Maxing the Dayrider

If a bus journey involves one operator, you can go a surprisingly long way for a small fare. A trip from Liverpool to Coppull United on Arriva buses cost the reasonable sum of £5.20. It is not the quickest journey, but many routes have WiFi, and there is nothing like knowing you have passed from one local authority to another by the rise or fall in the number of writing errors caused by bouncing over potholes.

A few years ago, I would not have made a trip like this, as getting timetables would have involved a lengthy call to an enquiry office. Large areas of the country should have had a "Here be dragons" sign on the map, as they were some distance from a train service. Haydock and Ashton in Makerfield rarely impinge on my consciousness, so I was surprised to find quite substantial settlements with a bus every few minutes. On arrival in Coppull, I made for the Co-Op. I cannot fault their prices at the end of the day: even if they sell items just before they go off for next to nothing, you save them the cost of taking unsold stock away, so I grabbed something to eat for loose change.

These pages do not follow televised sport, but I like a television transmitter in the background, in this case Winter Hill. Apparently it sends out different signals in four directions.

After an overcast day, the evening turned out bright and sunny. The sun was low in the sky, and if we had been playing towards the clubhouse I would have been looking straight into it. The sun and the trees that surround the ground gave a combination of shots well lit from the front, and some shadows.

Neil Prince

Danny Flood

Playing into the sun is not always good.

Ben Morrow

Phil Bannister made a welcome return.

The hosts had floodlights, which they turned on from the beginning of the evening. I think the main purpose of the lights is to illuminate training, the West Lancashire League do not have evening games in the winter. By the end of the game, the lights were making a similar impact to street lights.

Jonah O'Reilly

This game, and that on Tuesday at Charnock Richard, was at least in part to try out some "possibles". I did not attend the earlier game: by all reports I did not miss much, as the hosts won 5-0, a bit disconcerting given the difference in league position. This game was a much better performance, with a 3-1 win.

After the game, I had more cause to be glad of Phil Bannister's return, as his parents gave me a lift to Wigan, which, with the assistance of technology telling me where my bus would be and the driver finishing his cigarette, got me home half an hour earlier than I anticipated. These pages often record the 10A as a bus where all human life is there; however, the 352 put up some stiff competition: We were joined by two young ladies deep in conversation. Unfortunately, one was sitting at the front of the bus and the other at the back, and one had difficulty recalling she had travelled outside St Helens.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.

Final score: Coppull United 1 Prescot Cables 3.