Duple Three-Axle Bedford VAL

I'm sure many young bus enthusiasts cut their teeth on the Dinky model of the rather impressive Duple Super Vega bodied Bedford VAL. Having several of the type EMP 799B was once No.80 in the Charles W Banfield  but by the Eighties had become a roadside cafe.

St Helens 50 carries a so-called St. Helens Fibre-glass front.

This St Helens East-Lancs bodied Leyland PD2 No.50 shows off it's fibre-glass grill that bears it's name at Warrington. Taken in 1968 the Corporation was celebrating 100 years of the town's Charter. In those days this service was operated jointly with Lancashire United but alas today that company too coming with Greater Manchester North is part of the aquamarine Arriva empire.

The new Arriva Livery?

Well it couldn't be much worse than that aquamarine and sandstone, also of course the new owners might want to buy German buses instead of the more usual Dennis and VDL offerings. This once common Mercedes 0304 bus was seen between journey in Giesen during the Nineties.

Winter Sun in Geneva

R&J bodied Volvo 176 awaits departure time outside the railway station in 1990.

Birch Brothers in Manchester

Now sanitised Central Manchester has lost much of it's former industrial splendour which in some ways is rather sad as there was something rather awesome and historically romantic about it's no-nonsense grim heritage. An interloper from the much greener South was this Birch Brothers Harrington Grenadier bodied AEC Reliance. k25 was the first of a batch of five delivered in 1964. Hardly surprisingly the coach carries 1960's anti-Nationalisation posters because as part of it's interesting history dating back to 1810 the Birch family ran buses between North and South London on the 536 between Highgate and Brockley Rise in competition with General until it was taken over with the formation of what was to become the London Transport of today in 1934.

DB own Pan Bus of Denmark

The German Railways who also run a large fleet of about four-thousand buses is keen to expand. So far it only owns Pan Bus in Denmark and not surprisingly with Arriva's large bus and rain presence in European countries like Denmark, Portugal, and Spain as well as the UK,  DB like the big French rail companies it is keen to snap up this successful but not exactly sexy British operator. For myself I would like to see Arriva go as I really dislike it's insipid colours. I suppose once it's gone though like those much derided Stagecoach stripes we will start to feel some sort of loss. Still all will not be lost as I have a nice little nest-egg of Arriva shares waiting to rise.

it's getting near the end!

I'm sorry but a quick run through has shown that I've already posting this one. The truth is I'm getting towards the end of my Portugal series all taken on just one two week holiday. So I'm going to have to slow down because once they've finished none of you will bother to view my blog. In future rather like the buses in Britain, if they come they come, if they don't they're probably....

On The Buses

SERVING ON THE BUSES
Originally uploaded by AEC590

A look back to the Sixties with Leicester buses and the stylish conductoress Miss Wilde.

An interesting array of buses at Marlborough Street

There was never a problem spotting the buses at Bristol's Marlborough Street Garage as it shared the bus and coach station. In Badgerline days post NBC influence can be seen in the more recent purchase of Volvo products and as well as double-deckers also bodied by Alexander were these rather angular P-Series single-deckers plus some decidely more attractive Van-Hool bodied coaches. In the background a Bristol VR seems to have had an argument with a large tree branch.

Lost in London

These two girls didn't even realise  ws photographing them. This was the early Eighties when Routemasters like RM 1398 were everywhere including on the 52.

Reminders of Ribble

I hate returning to the places I haven't visited for recently as it spoils my memories of the past. Southport as well as having it's own corporation buses was served by Ribble. Fortunately as with my local former Midland Red certain services retain their old route numbers even if the buses are very different. There were about twenty-five buses at the Ribble gagage here and a similar number further inland at Ormskirk where this bus was heading. I imagine this Stagecoach Plaxton pointer is a Dennis Dart.

St Helens AEC Swift

In the same way the Sixties rear-engined Panther and Panther Cub did nothing to help Leyland's reputation the same could be said for the AEC Swift. However it did have a few fans including St. Helens who aquired about seventy-five new examples with these Marshall bodies and some secondhand buses from nearby Lancashire United. One of these which later passed to Berresford of Cheddleton has been preserved and was seen last year at the POTS bus rally at the Wedgewood Centre at Barlaston.