Suggestions for minibus destinations...

[Step-on-it]

Hi all,
         With DDA day fast approaching for mini and midibuses, I would like to try and ride on at least a couple of new minibuses / high floor Darts or similar every Saturday from now until the end of the year if possible. So far we have done a reasonable amount of the buses available in Stoke, Accrington and Hinckley which means we are lucky to get anything new when we go to these destinations. As such I would like people to suggest places to go on Saturdays where we might get at least 2 buses (obviously if there are lots of buses available we might take 2 or 3 trip to try and get them in). Very busy city centres are out of the question, but satellite towns like Bloxwich (or something of that size) would be ideal. I'm looking for suggestion in the North, East or West Midlands or the North West of England so it would be around an hours drive from our North Midlands base...

Thanks in Advance,
Mark.

[Cheese]

I was in Stroud in Gloucestershire yesterday (never quite sure whether Gloucs is classed as West Midlands or South West!) and Cotswold Green had at least 4 Merc minibuses out in service, 2 N-NAP Alexander Sprint bodied 709Ds, an N-ETM (I think) Plaxton Beaver 1 and an ex First Midland Red S-RWP Vario Plaxton Beaver 2. They also had an ex Stagecoach Manchester R-XVM Volvo B10M out in normal service. Not entirely sure whether Cotswold Green operate similar service levels on a Sat to a Mon-Fri but these were all seen at the Merrywalks between about 13:10 and 14:00.

[Step-on-it]

Thanks Cheese... :) I will look into this.

[fleetline6477]

Stagecoach Warwickshire have step entrance Olympians running on some journeys on

3 or 4 on Stratford City Sightseeing Tour - a very picturesque route lasting about 1 hour £13 24 hour ticket good value if undertaking several journeys

They also appear on 26 Stratford - Redditch and X16 Stratford - Warwick - Coventry

[tank90]

Im sure Bromsgrove has still got beanver 2 Mercs on the 97 93 routes.

[fleetline6477]

Banga Buses operate some step entrance Mercs on their Wolverhampton / Bilston area routes. In Wolverhampton there is also a chance you may still see 1 or 2 step entrance Darts operated by Travel Express. These vehicles will be in a variety of liveries displaying the fleetname of their previous operator (Handyrider, ACL Travel...).

[mranon]

travel express run 2 x orange acl darts j517 gcd and k565 nhc on route 11 wolves to underhill. the remaining carlyle dart in service is handyrider h112mob which seems to be either on 32/33 or no.2. bangas step entrance merc varios can be found on any of their routes

[Step-on-it]

Thanks all,
                 We are considering a trip to Bilston to check out Banga sometime in the near future...
Keep them coming... There are at least 26 Saturdays to fill before January... :)

Thanks again...
Mark.

[nitromatt1]

Im sure Bromsgrove has still got beanver 2 Mercs on the 97 93 routes.

Yes they have, I saw one of them Friday before last.

[Step-on-it]

What other companies operate in Bromsgrove other than Clearway...?

Thanks in advance,
Mark.

[Rob H]

What other companies operate in Bromsgrove other than Clearway...?

Thanks in advance,
Mark.

First and Diamond are another 2 that operate in Bromsgrove :)

[John]

What other companies operate in Bromsgrove other than Clearway...?

Thanks in advance,
Mark.

First and Diamond are another 2 that operate in Bromsgrove :)

Central Buses and Hansons also operate 1 route each to Bomsgrove, the 007 and 318 respectively. First have the 144/144A and Diamond operate the rest

[j789]

Johnsons also run an infrequent service in Bromsgrove (this may have changed though as haven't seen them there for a while) There is also a dial a ride type of service run by a taxi/ private hire firm.

[nitromatt1]

For me, these Mercs are the epitome of rural bus services around Britain. It will be sad to see the back of them.

[Liverpool Street]

For me, these Mercs are the epitome of rural bus services around Britain. It will be sad to see the back of them.

Quoted for truth.

Ever since the introduction of proper minibuses, nothing epitomises a run between rural villages down winding country lanes stopping only once for lonely Mrs. Betty Costgrove on the corner of Memory Lane and Takesme Back Street, better then a run in an old happy-go-lucky breadvan. Happy days!

This is the scene:


And this one for me, the only fan of Metroriders:


(c) Respective Owners