Yelloway: Companies that worked with Yelloway

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.

July 1972 - This Duple Alpine Continental bodied AEC Reliance (3573 RU) of Shamrock and Rambler had arrived in Rochdale one Friday evening in July 1972 from Bournemouth. It would return home as a duplicate on either the Friday night south or Saturday day south back to its home town - a hire arranged by Associated Motorways, the joint operator with Yelloway of the Rochdale to Bournemouth express service. New in April 1963. The coach is paused on Penn Street having just come from the Yelloway garage having crossed Smith Street which runs across the photograph behind the coach. The portion of Penn Street in the background was later renamed Ink Street. The Slubbers Arms, popular with the coach drivers as the nearest 'watering hole' to the garage after they left work is on Smith Street behind the billboard.

July 1973 (a Saturday evening) - Quite a rare visitor indeed on a service through Rochdale was this Western SMT Alexander bodied ‘Y’ type coach which had been provided by Ribble as a last minute X79 duplicate. A very, very poor shot I admit because it was taken in the darkness of the Yelloway garage at Weir Street just before the coach went on its way with no time for a proper picture – with barely time to run to my desk to grab the camera. Ribble and WSMT worked their joint Lancashire-Glasgow services, their drivers routinely driving each others coaches. The coaches were often utilised as required when they were in the other partners possession which is what brought this vehicle quite unexpectedly to Rochdale. Hubert Allen’s white Daimler car can be seen in the background – he always parked in this spot. Just beyond that was the passenger waiting room the seats of which came from vehicles from a bygone age. The evening sunshine lights up what would be a deserted ‘top office’ (The General Office). The staff here (typists, wages, accounts etc) didn’t work after lunch on Saturdays. A further link between Yelloway and Western SMT was that the WSMT office at 55 St. Enoch Square in Glasgow was the principal Scottish booking agent for Yelloway issuing tickets for passengers travelling between Scotland and the South West of England via Manchester using the Ribble/WSMT service from Glasgow to Manchester where they then connected to the Yelloway 'Devonian' service.

Monday 5 March 1973 – Tom King, a Rochdale taxi owner, acquired 6475 DK a Duple bodied Bedford SB5 which had been new to Yelloway’s subsidiary company, The Creams (Lancashire) Limited, in 1964. It was seen parked on spare ground on Penn Street. A former Rochdale Corporation Weymann bodied AEC Regent V, still in corporation colours but now owned by SELNEC plus another former Rochdale Corporation bus already painted in the orange and white livery of SELNEC, can be seen on the bus park behind.

July 1972 - Blue Line (Murray) was based close to the Yelloway Coach Station on Bloomfield Road in Blackpool and was often pressed into service at short notice by the Blackpool Inspectors when duplicates were required. WFR 729K, a Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied Bedford YRQ new in April 1972, sets out from Weir Street as a duplicate to the 1345 hrs Blackpool bound service having worked in from Blackpool on the 0930 hrs departure.

Easter Sunday 26 March 1967 (1345) - One of the most exotic coach hires made by Yelloway occurred on Easter Sunday in 1967 when this left hand drive German registered Mercedes-Benz O 302 coach ran as a duplicate on the 1345 Rochdale-Blackpool service X79! The coach, operated by Jakob Fichtenkamm of Rheinzabern, Germany was GER-EM 40 - the ‘GER’ letters in the registration plate indicating the plate was issued in the town of Germersheim which is about 10 miles from Rheinzabern. This coach became a regular caller at the Weir Street garage in the late 1960s/early 1970s when it brought parties to Whitworth from their Rheinland twin town of Kandel. Help and assistance was provided to the drivers by Yelloway when required through the auspices of Mrs Holt (of the former Whitworth based Charles Holt and Sons Limited coach and haulage business). On one occasion the coach was scratched along the gold line by a vandal with anti-German feelings. Cyril Howarth and the Yelloway bodyshop staff did an expert job in rectifying the problem in a very short space of time. The heavy demand for seats on the Blackpool service over this sunny Easter resulted in the coach being used for a direct full load between the two Yelloway coach stations at Weir Street, Rochdale and Bloomfield Road, Blackpool thus avoiding any passengers having to be unloaded on the ‘wrong side’ and on a public road. The passengers seemed overjoyed at the experience of travelling on what was, it must be said, seen as a highly sophisticated vehicle at the time coupled with the novelty of it being a foreign left hand drive coach. These very grainy black and white pictures show the event and also show the deserted garage when almost every Yelloway coach was out at work – just what Hubert Allen wanted! Really this is the next to the last picture in the set but shown first to capture the flavour of the moment as the coach departed. One of the Yelloway Duple Donnington bodied AEC Reliances (of which I never took a proper photo!) waits beyond to follow the convoy being led by the Yelloway service coach.

Easter Sunday 26 March 1967 (1330) - One of the most exotic coach hires made by Yelloway occurred on Easter Sunday in 1967 when this left hand drive German registered Mercedes-Benz O 302 coach ran as a duplicate on the 1345 Rochdale-Blackpool service X79! The coach, operated by Jakob Fichtenkamm of Rheinzabern, Germany was GER-EM 40 - the ‘GER’ letters in the registration plate indicating the plate was issued in the town of Germersheim which is about 10 miles from Rheinzabern. This coach became a regular caller at the Weir Street garage in the late 1960s/early 1970s when it brought parties to Whitworth from their Rheinland twin town of Kandel. Help and assistance was provided to the drivers by Yelloway when required through the auspices of Mrs Holt (of the former Whitworth based Charles Holt and Sons Limited coach and haulage business). On one occasion the coach was scratched along the gold line by a vandal with anti-German feelings. Cyril Howarth and the Yelloway bodyshop staff did an expert job in rectifying the problem in a very short space of time. The heavy demand for seats on the Blackpool service over this sunny Easter resulted in the coach being used for a direct full load between the two Yelloway coach stations at Weir Street, Rochdale and Bloomfield Road, Blackpool thus avoiding any passengers having to be unloaded on the ‘wrong side’ and on a public road. The passengers seemed overjoyed at the experience of travelling on what was, it must be said, seen as a highly sophisticated vehicle at the time coupled with the novelty of it being a foreign left hand drive coach. These very grainy black and white pictures were taken a few weeks before my seventeenth birthday!

Easter Sunday 26 March 1967 (1330) - One of the most exotic coach hires made by Yelloway occurred on Easter Sunday in 1967 when this left hand drive German registered Mercedes-Benz O 302 coach ran as a duplicate on the 1345 Rochdale-Blackpool service X79! The coach, operated by Jakob Fichtenkamm of Rheinzabern, Germany was GER-EM 40 - the ‘GER’ letters in the registration plate indicating the plate was issued in the town of Germersheim which is about 10 miles from Rheinzabern. This coach became a regular caller at the Weir Street garage in the late 1960s/early 1970s when it brought parties to Whitworth from their Rheinland twin town of Kandel. Help and assistance was provided to the drivers by Yelloway when required through the auspices of Mrs Holt (of the former Whitworth based Charles Holt and Sons Limited coach and haulage business). On one occasion the coach was scratched along the gold line by a vandal with anti-German feelings. Cyril Howarth and the Yelloway bodyshop staff did an expert job in rectifying the problem in a very short space of time. The heavy demand for seats on the Blackpool service over this sunny Easter resulted in the coach being used for a direct full load between the two Yelloway coach stations at Weir Street, Rochdale and Bloomfield Road, Blackpool thus avoiding any passengers having to be unloaded on the ‘wrong side’ and on a public road. The passengers seemed overjoyed at the experience of travelling on what was, it must be said, seen as a highly sophisticated vehicle at the time coupled with the novelty of it being a foreign left hand drive coach. These very grainy black and white pictures were taken a few weeks before my seventeenth birthday!

Easter Sunday 26 March 1967 (1330) - One of the most exotic coach hires made by Yelloway occurred on Easter Sunday in 1967 when this left hand drive German registered Mercedes-Benz O 302 coach ran as a duplicate on the 1345 Rochdale-Blackpool service X79! The coach, operated by Jakob Fichtenkamm of Rheinzabern, Germany was GER-EM 40 - the ‘GER’ letters in the registration plate indicating the plate was issued in the town of Germersheim which is about 10 miles from Rheinzabern. This coach became a regular caller at the Weir Street garage in the late 1960s/early 1970s when it brought parties to Whitworth from their Rheinland twin town of Kandel. Help and assistance was provided to the drivers by Yelloway when required through the auspices of Mrs Holt (of the former Whitworth based Charles Holt and Sons Limited coach and haulage business). On one occasion the coach was scratched along the gold line by a vandal with anti-German feelings. Cyril Howarth and the Yelloway bodyshop staff did an expert job in rectifying the problem in a very short space of time. The heavy demand for seats on the Blackpool service over this sunny Easter resulted in the coach being used for a direct full load between the two Yelloway coach stations at Weir Street, Rochdale and Bloomfield Road, Blackpool thus avoiding any passengers having to be unloaded on the ‘wrong side’ and on a public road. The passengers seemed overjoyed at the experience of travelling on what was, it must be said, seen as a highly sophisticated vehicle at the time coupled with the novelty of it being a foreign left hand drive coach. This is the scene that any coach operator must have relished to see an empty garage on a key holiday day or during the summer 'Wakes Weeks'. After the departure of the Blackpool service there was just one lone Harrington Cavalier bodied AEC Reliance remaining on standby for whatever need may arise. These very grainy black and white pictures were taken a few weeks before my seventeenth birthday!

Easter Sunday 26 March 1967 (1345) - One of the most exotic coach hires made by Yelloway occurred on Easter Sunday in 1967 when this left hand drive German registered Mercedes-Benz O 302 coach ran as a duplicate on the 1345 Rochdale-Blackpool service X79! The coach, operated by Jakob Fichtenkamm of Rheinzabern, Germany was GER-EM 40 - the ‘GER’ letters in the registration plate indicating the plate was issued in the town of Germersheim which is about 10 miles from Rheinzabern. This coach became a regular caller at the Weir Street garage in the late 1960s/early 1970s when it brought parties to Whitworth from their Rheinland twin town of Kandel. Help and assistance was provided to the drivers by Yelloway when required through the auspices of Mrs Holt (of the former Whitworth based Charles Holt and Sons Limited coach and haulage business). On one occasion the coach was scratched along the gold line by a vandal with anti-German feelings. Cyril Howarth and the Yelloway bodyshop staff did an expert job in rectifying the problem in a very short space of time. The heavy demand for seats on the Blackpool service over this sunny Easter resulted in the coach being used for a direct full load between the two Yelloway coach stations at Weir Street, Rochdale and Bloomfield Road, Blackpool thus avoiding any passengers having to be unloaded on the ‘wrong side’ and on a public road. The passengers seemed overjoyed at the experience of travelling on what was, it must be said, seen as a highly sophisticated vehicle at the time coupled with the novelty of it being a foreign left hand drive coach. The Mercedes coach is seen leaving the Yelloway garage following the service coach, a fairly new Plaxton Panorama bodied AEC Reliance (new 1966 or 1967),and was followed by one of the older Duple Donnington bodied AEC Reliances. After the service departure just one lone Harrington Cavalier bodied AEC Reliance (seen on the left) remained on site on standby for whatever need may arise. These very grainy black and white pictures were taken a few weeks before my seventeenth birthday!

Circa Summer 1969 - This is later colour photograph of the same coach parked on the former Rochdale Corporation (by now SELNEC) bus park close to the Yelloway garage in Rochdale. Mercedes-Benz O 302 registered GER-EM 40 operated by Jakob Fichtenkamm of Rheinzabern, Germany. The coach called in at the Yelloway garage from time to time during its visits to Whitworth when bringing visitors from the Rheinland twin town of Kandel. The ‘GER’ letters in the registration plate refer to the town of Germersheim - the main town about 10 miles from Rheinzabern - where the plate was issued.

Sept 1973 - It wasn’t just the German visitors which brought the Mercedes-Benz O 302 model to Weir Street. Central Motors of Burnley was a company from which Yelloway hired coaches at busy times. The company also had a number of travel agencies in the Burnley area which made ticket sales for Yelloway. OHG 418J, new in April 1971, was seen with a Yelloway hire label and a full load of passengers at Weir Street. A popular model of coach in Germany and some other European countries but there weren’t many of the type in service with British operators because of the higher purchase cost.

Barton Transport’s Blackpool-Manchester-Nottingham service X61 used two Yelloway locations as departure points. Starting from Bloomfield Road coach station in Blackpool it called at Central Station Forecourt, Manchester where 1205 (LAL 307K), a Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied Leyland Leopard new in April 1972, is seen. Just visible on the left of the picture is part of the former air raid shelters which Yelloway converted into a booking office, waiting room and inspector’s office. One of the departure barriers, of the type also found at Weir Street Coach Station in Rochdale, can be seen. ‘Please wait here for coach departure to’ and then there was a slide in slot into which destination boards would go. Regarding the Barton Nottingham-Blackpool service, this had originally been operated by Robin Hood (Coaches) Limited, a company Barton acquired in 1961. The summer service for 1968 had daily departures from Nottingham at 0815 and 1500 plus a 1715 departure on Fridays. From Blackpool there were daily departures at 0815 and 1435 plus a Sunday evening service at 1805. The timetable may be seen here: www.ipernity.com/doc/davidslater-spoddendale/37286308/in/album/729781 The winter service was a curious one in that it operated from Nottingham at 0930 on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and from Blackpool at 0930 on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. The arrival time was 1600. A copy of the Robin Hood timetable for the winter period 1959-1960 may be seen at: www.ipernity.com/doc/davidslater-spoddendale/37286302/in/album/729781 The Barton winter 1967-1968 service X61 had the same departure times on the same days as when licenced to Robin Hood although the journey time by now was 63 minutes less (arriving 1457). This was achieved by a reduced refreshment break and tightening up of some point to point running times. One of the X61 drivers lived in Blackpool. He (Ken, featured in this photograph) and his wife (Marjorie, who was employed by Yelloway in the ticket office at their Blackpool coach station) were originally from the Nottingham area. In summer Ken worked the 0815 Blackpool-Nottingham and 1500 Nottingham-Blackpool journeys (although I don’t know how his rest day was covered). As may be seen from the winter service, the format was a fitting operation when using a driver based at Nottingham (One coach and one driver driving northbound Thursday/southbound Friday; northbound Saturday/southbound Sunday; and northbound Monday/southbound Tuesday with no service Wednesday). That would mean drivers staying overnight in Blackpool on Thursday, Saturday and Monday evenings. However, since Ken was a resident of Blackpool it made for a strange working week for him. He would be at home on Thursday night then drive south Friday staying overnight in Nottingham. On Saturday he would drive north and be at home Saturday night. On Sunday he would drive south and stay overnight in Nottingham. On Monday he would drive north and be at home Monday night. He would then drive south on Tuesday and stay overnight on two successive nights (Tuesday and Wednesday) taking his day off in Nottingham on the Wednesday. Finally he would return north on Thursday to be at home Thursday night. One day off and four nights out per week - comparable I suppose with the life tour drivers might have. He was however able to stay with family on the nights out.