A former West Midlands Metrobus at Stockport

Prior to the introduction of Arriva corporate livery some of it's buses sported rather cheerful liveries like this MCW Metrobus belonging to Bee-Line whose name was chosen as being suitable for it's initial fleet of busy little minibuses. No.817 KJW 288W loads at Stockport for nearby Manchester on Service 197 in the mid-Nineties.

A chilly lunchtime call at Chester

As a National Express Duple bodied Leyland Leopard pauses at Chester on a winters day a gentleman stretches his legs and smokes his pipe whilst another coach this time a Leyland Tiger with a Plaxton body belonging to PMT  A75 JFA departs on the long trek north up to Glasgow.

Alton Bus Rally

Look back over the Summer I had some good days out including this one to Alton which was the furthest bus trip I took with my friends in their preserved Midland Red Leopard JHA227L. This town once had one of the four Aldershot and District garages so not surprisingly the former BET Group company was well represented here with both Dennis and as you see here AEC buses. Most of their AEC Reliance's had Weymann Hermes bodywork like this example No.370 Reg. XHO370 from 1960

Busy getting wet in liverpool

I'm afraid  I dont follow vehicle news and your guess is as good as mine whether this wright bodied bus of Arriba is a Volvo. VDL or Scania. These day I go out looking for interesting atmospheric views and this day was as miserable as it looked in Liverpool.

A Mercedes-Benz Coach in Porto

When there was so much bus variety as there was in Portugal it was easy to overlook the most common types like this Mercedes seen in Porto. However with the passage of time even these like it's operator becomes a thing of interest.

Lunchtime in Newcastle

Late in 1979 it looks like the girls in the office are going off for a lunchtime drink in the centre of Newcastle on Tyne. I was working but my delivery address was not difficult to find as I had to go to the head office of Norweb which is that large building on the corner of Northumberland Street. Newcastle Corporation was the main constituent of the local Tyne Tees PTE and the majority of it's buses were Leyland Atlanteans with Alexander like 313 VCU313T seen here or the from the front look-alike version by MCW..

Swan Song for the RMA Airport Bus

After they were no longer needed for Heathrow LT had trouble finding good work for it's sixty-five strong RMA class. And rather like other odd men out from the past the 500 wider RTL's called the RTW many ended up on training duties. It's a pity they weren't a more useful 30ft long like prototype RMF 1254, but no doubt the unions condemned the bigger bus towing baggage trailers. However at least Stagecoach East London knew a good bus when they saw it keeping them smart like RMA35 NMY635E so we could enjoy seeing them on the 15 as it passed Trafalgar Square.

A Panther back from the dead

They say that a bite from a black mamba can put you in such a deep comma you might accidentally get buried alive. Well it seemed that buses like the Leyland Panther was finished but it was surprising what was given a new lease of life following Deregulation. Former Preston RTF436L with unusual Pennine bodywork looked rather dashing in it's smart new Citibus colours however I just wonder how many times it was to break down especially as I took a ride on one of these and it kept stalling when stationary?

Getting ready for Christmas

Don't be fooled the Christmas decorations might be up but because it's cheaper to do it that way in Stafford they usually go up in August. Still I don't suppose it's bad luck just so long as they delay making us feel even more miserable by not switching them on till December. I suppose it's nice to have something other than twelve days of snow to mark the middle of winter. I used to hate the unimaginatively applied NBC poppy red and plain white gtraphics on PMT and Midland Red but today I find those old buses rather bright and welcoming compared to the rather dull colours applied to Arriva and First in the town today. Believe it or not after the delivery of this 1981 batch of Leyland Olympians PMT only bought a mere handful of new double-deckers and so still being the newest the Hanley based examples spent many years on the longer routes like the 260 to Stafford. No.740 Reg. A740GFA passes through the Market Square on it's return journey to the Potteries.

Potsdam Tram 048

One thing you can't deny is that the world of Communism was pretty ugly if Potsdam was anything to go by. Indeed this is one of the more attractive of German cities but with horrible grey dirty looking Postwar architecture few trees or even people about, it was a pretty depressing scene. This view was taken soon after Reunification so soon the streets would be filled with cars and the buildings sport the neon signs of Capitalism.

A Leyland for Leyland Paints

This former Fishwick's Leyland Leopard XTB188D didn't travel very far to find a new owner as it remained in it's home town of Leyland where it became a staff bus for Leyland Paints. Unlike most demoted PSV's this Plaxton bodied coach still looked very appealing and smart. This was not the first former Fishwick Leyland to be used by this paint manufacturer so I expect much of it's excellent condition might be to do with a service contract with the coaches former owner whose coach garage was just to the side of this view.

Midland Red's last D9's at Leicester

Leicester was the last stronghold for the Midland Red built D9 double-decker with a small fleet of about thirteen working on city services from Southgates Street Garage. They were finally delicened on the 31st December 1979 a few months after this view was taken on Burley Way alongside St. Margarets Street Bus Station. 5326 Reg. 6362 HA was headed for New Parks on the 93 one of their regular runs.