David Slater (Spoddendale)'s photos

Summer 1967 - The Creams (Lancashire) Limited was a Yelloway subsidiary between .... and ..... and held the operators licence for the Rochdale to Llandudno North Wales service together with excursion licences from a number of originating points in the Rochdale, Oldham, Rossendale Valley and Calder Valley areas. There were normally three coaches lettered for the Creams fleet (which carried Yelloway colours) and these were of lightweight manufacture only being retained for one summer or maybe slightly longer. HDK 46E was a Plaxton Panorama bodied Bedford VAL purchased in 1967 and is seen on the parking ground outside the Rochdale garage.

December 1971 – Yelloway and Premier Travel had a close working relationship spanning many years notably on the joint services between the North-west and Cambridge/Clacton-on-Sea via the East Midlands. The AEC Reliance chassis served both companies well and this picture shows Yelloway HDK 508E, with Plaxton Panorama bodywork dating from 1967, standing on the parking ground along Penn Street, Rochdale with Premier Travel FCE 132D, with the Alexander ‘Y’ type coach bodywork favoured by Premier.

Friday 25 May 1973 – HDK 512E, a Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliance new in 1967, standing in the garage at Rochdale ready to work the first run of a brand new timing on the ‘Devonian’ service, an 1130 hrs Fridays only run from Rochdale to Bristol. Picking up at the usual service departure points as far as Altrincham (1255 hrs) it then ran via the M6 to pick-up at Newcastle-under-Lyme (1346 hrs). A 30 minute refreshment and toilet stop was scheduled at Hilton Park Service Area before the first set down point at Worcester (1537 hrs) and then Cheltenham (1613 hrs) where it connected with various 1630 departures of Associated Motorways. Leaving Cheltenham at 1620 it travelled via Gloucester (1639 hrs) arriving in Bristol at 1737 hrs. The following day the coach returned via the same route leaving Bristol at 0930 hrs, Cheltenham at 1100 hrs (with some connections arriving around 1015 hrs) reaching Rochdale at 1532 hrs. The timing wasn’t overly patronised although was useful in providing transport to Bristol for drivers involved in the night service driver changeovers which occurred there in the early hours of Saturday morning. There was a dedicated coach (‘paddy bus’) leaving earlier for Bristol which not only conveyed the drivers employed by Yelloway but also the drivers of coaches from hired operators. Sometimes though drivers got out of bed too late for that and therefore travelled down on the 1130 hrs service.

Friday 25 May 1973 – During the course of the day on Fridays all the vehicles detailed for the night services would see their oil and water checked and their destination blinds set for their assigned services. (Usually Inspector John Howard oversaw this process since Jack Hughes, the resident garage inspector, was down in Cheltenham over summer weekends). In the background WDK 650K (new 1972) has had its blinds set for the night south X35 service as far as Torquay. The X35 was jointly operated by Yelloway and Lancashire United Transport (LUT) operating via the small towns in the LUT heartland including Swinton, Tyldesley, Atherton and Leigh. It came about as a result of what was thought a most audacious licence application LUT made for a Swinton to Cheltenham service to which Yelloway naturally objected! Nearest the camera is HDK 512E (new 1967) poised to work the first run of a new timing on the ‘Devonian’ service. This was an 1130 hrs Rochdale to Bristol service which picked up at the usual departure points as far as Altrincham (1255 hrs) before running down the M6 to pick-up at Newcastle-under-Lyme (1346 hrs). A 30 minute refreshment and toilet stop was scheduled at Hilton Park Service Area before the first set down point at Worcester (1537 hrs) and then Cheltenham (1613 hrs) where it connected with various 1630 departures of Associated Motorways. Leaving Cheltenham at 1620 it travelled via Gloucester (1639 hrs) arriving in Bristol at 1737 hrs. The following day the coach returned via the same route leaving Bristol at 0930 hrs, Cheltenham at 1100 hrs (with some connections arriving around 1015 hrs) reaching Rochdale at 1532 hrs. The new timing wasn’t overly patronised although was useful in providing transport to Bristol for drivers involved in the night service driver changeovers which occurred there in the early hours of Saturday morning. There was a dedicated coach (‘paddy bus’) leaving earlier for Bristol which not only conveyed the drivers employed by Yelloway but also those of the hired companies coaches. Sometimes though drivers got out of bed too late for that and therefore travelled down on the 1130 hrs service. Tucked between them was Harrington Cavalier 7074 DK (new 1964) which in the past would have pounded the roads down to the south west of England but by now operating services closer to home.

Sunday 31 March 1968 - Yelloway entered a coach in the Blackpool Coach Rally most years which was usually driven by Bill Grundy. KDK 800F, a Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliance barely days old, is seen here during its rally participation. Leading up to the rally weekend Bill would painstakingly prepare the coach and on a number of occasions he won both driving prizes and coach presentation prizes in the event. I travelled back to Rochdale with him on the coach at the end of the proceedings on Sunday evening and I recall him being more than a little miffed that he had to take the coach down to the Yelloway Coach Station at Bloomfield Road to duplicate the X79 service back to Rochdale - he was aggrieved that this nice new coach was going to be debased by the general public - but after all it would have had to be sooner or later! But not that soon!!

June 1972 - Yelloway Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliances seen on the forecourt of the old Central Railway Station in Manchester. KDK 800F is the southbound Blackpool-Cambridge service vehicle (service 78) and FDK 418D has worked the Blackburn-Manchester feeder service (service 77). Yelloway used this location as its Manchester coach station for about three years (1970-1973) after the East Street Coach Station of LMS Coachways was closed for redevelopment and prior to the move into Chorlton Street bus and coach station. Along the edge of the site which bordered Lower Mosley Street (alongside KDK 800F) were former World War 2 air raid shelters which were suitably converted to become a booking office, an inspectors office, waiting room and general storage rooms (for signposts etc used during times of peak departures). The former roof span of the the old railway station is now part of the Manchester Central Convention Complex.

June 1972 - Yelloway Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliances seen on the forecourt of the old Central Railway Station in Manchester (now part of the Manchester Central Convention Complex). Right: KDK 800F is the southbound Blackpool-Cambridge service vehicle (service 78) and left is FDK 418D which had worked the Blackburn-Manchester feeder service (service 77). Yelloway used this location as its Manchester coach station for about three years (1970-1973) after the East Street Coach Station of LMS Coachways was closed for redevelopment and prior to the move into Chorlton Street bus and coach station. Along the edge of the site which bordered Lower Mosley Street (alongside KDK 800F) were former World War 2 air raid shelters which were suitably converted to become a booking office, an inspectors office, waiting room and general storage rooms (for signposts etc used during times of peak departures). The Midland Hotel forms a backcloth.

October 1972 - Yelloway KDK 800F seen in central Manchester when working the day north service up to Blackpool from Cambridge. One of the six Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliances added to the fleet in 1968, this particular coach was the entry in the Blackpool coach rally that year. Originally fitted with 45 reclining seats it was upseated to 49 non-recliners earlier than the others to become one of the regular service vehicles on the joint North-west to Cambridge and Clacton-on-Sea operated with Premier Travel.

February 1973 - Yelloway KDK 800F passes Lea Hall in Smith Street, Rochdale outward bound to Blackpool on service X79. One of the six Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliances added to the fleet in 1968, this particular coach was the entry in the Blackpool coach rally that year. Originally fitted with 45 reclining seats it was upseated to 49 non-recliners earlier than the others to become one of the regular service vehicles on the joint North-west to Cambridge and Clacton-on-Sea jointly operated with Premier Travel. Inspector John Howard is standing in the stepwell which narrows it down to being either the 0900 or 1345 service departure which had just left Weir Street Coach Station.

Sunday 20 August 1972 - Yelloway KDK 804F, a Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliance, seen in the evening sunshine during a refreshment break when working as a duplicate to the 1730 London to Rochdale Motorway Express service. London picking up points on this service were Kings Cross (1730) and Golders Green (1750) with no other timing points until Manchester (2155). The service coach then covered Miles Platting (untimed request halt), Hollinwood (2212), Oldham (2219), Shaw (2227), Newhey (2232), Milnrow (2235), Rochdale (Milnrow Road) (untimed request halt) and Rochdale, Weir Street Coach Station (2241). KDK 804F, bought in 1968 and thus one of the last batch of the Plaxton Panorama models, was working as far as Manchester and then running empty to Rochdale. The service coach, which is standing behind, was one of the Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied AEC Reliances acquired from 1969.

Saturday August 19 1972 - The cover of the Yelloway Lancashire-London services timetable extolled ‘Air conditioned reclining seat coach services’ although the definition of ‘air conditioned’ back then wasn’t what we know as air conditioning today. It was basically forced air ventilation. The Yelloway services competed with those of North Western (later to become National Travel and then National Express) which was without doubt the market leader on the routes. There were various reasons for this, the main one being that the Yelloway services used lesser known coach stations in Manchester and London (Kings Cross - where fewer connections to other destinations were available rather than Victoria used by all the big companies). Another was that the North Western services ran all year whereas those of Yelloway only ran in summer and at Christmas. The Yelloway coaches did have more luxurious seating and with such lightly loaded trips it was often quite possible to have a double seat to oneself in most cases on a Yelloway service. This shot, taken at Corley Service Area I seem to recall, shows Yelloway KDK 805F a Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliance’s seen alongside one of North Western’s Alexander ‘Y’ type bodied Leyland Leopards which had recently been painted into the then new National white coach livery. The two vehicles were working almost parallel services. That of Yelloway was the 1600 hrs service from Rochdale (departing from Manchester (Central Station Forecourt) at 1700) and due in Kings Cross at 2125 with that of North Western being the 1715 service from Manchester (Lower Mosley Street) arriving at Victoria at 2145.

July 1972 - Yelloway KDK 805F pulls out of the Weir Street garage and coach station at Rochdale on the 1600 Motorway Express service to London (Kings Cross). The arrival time would be 2125. Bought in 1968 the year the last Plaxton Panorama models entered the fleet, the more square shaped Plaxton Panorama Elite body was launched for the 1969 intake which were also to the longer permitted 12 metre length.

Summer 1972 - Yelloway KDK 805F (first registered on 1 May 1968) runs through the washing machine at the Rochdale coach station and garage after working the 0900 motorway express service from London (Kings Cross), due in Rochdale at 1411. At 1600 it would be ready to work the southbound run back to the capital. The company's Lancashire to London services ran between Easter and 31 October each year together with a ten day period over Christmas which included the 'flyer' services (as they were referred to by the employees). The 0700 (later to become 0730) service southbound and 1730 northbound ran daily and were more cost effective than the operation shown here which had been daily at their inception but were subsequently reduced to become Friday, Saturday and Sunday southbound returning northbound on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Saturday 19 September 1970 - During the 1960s Yelloway supplemented their group fleets with lightweight coaches of Ford (1961) or Bedford (1962-1969) manufacture which were only kept for 1 or 2 years. The final year of this practice saw MDK 994G added to the Yelloway fleet which was a Bedford VAM with Plaxton Panorama Elite bodywork (another similar coach, MDK 995G, worked for North Manchester). This was the first year of the Plaxton Panorama Elite model, a model which had less depth between the window line and the side moulding. Consequently the Yelloway fleetname would not fit and had to be positioned on the lower panels. A more squat fleetname was created so that future deliveries could carry the fleetname higher up on the body sides. MDK 994G sets out from Weir Street as a duplicate on the North Wales service and was showing ‘Colwyn Bay’ on the destination blind. Visible behind is a Hebble coach which had worked through from Halifax to Rochdale on Hebble’s own service carrying through passengers for North Wales. The coach had now become ‘On hire to Yelloway’ for the journey to Llandudno. (1970 was the first season that the North Wales service was licenced to Yelloway. It had until this time been licenced to The Creams (Lancashire) Limited). Vincent Reeves, my mentor in the Chart Room, is standing by the front of the parked Harrington Cavalier coaches watching the coaches pull out. He supervised the coach departures from Weir Street on Summer Saturday mornings although his main ‘day job’ was charting the bookings for the very popular North Wales and Blackpool services.

Summer 1969 - In readiness for operation on the overnight service from Rochdale to Paignton, one of the Yelloway mechanics (Ernie Nichol) was returning NDK 164G to the front row of the garage after a workshop check on this summer Friday afternoon. The coach was one of the newest in the fleet and it was normal practice that the newest coaches in the fleet were always assigned as the service vehicle on the ‘Devonian’ service. I was stood against the river wall in what was Weir Street itself . (Pity I didn't clean up the litter before I took the photograph!)

Monday 5 March 1973 - Yelloway NDK 165G, one of the 1969 intake of six Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied AEC Reliances (NDK 165-169G), this was the first year of this model and also the first year of 12 metre long coaches. It was stood on the fuel pumps at Weir Street, Rochdale in the company of Premier Travel Alexander ‘Y’ type bodied AEC Reliance LJE 991G which had unfortunately suffered a mechanical problem and stayed in Rochdale for a little longer than it would normally have.

April 1972 – Yelloway and Premier Travel had a close working relationship spanning many years notably on the joint services between the North-west and Cambridge/Clacton-on-Sea via the East Midlands. The AEC Reliance chassis served both companies well and this picture shows Yelloway NDK 166G (with Plaxton Panorama Elite body) stood alongside two visiting Premier Travel coaches. NMU 7 with Harrington Cavalier body is on the left and OVE 232J with Alexander ‘Y’ type body is in the centre. The picture was taken on the parking area between Weir Street and Penn Street (later renamed Ink Street when Penn Street was severed with the building of Rochdale’s new bus station - most original but ‘Penn’ was double ‘n’!). Having two Premier Travel coaches parked at Weir Street like this leads me to believe it would have been very close to the Easter weekend when service duplication took place more than usual. NDK 166G sports ‘South West Clipper’ and ‘Bradford’ on the destination blinds. Yelloway was a joint operator on the Yorkshire-West Country services.

January 1972 – Yelloway standardised on the AEC Reliance for its heavyweight chassis purchases from 1955. This line up includes its front line machines bought between 1969 and 1972. From right to left can be seen NDK 166G, NDK 165G, PDK 460H, NDK 164G, then two of the PDK-H series, one of the TDK-J series and two more of the NDK-G series. At the far end an earlier Harrington Cavalier bodied example can be seen. This splendid line up was set up for a photographer working for the ‘AEC Gazette’, the house magazine of AEC. The Cavalier wasn’t part of the official line up and was moved there after the photographer had got the more modern line up.