Rambling, farther afield from Coventry

Philip. I love your cogitations and appreciate your love and usage of buses and trains. Unfortunately I`m what some call a "petrolhead". I am wedded to my cars, still at my age get a kick out of driving, don`t have a bus or rail pass. I wouldn`t think of doing a long journey in a train, or a local one in a bus, mind you in the sticks round here we only have 2 buses a day. I have used it once in 11 years, but other than that have never really used buses regularly since the 7 Allesley or 10 Brownshill Green to get to school (plus a few other Coventry internal services, 2 Radford, 1 Chapelfields). Holidays when young was generally coach to Devon. Midland Red to Cheltenham (and connecting services) and the Royal Blue express service to Devon (lunch stop Weston super Mare). Always liked the local Western Nationals and the double deck Western Generals when we got to Devon (top deck had a footway in a well at the off side and the seats were in one row). Train journeys to join ship in Liverpool, often Sunday evening steam train, Coventry to Birmingham New St, New Street to Rugby, Rugby to Liverpool Lime Street. Unfortunately that was an awful journey, trains late, dirty, often standing, put me off trains forever, although I have done a nostalgic journey on the Watercress Line and loved it. Oh I forgot, nearly always had a car and caravan.

I expected to hardly use my bus pass when I applied for it but have been amazed how useful it is. I often travel to Birmingham to go to gigs and watch cricket. When I retired got a season ticket for Edgbaston so that makes for a great cheap day out, and if the weather isn't very good it doesn't matter as it hasn't cost me anything and there's always somebody there to natter to. I've also travelled on buses just to visit different parts of the city for a look round and it means I don't have to worry about finding somewhere to lock the bike up.

Evening all Whilst the senior bus pass is in conversation, this year a £1 bolt on is now available for going out early. This is only available with National Express at present, & has to be paid for each bus boarded before 9.30am, but is very useful. I used it for an early hospital appointment today. Quote from website, "New for 2018: You can now travel before 9.30am Monday - Friday for £1 with National Express West Midlands instead of paying the full adult fare. Please ask the driver when boarding and show your pass."

If I recall correctly (which isn't always the case ) the female retirement age was raised to that of males because some women complained it was discrimination having to retire at 60 and wanted to be able to work until 65 like the men. At the time the retirement age was compulsory.

Morning all USE IT OR LOSE IT *********************** If I had any bearing on the issue of national bus-passes, we would all have access to them, even if some of us had to contribute towards the cost. Before 2008, the year that the national OAP bus pass was introduced, there used to be a buyable bus-master ticket that covered huge areas. Anyway, on with a tour. My Pam & her sister enjoy their coach tours, as I did, but the snag was that we often went through locations that I wanted to look at, but were not in the itinerary. Our bus pass allows us to do just that. Even more so if we have a Centro region pass that gives us access to our local railways. A circular tour that I enjoy is what I call the "Bard tour" which I can recommend to you Mr D-Di. I will post it in a new post.

The "Bard tour". My tour starts & finishes in Coventry, but can easily be adapted for anywhere including Birmingham. It uses a mix of buses & trains. Yesterday, my friend & I boarded the Stagecoach X18 service from outside the Transport Museum in Coventry. We stayed on that to Stratford upon Avon. The route included both Leamington & Warwick. After a coffee in Stratford, we then boarded the X20 service to Birmingham (major change to this service on 2nd September for our delight) where we alighted at Henley In Arden. A fabulous lunch at the Swan pub, before continuing on the next X20 (hourly service) into Birmingham centre. We then returned home by train to Coventry. From the 2nd Sept, the X20 service finishes, but is replaced by the service 20, maintaining the same timings from Stratford but terminates at Shirley railway station. For Centro bus-pass folk, this could not be better, as the journey from Shirley to Birmingham centre became one long bumper to bumper crawl. This scene will be a thing of the past, the Bard bus in the centre of Birmingham. I shall post the new service 20 timetable here, but be warned it does not start until 2nd September New service 20 timetable from Stratford to Shirley. The beauty of the service 20 terminating at Shirley railway station, is the convenience of fast regular trains to Moor St, right in the middle of Birmingham. If its a bad weather day, stay on the train & alight at either Snow Hill or Jewellery Quarter & use the tram to New St, all in the dry.

Hi all The local rail services in Birmingham, coupled with the bus & tram network, I have found to be second to none. The links permit alternative routes depending on the weather. A bit of practise & we soon learn the change points, like Jewellery Quarter or The Hawthorns, where the trams link with the Moor St line. Galton Bridge is where we can swap between the New St to Wolverhampton services, the old LMS & the Moor St line, the old GWR. A huge length of the tramway out of Birmingham uses the old GWR line through Snow Hill. For all of our criticisms of the politics regards the combined administration, I do believe that our city lags behind Birmingham in the get about concept, but Coventry has opened the Ricoh station which is such a boon for me.

Morning all Another dry & mostly sunny day today, (watch out for a risk of rain on Monday) I hope to venture in the Stratford direction. Perfect weather for a longer bus journey, not the searing heat of a month ago. The X18 at 9.41 from outside the Transport Museum is my intention. It stops at Leamington & Warwick before going on to Stratford. Anyone venturous enough, the X18 then continues to Evesham, but not for me today I don't think. I may have a coffee break in Leamington. The X18 stops at the top & the bottom of the Parade. X18 Timetable The times are from the Transport Museum. If you view raw data, watch the dates as new timetables are in force from tomorrow on some routes. Just chat. When first introduced, there were only 4 X18s per day, now they are every 30mins in the middle of the day. Sadly, it was an X18 that came to grief, hitting the Sainsburys building in Trinity St.

Hi all, I am just home from the wilderness. The rising sun was right onto my cam so picture quality very poor, but nearly thirty folk boarded the x18 this morning. The first real signs of autumn as we bomb along the London Rd opposite the cemetery. The upper deck is comfy, light & airy as we head for the Kenilworth bypass. I stopped & had coffee at The Royal in Leamington, recommended by a friend. Then onto Stratford where maintaining the high standard, a McDonalds cheeseburger, 99p was consumed. The last day of the Bard X20 service took me to Hall Green station, where I then returned home using the trains from Galton Bridge, B'ham Int & Cov. A fab day out, where the travel cost £0.00.

Hi all I popped to Stratford again this morning. Even leaving from the Transport Museum at 10.11 this morning, I was in Stratford an hour later. Plenty of time to relax, before boarding the next hourly service 20 to Henley in Arden. Folk, I am sure just don't realise how well connected our West midlands & Warwickshire public transport systems are. I went out from my home in one direction, then returned another way. At no point did I duplicate any part or venue. In total, using the trains as well, I travelled over 80 miles, all on my bus pass. Left home at 9.20am this morning & home for 4.15pm, as fresh as a daisy. How long we may coninue to have our old folks free bus-pass, the bus services & access to all trains in the West Midlands is anyones guess, but I enjoy using mine whilst I have it. Now we are into Autumn, matron lets me back into my care home after 4pm, without me having to pay a home-early supplement.

Every picture tells a story.

Hi all After meeting my friends at the Belgrade yesterday, where I enjoyed a toasted teacake with tea, (part of my cunning plan), I announced that I intended to journey on to Leamington. The X18 stops opposite the Belgrade. One of my chums wanted to come with me, so off we set. Half an hour later, we were in Leamington. I told him of my devious plan to do a second test on the best ham egg & chips at the Bowling Green pub in Southam. He was game for that! There is a good half hourly bus service to Southam, 63&64 which continues on to Rugby. Southam is a pleasant town to visit on a dry day. A fish & chippy, pubs, cafes & coffee houses. The pub that I recommend is the Bowling Green. Very good quality food served by staff that care. I will post a link. Bowling Green pub A separate restaurant room from the bar gives an airy feeling for relaxation. For any more than two for lunch, I strongly recommend ringing in advance. PS. We returned home at three, having missed the dreadful activity that had taken place in Holbrooks.

Just chat. The BBC televised an episode of "Escape to the Country" where earlier this week, the region chosen was Warwickshire. Each of the locations I have recently visited. We who live in Coventry who have a Centro bus pass can reach each of the locations televised with ease. This reminds me of one of the virtues of Coventry, being large enough for most of the amenities that most of us need, but small enough that with the exception of the Coventry to Bedworth routes, twenty minutes on any bus & we are out in the sticks. Even with the sadness of criminal activity, which can happen anywhere, I much prefer to live close to the essential amenities that I need, rather than living out in the sticks, where such amenities are miles away. Obviously this is just my take on this, but as we age, this becomes much more significant. I do sometimes fear for the couples who embark on escaping to the country, as nice as it might be. It would be lovely, living in Brinklow, like in one of those beautiful homes that was shown in the programme. "Pass the port, Greaves, please". "Coming up, Sir".

Hi all A view of a very wet Stratford on a very wet Thursday. Fortunately, none of the bus or train roofs leaked, so I kept dry throughout. The bus stop so close, I could almost board the bus from McDonalds first floor bay window. The advantage of having wet or dry routes, hey! Folk visiting with cars were soaked, having to walk considerable distances from carparks.