Birmingham; Sunday, 24 June, 2018

After yesterdays alarm issues I made sure it was switched off and instead had a long lie in before a slightly more crowded breakfast.

I checked out of the hotel and, after leaving my luggage there, headed over to New Street Station to pick up the tram. I was heading to Dudley and I could remember the last time I visited the bus ride taking a long time, something that the trip planners were showing, but they also showed I could catch the tram to just north of West Bromwich were it should connect with a bus on into Dudley.

Correct to their words less than 50 minutes later, and with everything running correctly, I was stepping off the bus outside Dudley Zoo.

The Zoo is built around the ruins of Dudley Castle and to add into the list of attractions available in a single ticket a vintage chair lift speeds you up the hill from the ticket office to the entrance to the castle.

There are quite significant ruins of the castle, though much of it is closed off with big warning signs about falling masonry, but you can still climb up the main keep tower for views over Dudley and the zoo itself.

Having seen all the castle had to offer I looked round the zoo, which with its hillside setting has many interesting enclosures. The zoo boasts both Lions and Tigers as well as a couple of giraffe.

I spent several hours looking round the zoo, only leaving as they started to close the zoo for the evening.

I walked back to the bus stop and picked up a different bus back towards Birmingham, this one I’d spotted previously running close to the hotel so I picked that up only about 40 minutes later I was getting off on Broad Street in central Birmingham- so much for the journey planner.

I wandered back to the hotel and picked up my luggage before once again cheating and calling for a cab back to New Street Station and my train home.