Severn Valley Rally at Kidderminster

As many of the vehicles at bus rallies turn up regularly they can have a timeless feel except perhaps when local operators use them to show off or advertise their latest vehicles. It is probably worth a photo of them too as they often appear in short lived liveries and Midland Red West Plaxton Pointer Dart N341 EUY was attracting a lot of interest for such a mundane bus, maybe a couple of local Kiddermister girls were doing an impromptu strip-tease inside.

Yellow Bus in Oxford

In the Nineties EHS 107T a Duple bodied Leopard of Yellow Bus does little to cheer in a sodden Oxford.

Taff Ely AEC Reliances of 1962 & 1963

By then know as Taff Ely the former Pontypridd U.D.C ran a number of AEC Reliance buses including the looking older than 1963 former No.90 998 TTX with not so unusual in South Wales Longwell Green bodywork whilst 86 of 1962 a more recently de-licensed Roe bodied example also awaits it's unpromising fate at Glyntaff in about 1980.

Sunshine, Smiles and Comfy Clarks Shoes

And what difference having a decent camera makes. No need to do anything else apart from reduce the size and put my name on it. Today I just see buses more like the chosen objects to build my photographs around which is not such a bad thing as having bias means we lose views we later regret as it is constantly changing on the street. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the way Travel West Midlands Dennis Trident Alexander 4606 has to carry National Express corporate livery, one which will only look worse once the freshly painted red fades to pink. It was taken in Wolverhampton on the old Midland Red 126 to Dudley and Birmingham.

Autotrans Deautz in Pula

A Deutz bus of Autotrans in the Croatian city of Pula, and it went like a rocket on the journey from Rovinj.

South Lancs in Leigh G61 GND

The Lancashire town of Leigh might not have been as interesting as in the days when it was served by Lancashire United and of course it's own buses, but even in the Nineties it was worth a visit and one of the interesting current visitors was South Lancs who ran this former Timeline Alexander bodied Leyland Tiger G61 GND. Originally a Shearings bus these rather basic looking buses were bought for their cheapness but they turned out to be exceptional value as not only were they nicknamed by my local company 'Bosnian Tanks' they stood the teat of time too being very solid. Actually I quite liked them when turned out in an attractive livery which broke up the lines a bit.

A216 BJR: When firms like Primrose flowered

It would be easy to mistake this for a recent photo as this Duple Laser bodied Leyland Tiger has been preserved in livery of the Tyneside operator Primrose. In fact it was taken in about 1990 as it prepared to enter Lancaster Bus Station in the days before Deregulation created the virtual monopoly we see today on long distance express services.

From Yelloway Yellow and orange to Red Bus red and grey

When SUT bought out Yelloways they quickly sold off much of the stock including newer vehicles like this Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied Leyland Tiger which had been the Rochdale operators current choice, replacing these tidy motors with high mileage dealer stock.  But they were a good buy for some like this example with a split off area from Western National now called North Devon and trading as Red Bus. it was pictured at Barnstable in the sunshine of June 92.

A Rossendale Bristol RE in Bolton

YTC308N a Rossendale East-Lancs bodied Bristol RE leaves Bolton for Rawtenstall it's home in the Eighties. Not only has this former Municipal survived when most others have been lost it has expanded as well with more work in places like nearby Rochdale.

NMY635E. Not just any old Routemaster

One thing I like about Stagecoach is the way they usually do things properly. For instance other operators would think an old Routemaster can just sell itself but as you can see this East London example had been turned out in a very traditional based Sixties London livery and few would realise that for most of it's early years it was on contract to BEA as RMA 35 where it towed a trailer before redundancy led to years as a scruffy driver instruction bus before RM's in local politicians eyes became sexy again.

Liverpool: So Many Buses but still we patiently wait!

Competition in Liverpool meant the streets almost became overrun with buses but that didn't always mean the one you wanted would arrive. As well as smaller operators First's Greater Manchester North and Merseybus made tit-for-tat forays into one anothers traditional heartland like this Wigan based Atlantean.

Tow Bus in use at Cannock Garage

As undercover parking is at a premium at modern bus garages, as well as attending to breakdowns tow buses like Midland Red's former Plaxton Leopard touring coach GHA836D at Cannock was also kept busy shunting dead buses from the workshops freeing up space on the pits.

You can Bank on this bus!

I tend to regard my Cool Pix digital pics as bin material mostly but I want to keep adding a few as some are quite interesting like this MCW Metroliner which was converted into an exhibition sales unit by Barclays Bank seen in Manchester.

ANK319X Spanish Speaking Services

Seen at Hilton Park Services near Cannock on the M6 was this Leyland Leopard Plaxton of Spanish Speaking Services, but these Highline bodies never became familiar enough for me to take to their ungainly looks.

KRD262F: Interesting Bristol RE buses at Reading.

When Reading bought some Bristol RELL's in 1968 they wanted the bodywork to bear some resemblance to their earlier Burlingham bodied AEC Reliances, and not only did this make them unique by Strachens standards they turned out to be rather attractive in a quirky way.