Guide Friday

Guide Friday started here in Stratford upon Avon offering open-top double-deck tours to the visitors and become so successful that as well as providing the same service in other tourist rich cities in Britain it expanded into Mainland Europe as well. It was quite remarkable really as all it's vehicles were second-hand time expired buses like this thirty-year-old former Bournemouth Daimler Fleetline trying to work The Stratford Tour in about 1994.

Bern: Coming of Spring

There has been a Spring Carnival in places like Basle since Medieval times but as a celebration it has grown in popularity and at the end of February it's hard to go anywhere except the top of the Eiger without the clatter of cowbells. Still I think it is fun and it was an enjoyable distraction when on holiday. It was also a good excuse to photograph another Bern FBW Articulated bus before it was withdrawn.

Big Bus Company

Competition on London's sightseeing services is fierce and a number of operators have come and go. Fortunately one of the survivors is The Big Bus Company which has always turned out smart looking buses in this attractive brown and cream livery. A real favourite must be this Routemaster that was one of fifty delivered to Northern General in the Sixties.

Where are those green Bern Trams?

I don't think I could face going back to Bern now that the City trams and buses have been painted a pinkie scarlet colour. The military green was a bit dour but it suited the conservatism of the Swiss Capital and it's greyness in the winter. No.733 was seen near the depot one Saturday morning when I had a couple of free hours before leaving to fly home and makes a fine memento.

Leyland Leopard Coaches

These two Leyland Leopards in Plymouth during the early-Nineties show products from Britain's two principal coach bodybuilders with the National Holidays, Greenslades example carrying Plaxton and the Stanley Gath of Dewsbury being by Duple.

CSAD Karosa Tourist Coach

Once a common sight in Eastern Europe were the Karosa SL 11 Type 1307 tourist coach like this example dropping off it visitors from Czechoslovakia to pay homage at East Berlin's Palace of Culture.

Midland Red BMMO S23

Midland Red's last home-built buses were the S23's built in 1969-70 but some of them including 5948 pictured in Birmingham heading home to Kidderminster had their bodywork finished by Plaxton.

Midland Red: Ford R Series in Rugby

Midland Red famed for the way it designed and manufactured buses that were way ahead of their time had to eat humble-pie when it became part of the nationalised National Bus Company for it was allotted two batches of Plaxton bodied Ford R Series single-deckers to see off many of the S14 and S15 single-deckers of the Fifties. These 140 buses were very unsophisticated light-weight front-engined buses and were all allocated to rural garages like 6356 seen here at work in Rugby in about 1981.

Spandau

One of many, a ubiquitous Mercedes-Benz O405 of PAV prepares for it's return journey to Potsdam from Spandau.

It must be Baden

Amongst my favourite post buses of the regie PTT owned fleet were these Leyland-DAB Saurer articulated P27506-27512 buses built in 1976 with bodywork by Ramseier & Jenzer AG of Biel. By the time I returned to explore Swizerland at the start of the Nineties they were nearly all at Endingen and one knew when they had arrived at Baden as one was usually laid-over in the station yard. This was a reject photo taken against the light but it's wonderful what a little photoshop wizardry can do.

Guy Arab: Chester

A survivor the former Chester Corporation is finally being sold off by City's politicians. The bus fleet has long been starved of proper investment and the site of the large former tram depot opposite the railway station is worth a fortune. So one wonders what the fate will be of buses like Massey bodied Guy Arab IV, No.1 which has been preserved by the company.

Victoria Coach Station

When I took these photos in the Eighties National Express was still very much a part of the National Bus Company and as seen here most of the coaches were either Leyland Leopards or Bristol RE's like this Swindon and District example.