The Nat Express drivers were of course as friendly as ever but it wouldn't be a proper grice if there weren't a couple of idiots about with a gripe. It was Rotala Diamond who claimed the leaders jersey with the bling entry into the bus station award for September. More awards announced tomorrow, just make sure the driver has full vision should you be unfortunate to have caught one of their buses, anyway they must already be feeling inadequate faced with such sparkling handsome new beasts from Nat Express. It was as busy as ever and before leaving i wandered back to the other small bus station and it was amazing to see that Thandi has moved into the executive market branding era with Darts equipped with 4 wheels plus a steering wheel and even provides seating, its good to know that the smaller operators have been inspired to achieve a corporate look, with so many liveries they can just pretend that they don't belong to them, enthusiasts are as happy as Larry and can't get enough of these mini running days otherwise know as 'routes'.
I looked up above the shops at the Victorian arcade nearby, some wonderful buildings around Walsall if you squint a bit and look up above the dross at ground level. Its a bit like a voyage around the world in 30 minutes. When I got home to blighty there was the model of the Ikarus artic trolleybus freshly arrived and carefully packed safely received from Hungary at a fairly sensible price. Atlas are now offering a coach range in the UK which will include a few continental buses, lets hope they offer some of the more obscure models which are fetching a huge premium around the world now. The chap arrived to mow the lawns an strim the borders, thus cementing the vague promise I'd made to deliver a talk for the rotary club at Gatley golf club in November. Clonter opera have another two ebvents coming up with Flossie Malvialle, the Geordie French singer, she is wonderful, sings Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel numbers and makes great banter with the audience. Mandy's cousin Eileen has just left hospital making a record breaking recovery from brain surgery but husband Dennis was probably anxious to get his dinner with the freezer running low so probably bribed the ward sister. Seriously though great news.
So photos from that exotic hot spot of the midlands, Walsall...