Presidential 8s

With yesterday being the first day of the new weekday timetable, the newly transferred Presidents were out in force on service 8 Caister Second Avenue to the James Paget Hospital, Gorleston. I photographed six of them mainly in the Northgate Street/ Beaconsfield Road area. Three of them are featured here whilst the others are now available to view on my flickr site

New timetable brings 'new' buses

With the introduction of new timetables in the Great Yarmouth area from yesterday, there have been some changes to the local First Eastern Counties fleet.

Gone are four Darts and six Volvo B10BLEs which have been transferred to Norwich. They have been replaced by ten Volvo/President double deckers enabling the service 8 between Caister and the James Paget Hospital to become fully double deck and low floor operated. The incumbents are transfers from Norwich.

Watch out for future photos of the newcomers on here and on my flickr site.

Short Break in Coleshill

I have just returned from a short break after spending three days in the West Midlands. I stayed in Coleshill on the eastern fringe of Birmingham. Coleshill appears to have two operators providing services there; National Express West Midlands and Stagecoach Warwickshire.

Not one to miss a photographic opportunity, I decided to takes some pictures of operations there. The first (above) shows National Express West Midlands Trident 4626 (BX54XRR) on rute 90 in Coleshill's High Street. The second (below) is of Stagecoach Warwickshire's Omnicity 27542 (SN04EFM) on Coventry Road with the 752 service to Whitacre Heath. Almost all of the Stagecoach vehicles seen in Coleshill were sporting the yellow and green County Links livery.

Both photos were taken on 24th March 2011 and we were very lucky with the warm and sunny weather - it was only March after all!

[Finally apologies for the disruption to this blog - this was down to software issues. Hopefully, normal service has resumed!!]

National Holidays Invasion!

The milder sunny weather brought a number of coaches to the Beach Coach Station this afternoon with four National Holidays' vehicles present. They were 57 (NH05CDH) and 59 (NH05EDH) (both shown above) plus 63 (YJ03VML) and 88 (YJ03VOH).

A further two were noted at North Drive pick up point near the Britannia Pier - 8 (NH04JCH) (see left) and 70 (YJ03VMX). So a total of six (!) of the fleet were present in the town and all of them with 'Pontins of Pakefield' stickers in the window - so clearly an excursion from the Suffolk  holiday centre.

Not to be outdone, two Shearings vehicles were also seen; 213 (BF10VCD) was returning its passengers to  the Carlton Hotel along Marine Parade whilst 513 (MX03ABV) was passing through Market Gates in the old livery.

All photos from the days sightings can be seen on my flickr site

Friday Photos

Friday and an opportunity to try out the new camera in Great Yarmouth town centre.

My first subject was one of Anglian's white liveried Optare Solos. Their 332 (MX07JNV) was seen in Regent Road on the 14:10 Service 581 to Beccles. (top right)

Flushed with success in mastering the camera's instructions, I then went to the seafront where I saw a coach in the distance outside the Marina Centre. On closer inspection I found it to be Dennis Javelin HKZ1329 of the Smiths Coaches of Blofield fleet waiting for schoolchildren to board after swimming lessons. (bottom right)

Minutes later Lingwood-based DCP Travel's TIL7718 passed the Centre heading southwards. Not quick enough to get a photo!

More Shearings .....

Another foggy/misty start to the day coincided with my weekly dose of Shearings vehicles.

Earlier today, two of the group's vehicles were sighted at the town's Beach Coach Station; one in National Holidays livery and the other in Shearings Holidays blue.

They were Shearings Setra 212 (BF10VCC)  and National Holidays Volvo B12M 75 (YJ03VNC). The latter seemed to have a front tyre problem on the drivers side with a tyre company arriving shortly after I took the photograph.

King Street Corner

Monday started bright and sunny in Great Yarmouth but during late morning the cloud arrived together with the infamous cold easterly winds. However, I was not to be deflected and took up a new vantage point for pictures at the King Street/Regent Street corner in mid afternoon.

The first to arrive was First Eastern Counties Gemini 37570 (AU58ETC) on the X1 to Peterborough.

Sanders DAF/East Lancs 404 (W265CDN) was next to pass on its way to North Walsham on service 6.(below left) The last vehicle to be pictured was Anglianbus Omnicity 428 (YS03ZKU) in grey livery on the 608 to Kessingland (below right)

Another Shearings

Wednesday appears to be the better day of the week to seek out any Shearings vehicles visiting the Great Yarmouth area.

Today it was a very shiny 626 (MX04AFU) which had taken up residence at the town's Beach Coach Station.

Presidential Visit

No it wasn't a visit from Barack Obama but the appearance of a First Eastern Counties President on a Lowestoft bound service!
The vehicle was Norwich-based 33154 (LR02LXN) and is shown in Gorleston High Street yesterday lunchtime on a southbound 1A service.
The added bonus was the rare appearance of something called sun!

Saturday at Caister Road

34156 leaving Lowestoft bus station on 3rd January 2009

Grahame reports that Lowestoft Olympians 34155 & 34156 (P655/6UFB) were both on the forecourt of Caister Road depot on Saturday morning.  34156 has been on loan to Great Yarmouth for most of the week and was sighted on an early afternoon Bernard Matthews trip on 3rd March. It is believed that 34155 was probably present for an MOT.
Also of note inside the depot was Essex BMC School Bus 68534 (LK54FNL).

Service 2 'Still Not Running To Time' Claim

A Gorleston resident has written to the local newspaper, the Great Yarmouth Mercury, asking about the punctuality (or otherwise) of First Eastern Counties Service 2

"ONCE again the Number 2 buses are still not running on time. I waited one hour in the week for it to come to go into town. This was on Trinity Avenue, Gorleston. Many times we have waited and it doesn’t show up at all.
Knowing there are a lot of older people waiting in the cold is very unfair. They always seem to miss a bus out. If you say anything to the driver they just say it’s not their fault. Now I hear they might even take the 2 off all together.
How are the older people going to walk up to the bus on Middleton Road in the winter. Is this another so-called cut of this government?"

I, too, waited for the 13.30 service 2 from the James Paget Hospital to Great Yarmouth on the 1st March and that didn't arrive either - this may have been the same working that the writer complained about! First Eastern Counties has already registered to amend the route and timetable of service1/2 from 27th March 2011

However, the 13.30 working did take place to days later on Thursday (3rd) and is seen shortly after arrival at Market Gates with Dart SLF 43478 (R478CAH).

Blog Review

After two months of preparing this blog, I thought I would review what has happened since I first started it in early January.

I initially thought that I would exhaust all content by the first fortnight in January - how wrong I was! Encouraged by the success of the X1 Blog and Andy's Bus Blog I have persevered with the project. I may not have posted every day but there has always been something to report on in the Great Yarmouth/East Norfolk area every few days. My thanks to Grahame for keeping me supplied with news and the offer of photographs for which I am extremely grateful.

As for my audience, I had expected most (if not all) of the visitors to be from the UK and I was right in this respect. However, what I had not expected was a worldwide audience - the major number of visitors outside the UK have been from the United States (probably from a former Great Yarmouth resident) and Russia!

Other European pageviews have come from people in Germany, Ireland, Italy and Poland.  Other surprising visits have been from Bangladesh, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco and South Korea. The other side of the world  is not forgotten either as Australians and New Zealanders have also paid visits. Never underestimate the power of the worldwide web!!!

Finally, thank you all for your interest as this encourages me to continue with this project. A photograph of a former Great Yarmouth Corporation Leyland PD2/1 No 66 (EX6566) is offered as reward for your continued interest! One of ten delivered to the town in 1949, she has been preserved at the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville in Lowestoft.
Any comments or reports of  local workings are gratefully received and will be acknowledged on the blog. Photographs are accepted too and will also be credited
Please continue to revisit the blog for the latest pictures and information of  bus activity in the East Norfolk area.

Further Service Changes

Further changes to East Norfolk routes have been registered by local operators and a brief summary follows:-

AnglianBus

1.  PF0000333/63 - ANGLIAN BUS LTD, BECCLES BUSINESS PARK, BECCLES, NR34 7TH

     Variation Accepted: Operating between Blofield Heath and Gt Yarmouth/Gt Yarmouth College given service number A47/830 effective from 11-Apr-2011. To amend Timetable

Ambassador Travel

1.  PF0000458/36 - AMBASSADOR TRAVEL (ANGLIA) LTD, JAMES WATT CLOSE, GREAT YARMOUTH, NR31 0NX

     Variation Accepted: Operating between Reedham and Great Yarmouth given service number 730 effective from 01-Apr-2011. To amend Timetable.

2.  PF0000458/37 - AMBASSADOR TRAVEL (ANGLIA) LTD, JAMES WATT CLOSE, GREAT YARMOUTH, NR31 0NX

     Variation Accepted: Operating between New Rackheath and Gorleston given service number 731 effective from 01-Apr-2011. To amend Timetable

First Eastern Counties

1.      PF0000323/271 - FIRST EASTERN COUNTIES BUSES LTD, ROUEN HOUSE, ROUEN ROAD, NORWICH, NR1 1RB

     Variation Accepted: Operating between Stalham and Norfolk & Norwich Hospital given service number 12/12A effective from 10-Apr-2011. To amend Route, Stopping Places and Timetable

* The above information was sourced from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency bus registration search and is subject to Crown Copyright. 

Double Shearings

Earlier today I was driving along Nelson Road Central in the town being closely followed by Shearings 212 (BF10VCC) seen yesterday in Market Gates. It turned off down St Nicholas Road whilst I continued past the coach station expecting that to be empty. What a surprise, two more of the Shearings fleet were parked up! They were Volvo B12Ms 421 (MV02ULL) and 409 (MV02UMJ)

March Already!

The first day of March coincided with a spare couple of hours on a grey and overcast day in Great Yarmouth Town Centre. During that time Anglian's Optare Solo 301 (YJ51XSK) passed me in the Market Place on a service from Beccles.

After some shopping I walked to the Market Gates Bus Station. It was there that Shearings Setra 212 (BF10VCC ) rolled past me on the through road thereby providing me with my weekly dose of the operator!. Luckily somebody was crossing the road at the time so it was going slow enough for me to get a reasonable photo.

Later in the afternoon, as the light was fading, I finally managed to get a photo of First Eastern Counties newcomer Dart 46440 (N810VOD) which was working the 8's to the James Paget Hospital.  Originally expected to be transferred to Clacton from Ipswich, it found its way to Great Yarmouth instead! Rumour has it that it also turned up at Caister Road last year but was rejected.

Terminus Magazine

Some of you visiting this busblog are probably already aware of the existence of Terminus bus magazine, a 32 page bi monthly publication from the Eastern Transport Collection Society.
February 2011's issue contains four pictures photographed by yours truly and credited to east norfolk bus; including the two on the back cover shown left.

Further information about the Society can be obtained from their website and from the Secretary, Richard Hunt at 109 Furze Road, Thorpe St Andrew, NORWICH NR7 0AU
My thanks to Colin White, Joint Editor, for information about the publication