Yelloway: Companies that worked with Yelloway

Summer 1966 (I think) – Another regular Devon based operator hired by Yelloway for many years was Greenslades Tours. This line up of four Greenslades AEC Reliances was taken on the Rochdale Corporation Transport parking ground during a Saturday afternoon. The coaches had worked north on the Friday night northservice and would return on the Saturday night south service. Yelloway had an arrangement to park vehicles on this site at certain times because the garage was often full or, in this case, to keep the garage clear for its coach loading and departure activities. Harrington bodywork is carried by three of the coaches, the third from the left is by Duple.

August 1973 – By this time Greenslades had become part of the National Bus Company and their traditional fawn and green livery had disappeared being replaced by the all-over white format. YTX 322H was parked up for the day at Rochdale having worked on hire to Yelloway duplicating the Friday night northbound service from Devon to then duplicate the Saturday night southbound service. The destination blind was amusing – perhaps this Devon based driver thought that Rochdale was ‘Lands End’ or ‘world’s end’!! A Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied Leyland Leopard new to Rhondda Transport in 1970.

Summer 1966 (I think) – A line up of three Plaxton bodied coaches of Wallace Arnold Tours (Devon) Limited parked on a summer Saturday together with a Weymann bodied AEC Regent V of Rochdale Corporation Transport. The coaches had worked on the Yelloway Friday night northbound service from Torquay and would return on the Saturday night southbound service. The road along the front of the picture is Smith Street and Penn Street is alongside the RCT bus. This parking ground became part of the then new bus station in the 1970s which has itself been demolished and redeveloped.

Saturday x August 1973 - Two Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied coaches in the Yelloway bay at Chorlton Street coach station Manchester. On the left is Yelloway PDK 463H, an AEC Reliance, the ‘service motor’ on the joint Yelloway/Associated Motorways Rochdale to Ilfracombe direct service. On the right is Wallace Arnold (Devon) Limited WUM 520L, a Leyland Leopard, which was loading as a duplicate to the Yelloway 0830 Rochdale-Paignton motorway express service. This express left Rochdale one hour later than the normal daily service picking up as far as Altrincham then running non-stop (except for refreshment/toilet stops) to Exeter, Newton Abbot, Torquay and Paignton. On paper leaving Rochdale one hour later, it arrived in Devon 15 minutes earlier.

September 1975 - 23 Dec 1974 – The immaculate coaches owned by W & B Pickup of Norden, near Rochdale were regularly seen working for Yelloway although this picture was not taken when on Yelloway work. CDK 177L, a Duple Dominant bodied Bedford, is seen on the Esplanade in Rochdale. The Pickup’s (like Abbott’s of Blackpool) always chose registration numbers ending in the lucky ‘7’. The observant may realise that the registration number of this coach followed on from the batch of coaches delivered to Yelloway as CDK 171-176L.

June 1975 – The immaculate coaches owned by W & B Pickup of Norden, near Rochdale were regularly seen working for Yelloway although this picture was not taken when on Yelloway work. HVM 357N, a Duple Dominant bodied Bedford, is seen on the Esplanade in Rochdale. The Pickup’s (like Abbott’s of Blackpool) always chose registration numbers ending in the lucky ‘7.

Monday 23 December 1974 – The immaculate coaches owned by W & B Pickup of Norden, near Rochdale were regularly seen working for Yelloway although this picture was not taken when on Yelloway work. Bill and Beryl Pickup secured separate contracts to run shuttle services from The Esplanade in Rochdale to the Tesco store at Sudden and to the Asda store at Castleton. NDK 67G was a very powerful sounding Leyland Leopard with Duple Commander bodywork which I understand was diverted from an order placed by Lathkill Coaches of Monyash, Derbyshire.

Monday 23 December 1974 – The immaculate coaches owned by W & B Pickup of Norden, near Rochdale were regularly seen working for Yelloway although this picture was not taken when on Yelloway work. Bill and Beryl Pickup secured separate contracts to run shuttle services from The Esplanade in Rochdale to the Tesco store at Sudden and to the Asda store at Castleton. NDK 67G was a very powerful sounding Leyland Leopard with Duple Commander bodywork, which I understand was diverted from an order placed by Lathkill Coaches of Monyash, Derbyshire.

Monday 23 Dec 1974 – W and B Pickup of Norden, Rochdale SDK 927J, a Duple Viceroy bodied Bedford YRQ, seen on The Esplanade in Rochdale working on the Asda shuttle contract. For a number of years the Pickup’s ran shoppers shuttle contracts on behalf of Tesco (to the store at Sudden) and Asda (at Castleton). In the 1970s their business expanded into the carriage of garments for the clothing and retail trade under the name of ‘Top Gear Transport’ – a clever play on the ‘gear’ for both clothing and transport created long before the BBC used the name! – and also a travel agency named ‘Top Gear Worldwide Travel’. Their coaches, always very well turned out, also became branded with the name.

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.

September 1973 – A poorer than poor photograph but I wanted to share it. 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 Harrington Grenadier bodied Leyland Leopard. The coach returned to London on the 0920 service via Derby etc.

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.

July 1973 - Mostonian Coaches was the owner/driver business of Derek Painter and, as far as I can recall, only operated one full sized coach at a time during the late 1960s/early 1970s. The business still exists today run by the Painter family. This Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied AEC Reliance was seen in Rhyl having worked as a duplicate to the North Manchester Motor Coaches North Wales service. The red and white hire label, in the same design style as those used by Yelloway, was carried. RRV 604J had been new to Byng’s of Portsmouth and the lettering used by Byng’s on the sides had been modified for Derek. On the hidden side the words were in English, ‘Mostonian Coaches, Manchester, England’ but on the side visible here the words were in French and read ‘Mostonian Autocars, Manchester, Angleterre' Lettering not wasted really because Derek did do some continental work. In the side lockers he had a full tool kit and important spare parts all nicely laid out on panels and mounted with spring clips.

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.