Lincolnshire LFE 14!H bound for Birchwood Estate

Seen in Lincoln was this early series Bristol VR of Lincolnshire on a local service to the Birchwood Estate in the Eighties

Butters Bedford EAA 830W

A regular in Stafford on market days on the service from Market Drayton was this Duple Dominant bodied Bedford of Butters. Today Stafford is once more awash with the colours of Independents but they do not have the pedigree of Greatrex, Austins, Bassetts or this Shropshire firm which if I remember rightly started in about 1922.

It's Bin Day: Arriva Prisma on the 825

Arriva Stafford seems to have become a dumping ground for old dennis Darts but there are also a good number of these Wright Prisma bodied VDL's used mainly on the 825 to Lichfield. This service used to terminate mostly at the hospital or at The University but has now been extended an extra half mile to the Beacon Barracks to serve the recently moved in army families but one doesn't see many on the buses.

Leicester MCW bodied Leyland PD3 LJF 34F

I remember as a recently qualified driver daydreaming at the traffic-lights and the loud revving of one of these large Leicester Leyland PD3 right behind me in my Mother's Austin Mini Countryman told me the lights had turned to green.

C353 DND: Visitors Some Eastbourne Variety

No doubt the coaches of Shearings were as familiar in Eastbourne as many other towns and resorts but the Provincial Bristol VR was I expect a rare visitor hailing from Gosport which was some distance for an old bus on a private hire. As well as Volvo B10M C353 DND we can also see a Top Line Leyland National in from Hastings in this sunny view of about 1989.

Chewing The Fat at Bridgewater

A couple of First Southern National employees pass the time of day at the Bridgewater depot. By this time the garage was due for demolition to be replaced by yet another supermarket a Tesco I expect. But this area had already changed beyond recognition since I was a kid for I remember approaching it from town beside the canal with a long row of terraced houses either side. Some of the liveries they inherited were nice so it was a pity that everything turned to Barbi including Bristol VR's like FDV 780V which still bore it's old NBC Western National number.

Flightline 767 C138 SPB

Deregulation and the break up of the NBC made a lot of these coaches redundant and despite their stylish continental Berkhof bodywork many of these Green Line Leyland Tigers were rebodied as buses especially for service within in the Drawline Group. C138 SPB was in dedicated 767 and seen at Victoria.

NAG 161(: The Old Hanley Bus Station

Whatever the faults with the old Sixties Hanley Bus Station it was certainly a good place to photograph buses and along with other standard NBC types in the local PMT fleet was a Plaxton bodied Leopard NAG 161P of East Yorkshire on it's way back up to Hull.

Sunday Bloody Sunday: West Midlands 4618

At one time Sunday was a day of rest but even though the mornings may start slower our towns and cities are almost as busy as weekdays. For most of course it's an opportunity to shop etc but it's not much fun for those who live alngside busy roads like here in Birmingham.

Winter Comes to Stafford: Stevensons NVT 452W

In the Peddle Era as well as updating with firstly Atlanteans and then many London Fleetline's new vehicles of all types also became a feature too like this grant spec Plaxton bodied Ford No.5 NVT 452W seen in a snowy Stafford.

Manchester: You can cross now

To take good street photographs one often needs both a bit of bottle and the ability to use some discretion. Of course being Jojo is not as threatening or as intrusive as a man doing it for me are all girls together. I'm afraid Stagecoach 33850 had to play second fiddle in this study taken at Manchester Piccadilly.

Bryn Melyn Bridgnorth Town Service

This Dennis Alexander Enviro was hard at work on Bridgenorth Town Service.

Arriva Leyland Lynx E268 WUB

The bus industry has become rather dull for the big groups seem to run very similar buses these days but when this picture was taken about fifteen years ago the variety was quite good especially was vehicles got moved around as here in Stafford where as a standard local Drawline East Lancs bodied Dart there is a Plaxton bodied Tiger from Devon and a Lynx which came from West Riding.

Final Haunts of the Bristol FS

In about 1981-2 Wrexham Bus Station was a good place to catch some of the last Bristol FS Lodekkas some of which looked in very good condition like DFG 220.

Greater Manchester South:Leyland Olympian ANA9Y

By now part of the divided GM fleet readied for Privatisation was a southern Northern Counties bodied Leyland Olympian 3009 passing through it's home town of Stockport on it's way to Manchester.

Hurrah for the Double-Decker: First A07 DXX in Stafford

For a number of years the good old double-decker was pretty much extinct in Stafford but both First and Arriva have cascaded a few Wright bodied Volvos to their local depots that do the trunk runs into the town

The Things we Pick-Up at Model Fairs

As opposed to normal retail outlets half of the joy of going to charity shops or model fairs is not just often great bargains but the surprising things we might find. I just about remember seeing a photo of this model but I hadn't seen it in my travels before. Sadly this Atlas Corgi range has it's shortcomings but apart from the East Yorkshire dual-purpose blue being rather too dark it doesn't look too bad apart from the front destination box being on the small side. Normally I tend to shun anything that doesn't look quite right but there's something about quirky Corgis that give them a bit of charm and it wasn't at all bad for six-quid. Besides when I was a youngster living close to Victoria Coach Station I remember the real things when they were new and they did look attractive.

Y729TOH: TWM Dennis Trident

Because some buses have been around so many years an acceptance becomes fondness and then when their number start to dwindle they become favourites. National Express Travel West Midlands has a reputation for running elderly buses but in good condition like this Y-Reg Alexander 400 bodied  Dennis Trident so typical of the fleet but despite it's smart appearance it must be almost sixteen years old which is twice the age of the oldest Stagecoach buses. Upstairs they seem a bit spartan a bit like a modern version of the shaky bodied MCW Orion of my youth but they do make some enjoyable sounds that still remind me a bit of the much more tuneful and much missed Metrobus also to be found in numbers at Wolverhampton.