Exploring Essington

A great bit of local exploration yesterday saw me visit some old Wolverhampton haunts and also venturing out into Staffordshire.

The Wolverhampton haunts included Ashmore Park, where I tracked down the True Briton pub on Snape Road to add another piece to the Wolverhampton pubs jigsaw - I vaguely knew the pub existed but it was good to finally have a proper look. I also called in at Long Knowle and Underhill, adding to my library photos with the Scotlands & Underhill branch on Masefield Road.

The Wolverhampton stuff was fantastic, but the real highlight was venturing into Staffordshire to explore Essington. The village has featured in countless journeys on the way to Nan's old house in Bloxwich, as well as visits to Sunday car boots at the fruit farm, but this was my first time having a proper look around. I wasn't disappointed, with photos provided by local shops and the inviting looking Minerva pub. I really like investigating villages such as this - it gets me away from the urban sprawl for a bit, and gives me a taste of the essence of England.

By way of an added bonus, the walk provided opportunities to take a few bus photos, and I was particularly pleased to add a few more Green Bus photos to my archive. With an ageing fleet of vehicles, the Green Bus Service has a charm and friendliness that combined with cheerful drivers helps make phototaking a pleasure. The 8 runs hourly through Essington, so I ambushed the 11:15 for a shot on its way to Wolverhampton, before finding the 16 as it terminated near Essington Church. Delighted with my bus pics at Essington, I captured the 8 at Long Knowle for good measure and allowed myself to return to TWM reality with a shot of the 511 at Underhill.

Some of the photos have already found their way onto WME1 as I couldn't resist trying them out online, and I look forward to adding a few more in due course. All in all, a fine way to spend a quiet Friday morning in August.

WME Wolverhampton Updates

More of my recent archive discoveries have found themselves a home, with WME Wolverhampton being updated yesterday morning

• The Ashmore pub has been added to Exploring Ashmore Park, a useful photo of a local landmark
• Exploring Dovecotes has received a photo of Ryefield underpass, another contender for the title of 'Least glamorous photo on WME'
• Two more shots of the entrance to Wolverhampton Station have been added, unfortunately both show the station still looking as ugly as ever
• A couple of additions also to the Shropshire Union Canal, with a nice view of Autherley Lock and a forgotten shot of Turnover Bridge. This collection is building quite nicely now
• And finally, a photo of the 572 at Wolverhampton has joined Wolverhampton by Bus - another useful photo that shows a now withdrawn route and an operator other than Travel West Midlands

A small but useful update then, developing a couple of local collections that had been effectively dormant for ages, whilst building up further some of the more established WME Wolverhampton fare. The gallery contains 107 photos now so there is a fair bit online for the visitor to look at.

A few bits and pieces

Recent work at WME has seen me working my way back through my photo archive trying to extract a few extra photos with which to add a bit more substance to my existing gallery collections. This process is ongoing, but I am pleased with how things are progressing, especially as I have unearthed some really useful pictures already.

This background work has meant things have been quiet on the updates front, and will be for some time to come. However, I have taken the opportunity to put a few archive discoveries into their new homes on the full WME galleries, so...

• On WME Birmingham, two extra photos of Edgbaston Tunnel have been added to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal collection
• On WME Dudley, I've added a photo of the 299 at Stourbridge to accompany the one already in Dudley by Bus
• On WME Coventry, two photos of route 34 are added to Coventry by Bus. The first is another Tile Hill South shot, similar to that already online but from a different angle. The second is particularly useful in capturing the other end of the route up at Walsgrave Hospital, adding a new location to the collection and presenting more Coventry memories in the process. I've also started up a Coventry Station collection with a couple of train photos - another important development that now means a major Midlands station is represented whilst giving WME Coventry its first new collection in ages
• On WME Telford, a couple of additions. A look at the stands at Wellington Bus Station adds substance to Stops & Stations, whilst a second platform view shot provides a bit more flesh to the Oakengates Station section. Both pictures were good bonuses to find amongst the archive, allowing me to make tiny but significant progress with one of my least developed galleries

Things are slow and painstaking at the moment, but it is important for me to try and extract everything I possibly can from my photo archive in order to present my explorations, experiences and memories as fully as possible. Its proving quite rewarding going back through my photos and finding extra photos to use that I missed or ignored the first time round - photos that just add that little bit extra to the overall jigsaw.

In setting up the galleries I wanted to cover as much ground as quickly as possible, with the result that WME has now become quite established. My priority has thus changed from providing a few launch collections and a handful of starter photos to now building on those foundations so that there is much more depth to WME as a whole. The photos added this weekend are part of that, and its particularly pleasing to see WME Coventry and WME Telford get some new additions after such a long time. I envisage this bits and pieces approach continuing for some time, so keep an eye on WME1 to see what other forgotten gems emerge...

Trip Log - Saturday 22nd July

A classic Rog outing that took us into Worcestershire to visit Kidderminster, Bewdley, Stourport and Redditch

• Meeting point - Stourbridge Bus Station at 8:45
• Catch the Dodger to Stourbridge Junction
• No trains towards Worcester - instead we have a Rail Replacement coach taking us direct to Kidderminster, a nice ride through Norton and Broadwaters
• At Kidderminster we find the station is locked, so not much opportunity for photos there :( The Severn Valley Station is open as usual though, so we have a look along the platforms and explore the station shop. I was really impressed by the whole operation, lots of hard work and effort must have gone into creating and maintaining the traditional railway atmosphere and infrastructure
• Next up, a walk around Kidderminster town centre taking in Weavers Walk, the bus station and the library. Some construction work has blocked off part of the bus station, so local services are temporarily based at the stops outside the town hall.
• Catch the 3 to Stourport - a frequent local route, taking us on a tour of a local estate before dropping us on York Street in Stourport. Route continues to the Walshes and Areley Kings
• Stourport: A walk along the river and a look around the canal basins, brought back a few memories there. We stay on the canal for a walk up to the top end of Stourport, rounded off with a much needed drink sat in the beer patio of the Rising Sun pub (a traditional local boozer). Then its down to the bus stop for the 3 back to Kidderminster
• The 292 was next, taking us across to Bewdley. The route links Kiddy and Ludlow via Cleobury Mortimer, although we only sampled the small section into Bewdley past the hospital and safari park
• Bewdley: Start off with a look around the Bewdley Museum, where Rog found his rightful place (in the cells!!) Then it was time for lunch, fish and chips sitting next to the river watching the regatta. The essence of an English summertime.
• Lunch finished, we explore Bewdley's Severn Valley Station. The railway sets very high standards, and Bewdley was another immaculately presented station facility complete with old station signs and advertisements providing plenty of photo potential.
• Photos taken, it was time for another pub visit. The Great Western did the trick, I needed that cider.
• Thirst quenched, we catch the 2 back into Kidderminster, alighting outside the rail stations only to find that the main station was still closed off. We decide to catch the X33 to Redditch, but had enough time for a quick visit to the Railway Bell whilst Rog started kissing old ladies for no apparent reason - worrying...
• X33 - a good county route linking Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Redditch with useful connections to local hospitals. The ride gave Rog a chance to tell me about bike rides to local villages such as Chaddesley Corbett and Belbroughton as we planned a possible Rail Rover week
• Redditch: hmm, not particularly impressed. It had started raining heavily, the bus station was underground and the train station was a modern outpost without much character. We stood on the single platform trying unsuccessfully to stay dry as we waited for a train to photo, and to top things off I slipped over on the way into the pub. Rog will never let me live that down...
• After nursing my bruised pride, we return to the rail station for a few more photos with the sun coming back out. Rog introduced me to Redditch bus garage, then we waited in the gloom of the bus station for the return X33 back towards Kiddy
• Quick change of plan - the 318 is in at Bromsgrove so we change onto that for a ride back into Stourbridge. Great route, through Catshill, Belbroughton and Hagley - plus some bloke called Steve was driving with hair slightly less dodgy than Rog's!
• Back in Stourbridge and time for the usual end of outing pub crawl. We start off by heading up to Norton so I could get a few local photos (including the Broadway pub and shops) before munching Pringles as we wove our way through the estate to The Greyhound
• The Greyhound - modern style local estate pub, open plan and no traditional atmosphere as such. Here we meet Mr Wood who joins us for the final few pub legs as we visit The Plough and Harrow near Mary Stevens Park and finish off in that old friend, The Bell.
• Suddenly its 9:30 pm and I have to make a hasty exit to catch my 256 home, and the curtain comes down on a cracking adventure

And thats that - one of the best outings in 2006. So many good memories, even Redditch was fun come to think of it. Looking forward to the next one already, providing Rog doesn't start kissing the elderly again