David Slater (Spoddendale)'s photos

Sept 1973 - One of the Yelloway coaches had broken down on the London service the previous day and had been substituted by Grey-Green Coaches JHV 498D, a 1966 Harrington Grenadier bodied Leyland Leopard. The coach returned to London on the 0920 service via Derby etc driven by Ray Slater (no relation to me). Ray was at the wheel completing his paperwork at before setting out from Weir Street.

July 1972 – Yelloway and the London based Ewer Group also worked together very closely over the years. (Charting for bookings made by southern area booking agents were charted by their staff at the Stamford Hill offices. There was a dedicated telephone line which was answered ‘Yelloway’). Passengers from the north heading for the Kent and Sussex seaside resorts would connect with Ewer Group services in London and in the 1960s this led to formal through services being established from the north to Margate/Ramsgate and to Brighton/Eastbourne operating Friday overnight south/Saturday daytime north. Yelloway normally covered the runs but at busy times Ewer Group vehicles would come up to Rochdale to cover duplicates. Orange Luxury Coaches Limited JHV 499D, a 1966 Harrington Grenadier bodied Leyland Leopard, was parked on spare ground in Penn Street (between Smith Street and Baillie Street) late Friday afternoon before working one of the Friday night south duplicates.

July 1972 - Parked on spare ground in Penn Street, Rochdale (between Smith Street and Baillie Street) were two Ewer Group coaches ready to work the joint Yelloway-Ewer holiday night services to the south coast. Left is Orange Luxury Coaches JRK 622K, a Plaxton Panorama Elie bodied Leyland Leopard (new 1971/1972), with destination blind set for Eastbourne and also carrying a Brighton and Eastbourne window label. The Brighton/Eastbourne service began in the summer of 1969. The Charting for the service was given to me and was therefore my first ‘baby’ overseen by Vincent Reeves. On the right was Birch Brothers BUL 61H, a Seddon Pennine also with Plaxton Panorama Elite body (new 1969/1970). Ewer had taken over the coaching activities of Birch in the meantime and this coach remained in the Birch livery. (On the extreme left edge of the photograph is a Duple bodied Bedford SB5 operated by Tommy King, a local taxi proprietor. The coach (6475 DK) had been new to Yelloway in 1964 and Tommy usually parked it on this spare ground).

Sept 1972 – Healing’s Coaches of Chadderton or Oldham HDK 217E, swinging into Smith Street from Penn Street as it left the Yelloway garage on hire to Yelloway working an afternoon excursion possibly to Chester Zoo. The Plaxton Panorama bodied Bedford VAM had been new to Bill Pickup of Norden in February 1967 another operator that regularly worked on hire to Yelloway. Looks like a Plaxton bodied Bedford VAL in the background operated by Church Inn Garage (Davies and Mawson) of Little Hulton.

Summer 1966 - This Hebble coach isn’t actually part of the direct Yelloway story but is included here to show the Kelsall and Kemp building which would later be bought by Yelloway and converted into offices. The travel bureau would be on the ground floor and the Chart Room above it. Under the ownership of Kelsall and Kemp there was always a Yelloway neon sign with an arrow pointing towards the coach station (to the left of the rear end of the coach between the ground floor and first floor windows). The large illuminated Woodbine cigarette advert disappeared a long while before the other changes. The ‘shop window’ of the Yelloway Travel Bureau is visible between the coach and the lamp post and the entrance door is to the left of those windows. And what of the coach? It is Hebble Motor Services DJX 76D, a 1966 Alexander Y type bodied AEC Reliance, which had just arrived from Great Yarmouth as a linking of Hebble’s Great Yarmouth-Halifax and Halifax-Rochdale services - through workings were operated at peak holiday times. Quite probably most of the passengers had booked their tickets at the Yelloway office as Yelloway was Hebble’s main agent in Rochdale.

Summer 1965 or 1966 – One of the local operators regularly hired by Yelloway was Norman Fletcher and Sons. This Harrington Crusader bodied Bedford SB8 (401 DLD) had been new to Orange Luxury Coaches of London (one of the Ewer Group companies) in March 1962 and is fitted with their trademark roof mounted destination boxes.

June 1975 – Norman Fletcher and Sons CDK 715L, a Duple Dominant bodied Bedford YRT new in June 1973, seen at their premises in Cinnamon Street, Rochdale.

June 1975 – Norman Fletcher and Sons RDK 8H, a Duple Viceroy bodied Ford R192 new in June 1970, seen at their premises in Cinnamon Street, Rochdale. This coach often came on hire to Yelloway to operate excursions and Blackpool service duplicates.

June 1975 – Norman Fletcher and Sons, like many small operators at the time, took delivery of the flamboyant Caetano bodied coaches entering Britain in the 1970s. WDK 261K seen at their premises in Cinnamon Street, Rochdale. The chassis was a Ford R226 new in March 1972. In later years it became a caravan and was seen around North Wales.

One Saturday evening in July 1973 Northern General Transport 114L (NCN 814L) appeared at Weir Street, Rochdale and was seen here on the fuel pumps. It had Torquay on the destination blind and I believe it had been used as a duplicate on the northbound Yelloway service and was then going to somehow run back to it’s native area of north-east of England. It was a Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied Bristol RELH6G just a couple or so months old new in May 1973.

April 1972 - I don’t know the reason why North Western Road Car Co Ltd 915 (VDB 915) appeared in the ‘top shop’ of the Yelloway garage at Weir Street, Rochdale. North Western was a joint operator on the Blackpool services but their vehicles didn’t work on the X79 and X89 services through Rochdale as a rule. I suspect it was on a private hire job in the vicinity when some mechanical problem occurred. An Alexander bodied Leyland Leopard new in May 1962.

Saturday .. Sept 1973 – Two very rare hired vehicles seen at Rochdale operated by PMT (Potteries Motor Traction Co Ltd). 916 (916 UVT), a 1962 Leyland Leopard with Plaxton Panorama body unusually equipped with a destination blind box (which I managed to almost chop off the picture). This particular Saturday was the start of the Rochdale late summer holiday week which, I believe, coincided the end of the Potteries late summer holiday week. PMT would have sent the vehicles empty from their home depot to North Wales to carry the returning holidaymakers. To help defray the cost, and doubtless to solve a problem for Yelloway who would have been using every possible hired coach in the area, they came empty to Rochdale to work duplicates as far as Rhyl.

Saturday .. Sept 1973 – Two very rare hired vehicles seen at Rochdale operated by PMT (Potteries Motor Traction Co Ltd). 1038 (AEH 138C), was a 1965 AEC Reliance with Weymann dual purpose bodywork. Alongside is 916 (916 UVT), a 1962 Leyland Leopard with Plaxton Panorama body unusually equipped with a destination blind box. This particular Saturday was the start of the Rochdale late summer holiday week which, I believe, coincided the end of the Potteries late summer holiday week. PMT would have sent the vehicles empty from their home depot to North Wales to carry the returning holidaymakers. To help defray the cost, and doubtless to solve a problem for Yelloway who would have been using every possible hired coach in the area, they came empty to Rochdale to work duplicates as far as Rhyl.

Summer 1963 or 1964 – I think it would be 1964 and one of my earliest Yelloway photographs which shows that a varied fleet was operated at this time. Seen under the large Yelloway sign on the front of the coach station and garage at Weir Street, Rochdale are (from right to left): one of the first batch of the shorter 30 foot long Harrington Cavalier bodied AEC Reliances bought in 1961 (YDK 585-590). (From 1962 the longer 36 foot model became standard and the front wheels on those were set further back); a Duple bodied Bedford SB5 (the 1963 and 1964 Bedfords carried this style of body. The 1963 coaches were 4229/4230 DK. The Creams (Lancashire) Limited, a Yelloway subsidiary, operated 4227/4228 DK. In 1964 Yelloway operated 6475/6476 DK and Creams 6477 DK). Under the magnifier it could be 6477 DK which is seen here (new 1964); another Harrington Cavalier; and a Duple Donnington (one of four such coaches new in 1960 registered WDK 950-953). On the extreme edge of the photograph is a Burlingham Seagull. At this time, the first Plaxton bodied coaches (on Bedford SB5 chassis) were operated as were the first of the six wheel Bedford VAL model. The low buildings behind the Duple Donnington were subsequently demolished to provide more covered parking for the coaches.

Saturday 19 September 1970 - A line up of Yelloway Harrington Cavalier bodied AEC Reliances at Rochdale. Weather looks a little murky today. This being the third Saturday in September it would be the last weekend of the summer season when many of the summer weekend holiday services would come to an end notably on the south west and south coast services. The road services licences defined the period of operation as the 'Friday preceeding the Spring Bank Holiday' until the third Saturday in September.

August 1973 – A line up of Harrington Cavalier bodied AEC Reliances in the corner of the Weir Street coach station and garage in Rochdale.

September 1972 - The interior of Yelloway 7076 DK seen on the parking ground along Penn Street, Rochdale. The Harrington Cavalier body was purchased by the company for 5 years and provided a very comfortable travelling environment. For most of its new heavyweight coaches Yelloway would fit Chapman reclining seats with one row less than if conventional rigid coach seats were fitted. Thus in this 36 feet long coach, which was capable of accommodating 49 rigid seats, only 45 Chapman seats were fitted. One feature which has thankfully become redundant nowadays are the ash trays mounted in the rear of each seat. Not only did copious amounts of dust and ash float around during the emptying process but they were also used by passengers to dispose of the remains of the soft fruit conveyed by them on their journeys. A ‘tee key’ or ‘budget key’ was a useful device to rake out the fag ends and debris from the ash trays when cleaning a coach. To nicer things now and a comment on the moquette pattern which Yelloway chose. This was quite easy on the eye and not as garish as some modern patterns which emerged later.

Saturday 19 September 1970 - Yelloway acquired the business of North Manchester Motor Coaches in 1968. Initially a coach (GNE 941E) which had originally been in the fleet of the acquired business was leased rather than purchased to cover the NMMC work. Subsequently YDK 587, which had been delivered to Yelloway in 1961, was transferred to the NMMC subsidiary and it is shown here carrying North Manchester fleetnames. As this was a one off rather than have transfers made, a local signwriter (Charlie Dalgetty) painted the letters after tracing the outline from GNE 941E. YDK 587 was heading out of the Weir Street garage in Rochdale to take up duties on the North Manchester to Blackpool service. From 1961 Yelloway chose the Harrington Cavalier body for its heavyweight coaches, AEC Reliances of course. 1961 was the only year the short length model was purchased because the law was changed which allowed 36 feet long vehicles and from 1962 the longer type became the norm.