Richmond's 649 ETF, YER 469 (N994 EYA) and 316 UVX (J208 NNC) in Barley - 15 Feb 1998

Sunday 15 February 1998 (approx. 1130) – The garage of Richmond’s Coaches (H V Richmond Limited) stands in the main street in the Hertfordshire village of Barley. Across the road is the Fox and Hounds pub which has a rather unusual and elaborate gantry spanning the adjacent street (Church End) featuring characters relevant to the pub name. Barley is in the north-west corner of the county and within a short distance of the adjacent counties of Cambridgeshire and Essex. On the forecourt (at right) were Caetano Optimo bodied Toyota Coaster 649 ETF (new in May 1993 with that registration number) and two Van Hool Alizee bodied Volvo B10Ms YER 469 (new in May 1996 registered N994 EYA) and 316 UVX (new to Shearings in January 1992 as J208 NNC). They carried destination boards in readiness for the next morning’s work on the London commuter coach service R1 which Richmond’s operated for a time. This Monday to Friday service had two departures from Barley at 0548 and 0618 and each had a feeder service connecting with the main service at Stevenage bus station. The Optimo would quite likely have covered the feeders for both the main services each worked by the Van Hool Alizees. On the left partly in the yard is another Van Hool Alizee bodied Volvo B10M, 648 EAU (new to Kenzies of Shepreth in March 1989 as F37 DAV).