Happy New Year & Highlights of 2010

Well I guess this year has gone by very quickly. Its our first year operating as a Blog and we would like to send out a big thank you to all of our readers who regularly tune into the Blog and also to those who give us feedback on what needs fixing up. We would like to say happy new year to all of you and we also promise that next year will be even better. Who would of thought that from it's humble beginnings the Blog would have grown so immensely in the short space of nine months. First we would like to recap on the highlights of 2010.

We sincerely hope that 2011 we be a vibrant year with more original content and we do hope to expand into other areas of the Bus Industry.

Highlights 

Metroline VW1034 stands inside of Brentford's yard. This was the picture that kick started the Blog before it had even been thought of by us. The post was well received and gave us the inspiration to carry on.


Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/04/london-today.html


April 2010

On the 17th of April we visited London Sovereign's Park Royal Garage in North West London, by chance to see what was there, however little did we know that this would kick start a series of Garage visits (18 in total) and become a major factor in the Blog's success!

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/04/park-royal-garage-special.html

The following week on the 24th of April 2010, we visited Metroline's CELF Centre located in Perivale, again we had no clue that we would have such as fascination with this Centre that we would come back here over 20 times! As well as document it 16 times!

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/04/metroline-celf-centre-special.html

May 2010

The next month we wasted no time in getting some content for the blog, so on the 1st of May 2010, we visited three garages in one day which was quite a tiring task as within two hours we had travelled from North West London to Central taken photographs as well as have chats with the operators. This was probably one of our best days out.



Metroline North Wembley: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/05/north-wembley-garage-special-1-may-2010.html

London United Stamford Brook: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/05/stamford-brook-garage-special-1-may.html

First London Westbourne Park: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/05/westbourne-park-garage-special-1-may.html

June 2010

That June we visited Metroline's Perivale East Garage in Greenford, North West London which is home to the iconic London Route 7.


Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/06/perivale-east-garage-special.html

Later on in that month, on the 4th of June we visited London General's headquarters Garage in Merton South West London as we had recieved word that a prototype Double Decker was present. We missed it by 24hours however that did not stop us from taking pictures.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/06/merton-garage-special.html

Again in that same month we visited Metroline's Perivale East Garage as we recieved word that the new Metroline Enviro 200s had been delivered to this location. The were for the 143 and C11 and numbered between 1115 - 1151. This provided some great photography.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/06/perivale-east-new-metroline-des.html

July 2010

In July 2010 we decided to step it up a bit and on Sunday 4th of July, we visited First London's Greenford Depot in West London home to 90% of the Ealing Routes and home to Routes 92, 95, 105 (won by Metroline) and 282.


Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/greenford-garage-special.html

In that same day we took the short but tedious trip to London United's head Garage in Fulwell, South West London. If we are being totally honest it did not provide the photography expected, nevertheless it was something new for the blog.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/fulwell-garage-special.html

Following the disappointment of Fulwell Garage we decided to take our travels further out, this time we visited Alexander-Dennis's Factory in Harlow where some Metroline Enviro 200s and 400s were being prepared for service in London.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/trip-to-alexander-dennis-in-harlow.html

 We then later that month visited Arriva's Lee Valley Garage in Tottenham where some of their very delightful Enviro 400s were being lightly stored prior to delivery to Thornton Heath Garage (TH)

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/lee-garage-garage-special.html

And as if one visit to Alexander-Dennis in Harlow was not enough, we visited the facility again on the 20th of July.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/adl-harlow-part-2.html

We later that day visited Arriva London's Tottenham Garage in North West London where some Arriva DWs had been delivered early.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/tottenham-garage-special.html

We then visited Metroline's Cricklewood Garage on the 24th of July as we received word that the TE1073,  TE1074 and TE1075 had finally been sent from ADL Harlow to the Garage.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/cricklewood-garage-new-metroline-tes.html

Probably what was the most well received post on the Blog was when a mate of ours went out to North Ireland and passed through Wrightbus's Ballymena Plant, in this visit we also gained exclusive shots of the  Hydrogen Buses for the RV1.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/trip-to-ballymena-wrightbus.html

August 2010

The following August we visited First London's Alperton Garage as we received news that a prototype VN, numbered 37943 had been delivered to the Garage for exclusive use on the 83.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/08/vn37943-alperton-mini-visit.html

We also obtained more photos of Wrightbus's facility in Northern Ireland to gain more photos of the First London Hydrogen Buses as well as pictures of the London Central Hybrid Buses for the 360 receiving modifications.

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/08/trip-to-ballymena-wrightbus-part-2.html

September 2010

September was a fairly quiet month for the Blog only a minimal amount of visits were made but nonetheless, it still provided some decent photography. Starting with Lee Valley Garage.

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/09/lee-valley-garage-again-1-september.html

On the 3rd of September whilst in the area we decided to stop off at Metroline's Perivale West Garage and what a good stop in turned out to be as we got shots of some of the new VWs (Volvo Wrightbus) for the Route E2, the buses were there pending commissioning at a then busy CELF Centre before being delivered to Brentford Garage.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/09/perivale-west-garage-part-4.html

We then followed up this visit by taking the short trip to CELF.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/09/metroline-celf-centre-part-12-more-vws.html

We then followed this visit up by taking the short trip to Metroline's Brentford Garage.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/09/brentford-garage-again-mini-visit.html

October 2010

A trip to Volvo Brimsdown did not provide a fun day out for us, as there was nothing here to see, nevertheless we did get some photos.

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/10/trip-to-volvo-brimsdown.html

However a trip to London United's Hounslow Heath Garage did provide us with some fun, as some Enviro 400 Hybrids were there in store awaiting commissioning into service for the Route 94 and some Enviro 200s were also in light storage for the Route 33.

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/10/london-united-hounslow-heath-garage-hh.html

We then later that month found ourselves at First London's Hayes Garage where some VNs were in light storage prior to taking over from the Mercedes Bendy Buses on the Route 18.

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-london-hayes-garage-hs.html


Later on that month we also changed the Blog template, to make reading the Blog easier on the eye and give the Blog a more professional appearance.


November 2010

That November we gained rights to use some Photos from a well known photographer of a converted First London VNW that had been modified for Greenline use.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/11/day-greenline-visited-hayes-garage.html

We were also allowed entry onto Volvo's base in Brimsdown to take pictures of the new Arriva Hybrid  Volvo Wrightbus Gemini 2s classed as 'HV', this is what considered to be the best visit ever for the blog.

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/11/trip-to-volvo-brimsdown-part-2-arriva.html

December 2010

The last Garage visit for the year was caped off with a visit to Arriva London's Barking Garage in Greater London or 'Essex' as some may say.

Original Post can be found here: http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/12/arriva-london-barking-garage-dx.html

The year was emotionally sealed off with a tribute to the original Metroline TAs, TA66- 117 that had their time calling at the company. This was a 12 part picture special with information gained from Metroline employees and pictures gained from Metroline employees and well known freelance photographers.

Original Post can be found here:http://circleoflondon.blogspot.com/2010/12/tas-through-yearsfarewell.html


We would again just like to thank all of you who have given moral support to help us continue this Blog that has been beneficial to many people and look out for 2011!