Trip to Newcastle / Leek 02-04-2013

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
34311	Ladybank Grove (opp), Blurton	Newcastle BS	22	First Potteries
2300	Newcastle BS	Hanley BS	41	Wardle Transport
2542	Hanley BS	Leek BS	16	Wardle Transport

Today we hadn't planned on going out, but 34311 working the #22A was the reason we did. Matthew got up at 08:45 and had some toast. He went out with mum to Longton for the morning where he ate a bananas and some chocolate biscuits he came back to Blurton passing Z carz NX03 JYJ and V690 EBC in Longton. Tey went along the A50 and then onto Longton Hall Road. For dinner had an English breakfast and a butterfly cake. I finished work at 12:30 and drove back intending to see the #22A on my way. I pulled over on Blurton Road to wait for the #47 and checked my e-mails to find out someone had already seen 34311 out on the #22A. So I drove home and called mum to tell her that there was a bus out and to bring Matthew home before 13:15. Matthew ot home around 13:00 and we got ready and left home around 13:10. We trotted to the bus stop and it's lucky that we did as 34311 was at the stop and was about to pull off. We flagged it down and Matthew took a picture before we got on it.

First Potteries 34311 in Blurton

We got on the bus and it was empty so Matthew took a picture of the empty lower deck.

Inside First Potteries 34311

We went upstairs and sat down. This was the second time Matthew had done this bus, the previous time being back n February. We sat down to enjoy the journey. We stopped at the Man in Space for a couple of minutes to wait for time and and then carried on. As we travelled along we passed 40143 on the Longton bound #22 service. We got to Newcastle and we got off. The bus finished it's turn and it didn't hang around. Matthew got another picture of 34311 as it left for the depot.

First Potteries 34311 in Newcastle

On stand at the bottom of the bus station was Wardle Trasport 2300. I asked mattew if he wanted to do it and he said yes. We got on it was empty at the time so Matthew got his empty bus picture straight away.

Inside Wardle Transport 2300

We sat down and the bus filled a little. As we passed through the hospital we passed another #22 and it was Solo 40015. We got to the Hanley and we entered the new bus station for the first time. We got off and Matthew got a picture of 2300.

Wardle Transport 2300 in Hanley bus station

When we got there we spotted required Wardle Transport 4896 on the 14:15 X50 to Uttoxeter. Matthew went to the toilet and when he came out 4896 had gone. So I formulated plan to get it in. In the mean time we went to take a few pictures of buses. Pictures in the bus station itself are hard to get (I'm not sure if they are strictly allowed), so we went of site to take a few pictures. We went to John Street multi-storey car park and took pictures off the first floor. Whist we were there we saw wardle transport 4546 on the #61, a bus that we had on the Hanley bus station finale running day.

Wardle Transport 4546 leaves Hanley bus station

After spending around 30 minutes taking pictures we went back to the bus station and had a drink at the cafe. he then went to the toilet again and then we had around 10 minutes to wait for the X50 to go after 4896. Outside the bus station we saw Wardle Transport 1485 and Matthew got a picture.

Wardle Transport 1485 outside Hanley bus station

Just as the X50 arrived Matthew decided he was going to do something different and jumped on Wardle Transport 2542 on the #16. Matthew last had this bus as D&G 5 back in May 2011. It was a Solo and so he honked the horn as he got on. Mum texted to see where we were and having told her we were doing 4776 to Meir, I had to tell her we were now going to Leek. Mum said she was going to drive up there but she wasn't going to get there before we did. We passed Wardle Transport 2301 on the inbound #16. When we got to Leek Matthew got a picture of the empty inside of 2542.

Inside Wardle Transport 2542

We got off and Matthew went to the toilet. As the bus was still there when he came out he got a picture of the outside too.

Wardle Transport 2542 in Leek bus station

We had a short wait for mum to arrive and whilst we were there we saw 40167 heading to Hanley and then 40383 going to Haregate. A few minutes later 40030 made an appearance.

First Potteries 40030 in Leek bus station

Mum arrived and we walked back to the car. As we got in the car we saw Clowes Coaches N880 AVV on the #108 to Macclesfield. We then headed back to Captain Kooks n Burslem. We went down the A53 and then onto Sandbach Road. He had chips beans and sausage and then cheesecake and custard for afters. We went to the car wash in Burslem and then to Smallthorne to pick up some books. We headed back along High Lane and into Hanley. At the junction Potteries Way and Bucknall New Road we wanted to go straight on, but we found out te road markings had change so we had to go down Limekiln bank! We went to Joiners square and then stopped at ASDA on Victoria Road so mum could pick something up. We the stopped at MacDonald so we could pick up Matthews chicken nugget meal. We then carried on up Victoria Road and along the link road to Heron Cross past the end of Duke Street. We got home around 18:30 and we looked at our pictures from today and wrote the Blog. We chilled out on the computer up to bedtime...Mark