Chester and Rhyl

Saturday 1st August, and the new month begins in style as I join Woody and Andy for a Welsh adventure. Our initial destination was Chester, from where we continued out to Rhyl, Prestatyn and Holywell - an excellent day making the most of some fine weather, here's what we got up to...

• 9:20am sees us meet at Wolverhampton before catching the 9:37 train to Crewe, a quick ride running non-stop through Penkridge and Stafford that gives us chance to speculate on the possibilities for the day and to consider future trips to Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
• Alight at Crewe where I have time to get a few Arriva Trains Wales shots before hopping on the shuttle service to Chester. Andy and Woody brave the scene of their previous 'Toiletgate' horrors, thankfully they report that the facilities were spotless this time around, thus ensuring there are no worrying noises echoing along the platforms.
  
• Chester then, beginning with some quick photos of the station frontage and the Town Crier. One of the Rail Link shuttle buses drove off without us so we had to wait for the next one along, but we still have plenty of time to get pictures at the Bus Exchange. I'm pleased to say that the exchange is still a great photo location where we got no hassle whatsoever, and I went into photo overdrive sampling the First and Arriva vehicles on offer.
• Come 11:30, our bus has arrived. The X11 runs from Chester to Holywell and then becomes the 11 through to Rhyl. The prospect of a two hour ride filled me with some trepidation (especially as I wasn't sure how Andy's bladder would behave) but it actually proved a fascinating journey. Amongst the sights on the way were the Airbus factory near Broughton, a peek at Queensferry Town Centre and Connahs Quay, glimpses of railway stations at Shotton and Flint, and an intriguing final leg through Talacre and Prestatyn.
• I was pleased to discover my legs hadn't totally seized up by Rhyl, and was even more delighted to get a few shots of the bus interchange outside an impressive looking railway station. Lunch was beckoning, and Woody successfully navigated his way to The Sussex Wetherspoon's where we tucked in to the traditional Beer and Burger meal - and very nice it was too, with me noting that the Chester Chip Shortage had not struck again!
• Hunger satisfied, we head to the seafront to find the Open Top service Route 101 to Talacre. There was a moment of panic when the bus nearly drove off without me, but I managed to flag the driver down and join Messrs Wood and Lunn on the top deck. The ride was a great experience taking in a short stretch of seafront followed by a look at Lyons' Robin Hood holiday camp, and I can bear witness to the fact that Mr Wood's hair barely moved an inch!
• We alight at Prestatyn for a bonus look at the bus station whilst Andy took care of the bladder situation. The town and its railway station offer some intriguing potential for future investigation. The 11 is soon on the scene to whisk us off to Holywell, we're certainly getting good mileage from our £5.50 day tickets.
• Holywell provided a very welcome break on the journey back, although I was surprised that the pretty High Street was practically deserted and most of the shops seemed closed. The Red Lion was open however, cue for a nice pint of Tetleys as we sampled the atmosphere of a Welsh local pub.
• From Holywell's little bus station its onto the X11 for the leg back to Chester, Andy's bladder holding up well although he did have some phone calls to contend with instead. The journey definitely seemed quicker coming back, and I was glad we split the return leg in half as I wouldn't have fancied doing another two hours solid with no legroom.
• Chester sees me add further shots to my Bus Exchange collection, then we squeeze onto the packed Rail Link back to the station. After tracking down some shots of a Liverpool-bound Merseyrail set, we find our Virgin train to Crewe and drop lucky with an earlier connection back to Wolverhampton to conclude a very fine outing.

What a trip, we didn't half cover some distance interspersed with fascinating bits of exploration. It was great to see the sun shining whilst sampling the seaside, this is just what summer is all about - an excellent day all round...