East Yorkshire/Scarborough and District open top Bristol RE in Scarborough – 19 Aug 1987 (54-31)

Wednesday 19 August 1987 – In September 1986 when under National Bus Company ownership the southern part of the United Automobile Services operating area along with the garages at Scarborough and Pickering were transferred to East Yorkshire Motor Services which created a new subsidiary named Scarborough and District.

I very nearly missed this bus completely, only securing this side on view as it moved off. It was a rather unusual open top Eastern Coachworks bodied Bristol RE which was leaving the Corner Café terminus at the North Bay of the seafront service. Was it EYMS/S&D 600 (PHN 178L)? That is the only open top RE I have found which was new to United (4278) as a normal covered vehicle in March 1973. The livery carried here features the olive green and cream used by United on its coaches.

The backcloth is quite different today. Directly behind the bus is the Corner Café very well known to holidaymakers and a name which adorned many a bus destination blind over the years. Some years ago it was all redeveloped and a block of shops and low rise apartments now occupy the site.

Further along Peasholm Gap (on the right) and beyond the café, is the former North Bay Pool which was a Water Splash Park at the time. The pool opened in the summer of 1938 and had a continental feel with underwater lighting and elevated arched terraces facing the south. From the 1980s until its closure around 2007 it was a succession of different water parks. The complex was demolished and the empty site is awaiting redevelopment.