Lancashire United (Blazefield) garage at Clitheroe – 31 May 2001 (467-27)

Thursday 31 May 2001 (approx. 0800) – These are NOT Stagecoach buses!!

Ribble Motor Services expanded into Clitheroe in September 1926 when it acquired the business of Pendle Motor Services. This garage property was then established to house the vehicles serving this part of East Lancashire. In addition to the substantial brick building the site also included some additional buildings, a workshop building (to the left off camera) and a small office/admin unit.

The site was behind terraced houses lining Pimlico Road accessed by a street between numbers 17 and 19 Pimlico Road opposite the Waggon & Horses public house. The garage was subsequently demolished and the site is now occupied by houses of Spring Meadow.

Ribble was acquired by Stagecoach Holdings in May 1989 and the infamous Stagecoach stripes livery replaced what had gone before. In April 2001 Stagecoach sold the former Ribble garages at Clitheroe, Blackburn and Bolton to the Blazefield group which named their new operation Lancashire United (this had no connection with the large bus company that had once served South Lancashire). At the same time the Ribble garage at Burnley was acquired by Blazefield becoming part of Burnley & Pendle.

Less than a couple of months after the Blazefield acquisition I visited Clitheroe and photographed the property and, of course, the buses. I presume the framework above the garage door had held the Stagecoach signage but the buses, whilst still wore Stagecoach livery now had Lancashire United fleetnames applied. About 25 buses were allocated to Clitheroe garage and, since it may have been half term week at local schools, there were quite a few buses to be seen – 12 or so.

The buses visible inside the garage are:

2156 (A156 OFR), an Eastern Coachworks bodied Leyland Olympian new to Ribble in May 1984
655 (N464 VOD), an Alexander bodied Mercedes-Benz 709D new to Ribble in April 1996
785 (E85 HRN), a Robin Hood bodied Mercedes-Benz 811D new to Burnley & Pendle (85) in November 1987
Plus an unidentified Eastern Coachworks bodied Bristol VR