Three-day bank holiday ticket

On some bank holidays, Trentbarton has on offer tickets that last three days and allow anyone who purchases them access to travel on any Trentbarton line, minus any bus routes it operates with another company, such as Pronto with Stagecoach.

Today, as a treat to myself for my completing my first year at university, I purchased one of these tickets and used it to explore some routes I'd not travelled on before; one of these routes took me to Burton on Trent, which is not a place I had been to before today.

Tomorrow, I'll see if the weather is decent enough for me to visit Calverton. I've not been there since the end of Access and I do miss it.

Walk in Arnold

I've been through Arnold several times, either on the Calverton Connection or whenever I've gone up there while exploring bus routes. Today, however, I spent some time there walking.

Not particularly far, mind you; I mostly walked along the route the Calverton Connection takes. What surprised me about Arnold is how hilly it really is; I suppose I shouldn't have been, given that Calverton and nearby Gedling village are also mountainous by Nottingham standards. Clifton is flat by comparison!

Arnold is a part of Nottingham that is worth exploring some more.

Gedling village

This evening, I visited an area of Nottingham I'd not been to: Gedling. Now, I've been to the Gedling district before, as it's where Calverton is located, but this was Gedling village, an area of the eastern part of Nottingham. Overall, I'm not really familiar with the south-of-Arnold areas of eastern Nottingham, mostly because I'd not really had a reason to go there; this evening, however, I was doing some exploring and testing out the bus routes over there.

Gedling is similar to Calverton in that both areas are quite rural and there are hills nearby. It's actually one of the prettiest parts of the city that I've seen. I'll have to post pictures from an earlier time in the day, rather than late dusk.

Arnold, Top Valley and Rise Park

Here in Clifton, there is a bus that travels to Arnold, a region of Nottingham located in the northwestern part of the city. For the first time ever, I decided to ride the route this afternoon; it starts off in a lengthy side street in the outer part of Clifton, stops off at Queen's Medical Centre and then travels all the way up to Arnold's high street before turning around.

The weather wasn't exactly brilliant today and so I soon caught a bus back out of Arnold: the Turquoise route 79A. This bus, while travelling through familiar parts of Nottingham such as Bulwell, ventured through Top Valley and Rise Park, which are two beautiful parts of the city. At least they looked beautiful from what I could tell; I sat at the front of the upper floor of the bus and the front winder was covered with rain while my side window was covered with fog.

Today also marked the first time I have stepped foot in Arnold; I've driven through it as a passenger of my grandfather and rode through several times on the Calverton Connection.

The Calverton greens

I visited Calverton last week and took another shot of the greens surrounding the town:

Calverton is one of the prettiest places around here and its bus link is a fun ride in itself. To anyone visiting Nottingham, I certainly recommend a trip to Calverton.

Keyworth

I rode the Keyworth Connection to its destination - the town of Keyworth:

Keyworth is about a half-hour bus ride from the centre of Nottingham. It's a fairly hilly town, not as much as Kimberley but more so than Calverton and Hucknall. I wasn't there for long but I'll go again at some point and spend a greater amount of time walking around.

There's also a Budgen's store in Keyworth; the last time I saw one of these stores was when I visited family in the East of England; my aunt there said they're rare.

The walks to Nottingham and Hucknall

By this time last year, I had walked to Nottingham several times, as well as undergone a few of my Hucknall walks. By contrast, this year I've only walked to Nottingham from my grandparents' house once, possibly twice, and haven't walked to Hucknall at all. The reason for this is because of the better bus pass my college provided for me on this course, as it gives me unlimited access to Nottingham and to many of the surrounding areas.

However, my bus pass has taken me to other places, such as Calverton and Kimberley, so even if I haven't been doing the long walks I did a year ago, I have been exploring South Nottinghamshire and beyond during this academic year.

Time for some exercise

Over my current college course, I have exercised to the level I did during my first year. Instead, I've spent more time doing work or riding buses to take walks in other places, such as Calverton and Kimberley, rather than walking to Nottingham itself. As such, I have put on some weight.

This isn't too big a deal; I have still been taking walks and when the course starts winding down I'll be able to fit some more time in for exercise then, as well as take walks during the summer break. Once I make it into NTU Clifton, there are plenty of places to walk around there, so I'm not too worried; I'll be able to catch up.

Bus connection photos

Here are pictures of three bus lines:

Here is the middle and back of a Rainbow One bus; coincidentally, I was on board a Rainbow One bus when I took this photograph. On the Trentbarton buses I've travelled on so far, the interior colours match the exterior, so seats on the inside of Rainbow One buses are blue.

This is a current Red Arrow bus, which I am assuming will be gradually replaced with those from the new fleet. This picture was taken on the same day and place as the aforementioned Rainbow One bus. The image is a little blurred because both the Red Arrow and my bus were in motion.

And this is the Calverton Connection. This was on a different day to the above two images and I was standing outside rather than on a vehicle. The only other black buses I've seen and ridden in Nottingham were (I think) a reserve Rushcliffe Greens bus I encountered a few months ago.

Taking back the days

During my last college course, I attended four classes over four days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays); for this course, I'm only in for three (Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays). However, what is lost in days is made up for in time: last year three of my lessons were for three hours and one was two. This year, I'm in all day Monday and Friday, and in for most of Tuesday.

I'm now in the process of increasing my time there to be in on Wednesdays and Thursdays, too. When I complete work at home, I tend to do it inefficiently in that I become distracted and end up doing something else for a while before I return to my work. When I'm working in the college library, I am just working; even with all the chatter and other noises, I still achieve more there than in a quiet bedroom.

I have the freedom this year to do this because I have been granted a proper bus pass rather than a card that the college needs to top up with money every couple of months. The bus pass gives me unlimited travel on most Trentbarton buses in this area, which is also why I've had access to places such as Stapleford and Calverton. This pass expires in late July of next year.

I enjoy being in college so going in on weekdays when my lessons aren't present is not a problem for me; I complete my work, I love being there and it costs nothing for me to travel. There's no downside.

The Calverton Connection

I added a new town and bus route to my list today: I visited Calverton - a town to the north-east of Nottingham - via the Calverton Connection route provided by Trentbarton. The journey there lasted about forty minutes and I then enjoyed a pleasant walk around the town. The landscape on the way there and back was also something to behold:

I was unable to properly photograph the landscape on the outgoing journey but on my return trip to Nottingham I ensured I sat in a seat that allowed me to take excellent shots like this one. The rolling hills, trees and background buildings make for fine scenery.