Here’s my trip on Saturday, it was a marvellous day out…

Arriva Trident 7514 08.33 service X15 Newcastle-Belford

Bus departed on time, I’d put on my big coat as it felt cold when I left the house. I soon regretted it as the day warmed up. This was a lively thrash up to Alnwick. The bus was busy with tourists and employees of Alnwick castle and gardens heading to work. I had a seat upstairs and had to listen to some obnoxious tattooed pr*c* being horrible to his little daughter who was about five years old. The scenery was good on the Morpeth to Alnwick section. At Alnwick most of the passengers alighted and I grabbed the seat above the driver. After a change of drivers we passed through beautiful scenery on the way to Belford. The snow covered Cheviots were particularly impressive.

At Belford I alighted at the edge of village and walked over the fields to Travelsure’s yard. The Patterson family had no objection to me looking round and I was able to get some great photos of the 20 vehicles in the yard. An interesting find was an 18 year old LDV minibus parked right at the back out of use. There as also a K prefix registered Dart in the yard which would appear to be preserved. Travelsure’s newer coaches look very impressive in their various liveries. Also spotted were the firm’s two recently acquired Solos which wear all over white.

I thanked the Pattersons for letting me look round and headed to Barons Minibuses on the nearby industrial estate. Their unit was locked up but later in the day I spotted their two Ford Transits in Alnwick. I then made my way back over fields of sheep to Belford passing the impressive Belford Hall which has been converted into flats. This used to be the home of the Atkinson-Clark family who owned the entire village and all the land around it. At Belford I visited community transport operator Bell View Community Trust who have a small fleet of two VW Crafters and a Mercedes Vito. I hadn’t spotted and of their vehicles before so this was a good find. Next I walked around the corner to the local school. This has a small minibus fleet consisting of a Fiat Ducato and a Ford Transit. The vehicles were easily spotted from the street. Time was getting on so I headed back to the market square where a small crafts fair was taking place.

Arriva Trident 7514 11.33 service X15 Belford to Alnwick Lionheart Enterprise Park

7514 arrived on time on it’s return trip from Berwick. This bus was lightly used and I sat upstairs. A deaf old man was listening to Radio 1 on a transistor radio (yes they still exist!). He seemed to like Cake By The Ocean as he turned it up to full blast when the song came on! We seemed to be back in Alnwick in no time at all, the weather was getting better and better. We stopped at Warrenford on way. Like Belford, this also used to be an estate village. The nearby mansion of Twizell Hall has been in possession of the Maling family for a number of generations. The family made their fortune as glass makers on Wearside.

Alnwick bus station was busy on arrival with Travelsure, Glen Valley and Spirit Buses all being present in addition to Arriva. I was pleased to see a good loading at the Spirit Buses stand. They now have a guided tour on their Alwinton circular route. If you haven’t tried out this run yet I strongly recommend it for the breath-taking views. You can buy day tickets for Spirit Buses which are great value. After a brief halt at Alnwick we were soon on our way again. I alighted at the edge of town with the old guy still engrossed in his transistor!

A short walk brought me to Rothbury Motors. Their manager was happy to let me look around and take photos of the 19 vehicles present. Again I was able to get cracking photos. This fleet has expanded recently and they have a very smart contingent of Bovas. A rare vehicle here is a 60 seat Turkish manufactured BMC which is painted yellow and used for school contracts. Withdrawn stock present was a Ford Transit and Mercedes 811D. After thanking the staff I walked into Alnwick. On way I passed Spirit Buses’ Enviro 200 named Sprit of Alwinton and was able to get some good photos of it.

Next I visited Howard Snaith’s Alnwick operating centre but this was empty and appeared to be no longer in use. This location used to be really busy before the Snaiths lost their Northumberland County Council schools contracts. I decided to check out Gardiners-NMC garage which had 3 DAFs parked up. There were no staff present so I left promptly without taking any photos. A short walk from here brought me to community bus operator North East Equality and Diversity Limited (NEED). This charity has a number of transport contracts with local voluntary organisations. Their yard had 6 minibuses and 2 mid buses present. I was able to photograph these from the perimeter. The car park of the new Aldi is also a good spot as it overlooks the yard.

Directly opposite NEED’s yard is Kitsons Windows & Conservatories. The Kennedy family park their vehicles here. Two members of this family hold separate o-licences. The yard is visible from the adjacent old railway line which is now a public footpath. Their smart Mercedes 1323L was present on this visit. I then had a look at Alnwick’s small ambulance station and was pleased to find a new WAS bodied Renault Master which is used on patient transport duties. I was able to get some good photos of this and the other Renault Master parked outside.

Barter Books was my next port of call. I did not have much time on this visit but found a good bargain. This was Ian Allan’s 1985 Municipals and PTEs fleet list which I picked up for £3.60. This book is fascinating as it gives details of the fleets of long departed local operators such as Hartlepool and Darlington Borough Transport and Tyne & Wear PTE prior to de-regulation of the bus industry. It is sad to see so many local council-owned bus operators have now folded in face of competition. Darlington Borough Transport makes a great case-study of the downside of de-regulation. Hartlepool Borough Council interestingly still hold a PSV o-licence and park their vehicles in the old municipal bus garage. Most of their fleet is now used on welfare and community work.

After leaving Barter Books I went and had my packed lunch at Farmers Folly. This monument has an interesting history. The Duke of Northumberland (who owns a large swathe of Alnwick and the surrounding countryside) did not raise his tenant farmers’ rents during the Napoleonic Wars which were times of economic hardship. To show their gratitude the local farmers clubbed together and paid for the monument to be constructed. The Duke therefore decided that the farmers could afford to pay more and raised their rents after all! I’ll let you decide the moral of the story…

Arriva Enviro 7530 14.02 service X18 Alnwick – Amble

I caught this at Alnwick bus station after getting some OK photos and looking around the town. Alnwick also had a market on but it was a lot bigger than Belford’s. In the town I spotted a Van Hool bodied Volvo belonging to Gillingham of Catchgate. This vehicle was painted blue and grey as opposed to the usual yellow for Gillingham’s vehicles. The journey to Amble was a great ride through beautiful countryside. There are lovely views of Alnmouth and Warkworth Castle. I’d recommend this route at any time of the year. I could hear a steam train at the Aln Valley Railway but did not see it.

At Amble I walked to the industrial estate. Here I spotted one of the Craigg family’s vehicles (a Volvo B10M). The Craiggs used to be one of largest independent bus and coach operators in Northumberland. Their garage was at nearby Radcliffe, they also had a bus operation in Ashington which traded as Wansbeck Motor Services. They sold out in the 1990s to Northumbria Motor Services (now Arriva) I believe. The Radcliffe yard is now an agricultural merchant’s premises. A branch of the family continues as Craiggs Travel with a five vehicle coach fleet.

My main objective however was Longstaffs Travel Limited. They have a large garage on the edge of the industrial estate. This firm is also expanding and now have an o-licence for 8 vehicles. Six vehicles were present on this visit including two impressive Neoplans. I was able to photograph these through the perimeter fence as the yard was locked up. A brisk walk brought me back into Amble town centre just in time for my next bus. Here the Curse of Arriva stuck as it was 15 minutes late.

Arriva Enviro 7529 15.36 service X18 Amble – Newcastle

This service turned up at 15.51 just as I debating to return to Newcastle via Ashington on the X20. It was lightly used, the driver was surly and gave no apology or explanation for the late running. He was determined to make up time and thrashed his was along the country roads. It was a rather bumpy ride as we battered our way across the Northumbrian countryside from one former mining village to another. We passed the former Longstaffs yard at Broomhill which is now a small housing estate. The scars of open cast coal mining are beginning to heal and the route from Amble to Morpeth is a lot more pleasant than when I was a child. Another ten years and it should be a very nice journey. We arrived in Morpeth 10 minutes late and took a few passengers. The driver did not wait long at the stand.

From Morpeth to Newcastle our driver went hell for leather, by god he was going to make that 10 minutes up. We hurtled down the A1 at breakneck speed overtaking cars, buses and lorries. It was a non-stop thrash-fest until we got to the roundabout at North Gosforth. From then it was straight into town with brief stops near the rugby ground and Regent Centre. We arrived 3 minutes late at Haymarket after a last ditch charge towards the Civic Centre overtaking Stagecoach, GNE and other Arriva vehicles. I have to admit it was bloody good fun!

At Haymarket the match was coming out and everyone looked relieved, 1-0 win against Crystal Palace. I made my way through the throng of supporters and walked home to clear my head. I bet Benitez could get the X18 to run on time! It was a great day and it felt amazing to be back on the road again.

Hope you enjoyed the review.

Charles…