Eastbourne Dominated

Now that Eastbourne's buses have been taken over by Stagecoach there are even fewer former Municipals left standing apart in their individualistic colours. This East Sussex seaside town always had and interesting fleet of some smartly maintained elderly vehicles but by the Nineties like other similar operations the loss of ratepayers subsidy and the eroding pressures of competition meant standards were not quite what they once were and even second-hand vehicles started to make their appearance including this ten year old former East-Lancs bodied Dennis Dominator from Tayside (Dundee). Still apart from the Scottish registration few would have guessed as Eastbourne already had similar buses bought new in the fleet.

Couldn't you get a little closer?

It's terrible isn't it the way these lazy looking girls get in the way when I'm taking photographs. In a way though today it seems coaches are becoming more interesting than local buses as the old types quickly disappear being replaced by even more standardised modern types. With the passage of time coaches seem to be getting more modern as well of course but because some travel great distances that in itself it is some reason to show an interest. Here where many of the tourist and visiting coaches stop outside The Zoo in Berlin were found quite different machines lurking behind that girl who so annoyingly got in the way, or rather as you have probably guessed given me an excuse to take this panorama shot. Firstly an Italian bodied Iveco from Italy, then next to it is a Mercedes-Benz carrying the rather less common than the Citaro bus, the attractive dual-purpose Integro. Setra seem to have lost their sleek looks of the past as can be seen on this more wedge-shaped high-liner type, perhaps from Sweden with a similar but more messy profile to be found on the Neoplan at the far end. The other coach of course from Holland is the Bova Futura, a classic torpedo-like design that seems to go on and on in a timeless way just like those pretty girls whom I like to sneak into my pictures. I'm sure you don't mind.

Making their mark

After the NBC was Privatised the split up and devolved companies had to find their image. Some just modified their existing NBC livery slightly like City of Oxford, whilst others tried to return to the old days like Southdown with it's tasteful apple-green and cream. Others though went for a bold approach which didn't always look good especially on certain types. It certainly did nothing for this Willowbrook bodied Leyland Leopard tackling the wet roads in Newcastle during a summer rain storm way back in 1989.

Plymouth: Where have all the coaches gone?

In the Eighties and Nineties Plymouth Bretonside Bus Station used to be heaving with coaches. Some belonged to nearby Independents with a mixed collection of older vehicles on regular shopping excursions from the small towns of North Devon and Cornwall, or were newer and visiting with people from further afield or just out for a day trip from a Torbay Hotel which of course included a boat trip to the Naval Dockyard from The Hoe. Others like the two on the right were usually out and about on the longer type of bus journeys but today it seems they too were enjoying an excursion from Torbay. Western National greatly favoured the 7ft 6in Bristol LH in bus and coach form as it was ideal for the narrow roads in it's area and one of these makes an interesting contrast with a similar but full sized Leyland Leopard also bodied by Plaxton. The NBC had quickly merged the much loved BET Group Devon General with it's huge neighbour BTC State Owned Southern and Western National but fortunately chose to keep them separate with the DG buses retaining a red instead of green identity. The Leopard wears a more conventional NBC dual-purpose livery whilst the neat little Bristol carries the very attractive venetian-blind effect stripy scheme that using many different variations started the slow return to more individualistic colour schemes prior to the return to the private sector. At this time it was a rather depressing time for enthusiasts as minibuses were taking over our towns and we tended to overlook the more positive aspects as the NBC relaxed it's stance and let in some much needed innovation.

A Spot of Driver Training: Burton on Trent

By this time in 1979 Burton on Trent Corporation had been renamed East Staffordshire but still ran plenty of splendid half-cab double-deckers like this Massey bodied Daimler CCCG5 of 1964 with Burton's usual choice of a sluggish Gardner five-cylinder engine.

Shugborough in 1996

The Shugborough Estate on the edge of Cannock Chase and former home to Photographer and Cousin of the Queen, Lord Lichfield before he died is quite close to where I live. As you can see even a short excursion for other reasons is still a good excuse to take a camera. It was at this time of year too as you can see from the trees behind and I went with a girlfriend to buy some shrubs. We did buy one or two things but like everything I bought that year they all quickly died, so it was good that at least I took these photos of three Plaxton bodied coaches and a Duple Lasar bodied Bedford. Still in East Kent colours but now part of Stagecoach this coach had come a long way probably around two-hundred-miles but I expect the others were all reasonably local. The Whittle company from Highley in Shropshire is now also a part of one of the main bus groups, this time everyone's favourite East Yorkshire who retains it as a separate unit. A similar Volvo coach at the far end belonged to Bakers of Biddulph who are still going strong as an Independent albeit running them with more white than green in the livery these days..

Special Days: Zehlendorf M.A.N. 3782 & a Dalmation

It's quite common on the mainland of Europe for buses to wear flags to celebrate special days and holidays but in Britain even though the larger shops are now open it is another good reason to give the road back to the motorcar and the rest can either walk or remain housebound and fed-up. In Berlin there is a reduced service on holidays, perhaps every half hour instead of every twenty for instance but one can still get about on BVG buses till quite late at night. Sadly this type of MAN double-decker will be all but gone by now which is a pity as they were definitely a favourite.

A Quiet Corner of Porto

Nobody can say I take dull boring pictures as I try to get in as much as I can and especially as the passage of time makes them a lot more interesting. Yes even that everyday rather boring orange Volvo bus No.758 might be someones long lost favourite type.

Good Friday in Norwich

In 1982 as they neared the end of their days places like Wrexham and Chester were good places to photograph Bristol FS buses as Crosville still had them on the trunk service to Oswestry. For the longer front-entrance FLF two of the best places to see them were in Bristol and here at Norwich where Eastern Counties was still running smart FLF's and FS's on City Services too. On Good Friday the Norwich buses were all having a day of rest and even though they were parked outside the direction of the sun presented a problem. However I'm still pleased with this view of FLF 470 and even though we like to believe standards dropped in the NBC era just look at the well maintained bus station with it's information boards and Enquiry Office which welcomes with sparking windows. Unless the local authority step it is a far cry from what we usually expect to find today from the industry with everything boarded up, filthy or locked toilets and rubbish everywhere. Probably about the only thing that works is the CCTV cameras so someone can tell you to stop taking photographs.

Good friday in Burnley

I have some favourite April showers type contrasty black and white photos I took in Norwich in 1982 on Good Friday but it was only when doing some scanning this afternoon that I remembered I visited Burnley too in the Nineties on that same day. Not surprisingly with it being a Holiday there were not that many buses on the road so I was glad to see amongst the newer stock an elderly East-Lancs bodied Leyland Leopard nearing the end of it's days.

Those Bern FBW's

Once typical of the Swiss Capital's bus fleet, by the Nineties the at the start of the decade large numbers of survivors from this large batch of about sixty FBW's dating from between 1959-65 were usually only to be seen working in the morning and evening rush-hours. However when I first arrived in the city after a long absence since my schools days when I was here in 1964 I was so pleased to see that one was out working on a Saturday Afternoon to welcome me I immediately took a ride on No.140 to make a tape-recording as if to celebrate. That was 6th January 1990 and little over ten years on in the Spring of 2000 all the FBW motorbuses would be finished including the artics. Like the others No.132 still looked fine but albeit dated when caught in bright winter sunshine on it's way to Langgasse, which I imagine means long road in German.

Country Bus to Moretonhampsted

The major groups aggressively competed to gain both territory and market share. Today they are more concerned with the latter and in certain areas of the country like the rural and seasonal South West areas of Devon and Cornwall a sort of buffer zone has appeared where the small Independents have won the lonely tendered routes the big boys can't be bothered with. Once Moretonhampsted could boast a local network and a six bus garage in the old Devon General days but I expect one only sees it's successor Stagecoach regularly coming in from Exeter. Obviously Devon County Council feels the need to support some degree of service and a Mercedes Minibus of the appropriately names Country Bus picks up a reasonable load in Plymouth.