WV11.co.uk » Travel

Ashmore Park pensioner in Cruise Ship rescue

James — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:30:26 +0000

A 78 year old great-grandmother from Ashmore Park was one of thousands caught up in the recent travel chaos caused by a volcanic eruption in Iceland, but all ended well for Betty Potts when she was ‘rescued’ by a luxury cruise ship and given the trip of a lifetime courtesy of her travel operator!

Dream ending to nightmare trip
Express & Star

Changes to Wolverhampton city centre bus stop locations

James — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:21:50 +0000

As of Easter Sunday (4th April) Wolverhampton bus station will be closed for 15 months whilst it is completely redeveloped into a ‘state-of-the-art passenger facility’.

This means that all city centre buses will be leaving from temporary stops whilst the station is redeveloped.

Please see below for information on where to catch the buses that serve Wednesfield:

559 (Ashmore Park via New Cross Hospital and Wednesfield)
Now departs from stand AD on Stafford Street (near the Hogshead Pub)

528 (Bilston)
Now departs from stand ZK on Stafford Street (outside the University building / opposite the Hogshead Pub)

560 (Bloxwich)
Now departs from stand AF on Broad Street, as well as stands AS, BA, CB, CE, CG

568 (Bloxwich)
Now departs from stand ZK on Stafford Street (outside the University building / opposite the Hogshead Pub)

68/69 (Cannock)
Now departs from stands AE on Broad Street, as well as from stands AS, AU, BA, CB, CE, and CG

549 (Walsall Manor Hospital via New Cross Hospital)
This service departs from School Street and remains unaffected by the bus station closure.

For more information, call Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 or visit www.networkwestmidlands.com

View Wednesfield-Wolverhampton Temporary Bus Stop Locations in a larger map

What are your views on school parking?

James — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:00:05 +0000

Does your child’s school have a problem with parking? Do parents insist on parking dangerously close to the school entrance, despite double yellow lines, signage and pleas from the school? Perhaps you’re a resident who is sick of your drive being blocked by cars at school time?

Or maybe you’re a parent who thinks that schools should have more parking provisions and make it easier for those who need to travel by car to park nearby?

A Northumberland school has threatened pupils with expulsion if parents continue to break parking rules around the school – perhaps this idea should be adopted in Wednesfield?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments and vote in our poll…

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Phil Bateman gets what’s coming to him (a bus pass!)

James — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:30:48 +0000

Wednesfield resident and former Mayor of Wolverhampton Phil Bateman finally got what was coming to him this week when National Express staff unveiled a 22ft Happy Birthday advert on a bus.

The advert included the free bus pass which Phil, who has worked in the public transport sector for the past 20 years will be entitled to on his 60th Birthday.

549 bus route to service New Cross & Walsall Manor Hospitals

James — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:30:23 +0000

UPDATE: You can view/download the 549 bus timetable here.

As reported in the Express and Star today, a new bus route is set to begin running next week that links two of the regions main hospitals.

The 549 bus service will take passengers between Walsall Manor Hospital and New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.

The half-hourly service which begins on Monday will start from St Paul’s Street in Walsall, calling at both hospitals and travel via Bentley and Wednesfield, then on to Wolverhampton city centre.

The service will be run by commercial operator Midland and extra buses will be introduced to cover the route, which will operate Mondays to Saturdays between 8am and 6pm.

West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, Centro chairman Councillor Gary Clarke, said: “This new service is excellent news for local people by providing affordable and easy transport to two of the region’s main hospitals from major residential areas.

“This will be a major benefit to all people living along the route, but especially elderly people and those with limited mobility by making it easier than ever to access the hospital, attend appointments or visit family and friends.”

A single journey bus ticket will cost £1.70 and the free National Concessionary Travel Pass for passengers over 60, eligible blind and disabled people will be accepted.

Midland managing director David Reeves said: “We realised that there was no easy way of travelling from Wednesfield into Walsall, from Pool Hayes into Wolverhampton or between the two hospitals without having to change buses.

“We’re delighted to provide the new 549 service which will fill those gaps in the network and provide a fast link between Walsall and Wolverhampton too.”

For next week only, fares will cost of £1 for adults and 50p for children.

Double yellow lines coming to New Cross Hospital

James — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00:12 +0000

Following on from our Parking Crackdown story in November, it now looks certain that double yellow lines will be painted outside New Cross Hospital in order to ease congestion caused by hospital visitors parking in the road.

The lines are set to be painted opposite the main entrance to the hospital on Wolverhampton Road and stretch for around a quarter of a mile towards Wednesfield and the junction with Graiseley Lane.

Bentley Canal – Past and Present

James — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:30:56 +0000

Blogger ‘Captain Ahab’ has written an in depth post about Bentley Canal which passes through Wednesfield.

The blog post not only contains a detailed history of the Canal and it’s origins, but also includes ‘then and now’ photos of the Canal from 1992 before much of the re-development work in the area began.

One such photo shows the Wednesfield Junction (next to the Nickelodeon Pub) shortly before the pub and Bentley Bridge Retail Park were built.

Visit Captain Ahab’s blog for part one and part two of his fascinating article.

How to: Report a damaged bus shelter

James — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:58 +0000

If a bus shelter you use is damaged or has a fault, such as the lighting not working, damage to seats, or timetables missing, you can report the problem to Network West Midlands who will then pass the fault onto the agency responsible for maintenance of the shelter.

Make sure you take a note of the number on the shelter (usually on a white plaque around the roof) as this is required when reporting a fault, then report the fault on the Network West Midlands website.

559 bus service reduction

James — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:30:05 +0000

As of Monday 30th November, the 559 bus service operated by National Express West Midlands which runs from Wolverhampton city centre via New Cross Hospital and Wednesfield to Ashmore Park has been reduced.

Buses now run every 6 mins instead of every 5 mins on weekdays & Saturdays and whilst the result is only 1 less bus per hour, it has meant that buses during peak times are considerably busier than they were before the timetable change.

Changes to number 68 and 69 bus services

James — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:00:08 +0000

Warstones Motors, who traded under the name ‘Green Bus Service’ have been forced to cease trading due to the Traffic Commission revoking their licence over a series of safety faults.

This means that both the number 68 and 69 bus services that travel through Wednesfield have now been taken over by rivals Arriva. Spokesman Keith Myatt said: “We are revising our number 69 service and will also be having a route 68 every 30 minutes from Monday.

“The 69 will run daily between Cannock, Great Wyrley, Landywood, Essington through New Invention, Wednesfield, past New Cross and into Wolverhampton.

“The 68 will run between Cannock, Great Wyrley, Landywood and Essington then Long Knowle estate and back in line with the 69 at Wednesfield, New Cross and Wolverhampton. The estate gains a Saturday service as Green Bus Service only ran Monday to Friday and the service is doubled form hourly to half-hourly.

More information is available at www.arrivabus.co.uk.