409 DCD: Have a Nice Day

An American politeness perhaps but when it comes to bus rallies the weather can make all the difference. If it turns out wet there is always enough to do in Blackpool of places like Manchester but if it's just a field somewhere all you can do is sit on the bus and wait to go home. I've been to Alton three times and each time it has been lovely apart from the time I got stung by a wasp. But how nice it is to chill out on the grass and watch the Queen Mary's slowly sail by. After London there it must have more preserved buses than any other operator including of course these open-toppers which often survive long enough to become preservation candidates by virtue of their being useful 'fun buses' for champagne leisure and good old sightseeing sightseeing. People have mixed feelings about this the companies standard class of Northern Counties bodied PD3's but to me they seem to sum up that Southdown magic that made it stand out.