Eastern Counties TEX 405R and BVF 667J in Mildenhall - 25 July 1982

Sunday 25 July 1982 - The Eastern Counties Omnibus Company outstationed two buses in Mildenhall to operate services into Bury St. Edmunds six days a week. Normally the pair remained parked on Sundays when no services ran. However, for a few summers during the early 1980s the company utilised the buses on Sundays for an excursion type service operating to Felixstowe as service X12. This view shows the two outstationed vehicles loading for the seaside at King Street, both are Eastern Coachworks bodied Bristols. The double decker a Bristol VR is VR195 (TEX 405R) (new May 1977) and the single decker a Bristol RELL, RL504 (BVF 667J) (new in June 1971).

The folks sat ignoring the buses were waiting for transport elsewhere, they had been out all night. I recalled there had been some musical concert at Mildenhall Stadium the previous night and with the power of the Internet more than 30 years later I was able to establish that it was an East Anglia Rock and Blues Festival event.

This view, taken from Recreation Way, shows a little more of the layout of the lay-by area at King Street. Note that the bus shelter had not yet been constructed. The entrance to the car park is at the far end of the wall close to what is now the Abbotts Estate Agents building and near the case that housed a plan of the town.