route 5: Bucknall - Hanley Bus Station
Crossed the road to catch a bus back to town, I've attached a photo of the information in the bus shelter.
 
I'm glad it was there as in general bus information is severely lacking around here; but really? It looks like they're actively trying to put people off bus usage. Any how, I caught this ex-Norwich Solo which arrived in the area in late 2015 to replace similar non DDA-compliant X-reg examples at Adderley Green Depot. They're really showing their age and don't show off First in a good light at all. To make matters worse they feature First's standard seating for buses delivered from 2000-2003 which is not too distant from Urban 90 and Potteries have badly scrapped the Norwich branding away from the sides so most of it is still legible. Of note is the bizarrely placed information clip frames around the wheelchair bay. 
 
Can anybody shed some light on this? If they were used for information I can't help but feel a person in the wheelchair bay would feel rather self conscious with people staring at them!

First 53830 CN06BXF Optare Solo Route 28: Hanley Bus Station - Norton
I Love Solos! You may may be forgiven for thinking so, at least. There is indeed a lot more variety in First Potteries fleet than I'm portraying here, but this journey was more for the route than the vehicle. Route 28 came into existence when quite severe cuts to the network caused some backlash from the locals. To soften the blow, First offered routes 27 & 28. With a combined PVR of 1 they initially provided a bi-hourly mon-fri service to many of the locations which were having their previously decent service withdrawn. They were offered on a trial 'use it or lose it' basis. First didn't make it easy to find as neither route featured on their network maps or general publicity. From what I've seen both routes carried good loads so I was surprised by the most recent revision in February which saw both routes go to an hourly service but on alternate days. So 28 runs Mon/Wed/Fri only and 27 Tue/Thurs only. I've not done the research but I would imagine the residents of the areas served (routes do not overlap) would rather a bus every day rather than hourly some days. Surely it couldn't be that First are intentionally trying to drive down passenger numbers to justify withdrawing the services to concentrate on key corridors?

First 53063 VX53OEF Optare Solo Route 98: Norton - Newcastle Bus Station
Anther recent cascade to compensate for DDA withdrawals. This slightly newer batch have the saving grace of conventional seating similar to a cloth version of what's found on the X66 Streetlites or Arriva's Solos, if I try to name the exact type I'll only get it wrong! Another suicide poster; I was contemplating it by now as it was my 5th Solo but decided it's only 15 minutes to Newcastle (Under-Lyme, not the real one) and I could console myself with a Greggs pasty. I clearly wasn't the only one having a bad time of it as I accidentally saw the lady sat ahead of me Googling local divorce lawyers; I mean could that not wait until you got home? Stoke's an odd place. 

First 65034 YN06WMF [b]Scania CN94 Omnicity [/b]Route 101: Newcastle Bus Station - Stone
The purpose of a bash on route 101 was to sample an Omnicity at full whack on the national speed limit dual carriageways along the route. As the solo I was previously on pulled into the station there was a sister Omnicity on stand which I could have got straight on but I was getting pretty hangry for the aforementioned pasty; something not quite appreciated in the Midlands as it is in the great North East. 20 minutes on the next 101 arrives in the form of the above described vehicle. Just to keep a theme going, the coving adverts were for the Orange and T-Mobile merger - something which started happening in 2010 so, you know, feel free to take these down as well First. The ride was powerful as expected, but again somehow this slightly newer Omnicity didn't seem as well built as the earlier, older, one. Despite many, many buses in the Potteries still wearing Barbie livery this bus was lucky enough to be repainted into Olympia. Odd then that it has repainted again into 'Olympia 2', the livery with a pink sash at the front, rather than updating one still in Barbie. Either way, it hadn't been finished and has been in service a few weeks now with no fleet names at all which again, is a pretty poor show from First. 

First 65037 YN06WMK Scania CN94 Omnicity Route 101: Stone - Newcastle Bus Station
An essentially identical vehicle provided the haulage back to Newcastle, again an anonymous looking one with no fleet name. Sat behind the driver's cab this time and noticed the cab wall is actually tinted plastic so could see the driver and road ahead; it's been a while since I've seen a bus with this. The driver did start texting every time we stopped. It doesn't bother me as long as we're still on time, but it does make me wonder what general company policy is on drivers using phones when stationary; I can't image it's really allowed? What really stood out was what is hopefully seen in the video here:  


If you can't make it out, that is go good few inches of water trapped in the front door! Goodness knows how long it's been in there. I could be wrong, it may be intentional. While Arriva and GNE are trying to woo passengers with wifi and power sockets, First are pioneering on board fish tanks!

First 65705 YN04GME Scania L94UB/Wright Solar Route 4: Newcastle Bus Station - Hanley Bus Station
Thank you very much for coming this far, you may be pleased to read this is my last journey. I was hoping for a Scania from this batch as they remind me of being a teenager a few years ago, catching the M1 from Heworth to see friends. First's versions are fairing up much the same, still putting in reliable everyday service. This batch were refreshed with help from Best Impressions to launch an ill-fated plan to introduce a colour-coded network back in 2014. This particular branding survived however, which seems good at first. The vehicles, however are now allocated to routes 3&4 which go to none of the places mentioned on the external route description. Great job First!


Well folks, thanks again for reading and please comment with your thoughts and opinions, even if it's that you don't find my ramblings in North Staffordshire relevant. I don't often get out on the buses these days, my next planned trip will be to Manchester when the busway there launches. If all goes well I may have another write-up.