'Ipernity HFF

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. Now Scarborough and District 748 (DUP 748S), this Eastern Coachworks bodied Bristol VR had been new to United in May 1978. It was seen in Peasholm Gap, Scarborough close to the famous Corner Café at the North Bay. The advertisement on the bus is for the now demolished yet once famous Futurist Theatre where many well-known entertainers starred in summer shows. The Grumbleweeds and Jimmy Cricket were starring this particular summer. In the background is one of the five funicular tramways which operated in Scarborough to connect the higher parts of the town with the seafront. Only two of those still exist but the one here closed in 1996 and was subsequently dismantled. A trademark feature of much of Scarborough’s gardens and landscape is the fencing made of slender tree trunks in abundance around this part of the North Bay through to Peasholm Park and Northstead Manor Gardens.

Thursday 28 July 2011 (1204) - An Arriva Optare Versa pauses in Ironbridge, Shropshire amidst cars parked in the bus bays without any regard. The small town of Ironbridge takes its name from the famous cast iron bridge which spans the River Severn and can be seen in the background. Constructed in 1779 by Abraham Darby, a pioneer in the process of smelting iron using coke.

Wednesday 6 July 2022 (1139) – Stagecoach East (Cambus) 19585 (AE10 BWW), an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Trident new in April 2010, seen in Newmarket when working service 11 to Bury St. Edmunds. Running about 15 minutes late I think.

Friday 8 July 2022 (0934) – The Old Pump House Yard in Sir Alf Ramsey Way, Ipswich is an operating centre of Harlequin Travel. The business also has a base in Felixstowe. Two Ferqui bodied Mercedes-Benz mini-coaches can be seen parked inside the yard. X11 HTC, a Mercedes-Benz O 815D new to Judge of Corby in August 2007 registered YX07 GYA X111 HTC, a Mercedes-Benz 515CDi new to Heffernan, West Harrow in July 2008 registered YX08 HXA

Thursday 5 June 2014 (1415) - Stagecoach Midlands (United Counties) 15940 (YN63 BYG), an ADL Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD new in October 2013, seen in Earls Barton when working the 1244 service X47 from Thrapston to Northampton. The bus is fitted with leather seats and wi-fi and is one of a batch of such buses branded for the X46/X47 services which were upgraded to ‘Gold’ standard from Monday 4 November 2013. The tower of All Saints Church, which stands in the background, dates from circa 970 AD and is listed as an ancient monument.

Friday 27 July 2018 (1118) – At the time of my visit the newest buses in the Yellow Buses (Bournemouth Transport Limited) fleet appeared to be six Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC double deckers numbered 200-205 new in April/May 2017. 202 (SN17 MTV) was seen in Gervis Place by The Square in Bournemouth. 200-203 carry the pink branding for service 3 whereas 204-205 carry the neutral silver for use on any service as required. Yellow Buses was placed in administration on 29 July 2022 and the last services operated on Thursday 4 August 2022.

Tuesday 23 June 2015 (0851) – An Arriva Caetano bodied MAN natural gas powered single decker seen passing the Shropshire Union Canal in central Chester.

Sunday 14 August 2022 - Transports de Martigny et Régions SA (TMR) Volvo VS 30055 from the terrace of Café-crêperie Mylord (42 Route du Lac) Champex Lac when working service 12.271 from Orsières to Champex Télé (cable car station). The journey takes 25 minutes to reach Orsières. TMR is a major bus operator in Canton Valais and also holds contracts with different local authorities and Swiss Post. The company was created in 2000/2001 by the merging of the two railway companies, the Martigny–Orsières Railway Company (MO) and the Martigny–Châtelard Railway Company (MC). (Photo courtesy of my daughter Jane)

Saturday 23 Sep 2017 (1536) – Buses and beach huts at Southwold. The single decker is BorderBus of Beccles 103 (BB09 BUS), an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro200 new to CT Plus (DA1) in June 2010 registered MX10 DXR. Hmmm, as for the double decker? It had gone before I could identify it but was operated by Go-Ahead owned Anglian Bus and perhaps cascaded from London.

Wednesday 24 June 2015 - Great Orme Tramway car 4 approaching Victoria Station, Llandudno. The cable drawn tramway links this station, which is close to Llandudno town centre, with the top of Great Orme. Actually a change of car is required halfway up the line, the cars on the lower section being powered from a winding house at the halfway point. The cars on the upper section are powered from a winding house at the top of Great Orme.

Thursday 1 September 2022 (1226) – The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway was constructed on the alignment of the former Cambridge to St. Ives railway line. At various points along the Busway there are a number of buildings that remain from the railway days. After a period of being derelict the former Histon and Impington station building opened as a coffee shop and eatery in July 2021. In this view Stagecoach East 13909 (BU69 XYK) waits at the signal to cross the public road. It is alongside what had been one of the station platforms. An early 20th century photograph taken from almost the same spot may be seen via this link: disused-stations.org.uk/h/histon/index2.shtml 13909 is one of twelve 98 seat Alexander Dennis Enviro400XLB bodied Volvo B8L tri-axle double deckers delivered in December 2019. It was working the 1116 Busway service B from Hinchingbrooke Hospital to Cambridge (Drummer Street bus station). It was having a much easier time than the previous (1056) departure which was running about 15 minutes late and had only passed through about five minutes before.

Thursday 25 June 2015 (1152) – Arriva Cymru 3172 (CX14 BYK), a Wrightbus bodied VDL SB200, seen passing Conway Castle bound for Llandudno on service 5 from Bangor (and Caernarfon).The bus was new in March 2014, the castle was new about 1287.

Wednesday 2 December 1992 – Tillingbourne Bus Company J431 PPF, a Carlyle bodied Fiat mini-bus new in September 1991, seen in Victoria Road, Farnborough heading to Fleet and Church Crookham. My wife’s parents lived in Farnbrough for a number of years (1972-1985) so I got to know the area pretty well although it is vastly different now. This was my first visit there since they left. Initially they lived in one of the semi-detached houses on the right (the left hand house of the two) which was alongside the Wilky Group DIY store (by the red car) although the Wilky Group had relocated from here by the early 1980s. All the properties back to the Alexandra pub (the pointed roof building) have been demolished and replaced with apartment buildings. The white car is a (ubiquitous) Ford Sierra. This Ford model was in production between 1982-1993 and around 1.3 million were sold in Britain alone. It was also a popular model in many other countries.

Thursday 25 June 2015 (1054) – Arriva Cymru 3171 (CX14 BYJ), a Wrightbus bodied VDL SB200, passing under one of the town wall gates in Conwy working service 5 from Llandudno to Bangor (and Caernarfon).

Tuesday 11 October 2022 (1139) – Newmarket is the horse racing capital of Britain and in addition to having two separate racecourses it is home to numerous stables and training establishments. From early morning until around lunch time the traffic gets held up as the horses move between the stables and the training grounds. This view was taken from the upper deck of Stagecoach East 15659 (AE10 HFC) in Bury Road as it worked the 0950 Cambridge to Bury St. Edmunds service 11. Whilst people regularly moan about the delays caused by the horses, any delays they caused today were insignificant compared to the delays being caused by a number of different roadworks taking place around the town. The resultant diversions and temporary traffic lights traffic was pretty chaotic. This service should have arrived at the bus station at 1107 and then continued to Bury St. Edmunds at 1124. It arrived at 1134 and departed a couple or so minutes later but was still nearly 15 minutes late. The bus is an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD which was new in June 2010. During mid-September 2022 Stagecoach East announced its intention to withdraw quite a number of bus services which it said were no longer commercially sustainable. Their services 11/X11 ceased after operation on Saturday 29 October 2022 along with the Cambridge-Newmarket-Ely service 12. Replacement services were introduced by Stephensons of Essex from Monday 31 October 2022. Using the tracker on the Bus Times website this bus was shown as running the following trips today: 0543 Empty Depot to Newmarket 0615 Newmarket-Bury St. Edmunds 0640 (11) 0645 Bury St. Edmunds-Cambridge 0754 (X11) 0950 Cambridge-Newmarket 1107 (11) 1124 Newmarket-Bury St. Edmunds 1149 (11) 1205 Bury St. Edmunds-Cambridge 1359 (11) 1835 Cambridge-Bury St. Edmunds 1942 (X11) 1945 Bury St. Edmunds-Newmarket 2015 (11) Empty to Cambridge Depot 2050 (On other days this duty also included the 1425 Cambridge-Ely 1556 (12) and 1651 Ely-Cambridge 1827 (12) trips but Bus Times for this day showed no vehicle at all operating these two runs).

Wednesday 19 October 2022 (1154) - Stagecoach East (Cambus) 15220 (YN15 KHT), an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD new in August 2015, seen in Fred Archer Way, Newmarket just after leaving the Guineas Bus Station when working the 1051 service 12 from Ely to Cambridge. The bus station and shopping precinct carry the old currency name which has horse racing prize and trading connections. A guinea was 21 shillings (One pound and one shilling, nowadays One pound five pence). Racehorses are still bought and sold using the guinea and, as the stock often commands big money, the price tag can be a lot of extra five pences! I remember as a boy looking in a furniture shop window at a fireside chair priced at '6 gns' thus £6/6/0 (six pounds six shillings) - a little more costly than a subconscious flat six pounds! A two week long road closure at the bottom of Mill Hill in Newmarket (just 328 yards/300 metres from the bus station) resulted in quiet a lengthy diversion of 1.75 miles/2.8 km for service 12 to/from Ely. Service 11 to/from Burwell was also affected but less so because the service turns in to Valley Way and doesn’t travel all the way back to Mill Hill. The diversion caused quite serious delays to the buses particularly at traditionally busy times. During mid-September 2022 Stagecoach East announced its intention to withdraw quite a number of bus services which it said were no longer commercially sustainable. Their services 11/X11 ceased after operation on Saturday 29 October 2022 along with the Cambridge-Newmarket-Ely service 12. Replacement services were introduced by Stephensons of Essex from Monday 31 October 2022. Using the tracker on the Bus Times website this bus was shown as running the following trips today: 0625 Chatteris-Ely 0710 (39) 0710 Ely-Waterbeach-Cambridge 0808 (9) 0825 Cambridge-Newmarket-Ely 0956 (12) 1051 Ely-Newmarket-Cambridge 1227 (12) 1250 Cambridge-Newmarket 1407 (11) 1424 Newmarket-Bury St. Edmunds 1449 (11) 1505 Bury St. Edmunds-Cambridge 1659 (11) 1715 Cambridge-Newmarket 1832 (11) Empty to Cambridge Depot

Saturday 19 August 2017 (1304) – National Express West Midlands buses in Birmingham. At the lower level (Dudley Street) 4900 (BX13 JVY), an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400 new in June 2013, passes 4176 (Y778 TOH), an Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident new in June 2001. There was a key cricket match on today at Edgbaston (England v West Indies) and the latter bus was on standby. Two more of the same style of bus each with the same advertising can be seen up above on Smallbrook Queensway already loading for Edgbaston. The driver of 4176 is leaning on the fence looking up and waiting to be called forward for loading.

Saturday 25 May 2019 (0852) – Buses of Stagecoach North West and Preston Bus seen in Preston bus station. Preston’s iconic bus station opened in October 1969 and a leaflet published by Ribble Motor Services for the opening said it was the largest bus station in Britain. Originally it had 80 loading stands. Those on the eastern side (which this is) were used by Ribble, its joint operators and by other express service, tour and excursion operators. These stands were numbered 41 to 80 towards the camera but now the numbers run from 1 to 39 in the opposite direction. The bays on the western side were numbered 1 to 40 and were primarily used by the buses of Preston Corporation Transport (plus Ribble on some joint services they worked with PCT). This part of the bus station is no longer used by buses and is being redeveloped. The ground level passenger concourse is topped by a multi-storey car park with each deck featuring upturned fluted curves giving the building a most original look. In 2000 the City Council was planning its demolition to create a new city centre development but objections were raised to that plan and the campaigners successfully managed to obtain Grade II listing thus ensuring the building’s future.