Marlborough Street Bus Station in Bristol

One of my favourite places for bus photography was Marlborough Street Bus Station and depot in Bristol where the light was usually good enough to photograph at either end as the buses went in or out. Also one could enjoy the audible effects of buses like this Leyland National2 which being 999 should have been red like a fire engine, but a real treat was the distinctive 'boom' of the numerous Bristol RE's allocated there too which also carried Leyland engines. It hasn't changed a great deal since the Eighties but the buses there owned by First Group certainly have

Cumberland

In 1983 Cumberland Motor Services painted this 1961 Bristol Lodekka FS6G learner bus into traditional company colours to celebrate an anniversary. When the company was bought by Stagecoach the vehicle was retained for special duties and it was seen in Carlisle in October 1989 still doing training duties.

DSB: Danish Railways

By 1982 DAB was also bodying buses on the Volvo chassis and the state run DSB fleet took a few of these along with their usual preferred choice Aabenaa. No.958 was one of a small number of buses housed at Ringstead Station to operate the Roskilde to Slagelse 234 Route.

Arhus

Arhus is the largest town on Jutland in Denmark and it's City bus fleet was almost entirely built by Leyland-DAB not too far away in Silkeborg like No.199 seen when still quite new in 1982.

Double Gloucester

The trouble with buses and girls photography is trying to get good examples together. Had this been a colour photo there would have been added interest as the Bristol VR was in the NBC equivalent of Gloucester's one time blue livery before nationalisation, and as the company would be returned to the private sector it seemed a good idea. I like the return of history and especially blonds in mini-skirts

Lausanne

Lausanne is probably where I would choose to live in Switzerland as it is quite cosmopolitan and everywhere you look there are pretty girls.

Grey Green & Gillingham Street Garage

When Cowie's Grey Green Coaches tendered for London Transport's 24 Route from Hampstead Heath to Pimilico few would have guessed that the operator would form the nucleus of what is today called Arriva. Grey Green's buses looked smart and eye-catching so it's a pity they didn't keep the same colours, as Arriva's 'women friendly' garb reminds me of a plastic bottle of toilet cleaner which doesn't do the operator much justice. When I took this late afternoon view of No.124 almost in shadow I was pushing the boat out a bit as I wanted another record of Gillingham Street garage in the background which was about to be closed.

Arriva Volvos

I must admit I don't find buses today anything to get excited about, but the way my local operator Arriva moves it's old buses adds some interest and even some variety. Today the rather insipid aquamarine sea of buses seems to be full of Dennis Darts, but some short East-Lancs bodied Volvos that started life with Grey Green in London come in from Cannock. The three local examples spent some time at Stafford first and weren't very popular with the drivers as they only had three forward gears which made them slow for country running.

Saurer the bonfire smoke of Autumn

Actually it was the end of February in 1992 and the brown slopes overlooking Sion were in readiness for the first bright colours of spring flowers and even though the last true Swiss buses like this late Saurer of 1985 looked in fine fettle, five years on as regular service buses the marque would be quickly heading for extinction.

PTT Setra in Lugano

After Daimler-Benz took control of Saurer most of the orders for Swiss Post buses either went to Mercedes or as in this instance Setra. Lugano was a typical allocation as they were preferred for the holiday areas over the bus-like O405's. They were not loved by garage staff though as the electrics was a nightmare and they were also prone to serious winter corrosion especially by the front step. Being in the milder Italian Titino region south of the Alps meant the vehicles remained comparatively rust free I expect.

G.H.Austin of Woodseaves

The Austin Family still run Happy Days Coaches but 'Austins of Woodseaves' is now a distant memory with it's fleet of mostly Leyland second-hand buses. At one time shortly after the war the fleet boasted fifty vehicles and even in the Sixties when this view was taken there was a small Stafford garage just out of view as well as a third one at Newport. A Favourite of mine was this Willowbrook bodied Leyland Royal Tiger with a Nottingham Registration OTO 63.

Liverpool in the rain

Sometimes the slight blurring of the image adds something to a photograph when a vehicle is on the move and one can almost hear the hiss of the tyres on the wet road and the roar of the Atlanteans Leyland 0680 engine in this view taken in the early Nineties in Liverpool.