Lincolnshire LFE 14!H bound for Birchwood Estate

Seen in Lincoln was this early series Bristol VR of Lincolnshire on a local service to the Birchwood Estate in the Eighties

Butters Bedford EAA 830W

A regular in Stafford on market days on the service from Market Drayton was this Duple Dominant bodied Bedford of Butters. Today Stafford is once more awash with the colours of Independents but they do not have the pedigree of Greatrex, Austins, Bassetts or this Shropshire firm which if I remember rightly started in about 1922.

It's Bin Day: Arriva Prisma on the 825

Arriva Stafford seems to have become a dumping ground for old dennis Darts but there are also a good number of these Wright Prisma bodied VDL's used mainly on the 825 to Lichfield. This service used to terminate mostly at the hospital or at The University but has now been extended an extra half mile to the Beacon Barracks to serve the recently moved in army families but one doesn't see many on the buses.

Leicester MCW bodied Leyland PD3 LJF 34F

I remember as a recently qualified driver daydreaming at the traffic-lights and the loud revving of one of these large Leicester Leyland PD3 right behind me in my Mother's Austin Mini Countryman told me the lights had turned to green.

C353 DND: Visitors Some Eastbourne Variety

No doubt the coaches of Shearings were as familiar in Eastbourne as many other towns and resorts but the Provincial Bristol VR was I expect a rare visitor hailing from Gosport which was some distance for an old bus on a private hire. As well as Volvo B10M C353 DND we can also see a Top Line Leyland National in from Hastings in this sunny view of about 1989.

Chewing The Fat at Bridgewater

A couple of First Southern National employees pass the time of day at the Bridgewater depot. By this time the garage was due for demolition to be replaced by yet another supermarket a Tesco I expect. But this area had already changed beyond recognition since I was a kid for I remember approaching it from town beside the canal with a long row of terraced houses either side. Some of the liveries they inherited were nice so it was a pity that everything turned to Barbi including Bristol VR's like FDV 780V which still bore it's old NBC Western National number.

Flightline 767 C138 SPB

Deregulation and the break up of the NBC made a lot of these coaches redundant and despite their stylish continental Berkhof bodywork many of these Green Line Leyland Tigers were rebodied as buses especially for service within in the Drawline Group. C138 SPB was in dedicated 767 and seen at Victoria.