After a nice long run without incident in Yorkshire it was at last spoilt by a visit to Castleford, suggested along with Pontefract by one of our customers. This followed yet another trouble free visit to Hull this morning. We were up early so we would get a nice parking spot close to M&S for Many. We had an excellent breakfast bap each at Marks and then I hopped on a bus to the interchange, not really being lazy but there were so many passing by I found out why later. Anyway the weather forecast was thoroughly wrong once again but it worked to my advantage and being lightly clouded over it was a doddle recording the buses at the roundabout at the back of Tescos, annoying though the gate bleeper can be at times. There was lots of activity, a bit of a let down on the bus front with nothing really new to note and a lot of them particularly Stagecoach looked very scruffy, admittedly not helped by the current weather. Anyway as I said no incidents even on a Saturday, I walked back to Marks and the car following the bus diversion route which sees them go pass the temporary bus terminus now a car park, then ends up via the BBC building and then heads back past the stops near Marks. This all worked out very well for us and we an early finish we decided to try the recommendations to go and have a look at Pontefract. This as it turned out is an awful place for winter photography and the bus station really ill placed for the enthusiast but then we are in Yorkshire and I don't think they consider all bus station users at all certainly not photographers, if you think that is always the case look at airports with observation areas, even RAF stations have these. I struggled on as best I could, I think other than Arriva and occasional Stagecoach there were three smaller operators M, Utopia and Featherstones. After having enough of the delights (sic) of Pontefract, Mandy stayed in the car we decided that we can afford the time to try Castleford which is right next to the huge distribution centre north of Wakefield. We passed the large home ground flour mill which produces the stuff with nowt taken out as the advert ran. They have a proper tea shop although it was spoiled be the presence of muddy cyclists who were bores and blocking the way and confusing the waitresses. There were two of the idiots piling down into the town at 40mph on cycles riding two abreast swearing at car drivers, I don't like them at the best of times and this was at its worst. Add muddy Lycra and I just cringe. Satiated with gallons of tea and walnut sponge cake we sought out the bus station which turned out to be quite large and had fences around it like the police stations in Northern Ireland. I stayed well out of the way over the road opposite the in / out road. After a while I sensed a yellow jacket presence staring me out at the door to the bus station, eventually a security contractor chap came goofing over, what was I doing taking pictures of buses I could be a terrorist. Hmm, I think he broke about 20 laws in his little sortie, he it seemed compounded it on his return as he was then staring at me whilst talking to a chap waiting by the door, probably having a fag. Anyway when I went over looking for management I took witness statements, it seemed he was really annoyed that I ( 'at his time of life' ) to quote , I had a lot of expensive equipment while he had to work very hard and didn't have much, something along those line so a bit of ageism as well. Needless to say the security chap was not of British ancestry and had a poor master of the language. Perhaps he was entitled to work in the UK I have no reason to doubt it but of the two of us he looked at best Mediterranean, possibly middle eastern , you can continue to your own conclusion. Comments are closed.
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