Diary 2023

Thursday 2 March 2023 (1105) – Brylaine Travel Limited of Wyberton near Boston, Lincolnshire YJ56 ATU seen in the village of Martin when working the 1000 service B5 from Boston to Lincoln. It is an Optare Tempo X1200 that had been new to Tanat Valley Coaches and Motors (Morris), Llanrhaeadr near Oswestry in October 2006. Before reaching Brylaine it had also been operated by Norfolk Green (Go West Travel) and Connexions Buses (Harrogate Coach Travel). Brylaine operates regular bus services radiating from Boston to Horncastle, Lincoln, Skegness, Spalding and Spilsby plus local bus services around Boston.

Saturday 25 March 2023 (1148) – Coach Services Limited of Thetford CS12 BUS, a Wright bodied Volvo B7RLE new in April 2012, seen heading away from RAF Honington when working the 1130 service 332 from Euston village to Bury St. Edmunds. (Seen from on board Mulleys Motorways YN11 AYB). Towards Bury St. Edmunds service 332 comprises the 0735 departure from Thetford (through Euston at 0745) followed by 0930, 1130 and 1430 departures from Euston. Services depart from Bury St. Edmunds to Euston at 0845, 1025 and 1325 followed by 1545 or 1600 and 1745 services via Euston running through to Thetford.

Wednesday 29 March 2023 (1341) – Alexander Dennis (ADL) built buses in Drummer Street, Cambridge. Whippet Coaches Limited WS344 (YX10 BDE) arriving on the 1225 service 18 from St. Neots travelling via Cambourne, Bourn, Comberton, Barton, Grantchester and Newnham. It is an Enviro200 bodied Dart new to First Centrewest as their DML44133 in March 2010, At the kerbside is Stagecoach East (Cambus) 10800 (SN66 VZY) which carries the green Park & Ride livery to operate service PR4 to Babraham Road. It is an Enviro400D MMC that was new in December 2016. Before arriving at Cambridge it was one of a number of buses temporarily assigned to Stagecoach Merseyside (Glenvale) to provide increased capacity during railway engineering works on the Merseyrail Wirral line.

Tuesday 11 April 2023 (1141) - Mulleys Motorways buses seen in St. Andrew’s Street North, Bury St. Edmunds. Heading towards the camera MX08 DFY heading to Bradfield St. George on service 377. It is an Optare Solo that had been new to J S Brunskill, Coundon, Bishop Auckland in March 2008. Heading away is GO07 DRM, a Scania K230UB OmniLink was new as a Scania demonstrator in July 2007 registered YN07 LHO. Following its demonstration period it first passed to Astons of Kempsey and then to DRM of Bromyard where it took on its present registration. After operation with DRM it passed to Shaws of Maxey before joining Mulleys during 2022.

Friday 14 April 2023 (1125) – Two of the seven buses (the third and fourth rides) that I rode on today seen at Dunstable. Left: I had arrived on Grant Palmer Passengers Services 709 (BU57 WAY) working the 1110 service C from Luton via the main Busway and was now continuing to Beecroft to the west of the town centre. It is a Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL new to Lothian Buses (866) in October 2007 registered SN57 GMU. Creatively Grant Palmer has applied registrations containing the letters BU5 and WAY to some of its vehicles operating on the Luton-Dunstable Busway network. Right: I then rode on Arriva The Shires 3894 (KX11 OSF) working the 1128 Busway service Z to Luton via Houghton Regis - a different and circuitous route which initially uses a different section of the Busway system to the north of Dunstable. It is a Wright Eclipse 2 bodied Volvo B7RLE new in August 2011. As I boarded the bus the driver made a point of telling me he didn’t like his photograph being taken. Note that he had pulled down the sun visor.

Monday 15 May 2023 (1056) – The first of the thirty MCV bodied Volvo BZL electric double deckers began to arrive at Stagecoach East during April 2023 and commenced regular service on the Cambridge Park & Ride services on Sunday 14 May. Fleet numbers are to be 86001-86030. 86002 (BV23 NRE) was seen in Downing Street working service PR3 to Trumpington. The five different Park & Ride services had each been operated by buses in their own individual colour. The new electric buses all wear the same livery with the colour of the site used for the characters in the destination display.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1102) – The annual Fenland Busfest is held in the town centre of Whittlesey occupying Broad Street and Market Street with the rally control/bus ride departures centred on the Market Place. Now operating with A2B Travel Group VDV 134S is a Bristol VR with Eastern Coachworks convertible open-top bodywork that was new to the Western National Omnibus Company Limited in November 1977 later being transferred to sister company the Southern National Omnibus Company Limited. Open top buses have been popular at holiday resorts for many years. Until the 1960s the buses were usually the oldest vehicles in the fleet which had already completed many years service as covered top buses operating normal services. In their twilight years some were converted to open top for summer service use carrying holidaymakers. For the greater part of the year they would be parked up in the garage not accruing too much expense. In the 1960s the use of convertible buses caught on where a vehicle could be used on all year round work. The roof modules were removed for the summer season being replaced with guardrail/windscreen modules. Note the loops on the roof edge above the first and fifth upper deck window pillars which were used to attach cables for the lifting process. Another tell tale sign is the seam beneath the upper deck windows that marks the lower edge of the roof module. On 9 August 1984 I, together with my wife and daughters during a family holiday in Dorset, travelled on this actual bus taking an exhilarating open top ride from Weymouth to Portland Bill. It was allocated to Weymouth garage. The bus still carries the name of poet and novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), who was born in Stinsford near Dorchester, and used Dorset as the setting for his works which include Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge. Nice to see it again!

Wednesday 21 June 2023 (1207) – Holkham Holiday Parks Limited (trading as Pinewoods) (part of Holkham Estates) MX72 HLD, is a Mellor Sigma 7 electric bus new in September 2022. Accommodation is for 14 seated and 8 standing passengers but if a wheelchair is carried this is 11 seated with 10 standing. The bus began operating a shuttle service in 2022 along Beach Road, Wells-next-the-Sea from a terminus near The Quay (Wells Town) to Wells Beach, a distance of about 0.9 miles/1.5 km. The service was introduced following the decision by Holkham Estates to close the Wells Harbour Railway, a 10.25 inch/260mm gauge miniature railway, which had operated the service from 1976 to 2021. The railway, which operated along the western side of Beach Road, was dismantled and sold to the Lappa Valley Railway in Cornwall at the end of the 2021 season. In this view the bus is travelling towards Wells Town and is seen from the embankment footpath alongside Beach Road. The railway track ran between the shrubbery and fence on the left of the photograph. Apparently, Beach Road is a private road owned by Holkham Estates and so a bus service registration is not required although the company and vehicles are covered by an operator’s licence.

Tuesday 11 July 2023 (1259) – A2B Travel Group YX11 AEA seen at the Beehive Retail Park, Cambridge when working service 114 (Chesterton-City Centre-Beehive-Romsey Town-Addenbrooke’s Hospital). Service 114 comprises three trips to/from Chesterton and one to/from the City Centre running to/from the Hospital operated between 0930 and 1415. This was the 1230 service from Chesterton due at Beehive at 1256 and at the Hospital at 1315. The bus is an Alexander Dennis Enviro200D that had been new to Abellio London in March 2011 as their 8552. It carries graphics for NHS fundraising supported by A2B.

Sunday 9 July 2023 (1200) – Vehicles on standby at Ely Station for rail replacement work Left: Belle Coaches (Shreeve) of Lowestoft LIL 9715, a Setra S315 GT-HD which had been new to Cropley Coaches, Fosdyke in March 2001 registered XSV 839. Later became Y997 YAV. Right: Central Connect (Galleon Travel 2009 Limited) 1611 (YX72 ONB), an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro 200D MMC new in October 2022.

Sunday 13 August 2023 – ‘The Big Bus Show’ Rally held at Stonham Barns. Preserved former First Bus 42905 (WX05 RVN) seen passing beneath the entrance arch for a road run. It is an Alexander Dennis Pointer bodied Dart SLF that had been new to First Somerset and Avon in March 2005. This body/chassis combination had originated as the Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart the companies now merged into Alexander Dennis.

Friday 8 September 2023 (1140) – Unō (Universitybus Limited) 306 (BV57 VHE) seen in St. Peter’s Street, St. Albans when working the 1039 service 602 from Hatfield to Watford. It is a Mercedes-Benz O 530 Citaro O 530 new in October 2007.

Friday 22 September 2023 (0912) – First Eastern Counties Buses (Ipswich Reds) 44518 (YX09 ACZ), an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro200 bodied Dart new in May 2009, seen passing the Shire Hall in Woodbridge. The Shire Hall was completed around 1575 and is a Grade 1 listed building. When first built the lower part was an open corn market with the upper covered part used for judicial purposes. During the early 1800s the archways of the lower open part were bricked up. The bus was working the 0830 service 70A from Ipswich which travels via the rural villages of Tuddenham St. Martin, Culpho and Grundisburgh. It was active on various ‘Village Links’ services on both days of my stay in Woodbridge. The tracker on the ‘Bus Times’ website showed the following: Thursday 21 September 1245 Ipswich-Little Bealings 1327 (59) 1400 Ipswich-Rushmere St. Andrew 1428 (59) 1429 Rushmere St. Andrew-Ipswich 1455 (59) 1500 Ipswich-Rushmere St. Andrew 1528 (59) 1540 Kesgrave High School-Rushmere St. Andrew 1607 (972) 1635 Woodbridge-Rock Barracks (Sutton Heath) 1647 (71) 1650 Rock Barracks (Sutton Heath)-Woodbridge 1706 (71) 1710 Woodbridge-Felixstowe 1758 (73) Friday 22 September 0715 Woodbridge-Ipswich 0819 (70) 0830 Ipswich-Woodbridge 0904 (70A) 0905 Woodbridge-Rock Barracks (Sutton Heath) 0917 (71) 0920 Rock Barracks (Sutton Heath)-Woodbridge 0936 (71) 0940 Woodbridge-Old Felixstowe 1040 (73) 1042 Old Felixstowe-Woodbridge 1138 (73) 1145 Woodbridge-Ipswich 1219 (70A) 1315 Ipswich-Woodbridge 1430 (79) 1435 Woodbridge-Rock Barracks (Sutton Heath) 1447 (71) 1450 Rock Barracks (Sutton Heath)-Woodbridge 1506 (71) 1540 Kesgrave High School-Ipswich (St. Augustine’s) 1557 (979) 1710 Ipswich-Woodbridge 1744 (70A) 1745 Woodbridge- Orford 1821 (71) (terminated at Sudbourne Park Fiveways at 1821)

Wednesday 18 October 2023 (1101) – The ‘Universal’ bus service in Cambridge, provided by the University of Cambridge and operated by Whippet Coaches, had originally commenced in July 2016. In September 2023 it was re-launched with the delivery to Whippet Coaches of nine Mellor Sigma 12 electric buses. The nine buses carry fleet numbers WG112-120 with registrations MX23 LCU/V/W; MX23 LRO/U/V/Y/Z/LSC although cherished registrations were soon applied to WG112 (UN14 BUS) and WG113 (UN14 CAM). WG120 (MX23 LSC) is in Silver Street working service U2 to Eddington from the Biomedical Campus (a large site to the south of the city which houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a growing number of medical institutions). This was the 1016 departure running 22 minutes late. It should have been here at 1039.

Saturday 25 November 2023 (0951) – On board Mulleys Motorways YJ57 YDB in Severn Road, Bury St. Edmunds when working the 0940 Bury St. Edmunds town service M44 serving the Mildenhall Road and Howard housing estates. It is a 10.2 metre long Optare Solo new to Peterborough City Council (#600) in December 2007.