David Slater (Spoddendale)'s photos with the keyword: Leyland Titan

August 1968 - Thursday 31 May 1966 – Ramsbottom Urban District Council 4 (LTD 232C) was an East Lancs bodied Leyland PD3A/1 new in March 1965. It was seen in the yard of the garage at Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom. The destination blind shows 'Dundee Lane'.

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – Ramsbottom Urban District Council 22 (HTF 817) was seen outside the garage in Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom when working a Bury bound trip. RUDC added a batch of 6 Leyland bodied Leyland PD2/1 double deckers to the fleet in November 1947 which were numbered 20-25 (HTF 815-820).

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – The last half cab single decker in Ramsbottom Urban District Council fleet was 17 (HTB 656) which had been new in April 1947 along with 18/19 (HTB657/8). They were Leyland PS1 models with rear entrance bodywork by Charles H Roe. 17 was seen at the garage in Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom. This bus is now an exhibit at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester.

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – The last half cab single decker in Ramsbottom Urban District Council fleet was 17 (HTB 656) which had been new in April 1947 along with 18/19 (HTB657/8). They were Leyland PS1 models with rear entrance bodywork by Charles H Roe. 17 was seen at the garage in Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom. This bus is now an exhibit at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester.

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – Ramsbottom Urban District Council 5 (TTB 879D) was an East Lancs bodied Leyland PD3A/1 new in March 1966. It was seen outside the garage in Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom when working a Bury bound trip.

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – Ramsbottom Urban District Council 4 (LTD 232C) was an East Lancs bodied Leyland PD3A/1 new in March 1965. It was seen in Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom across from the bus garage when working a Bury to Rawtenstall trip.

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – Ramsbottom Urban District Council 1 (247 STD) seen outside the garage in Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom. The driver and conductress (what female conductors were called back then) were Jim and Amelia Driver. They are both in the darker clothing and had just brought the bus in from Edenfield and were being relieved by another crew - although that driver wasn’t up for being in the photograph. The bus is an East Lancs bodied Leyland PD2/24 new in January 1964.

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – Ramsbottom Urban District Council 1 (247 STD) was an East Lancs bodied Leyland PD2/24 new in January 1964. It was seen near the Rostron Arms pub in Edenfield in a dedicated bus bay into which the buses that terminated here would reverse and spend their lay-over time. The bay, directly opposite Merlewood, is now occupied by a recycling centre. Ribble timetables referred to this point in Edenfield as a ‘Bus Embayment’ – a term little used anywhere else. The crew, Jim and Amelia Driver, are stood in front of the bus before departure. The bus was bound for Bury but they were relieved at the garage in Stubbins Lane, Ramsbottom.

Tuesday 31 May 1966 – Ramsbottom Urban District Council 1 (247 STD) was an East Lancs bodied Leyland PD2/24 new in January 1964. It was the only bus in the fleet to have the ‘Midland Red’ style Leyland front subsequent double deckers had what was dubbed the ‘St. Helens front’. It was seen in Bolton Street, Ramsbottom on a Bury to Edenfield working. Some services travelled via Stubbins between Ramsbottom and Edenfield and some travelled via Shuttleworth as this one is. The destination blind includes the words “Via Rams’m and Shutt’h” – Ramsbottom and Shuttleworth would take up quite a lot of space on the blind!

A photograph taken by Eric Fielding circa Summer 1953 - A Scout Motor Services Limited Leyland bodied Leyland Titan seen in Rochdale Town Centre. It may seem strange that the destination display shows ‘BLACKBURN 244’ and that it was operating on what was a Ribble service - but there is a good reason for this and it also helps date the photograph. Services between Blackpool and Preston had been operated separately by both Ribble Motor Services and Scout Motor Services from the early days but in due course the two companies began working a number of joint services via different routes between the two towns one of which was service 158 via Kirkham and Weeton. In 1953 Ribble was actively involved in joining together stage carriage services to form long routes and this included linking Blackpool with different Lancashire industrial towns like Bolton, Burnley, Rochdale and Wigan. Since this plan included services between Blackpool and Preston that were normally worked by Scout, it was necessary to compensate the resultant changes by taking Scout vehicles to destinations east of Preston. Blackpool-Preston service 158 vehicles began running through to Rochdale linked with Ribble’s Preston-Blackburn service 1 and Blackburn-Rochdale service 244. Initially the destination blinds of the through buses had to be changed at Preston and Blackburn to show the details of the constituent services. That is why it was possible to see a Scout bus in Rochdale sporting the destination ‘Blackburn 244’. Subsequently the road service licence formalities were completed to allow through running as service 158. On the right of the photograph is the Central Hotel which was later demolished and replaced by a modern building circa 1960 housing the Trustee Savings Bank and Moir and Bateman architects.

Circa 1964 – One of my early schoolboy photographs of a Ribble Burlingham bodied Leyland PD2/12 seen in Packer Street, Rochdale awaiting departure for Blackpool on service 158. Packer Street forms the edge of Rochdale Town Hall Square. This was a Sunday so the gate to the entrance of Moir and Bateman Architects and the Trustee Savings Bank (on the right) was closed and locked. This covered doorway provided shelter for me when watching the buses during my school lunch break. It is 1458 (JCK 533), one of the batch of 45 ‘JCK’ registered buses dating from 1956. The main service 158 required six buses, Blackburn garage provided 3, Preston 1, Scout 1 and Blackpool garage 1. Blackpool covered the 1240 departure from Rochdale along with the 1840 trip six hours later. Throughout the 1960s the garage was home to a stable (that is to say infrequently changed) allocation of buses from the ‘JCK’ registered batch of vehicles that included 1441/1455/1457-1460 (JCK 516/530/532-535).

Date unknown circa 1961 - My very first bus photograph. Ribble 1370 (ECK 940) was a 1952 Leyland bodied Leyland PD2/12 which was standing in Town Meadows, Rochdale around lunchtime one Saturday poised to duplicate the 1222 Manchester-Burnley-Morecambe X14 service. The service departed Rochdale at 1259 – perhaps this was a day when Burnley Football Club was playing at home and extra capacity was needed? Services X4 and X14 were dovetailed and shared a common route between between Manchester and Preston travelling via Middleton, Rochdale, Littleborough, Todmorden, Burnley and Blackburn. From Preston service X4 operated to Blackpool via Lytham St. Annes and service X14 continued to Morecambe via Garstang and Lancaster. A timetable for Summer 1964 may be seen here: www.ipernity.com/doc/davidslater-spoddendale/40265956

Tuesday 13 May 2014 (1151) – Leyland Titan A860 SUL, new as London Regional Transport T860 in October 1983, now operating an open top sightseeing tour at Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. (Longleat Enterprises Limited t/a Cheddar Caves and Gorge).

Tuesday 13 May 2014 (1150) – Leyland Titan A860 SUL, new as London Regional Transport T860 in October 1983, now operating an open top sightseeing tour at Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. (Longleat Enterprises Limited t/a Cheddar Caves and Gorge).

Tuesday 13 May 2014 (1150) – Leyland Titan A860 SUL, new as London Regional Transport T860 in October 1983, now operating an open top sightseeing tour at Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. (Longleat Enterprises Limited t/a Cheddar Caves and Gorge).