CHESTER BUSES IT WAS DAMP AND CHILLY

Mandy had a hair appointment in Chester for 9am, we headed in from home through rush hour traffic, amazed how busy it is around home at 8am, small rural junctions take 5 minutes to get through as everyone uses rat runs to avoid the notorious M6 traffic. Anyway we arrived just a few ticks past 9, we'd had a power cut in the night and resetting timers had gobbled up a few minutes. The works to pedestrianise the roads once used by buses to access Chester city centre are still very evident, the damp weather was spreading the muck everywhere it wasn't a pretty sight. The new bus station just lacked a few hippos languishing in the wallowing mud, I wonder what will happen to the real grass roof, I give it three years max before they replace or repair it. It certainly didn't look as if it would be ready and finished in February and opened in March, their updates on the web seemed a little optimistic. It wasn't difficult to follow the revised temporary arrangements which still bring the buses in the same way by the end of it and I stationed myself near the roundabout for the park and rides etc, lots of Cambridge buses out and about early on but vanished later.

It's always great to have lots of new buses around, the absence of GHA is noted and has left a less colourful bus scene, Aintree seem to be very busy now. I went round to the railway station then up to the new bus station before making my way to the present bus station having passed the building on the site of the old bus station. Confused! Anyway they still came up from the ring road and the lack of sun meant you could point the camera in any direction and get good shots. The next time I go there will be after the opening of the new bus station which is just down the road from the fire station and near the canal etc. I met up with Mandy and had a brew, we called in at Ellesmere Port so I could stock up on bird feed and get my hair cut and then on the way through the village called to see progress on day one of the toilet at St Oswald's, nothing, not a bit of plant or even a lowly shovel in sight, I guess the weather was the problem or perhaps they'd struck a Roman hoard at first spadeful. Then it was to the post office with this mornings DVDs and back home the post was already here. I'm downloading the Chester film and should have the DVD wrapped up this evening before we host the church Access committee meeting. Needless to say photos from this morning in Chester and regards the rest of the week, very hard to call, Lincoln not Wednesday too wet but other possibilities may present themselves.