2008 another bridge: Meet you on the other side

I suppose buses have a working life that is very similar to that enjoyed by our domestic pets like cats and dogs. But whereas in the natural world one generation replicates the last in the bus world at least Darwin's theories on Evolution work faster and with the passing of each generation of vehicles we are left feeling nostalgic and a bit sadder as a bit of their life-blood gets drained away. Maybe it's just not that the newer bus don't seem so interesting but just as likely we feel we've lost something too of ourselves as those years went by. Maybe it was the world where we had more hair picked up girls, people didn't need to lock their doors or when the quickest way to get the mainland was by ferry. I'm not certain where this was taken in Sweden but it is to the north of Gothenberg maybe Lysekil, a place we pronounced Leezasheila. As for the delightful little ferry which the SJ bus No.0417 boards it might well have been replaced by a magnificent concrete bridge by now, but I sure hope not.

Midland Red: Shrewsbury

Three coach-seated Leyland Leopards stand in the old Shrewsbury Bus station about to work some of the longer services from the town. In 1986 there were Sixteen of these coach-seated buses allocated here with various styles of bodywork including from the most numerous type, Marshall Nos 217 and 358 bound for Oswestry and Ludlow whilst an ECW example that came from National Travel (NW) 1502 ANA 91Y is going about half-way to Birmingham on what was once the much longer X96 to Northampton.

No.722: Winter Day in Bern

It's a dry cold but very murky grey and penetrating and so this weather we are also getting in the English Midlands makes me think of Bern where those green trams used to fit the somber mood perfectly.

Liverpool: A City of Atlanteans

Sadly double-deckers are now very much a minority in Liverpool but once the city roared and screeched with the sounds of the Leyland Atlantean as following the demise of the half-cabs they seemed to dominate the Corporation and Ribble fleets. Once they were either dark green or dark red but with Deregulation they took on a variety of old and revived names and colour schemes including this Liverline bus that might once have been a very typical local NBC poppy-red Ribble Park Royal bodied AN68 but in fact it was new to London and Country in NBC leaf-green as AN 177.

Childhood visits to the Ivanhoe

This is something of a sacred spot for me as when we visited London to stay here in the Sixties this is where we would stay at the Ivanhoe Hotel right opposite the British Museum. In those days for young teens like myself it was considered safe enough even as a stranger to explore London alone and it's bus garages on a Red Rover Ticket. After a long day whilst my parents put their tired feet up and took a rest before dinner I would go with my biro and notebook and stand at the end of the street wanting to spot a few more of the 8387 London Transport buses. Indeed on my first visit in 1962 over five days I saw nearly 1500 different buses of various operators here and checking it again appropriately enough the first one I copped on leaving Stafford was Standerwick No.1, a Burlingham -bodied Tiger Cub. On the corner of this Gower Street and New Oxford Street it was a good place to do it as during the Rush-Hour there was a constant stream of buses to spot on the 1,14,24,29,39,73,127,134, and 176 whilst going East was the 19 and 38. Believe it or not they were nearly all RT, RTL or RTW buses as the only Routemasters amongst them were 4XX examples from Highgate Garage on the 127, but nearby in Bloomsbury at the next main junction straying rewarded me with a few very-early RM's in the low double-digit series from Poplar Garage which were going East beyond Aldgate maybe on a variant like the 5B. However it was only a few years and everything had changed quickly reaching the point where gleaming Routemasters outnumbered the to my mind nicer more traditional LTB stock. Some of these RM's were to become favourites with enthusiasts though as Mortlake Garage kept it's Leyland engined examples that only worked two routes including the 73 in tip-top condition and one of them RM 1274 still looked smart and very much at home to me on that same short-trousered-corner in 1979.

The Mists of Time: Escape is futile!

I'm sure those who were around will remember this rusting AEC Regent that looked as though it had tried to get out of town before the scrapman got his torch to it. Parked just outside Coimbra I suspect it was one of theirs as even though I might be wrong I remember reading before I visited in 1984 that they had just two, a pair of double-deckers like this dating from the Sixties.

Tarmac your drive Mister for a Tenner?

In Stafford if you want a decent job done of your drive you have to go to Dawkes who arrive mob-handed with a whole army of workers plus the odd roller, vibrator and several large yellow lorries with orange warning lights flashing that block most of the normally quiet street and then within a few minutes they're gone again with a good but not cheap job done. It seems you get what you pay for and on the Stafford County Council tendered bus service down the winding country lanes to Codsall I wonder whether someone else will be doing it in the New Year? Indeed after reading that A2Z might completely lose their Operator's Licence I thought I had better upload my digital images just to make sure I had already photographed them on the 880. Reading that this Walsall operator had a maintenance problems did not exactly surprise me as often the buses still in their former colours run in pairs just in case the other one didn't make it or are accompanied by a service van. D & G before them had reliability problems too and their rather tatty buses looked a far cry from the smart green and yellow of Choice who they in turn had bought-out. This service started in the Seventies with a Market Day operation by Warstone's 'Green Bus' as far as Penkridge via Wildwood connecting Acton Trussel. It would be too much to hope for that they might ever do it again and especially as now they run hardly anything bigger than minibuses. Marshall bodied SLF Dennis Dart R701 MEW started life as DMS 1 in the London Northern fleet.

East Yorkshire

East Yorkshire was and still is a big favourite with bus enthusiasts. As the NBC era finally came to a close the operator used this livery for it's coaches and the dark blue band on this ECW bodied Leyland Olympian seems to reflect the past as that and primrose were the colours used on it's service buses. No.535 was seen in Scarborough.

Christmas is for Children

SORRY BUT IT ISN'T

I'm afraid some of us never grow up and I enjoyed Christmas Morning as I had a new model bus to open, this time a beautiful dark blue and primrose East Yorkshire AEC Renown which I bought at a very fair price of £16.65 which was very good for a model one hardly ever sees being auctioned on Ebay. But my advice for potential collectors is don't as it's hard to stop. Fortunately I keep most of my purchases to quality items from my 'wish list' and try not to be tempted by the bargains. One generally has to pay over £15.00 for Britbus models but unless you want something rare from EFE or Corgi there's usually good stuff to bid for at less than Ten-Pounds. My best buy was the two-tone blue Manchester Tiger Cub Airport liveried bus which despite being Limited-Edition-Certificate No.19 was only £2.70 and that included postage.

A nice place to spend Christmas

Expensive holiday though, fortunately it only took an hour or so to see the local Post Buses in St Moritz. Normally it was winter when I came to Switzerland so I'm glad I came once in September when the Juilier Pass was open and one could take the bus on the enjoyable journey to Chur. Most of the PTT Saurer RH buses looked very much the same but a few like P34365 had a boot at the rear instead of a door and luggage compartment plus better dual-purpose seating.

Wave to Santa

A bit of festive cheer on a grey day last Christmas as tour coaches halt at Hilton Park Services on the M6 Motorway as they return home including this 2007 Tmsa Safar belonging to Solus Coaches of Tamworth bound for an equally dismal Wrexham.

Gosh! It was Twenty-Nine-Years-Ago Today

Yes this was 23rd December 1979, I remember the day well as I went into Liverpool City Centre to drop in on a girl friend as it was Carol Ann's Birthday and believe it or not it is today too. But it wasn't a particularly good day for me though as I had been to Liverpool Docks where I reversed at a gatehouse not realising that someone had pulled-up behind me. Even though there was no visible damage the owner made quite a fuss because despite it being the 'old-style' his red Ford Escort was brand new. That was the last time anyone made an insurance claim against me fortunately, but at least I took this great atmospheric photo of one of Crosville's last remaining half-cabs 1966 FS DFG 219 heading for Prescot on the way to St.Helens. Still to be seen in the city at that time were a few of Ribble's full-fronted MCW bodied Leyland PD3's from Aintree Garage which terminated nearby on the routes towards Liverland etc.. All has changed of course which is sad because I was very close to this spot on last Saturday Evening as I was called out to do a rail-replacement bus from all stations from Crewe to Liverpool. By the time I reached Lime Street Station I only had one on board, a guy from Cuba who was playing in an ethnic band that evening. But as I stopped I was quickly accosted by railway officials who seemed somewhat put-out that I should have turned up in a single sixteen-seater LDV minibus when there were about 150 people waiting to get home. I explained we were nothing to do with the local company from that end who had promised to send four full-sized coaches to carry the strike-bound Christmas Shoppers home. So I turned around leaving just 134 disappointed souls standing in the rain.