Terrier chasing passengers in Sheffield

Not only did Deregulation bring sometimes as here in Sheffield hordes of buses the demand for serviceable vehicles meant not just an element of variety but sometimes the wierd and wonderful too. Unusual buses to find their way to Terrier which was set up by former Mainline managers were a batch of East Lancs bodied Scanias like No.92 D92 ALX that started life at London Airport.

Blackburn's Wright bodied Volvos

It's strange how we immediately take to certain batches of new buses and ignore others. Plaxton's offering with the Pointer generation was rather square and dull but I rather like this style of Wright bodywork with it's pleasing gentle curves which also looked good in Blackburn's fairly traditional green and cream livery. When new these Volvo's like No.210 V210EBV worked the main route to Darwen

G H Austin of Woodseaves

In the Sixties G.H.Austin bought many Leyland Tiger Cubs to work it's country bus services to the west of Stafford. Most of these had Weymann Heymes bodywork and came from Western Welsh. Similar No.80 FCH27 though came from nearby Trent of Derby in the next county where it was delivered as Mo.827 in 1954.

Ios: New house isn't coming on too well, but the rockery is going to be wonderful

In our deeply regulated stupefyingly safety conscious developed Europe it's nice to see how others who don't worry so much do it. In Greece they might have all those annoying planning and bureaucratic nightmares to overcome but once those hurdles are overcome the rest should be a doddle for the local builder. However were I to try to build an apartment like this I'm sure someone from the council would soon come over with the tape measure and a bundle of hard to fathom prohibition forms. Another thing we find strange when travelling is all the unfinished buildings in Greece, it seems the custom is to build a bit at a time and live in it whilst you save up for more. However the world is changing and no doubt that applies to laid-back backwaters like Ios too so I expect even though certain strange practices remain EEC regulations now apply. Surprisingly even if the far off Eighties the local Hino bus that ferried people to the local beaches had a warning beacon on the top, maybe it doubled as a fire appliance! However I expect it was for in the harbour area.

I spy something begining with.....

Well nobody can say I take boring pictures and there's almost something here for everyone in this busy Lisbon scene of 1984 except perhaps an RN bus....Sorry.

The London XA Class Atlanteans

 We have become very accustomed to variety and the random mix-and-match nature of the bus scene following the succession of mergers and overnight changes that followed Deregulation. But in the Sixties everything was done properly and everything had it's place and so one would not expect to see off-the-peg Park Royal bodied Leyland Atlanteans like XA 10 plying their trade alongside the capital's familiar Routemasters. However that is what occurred when a batch of them arrived in red plus eight similar looking XF-Class Fleetlines for the green country area were also acquired as part of trials to help plan future buying policy. The less than perfect Leylands did not find favour here and in mid-life all fifty found themselves being shipped off to Hong Kong with the consequence that they represent one of the few important historical London types that hasn't been preserved. Tottenham Garage ran some on the 76 to Victoria and  CUV 10C shows off that characteristic rear bustle that made them look very much like a taste of the future in 1966.

Plymouth: A new bus requires a new livery

Staying within the same range of colours Plymouth City-Bus seemed to constantly revise it's livery modernising it. I'm not sure it was always a huge improvement as many buses often looked better in their former guise. But at least it's never difficult to pinpoint when one was taking photographs on the Royal Parade. Mercedes Citaros have been favoured here in recent times and here is WA56OZR No.91 from 2006.

Delemont:: Time for a chat

One of the nice things about liking buses is that it often takes one a bit off the beaten track as for instance to a more relaxed Delemont on the edge of the Jura close to the French border. The PTT itself had a small garage here with less than ten vehicles but most the services were entrusted to a local contractor. However they discontinued the contract and with a new garage opened in the Nineties La Poste as it is now known has more than doubled it's local allocation based here. JU 3615 was a one of a number of buses that gained P-Reg plates after the takeover.

A former Midland Red Leopard in South Wales

It's a bit of a tight squeeze for this ex-Midland Red Leyland Leopard belonging to Coity as it leaves Bridgend Bus Station in the Eighties..

Shepherds Bush: A Pigeon-Eye-View

If you were a pigeon this is what you might have seen before having a very close shave or even being squashed by a bus. Indeed our disease-ridden feathered friends have to have their wits about them as they scavenge for bits or bread and other discarded rubbish. Once the cross city 73 route in London graced some of the best kept Routemasters from the long since closed Mortlake Garage but now in the low-floor age sadly Metrobuses and Titans are just a memory too. This view of Leeside's B299WUL M1299 was taken at either Shepherds Bush or nearby Hammersmith in the Nineties.

Midland Express to Brum

For a number of years the former Midland Red area companies continued the tradition of operating longer distance limited stop express services. Maybe by the Eighties the ninety-six miles long Northampton-Coventry-Birmingham-Shrewsbury X96 was a thing of the past but unlike today when many longer services just go to the next town one could still take useful through service to go shopping in Birmingham on the Rugeley-Hednesford-Birmingham X31 which used coach seated ECW bodied Leyland Olympians and these Willowbrook bodied Leopards. 1980 No.793 carries Midland Express branding and an eye catching red yellow and white livery.

Liverpool: Save up and go away.

With the letter B of Brands obscured without the English Rain it wouldn't be too hard to imagine this is South Africa. However I don't think the likes of Stagecoach have reached that far yet. Whilst Arriva has been buying a lot of Wright Pulsar bodied VDL's Stagecoach was till recently wed to these Plaxton Enviro bodied MAN buses as seen here in Liverpool last Easter.