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Our excursions
brochure up to June 2012 is now available as a PDF brochure - just click the image on
the right to download your copy and print it too! You can use this
brochure for Day Trips, and to find the dates of our exciting Bus Driver
Experience Days held at Mallory Park racetrack for pre-booked participants and
their guests - the chance to DRIVE a classic bus is a real treat and with expert
tuition in our 1950's Midland Red Bus Driver Training School and a historical
talk and debate on current and past training techniques - it's a great day out.
Our Daytrips pick up in COVENTRY, BEDWORTH and NUNEATON, with some picking up additionally in Leamington Spa, Hinckley, Brinklow and Tamworth. A seperate leaflet is available for Tamworth, and it is available from the Tourist Information Centre in Tamworth from late November. And there's also a separate leaflet for Leamington Spa, available from the Visitor Information Centre, Pump Rooms, Royal Leamington Spa.
Pre-Booking is essential. Book direct with us, or with one of our agents. The list of agents is printed on the back panel of the leaflet.
This new season has the old favourites like Boundary Mills, Melton Mowbray Pork Pie and Markets and a trip to Banbury, but there are also some great new trips, like DOWNTON ABBEY (Highclere Castle) the finest Victorian Castle in England - with a look around the castle state rooms, gallery and bedrooms, and access to the fine gardens. Also on the Television theme, our trip to LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD country takes us along the lanes where Flora Thomson's famous trilogy is based.
Then there's the downright unusual ! A VIP trip to the JBC factory. Yes, its true, we are off to see the story of this Great British market leader. You probably know them for their big bright yellow excavators, but they are much more than that. It's a family tradition tracing their steps from Blacksmiths to world leading manufacturer. It's a £5m exhibition and includes a Two Course Lunch on arrival too.
We have a Snowdrop Tour in February, Waterways and Windmills Tour in March, Blossom Tour in April, and a 1920's Charabanc Trip in late April calling at the lovely Astley Book Farm. There's also a special trip in May to "The Story of Silk - from Cocoon to Catwalk" - that ones up in Macclesfield. We visit the peaceful War Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas including a trip into Lichfield, then in June there's an interesting trip to The Waterways Festival at the Crick Boat Show - all about our flourishing waterways leisure network. Finally in June - for the brave - we have a long distance 1920's Charabanc Trip to a very special destination - for a conducted tour of the famous Morgan Motor Works in Malvern Link. This tour will also have time for a look around Great Malvern too - some fantastic views and fresh air. Whilst the outward journey is by Chara, the return run from Malvern will be on one of our more modern coaches - with windows!! See the leaflet for full details.
Pre-Booking is essential. Book direct with us, or with one of our agents. The list of agents is printed on the back panel of the leaflet.
On Tuesday 6th December 2011 we have our annual Christmas Tour, this time to Middleton Hall. This tour includes a festive lunch followed by coffee and mince pie, a Guided Tour of the interesting range of buildings, the Great Hall and also of the Peel Collection (Sir Robert Peel), twice Prime Minister and founder of the Police Force. A week later, we did an identical tour with a private group. Although Middleton Hall is reasonably local to us, it's surprising that it was "new" to most passengers on board both trips.
Midland Red Travel Club Members receive additional Concessions on our own Day Excursion programme. To get the Travel Club discount you do need to be a Member ! Memberships are now due - If your annual membership is due for renewal, please enclose the £5 per person renewal fee with your next booking to claim the Travel Club low price. If you are not currently a member of the travel club and want to join to benefit from the lowest prices on our Day Trips, then please ask the Driver, email or phone us, and ask for an application form to join!
Our regular customers will know that we hate having to cancel trips and we do so only extremely rarely - bus excursions do need minimum numbers to enable them to operate successfully. Please do book early so that we can see an accurate number of passengers who really do want to go with us, and it avoids us having to cancel trips at short notice too.
We have local pick up points on most excursions and ALL trips include a "concession" rate too for Seniors or Children. We can normally arrange a special pick up location for groups of ten or more Travel Club passengers from one point. All Excursions must be booked in advance and entry fees are not included unless specifically stated. Exact boarding information will be given upon a firm booking being made.
Of course you can also use our Day Trip leaflets as an ideas book for your own private group trips, and we can go on any day to suit you.
The success of the last leaflet with its better descriptions and the occasional picture illustration
to help you get an early impression of the trip will continue with the new and
future leaflets with more detailed descriptions and more pictures.
One of our "Premiere" tours to see some special
exhibits from the amazing Staffordshire Hoard. As part of the unique
touring exhibition we are visiting Tamworth Castle on Tuesday 6th
September and Thursday 8th
September 2011. This visit is very special, and is an exclusive late
afternoon/evening opening where there will be no long queues. This
inclusive tour will give Midland
Red passengers time to get something to eat, and for a little afternoon shopping in
Tamworth town centre. Then the special part of the day begins at 5pm when
everyone with "premiere" tickets meets at Tamworth Town Hall, the
impressive building right in the middle of Market Street which was built in 1700
and paid for by Thomas Guy the Tamworth MP and founder of Guys Hospital. At the
Town Hall the Hoard Supper will be served, then you will be escorted to
Tamworth's fine Castle for the Guided/Conducted Tour. The Castle Keep is
set in extensive pleasure grounds in the centre of Tamworth's historic market
town. Over the centuries the Medieval motte and bailey Castle has
welcomed royal visitors, nobility, and key figures in history. The
guided tour will finally enter The Great Hall for the exclusive viewing of the exhibits from The Staffordshire
Hoard. The coach will return from Tamworth at 8pm.
Cost £32.95 fully inclusive. Midland Red Travel Club members pay
£29.95 This exclusive tour is limited to just 30 passengers.
Another of our "Premiere" tours to Belper and the Story of the Cotton Industry on Tuesday 13th September 2011. This guided tour will begin at De Bradlei Mill where there is some retail therapy, and it's also a good location for a lunch or refreshment stop. Afterwards, a guide will collect you for a historical walk around the older parts of Belper which has a rich industrial heritage. The walk will end at Strutts North Mill, where you will be welcomed with tea and biscuits before taking a guided tour of the Story of Cotton. This tour will end with views of the adjacent historic Riverside Gardens. An action packed day - all for £21.95 inclusive of Coach, guided walking tour, tea and biscuits at North Mill, Entry and Guided tour of North Mill Story of Cotton. To follow on from this Story of Cotton Tour, we will be operating a follow-up Story of Silk to the Silk Museums of Macclesfield next Spring 2012.
Other "Premiere" tours include:
In September - Ludlow Town and the rather special Ludlow Food Centre.
Ludlow is a town served by Midland Red buses since the 1920's and is one of the
most traditional of English towns, full of history, period architecture, small
individual shops and great service. No visit to Ludlow is complete without
seeing and possibly sampling the famous De Greys Tea Rooms and shop. Here local
and quality bread and cakes are available in the shop, but behind the shop is a
very traditional tea shop where everything from Lunch, Afternoon Tea or just a
Toasted Tea Cake can be accompanied by traditional leaf tea. The Ludlow Food
Centre is a unique food shopping experience where farming, food production and
retailing blend together to create a very special environment. It's part
of the Earl of Plymouth's Oakly Park Estate, and the Gloucester Old Spot Pork,
Beef and Lamb comes from the estate along with some game and vegetables.
In October - Visit Shrewsbury and enjoy its glorious location. It sits within a loop of the meandering River Severn at the heart of Shropshire, a landscape that inspires with its beauty and mystery. Shrewsbury's most famous son, Charles Darwin (born in Shrewsbury ) would still recognise the black & white timber buildings of his home town. Renowned as one of England's most splendid heritage towns with over 600 listed buildings. Explore Shrewsbury's picturesque cobbled alleys and squares and be astounded by the exceptional number of interesting, independent shops that makes Shrewsbury's shopping so special. Around every corner is a great cafe, restaurant or pub, for you to drop in and enjoy.
The Morgan Car factory in Great Malvern - a special tour. Enjoy a fully guided tour of the factory witnessing the traditional skills of the craftsmen and women handmaking Morgan Sports Cars. Discover the rich history of the Morgan Motor Company and follow the incredible stories from Victorian times until the present day. See the exciting new developments and cutting edge technology that goes into today's Morgan Sports Cars. After the Tour enjoy a couple of hours around Great Malvern - a truly lovely town nestled at the foot of the breathtaking Malvern Hills.
You can book seats on these Heritage Excursions Now. Call us on 024 76 633624 or 077 3388 4914 to book with Debit Card payment, or send your booking information to us WHEELS Heritage, Postal Office, 23 Broad Street, Brinklow, Warwickshire. CV23 0LS with a Cheque made payable to WHEELS.
This tour was originally called Midland Red Revival. It has now been changed to reflect the new arrangements. It is a great opportunity to take a trip on our classic red D9 double decker.
We are travelling on old Midland Red Bus Routes - 658 Hinckley, Nuneaton, Bedworth to Coventry; and 518 Coventry to Stratford, via Kenilworth, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwick, Charlecote, Wellesbourne and Stratford upon Avon. There is free time in Stratford to take in the sights, see the river, do a spot of shopping and visit the Tea Shops. The return routes will include services 590 Stratford, Warwick, Leek Wootton, Kenilworth, Coventry; then 658 back to Bedworth, Nuneaton and Hinckley. The collection of Midland Red Buses originally planned for visiting Stratford on this day had to be cancelled by the organiser due to complex Health and Safety issues. Why not set a date to enjoy a day riding on our classic buses and coaches.
Our
Midland
Red Coaches Day Trips are now ready and waiting for your bookings.
The 2011 brochure covers January to June, and we have included a little more information and the occasional picture illustration to help you get an early feel to the trip.
You will be able to see at a glance all those places that you would like to see, and get your tickets early. We have included at least six completely new tours as well as some of the old favourites which attract a regular clientele.
The leaflet contains all our planned trips in the first half of 2011 and includes those trips calling at TAMWORTH. New this season, is a new LEAMINGTON SPA departure on some tours. Check the particular Tour Heading, and pick-up details to see individual tour pick-up times and places. Why not join us this season on a Midland Red Coaches day out, and enjoy some of our area's rich transport, industrial and social heritage.
Our new agent in Leamington Spa is the Visitor Information Centre situated in the Royal Spa Pumprooms just opposite from the pick up point at Newbold Terrace. Passengers must book at ticket in advance.
If you are a Group Organiser - take a little inspiration from our selection of
Day trips for ideas to develop for your own group; or if you don't have quite
enough to have your own coach then join us on our Day Trips. Even better
still, join our Travel Club - it's a great way of making savings on your days
out. We have lots of
other ideas and you can take some of the stress out of organising for your
group.
Always remember that even if you don't see the trip that you really want - you
can book it as part of a group on a Private Hire basis.
Our classic British-made buses and coaches and our experienced staff with uniformed Drivers, all go to make your day out with Midland Red a most memorable day.
Book early for the popular trips - especially the popular destinations, and the new addition of our "Premium Tours" with added value, and the special tours to Rugby including a Behind the Scenes tour at the amazing Rugby School are all popular.
Our Travel Sales staff will be pleased to take your bookings for any of our Excursions. You can book by telephone, pay by Debit Card or Cheque with no surcharge. You can call us on 077 3388 4914, or 024 76 633624, and you can always email us with any ideas you have for future trips out and we will consider these for our forthcoming programmes.
Pick up our leaflets or book tickets at Nuneaton Library (Information counter); CoOp Travel, High Street, Bedworth; and TIC (Tourist Information Centre), Market Street, Tamworth. You can also pick up leaflets from Brinklow Post Office, Broad St, Brinklow or Centro information office in Pool Meadow, Coventry.
Midland Red Travel Club Members receive additional Concessions on our own Day Excursion programme. If your membership is due for renewal, please enclose the £5 renewal fee with your first booking to claim the Travel Club low price. If you are not currently a member of the Travel Club and would like to join, please email or phone us, and ask for an application form to join now - we'll get one to you very soon!
We have local pick up points on most excursions and ALL trips include a "concession" rate too. We can normally arrange a special pick up location for groups of ten or more Travel Club passengers from one point. All Excursions must be booked in advance and entry fees are not included unless specifically stated. Exact boarding information will be given upon a firm booking being made.
Of course you can also use our Day Trip leaflets as an ideas book for your own group trips, and go on any day to suit you.
On Sunday 11th April 2010 we ran a special excursions over the main parts of one of the most famous and long-running Midland Red bus routes ever, and a route where the iconic red D9 double deckers were seen operating for many years in the 1960's and 1970's. The trip was a great chance to ride our famous D9, see some amazing scenery and enjoy the beautiful spa town of Great Malvern.
We travelled from Coventry to Birmingham, then via Longbridge, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Worcester and on into The Malverns. This was a memorable day, and this beautiful route gave great views especially from the top deck of course. Lots of people admired our lovely Midland Red D9 double decker bus, and at various places on the route there were photo opportunities!
We have had great fun on all of these Old Bus Route trips. The Birmingham Evening Mail reporter was waiting in Birmingham to do a photoshoot and report. Then in Bromsgrove there were over fifty people lining the entrance to the bus station, and as we approached it was flashes galore from the many cameras.
Many ordinary members of the public came up to the bus and excitedly told us about their stories of what the D9 bus meant to them. It is a strange phenomena of how a bus (and indeed the company that ran it) was such an important part of people's lives - taking them to School, to Work, to the Shops, and on leisure journeys too.
The D9 is our most popular bus and really does attract attention wherever it goes.
The 144 route is one of the longest-running bus routes ever, although there was a similar service using a different number before the 144 started in 1928.
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| The first photo stop at Meriden on the 159 route showing the famous momument to celebrate veteran cyclists. | The D9 at Malvern Wells, the terminus cut into the side of the Malvern Hills for the Midland Red buses to turn round. | A close up view of the front of the D9 showing the correct destination display for the journey to Malvern. Just visible on the right is retired Driver Harrison from Bromsgrove Garage who joined us for the day and shared many memories of his long career with Midland Red. |
We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on this year's range of Day Trips. If you need a day trip leaflet you can print one off directly from this page - click here to go to the download link, then click on the small picture of the leaflet to download it, and then print it off. If you have difficulty please get in touch with us.
If you are a Group Organiser - take a little inspiration from our selection of Day trips for ideas to develop for your own group; or if you don't have quite enough to have your own coach then join us on our Day Trips. Even better still, join our Travel Club - it's a great way of making savings on your days out. We have lots of other ideas and you can take some of the stress out of organising for your group.
For latest news, check our Latest News page.
To Book any of our Services and Excursions, you can call us on 02476 633624 or 077 3388 4914 and we can take debit card payment for your excursion; or you can write to us with a Stamped Addressed Envelope, Midland Red Coaches, Postal Office, 23, Broad Street, Brinklow, Warwickshire. CV23 0LS
Tickets must be purchased in advance for all passengers. Adult Fares (16-59 years), Concessions (Children up to 16 and Seniors 60+) and Travel Club prices are shown on our Day Trip literature, and Travel Club prices are available to all members. Discounts are not available on certain trips, and very occasionally some are (all classes) one price! Any Children must be adequately supervised and accompanied by responsible adult passengers.
For your convenience you may also book coach hire by telephone - call us on 077 3388 4914. If you call and we are driving or with customers, you may get our message service - don't worry, just leave details of your name and telephone number, the service you are making enquiries about, and how many people are involved. We will get back to you as soon as possible if we can help.
All major Debit and Credit Cards payments are accepted by telephone to pay for Day Trips or Private Hire. By post, payment can be made by Cheque made payable to Wheels. Please send to WHEELS/ Midland Red Coaches, Postal Office, 23, Broad Street, Brinklow, Warwickshire, CV23 0LS. It is always helpful to telephone first so we can check bookings or our diary to check availability, but we will return any payments if we are unable to take you with us.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Conditions:
Wheels as the operator and Midland Red Coaches reserve the right to substitute any particular vehicle on any excursion advertised.
Wheels / Midland Red Coaches reserve the right to cancel any Excursion if it is adversely affected by
factors beyond our control, including any trip with insufficient number of
tickets sold. In the event of cancellation by a customer, Wheels/Midland
Red Coaches reserves the right to make a nominal administration charge. All passengers are carried in
accordance with our Terms and Conditions of Carriage, viewing copy available on
request. Passengers are reminded that smoking and the consumption of alcohol or own food
on our vehicles is strictly forbidden. Please note that from September
2006 new legislation dictates that passengers traveling on vehicles fitted with
seatbelts must 'belt-up' whilst the coach is moving.
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