A little bit of cricket

The prospect of watching Worcestershire play Warwickshire was too good to miss, so yesterday I headed down to Worcester to spend the day soaking up the action at New Road.

Warwickshire had scored 610-6 in their innings, largley thanks to Ambrose's 251 and 162 from Jim Troughton, and Worcestershire were 116-2 in reply having lost Jacques and Solanki. Play started at 11am, giving me time for a little look around Worcester before making my way to the ground - I had a nice walk exploring a stretch of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, a great little bonus.

The cricket was thoroughly enjoyable, with Warwickshire applying pressure and Worcestershire battling to stay in the game. Moore went early for 47 (I'd only just sat down), leaving Ben Smith and Graeme Hick quite a repair job on their hands. I also had a bit of a mission in trying to stay warm - the glorious sunshine of the last few days had mysteriously disappeared behind a blanket of cloud, whilst a chilly breeze swirling around the Basil D'Olivera stand didn't help matters. I've never sat in a fridge but I guess this is what it would feel like!

I warmed myself up over lunch, aided by a nice packed lunch and a stroll around Cripplegate Park, before settling in for the afternoon session. Worcestershire lost wickets at regular intervals, including Hick for 91, to be all out for 288 and facing the follow on. In what seemed like no time, Worcestershire were 9 for 2 second time round, the clock ticked to 4pm and a third wicket went just as I was reluctantly leaving the ground. I'd have loved to have stayed for the full duration, but I had a train to catch and didn't want to get back home much later than 7pm.

Worcester was bustling as I headed up to Foregate Street for that train back to Stourbridge, and waiting on the platform gave me time to reflect - I enjoyed the day from start to finish, whilst New Road is a real treat to visit, a lovely ground with views of the cathedral and a real English atmosphere. Considering it only costs £5.10 train fare and £10 to get into the cricket, I think I definitely got value for money - so much so that I can't wait to make my next visit. I just hope they don't think I'm a jinx given the batting collapses!!

Memories of Chase

Saturday 28th April was the last day of operation for Chase Bus Services following their takeover by Arriva Midlands. Rog, Woody and I marked the day by joining in with the Chase Farewell Running Day, visiting the Chase Garage at Chasetown and the Arriva Cannock depot on Delta Way. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, but also one that was tinged with sadness - Chase have been a fixture of the bus scene in and around Walsall and Wolverhampton for a number of years, with their distinctive orange livery and a fleet of Leyland Nationals, and its a shame to see this come to an end (even if I won't miss their rather basic timetable leaflets).

As part of the grieving process (!), I thought I'd look back on my own adventures with Chase down the years. By my own admission, its always been bus routes that I've been interested in rather than the vehicles themselves, but I must confess to having a soft spot for the Leyland National. A ride on a Chase National was always that little bit extra special, a step back in time almost - well built, hardworking vehicles that have been looked after properly for years, buses with character. They made a great antidote to the plague of Darts and Tridents that seem to populate the area more and more. The Nationals haven't disappeared completely yet - Arriva have retained some for the changeover period - but you do wonder just how much longer they'll be a part of the local bus scene.

A few thoughts on Chase routes...

• The 326 featured during some of my early photo trips, looking around Bloxwich, New Invention and Willenhall, and taking photos at Bloxwich Park Road or outside Willenhall Police Station.
• The 362 came in very handy for trips to Brownhills, riding through Pelsall on one of the Nationals and then taking photos of Catshill Junction - it was good to be back on the route when I visited Clayhanger a couple of months ago.
• That Clayhanger outing was my last proper Chase outing, save for Saturday's farewell, and it also saw me experience the 67 with a quick ride from Walsall to Aldridge. It would have been interesting to do the full route to Brownhills.
• The 364 was another Chase favourite, going up through Beechdale, Short Heath and Poets Corner, although I never did manage to get a photo of the route at Coppice Farm.
• The 560 was the main Chase foothold in Wolverhampton, and a route where the company competed with Travel West Midlands. I would use the route if I was covering at Wednesfield Library, and would always try and get a ride on a National if I could.

Some nice memories there, but perhaps the Chase memory I'll cherish most in future is our final ride on Saturday, when we caught the 381 from Lichfield to Walsall. A rural ride through Wall, Shenstone and Stonnall, the journey had a timeless quality that just seemed to epitomise Chase in general - it was great. Put simply, a sunny Saturday afternoon on a Leyland National grunting its way through the Staffordshire countryside - a most fitting way to say goodbye...

200 up for WME Wolverhampton

It seems to be landmarks all the way for WME at the moment, but I have to admit that this particular milestone is extra special. WME Wolverhampton has become the first of my local galleries to reach the 200 photo mark; 18 months of hard work have got me to this point, and I'm delighted with the achievement, especially as its Wolverhampton - the most local and most personal of my galleries - that takes me there.

A bit about the additions that broke the 200 barrier now, and it was just a standard, "nothing too exciting" type of an update to be honest. The crux of the update centred on sorting out some sequences of canal photos that had been sitting on Wolvtest for a while. On Shropshire Union Canal we got another Bridge 2 photo, plus a different angle exploring the top of Turnover Bridge, whilst on Staffs & Worcs there were a handful of Wightwick Lock views, a third installment in the Marsh Lane series and a couple of Compton Lock views. I must admit I do like the view of the lock gates at Compton, I'm quite proud of that photo. Other than the canal stuff, there was one addition to Wolverhampton by Bus - a second 698 at Wobaston photo further capturing a local route and a favourite terminus location - and thats your lot. Not a glamorous update then, but sometimes you just have to get stuck in and shift some photos around, so its a job well done all the same.

Whilst WME Wolverhampton should rightfully hog the headlines, I should also mention a useful update to Exploration Extra. My recent work on the archive has released some photos from October 2005 including some from my visit to BaMMoT with Rog and Woody, and these have now joined the BaMMoT 2005 collection. I must be honest and say I know very little about the vehciles or their history, so my commentary might lack its usual detail/waffle, depending upon your point of view. The photos are on there in any case, completing a constructive morning's work and keeping things ticking over nicely...

April Additions Alert

I've had a busy couple of days at WME Towers, sorting out some updates for the Easter period. There's a fair bit to report...

Let's start with WME Staffordshire, which has quickly followed WME Sandwell in joining the WME 100 Club! Perched precariously on 99 photos for the last couple of weeks, WME Staffs has smashed through the barrier in some style...

• Staffs by Bus gets another photo of the 825 at Lichfield.
• Railway Walk gets another location as Penn Halt joins Castlecroft and Wombourne Station.
• Staffs & Worcs Canal gets a handful of November 2005 photos: Castlecroft Bridge (again!), two shots of Dimmingsdale Bridge and a second Mops Farm view.
• Landywood Station has another view of the Walsall platform steps, plus a look at a curious DIY-style platform sign.
• And there's a new Exploring Cheslyn Hay collection featuring the local library and the Talbot pub, making for ten new photos in all, thats pretty good going by my standards!

Also getting a decent chunk of an update is WME Dudley...

• The star of the show here has to be the new Stourbridge Canal collection, featuring photos of Bells Mill Bridge, Brettell Lane and Seven Dwellings. This is an important canal addition to the Dudley repertoire and comes after a fair bit of research to find out what some of those bridges were actually called.
• The canal ranks are swelled further with the arrival of Black Delph Bridge on the Dudley No. 1 collection - Black Delph is quite a significant location as its the spot where the Dudley and Stourbridge Canals meet, so its good to get that in there.
• To more mundane matters, and we have another 240 at Stourbridge photo joining Dudley by Bus, and a further platform view on the Stourbridge Town collection too.

Looking now at the other galleries, and lets see whats been happening on those...

• Starting with WME Birmingham and the usual rail related update. Hamstead Station gets a photo of the path to the Birmingham platform, whilst Blake Street gets a platform view and a rather nice look at the side entrance. Both collections have been on WME Brum for a while without any updates, so its good to get things moving a little.
• On to WME Wolverhampton, and a couple of intriguing additions to Exploring Tettenhall - a view of Lower Green and a look at a tree in St Michael's Churchyard adds a bit more variety to the usual views of Tettenhall Library.
• An update too for WME Sandwell - a Great Bridge Bus Station view for the Stops & Stations collection, and there's a nice shot of a tram at West Bromwich Central joining Midland Metro.
• What's this, a new collection on WME Warwickshire? Yes, its true - Exploring Nuneaton is off and running with two views of the Railway Tavern, one for each of the Rail Rover Weeks I've done so far.
• A single update to WME Walsall sees Pelsall Library join the Exploring Pelsall collection. I'm pleased with how this collection is developing, as it contains a variety of different views whereas most local collections often provide multiple views of the same thing (Tettenhall Library springs to mind once more).
• And last but by no means least, even the perennial straggler WME Worcestershire gets a new photo with a second look at the back entrance to Great Malvern Station.

Well, I have to say that April is off to a good start with that little lot. Hopefully I might have some more update news for you as the Easter weekend progresses, and possibly a report on a potential outing to Stafford with Rog and Woody as well. I could be quite busy over the next few days...