Croot (DPC Coaches) passing through Red Lodge – 20 Aug 1988 (71-3)

Saturday 20 August 1988 – In the days when the A11 travelled straight through Red Lodge we see a trio of coaches from the West Midlands working holiday services to the Norfolk coast.

Leading is a Caetano Alpha bodied Bedford YMT of DPC Coaches (D P Croot) of Birmingham. It had been new to Davidson of Forfar, Scotland in March 1980. Immediately following is a Plaxton Supreme bodied Bedford (MJU 9W?) of Harry Brown and Sons Limited also of Birmingham. The third coach is an unidentified Plaxton Supreme.

Things have really changed here in the years since the Red Lodge by-pass opened in September 1991. The road width has been narrowed and wide cycle/footpaths created. Lots of residential homes now line the road. The building directly behind the leading coach, once the ‘Red Lodge Garage’, survived in a derelict state until circa 2020 but was then demolished. Note the ‘Happy Eater’ restaurant in the distance – no longer on the roadside to capture passing traffic it closed after the by-pass opened and became offices and that too was later demolished.