Farewell to the 841

Since D&G took over the 841 Stafford to Uttoxeter service five years ago they have given us an excellent service and not only did they raise the frequency from two-hourly to hourly for a lot of the day on some journeys the buses are fairly full. But now the contract has come to an end Arriva wants it back and has registered it and as they will be running it without County Council support they can run it as they wish. At the same time they will take over the 842 which also went through the Heywoods but via Sandon and Hopton for Rugeley. They have merged the two routes together going as far as Weston and then heading for Hixon cutting out the Heywoods altogether which means both 841 and 842 passengers will have to use the 825 instead which goes through Milford. Rumour has it that Arriva is fattening up it's portfolio of services in anticipation of take-over bids as it's owner DB wants to sell it off so that the money can be invested back in Germany on the railway. I know they re not perfect but I would like to see Stagecoach take over Arriva Midlands as at least they use some initiative and market research to make the service better instead of just raising fares all the time and cutting routes, but even though such an outcome is being mentioned it seems Stagecoach don't want Cannock Garage. With most of the Cannock routes serving the conurbation and a mixed urban and rural landscape in a working class district this should be good bus country but I expect it doesn't want to have to deal with Staffordshire County Council who admittedly is strapped cash but also seems to think everyone should own a car and add to the pollution and congestion we all so much enjoy.

Paul James Leyland Leopard

The greatest risk you take when you photograph moving buses is blurring. Sometimes it can give it a bit of character but usually it is annoying. If this was a common bus one of many like a Routemaster I would probably bin it but not only was this Willowbrook bodied Leopard seen in Nottingham looking smart in Paul James colours it was a bit of a one off and I don't expect there are many images of this one around.

West Yorkshire PTE Foden 7250 in Huddersfield

There have always been a few rare buses and I think just eight of these Fodens were built in the Seventies where they were trialed by big operators like the West Yorkshire PTE. It was one of a number of initiatives to break the Leyland stranglehold on the home bus industry but sadly  the Sandbach firm lost out to Dennis with it's Dominator and more significantly the MCW Metrobus. I didn't have much luck taking photos of many either perhaps because of the fleeting nature of my visits when at work or because they were out of use. So pleasingly this one turned up in the sunshine at Huddersfield.

PMT Rides Again 65027

A recent painting by First Potteries into the old BET Group PMT livery of the Sixties is this Scania Omnicity which has a pleasing authenticity about it as they old schemes just look wrong on certain buses. A regular haunt for it at the moment is the 101 Service from Hanley to Stafford.

917 UVT PMT Plaxton bodied Leyland Leopard

Scenes from old bus rallies are often interesting as not all the vehicles that attended have been saved for posterity. An example is this early Plaxton bodied 36ft Leyland Leopard one of five delivered to PMT in 1962. Had it been saved it might have been one of the earliest of these longer buses but  I may be wrong but I think the Edinburgh Alexander bodied 101 might take that honour as it was something of a trailblazer. I didn't know much about the preservation scene at this point and never realised that the buses would all gather somewhere at the end of the Birmingham Outer Circle 11 Run. Still I prefer to see them in action, it's just a pity I didn't manage to get a better shot..

Solent Blue Bristol VR ECW NEL116P in Southampton

Seen in Southampton and still in Hants and Dorset red this Bristol VR which had passed to Solent Blue was hardly living up to it's name.

Arhus Sporveje DAB 178

Most Danish bus fleets had a mix of Volvos and DAB buses but the country's second cityArhus prefered the latter as seen here in 1982.