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