Safeguard of Guildfod Leyland Lynx E51 MMT

Many Independent bus operators had to make do with cheaper lightweight buses or secondhand purchases, but a few such as Safeguard of Guildford was one of just a few who managed set a very high standard. In the Eighties it also had a few Bedfords but both the bus and coach fleet featured modern Leyland Leopards, Tigers and as seen here the Lynx.

Berlin a special day a new bus

In Berlin on special days of the year and holidays the city buses used to be bestowed with flags. That of course wouldn't happen here as whenever there's the slightest hint of it Arriva just take off the service to save money despite some people still needing to get to work. Someone should pay for the buses and I'm sorry to say perhaps it should be the urban motorist who has choice. Also worth celebrating in this view was the fact that the flags were on a brand new bus a MAN Wagon-Union No.1893 and an addition to that feeling of newness even the girl walking passed looks like a new doll removed from it's box. Yes even the everyday Berlin in those days was a bit like something out of a generic movie or just a bit surreal.

Brighton TYS 1S: Waves of Nostalgia

I was keeping this and I know it's not the first day of the month but I've chose Brighton Corporation No.1. There is something about the number-one in a fleet and it's celebrity makes it that little bit more memorable than the others. For instance I can remember two more Brighton buses with this distinguishing mark, a Weymann bodied trolleybus maybe HUF 1, then there was a later Weymann Orion bodied Leyland PD2 5001 CD and lastly this bus one of a number of attractive East-Lancs bodied Atlanteans in the fleet. I guess these buses were not quite as exciting as the earlier examples I mentioned but nostalgia is a strange thing and it takes it's place amongst the Great of the Past. Of interest is the way some registration letters got moved to a different licensing office as happened here as YS was a Glasgow marque.

M605 UTV Nottingham City Transport.

Dennis Dart buses with Plaxton bodywork are usually associated with the Badgerline companies but of course they could be found elsewhere such as here at Nottingham and the similar look of the minibus in the background is carried an Optare minibus.

Setra at Oranianburg

Once situated just over the Berlin Wall in the East is the pleasant town on Oranianburg but like many others it's bus station was hardly well appointed or inspiring.

Abbott of Blackpool Leyland Tiger D857 XBV

One of the great names in the coach industry was the Lancashire firm Abbott of Blackpool who in it's later years ran this Duple bodied Tiger which was seen going through the bus wash at the depot.

Crosville Cymru Mercedes in Bangor

It's funny how many liveries were nothing special at the time but somehow we still get to miss them. Perhaps it's the extra portion of white which helps brighten up this Crosville Cymru Alexander bodied Mercedes-Benz mini in Bangor.

Plymouth: They Parade Down the Royal Parade

This winter has been bitterly cold and at this moment I can think of nothing better than spending some time photographing the buses and girls on the Royal Parade in Plymouth. The women here and in Exeter seem to be especially lovely but I'm afraid when it comes to buses it's not what it used to be but under Go-Ahead Plymouth still has it's red 'municipal' buses but sadly the roar of the Atlantean is long gone.

Sheffield: Every Picture Tells a Story

It is quite true that all our photos do tell a story and I'm all for it when it is something more interesting than the bus.   As I like to take most of my photos in a public place I also sometimes also get a bit of an incite into other peoples lives. Here is a good example for as well as Northern Bus 929 CVJ an ECW bodied Leyland Leopard which started life with Eastern National as VHK 177L we can see a worried looking young lady in the back of a South Yorkshire panda car being escorted to the police station here in Sheffield and  no doubt fretting about the outcome of yet another shoplifting offence.

Tempers frey at Manchester Piccadilly Bus Station

Someone's got rather overheated about something and a patient looking bus inspector obviously tries to humour the angry man. Now split into North and South divisions in readiness to be sold off probably all these Greater Manchester buses are Leyland Atlanteans, but another former GMT bus also carrying 'Manchester Standard' Northern Counties bodywork and hiding it's age was a Daimler Fleetline. Hall's green and white colour scheme was very different from the brown and orange buses of it's former owner at Piccadilly Bus Station.

Midland Red Rebodied C3 Touring Coach UHA 190

Before the M6 was built all the traffic from Birmingham to the North West used to come through Stafford including touring coaches. In 1962 Midland Red had some Fifties C2 and C3 coaches fitted with new Plaxton bodies for extended tours bang up to date with the new Panorama. They were delivered in an off-white creamy livery which was short-lived as can be seen here, but a little was allowed to remain which didn't seem to detract from their appeance at all. This coach would have gone through the town and passed down Greyfriars where Sid Taylor had his scrapyard  the final destination for many a BMMO and no doubt where the old Willowbrook body of 4190 still could be found. Maybe it might have been the best place for this Ilford Sporti camera as well but I concede these hazy old photos do have a certain amateurish charm well suited to old dog-eared notebooks and other bus spotting memories.

From Poland a French looking Jelcz in Prague

Apart from having what looks a bit like a 1964 London registration number this bus in Prague had a British connection. It was built by a polish firm Jelcz which had been known as Zubr until 1968 and built buses using licence-built Wola-Leyland engines. At the end of the 1970's an agreement was made with Berliet where Skoda based passenger models would be replaced with the PR100 city bus  hence it's rather brutal french appearance. However it was powered by Berliet or the Wola-Leyland.