London Transport: DAF Berkhof

Deregulation in the 1980's was a big free for all and operator's not wanting to miss out quickly diverisfied not knowing which parts of the business would would reap the highest rewards. Even large mainly bus focused operator's like London Transport increased their share of tours, commuter and private hire work alongside of course the already well established Routemaster double-deck open top tour. A sign of the changing times was the delivery of this Berkhof bodied DAF coach in white which was seen approaching Victoria Gillingham Street Garage whose outdoor bus park was being used as the LT tours and charter coach station.

Wythenshaw in the snow

During the last cold spell I had to go to Manchester Airport at short notice with some folks from Penkridge as for some reason their express coach sailed passed them without stopping. Of course normally I would come straight back but as it was wintery crisp and sunny I stopped in my waiting place and took a pleasant stroll through the park and out the other side where sometimes I've been known to snap the odd bus or two. Single-deckers work the No.11 to Altrincham like this Alexender 400 bodied M.A.N of Stagecoach Manchester.

Two DAB Leylands at Lyngby

Like many European cities commuters tend to use local buses to take them to the local station and then on to a train into the congested city centre. Copenhagen is no exception and there is a large busy bus station at Lyngby to the north which forms a local hub. From these two Danish built DAB Leyland buses we can see how the styling evolved between 1976 and 1982. HT No.760 a 1977 bus was heading for another railway station at Ballerup.

The Train on Platform One is delayed because of Aircraft on the Line

No doubt many of you will have heard about the tragic accident when a light aircraft crashed into the electric cables of the main North West Line at Colwich killing the three occupants. I was called out to help move people from soon after it happened on Friday lunchtime till Sunday Evening when the railway line was finally cleared for service. They say every cloud has a silver lining and going home after working a long bitterly cold weekend I was relishing the prospect of some extra pay but my satisfaction was short lived as engine oil was gushing out of my diesel engine and my poor old Peugeot 2o6 ended up dead at the side of the road. It had only done 41.000 miles so it's rather a shame as now it only seems good for scrap after just nine years. Still it's given me an excuse to treat myself to that classic frog-eyed Mazda MX5 I've been pondering the last year or so. I just hope the bright red I.8i gives me same sensations of speed as does our Mercedes Sprinter with the Turbo. Whilst I was carrying odd lost souls to places like Stone and Rugeley, large coaches like this Iriszar bodied Scania of Hills Coaches from Wolverhampton was running between the main stations.

Premier Travel: Y-Type

As well as of course Scotland where it was ubiquitous, the Alexander Y-Type generally couldn't be found with operators south of the River Trent with the exception of Stratford Blue that bought a Leopard. The one big exception though was Premier Travel who standardised on this type of coach for it's dual-purpose needs. As always they were mounted on the AEC Reliance chassis and one is seem at Dummer Street Bus Station in Cambridge with later Plaxton bodied examples in the backround.

Portuguese Railway Buses

Once as well as Leylands and of course AEC, British built Guy buses from Wolverhampton were also quite common in Portuguese bus fleets. When I was there in 1984 at least I found one or two still at work with the Railway like Utic bodied (CP) No.7 seen here awaiting it's next duty at the depot next to the railway station in Porto.

Who would have thought I would get nostalgic about minibues

I remember Bridgnorth in Shropshire from Saturday Afternoon trips from my first boarding school on Wenlock Edge. In those days the Midland Red buses were all BMMO's from a number of different garages such as the nearest Wellington, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Kidderminster and Stourbridge. I think as I took this rear view of Tullus Ford Transit No.92 I was picturing a red and black S13's or a nicer older more rounded S6 or S10. Of course small buses were nothing new here as Corvedale Motors ran former London Transport (GS) Guy-Special buses in this still delightful town. Even then in the early Nineties the individual colours of local operators added some interest to the bus scene but today sadly this is just another tranche of that indifferent looking Arriva aquamarine worst luck.

Zurich Flughafen: Too much sun

Unfortunately where there is a lot of light colours and concrete to reflect it, the winter sun can be as much of a nuisance as it is a friend. Still I try my best to get some interesting pictures like these Zurich bus drivers early in 2000 taking a break at The Airport getting ready to get back in to their spotless Mercedes-Benz 0405 buses used in the suburbs

Stevenson's: London Fleetline in the snow

London Transport didn't like them but Stevenson's of Spath (Uttoxeter) certainly did and these cheap up-to-date rear-engined buses did much to help with the modernisation and more fundamentally the expansion of the fleet including the takeover of the Burton-on-Trent operation of East Staffs Borough Council. This bold 'Starskey and Hutch' application of the yellow, black and white livery gave these otherwise dull boxy buses a certain flair. This former London DM class Daimler Fleetline carried bodywork by Park Royal, moving to Staffordshire in 1979 where even though they might not have been good enough for London streets they were able to handle both the local hills and winter snow.

Southdown: Stripe Tease Artiste

Remember those Stagecoach Stripes ,well they were a bit of a tease as they tried to put us off our favourites bus types. Today of course we find it harder to remember how we felt when pleasant more subtle colour schemes got over-run by Souter and his Perth based company. Some types particularly the more square Alexander bodied buses like the R-Series double-decker and the little Dash looked quite at home but it did little for traditional rounded designs like the ECW body on this Bristol VR seen in Portsmouth in the mid-Nineties.

Greatrex: Mundane Stalwarts

As a bus enthusiast it's so easy to completely overlook the mundane, and I'm no less guilty than anyone else in this respect. However maybe when using up a film I ventured to snap some of the less interesting local buses too. Thankfully in about 1969 I took this now rather interesting line-up of Greatrex Tours rather mundane older stock. One of you left a message asking if I had any former buses from H.Nicholls and Sons of Milford. Well the two buses at the far end once belonged to them, LRE 345B a Harrington Bodied Bedford SB5 bought new and another Bedford this time with a bus body by Plaxton that came from I think Trimdon Motor Services. In fact the only bus delivered new to Greatrex was the Duple bodied Commer 8425 E.

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I wonder if these children grew up with fond memories of the the characterful old RN buses that took them to school.