The Drawline Livery chosen for Midland Red North

The Drawline bus livery chosen by Ray Stenning for Midland Red North looked rather attractive on the recently rebodied Tigers. The yellow and red dual-purpose version was perhaps better but I felt it fell down as the buses looked a bit too much like some of Midland Red West and even PMT. Stafford ran many of these new creations of both lenths including B103KPF which still looked new when it arrived from Crewe complete with front wheel trims, a real rarity by then but made it look much more tidy.

A Lancaster Tiger leaves Blackpool

Here's another one I had difficulty getting right because of the contrasting light. If one lightens the shadowy area beneath the bus station the background gets burnt out so here's a reasonable compromise. But better an action shot like this than the bus parked up somewhere, and it's an interesting bus as it was the only East Lancs Tiger in the Lancaster fleet. Seen in Blackpool bound for Morecambe when still quite new D154THG looked rather attractive in the rather cheerful blue and white colour

Parish Motor Services in Oswestry

I don't get about so much these days but a little trip up to North Wales for a bus/rail day at Llangollen with Wag and Mick on JHA227L took us passed Oswesty where in about 1982 I took this shot of Parish's Plaxton bodied Bedford SUX614S. At the time I looked down on poor old Bedfords and Fords but fortunately I was keen on wasting a bit of film so I could quickly go up in the darkroom and get them developed and a few of these more mundane examples got recorded which turned out to be fortunate.

When we get interested in transport photography and take our inspiration from masters like T.W.Moore we see wonderful views yet it's easy to fail. This sort of view with the main interest in shadows is very difficult to balance as the bright sunlight areas elsewhere get faded out. However I'm rather pleased with what I've done with this National Welsh Duple bodied Tiger at Bridgend.

Yelloways o the way to Exeter and beyond!

Here on Flickr we tend to moan that everything was better in the old days. I'm sure it's not true but many of our favourite things were, I mean I wouldn't dream of driving or taking a train to Plymouth when I could take a Yelloways from outside Stafford Station. Of course they stopped on the way too giving plenty of opportunity to take a few photos or have half an hour in Bristol. Coaches like Plaxton bodied XNE188S were the usual choice for Yelloway.

So they live long enough to get a bus pass?

As you can see they were not too hot on health and safety issues in Portugal as small boys stole rides on the rear bustle of the Atlanteans in Porto. However as well as having to hold on tight beause of the poor roads and cobbled streets it must have got quite hot on there.

Hold Tight Please: Jojo on the buses

Hold Tight Please: Jojo on the buses, a photo by DUDLEY865 on Flickr.

A picture full of symbolish as my world as Christopher the artist and transport enthusiast and Jojo my feminine other half have joined up. Maybe I should have done it earlier as most people seem to either like or be not be bothered about at all.

T43 crossing Richmond Bridge in london

I was fortunate enough to have to call and wait at a little engineering works down beside the river below so it gave me time to take some photos of the local LT buses, but by this time in the Eighties they were all Metrobuses and if I remember Nationals too.

London's evening rush-hour in Victoria with commuters rushing for the Tube and Trains whilst a Grey Green Plaxton 3500 Volvo B10M goes to pick up a few more. It's nice to be able to stand on the sidelines and watch all this activity.

Blue Bus in Bolton

Blue Bus of Horwich was one of a number of aggressive new operators that emerged after Deregulation and getting quite big. No doubt when they sold out to Arriva well behaved firms like Fishwicks breathed a sign of relief. The company seemed to like Leopards or Tigers like this Duple bodied example that came from West Yorkshire PTE.

Why you bring your Mom and Dad on our honeymoon?

Why you bring your Mom and Dad on our honeymoon?, a photo by DUDLEY865 on Flickr.

I think this young chap has already resigned himself to a life where he'll get his ears abused. Also in this scene is a rather attractive Hastings and District Duple bodied Tiger and two buses one traditionally wouldn't have really expected to see at Victoria Coach Station.

Charles Cook RBM426M

Charles Cook RBM426M, a photo by leylandbus on Flickr.

Eastern Counties in Norwich

I was never a great 'Tilling' fan but for various reasons one gets to like certain companies more than others. A good example is Eastern Counties whose cheery red buses and largely unspoilt operating area made them seem a lot more inspiring than it's seemingly less friendly green neighbours. Also even in NBC days it seemed very civilised with good tidy facilities including the bus station and garage in Norwich, something that is more striking today in the age when garages have been replaced with fenced yards fences and helpful inspectors by an anonymous website or busy telephone number. Even in 1981 here as well as in the city of Cambridge the company ran a sizeable fleet of half-cabs Bristol FS and FLF's but as you can see they were quickly being replaced by new buses like  Bristol BVG220T No.VR 220 or more depressingly you might agree the ubiquitous Leyland National.

A Plymouth Adventure!

A coachload of elderly and infirm people from the Nottingham area arrive in Plymouth on a sunny day for a game of bowls on The Hoe before heading off to sink The Spanish Armada. If they return unscathed their Skills Volvo B10M will be waiting for them and it's driver will no doubt have enjoyed a little snooze after fingering The Sun and yawning.

Flights Tours of Birmingham

When I visited Flights premises in Handsworth in about 1979 the coaches in the yard were all dealer stock except for this not very old and smart Plaxton Viewmaster bodied Leyland Leopard ROE 700R.

Saturday in Sheffield

Some things never change like the way bored teenagers seem to hang around fast-food outlets and on street corners. Of course we had proper hobbies like watching buses which meant we hung around on street corners I guess. The South Yorkshire fleet ran mostly Dennis Dominator deckers but there were a number of MCW Metrobuses too like No.1037 B937CDT.,

Caught in the London Rush-Hour

By then part of the East London fleet this LT Daimler Fleetline by then a rare sight in the Capital was caught in rush-hour traffic as it headed homewards along the Thames Embankment towards it's base at Romford on a private hire job. This Class numbered 2646 vehicles and so D2600 THX600S was one of the last.