The Grenadier on the right apparently won a prize at the Brighton Coach Rally in 1967, and Mike's father drove other Regent coaches at the rally on several other years. The number 722, by the way, was apparently considered lucky by their 1960s managing director John Jakeman. Regent Motorways had a large and varied fleet which, over the years, included Harrington 'fin' bodies, Seddon Pennines, and several Bedford VALs.

A great picture, and my thanks to Mike for sending it (and several others!).

Mike Lloyd wrote in with the following additional note; "Great pic of Regent Motorways' vehicles. I have a fleet list dated 1.68 (PSV Circle) and the only vehicle which fits the description of the unknown possible Bedford is 186 CUY, Bedford SB1 Plaxton Embassy new in 1961 and acquired by Regent 2/67 from Luxor Coaches, Abbots Langley, Herts (where I spotted it!). It had been new to Supreme, Stourbridge. Hope this is of some help."

Allan Haynes wrote "Re the picture of the Regent Motorways lineup at Studley, Redditch - my wife's old stamping ground - I drove for Spring's Coaches of Ashton under Hill, Evesham in 1976-77. As the "new boy" I of course got the oldest coach, an SB1 Plaxton, by then old and tired and pretty decrepit. I almost recognise the number and I have a feeling it was red and grey, not red and cream like the rest of the fleet - so does anyone know where 186 CUY went after Regent? I can't imagine there were a lot of Plaxton SBs about in Worcestershire by 1976 so I guess this could be a picture of my bus. If I had stayed long enough I might have graduated to the Ford R192 Viceroy, but I moved my (part-time) allegiance to the Midland Red and learned proper bus work. Daimler 'deckers, horrible Ford saloons, and the lovely Leopards, still my favourite chassis of all time. Also a couple of weeks on a D9 when one of the Daimlers died. Definitely the weirdest vehicle ever."

Later Mike Lloyd found out where 186 CUY went - "After a short life with Regent, it was apparently sold on to Fogarty, Broadway in 6/68 and then moved to Castleways at Winchcombe, date uncertain, but they withdrew it in 3/76. All this is from my records, based on PSVC publications. I imagine it did not live long after withdrawal by Castleways, but you never know - certainly I have no further details."

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WALLACE ARNOLD TIGER TURNS UP AT THE FAIR

Douglas MacDonald sent me this picture, which was originally in my "Mystery Picture" slot. It's a showman's Leyland Tiger TS8 with a Burlingham body, and the registration JNW 376. I guessed it might have originated with Wallace Arnold.

Robert Preston from Sheffield had all the answers. He said "You are right about the mystery Leyland Tiger fairground vehicle JNW 376 being originally operated by Wallace Arnold. Here are the details and history from the PSV Circle Fleet History of Wallace Arnold, Part 1:-"

"1940 Leyland Tiger TS8 / Duple C32F motorcoach, JNW 376. Chassis No.306797. Body No.9423 Series 2."

"Re-engined with a Leyland 7.4 litre diesel engine in October 1947, and the body rebuilt by Wilkes And Meade in 1949. In December 1952 it was re-bodied with the 1949 Burlingham C33F body (No.3610) from MUB 435, a Wallace Arnold 1949 AEC Regal III, which received a new Plaxton FC35F body in 1953. It is believed that the fleet number of the Leyland, for at least some period, was 66. JNW 376 was withdrawn from service in 1954, then to N. O'Hara, Spennymoor in October 1954, on loan to Wilkinson, Darlington, 1955, and to a showman by 1959, withdrawn October 1960. Its last owner was F.C.Lester, Farnley, Leeds."

And Peter Tulloch confirmed it;

"From my collection of record cards I can positively identify JNW 376 as being a Leyland TS8 with chassis number 301697 or 306797 (there is a little confusion in the record I have!) which carried a (post war?) Burlingham C33F (re)body. My records show that it was acquired by N O'Hara of Low Spennymoor (later of Bishops Auckland) from Shaw Bros of Byers Green (date not recorded), who in turn had acquired it from Wallace Arnold (also date not recorded). It passed to 'Fairs' in June 1957. The registration dates from 1940."

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PICTURES FROM SOUTH AFRICA

Every now and again Alan Kenny calls me from South Africa and sends some little photographic nuggets, either from his travels or his archive. Here are a few of his recent contributions;

In 2008 Alan visited the James Hall Museum of Transport in Johannesburg and spotted a couple of interesting vehicles. Above is RT2634 (LYF 359), built in 1951 and exported to South Africa in 1964 after retirement from London Transport central area service. It appeared to be in good condition, and was carrying a 2008 road licence. Below is another exhibit at the Museum, an AEC Regent V that was No.839 in the Johannesburg fleet, one of fifty delivered in 1959 and bodied locally by Busaf.

I'm sure Alan would agree that the sight of an open door to a bus garage is too tempting to an enthusiast - you've just got to look inside to find out what's there. Sadly, these days the answer is probably 'not much', but it was not always so; sometimes you could discover Aladdin's cave. The picture below was taken by Alan of Southdown's Elm Grove garage on Hayling Island, while he was on holiday there around 1959. While Beadle-bodied Tiger Cub 1036 (OUF 136) pokes its nose out into the sunshine (has it just had a wash?), one's attention is drawn to the wonderful aged deckers in the background. Must just jot down which ones they are, for the record.....

In May 2008, Alan returned to the scene of the crime and found the depot still standing, although it is now a hardware store. Thanks very much to Alan for his pictures, which are always welcome.

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LONGWELL GREEN COACHWORKS

The picture above arrived courtesy of Chris Taylor, who says he took it in the mid 1950s at Longwell Green Coachworks in Bristol, where the buses were apparently being rebuilt. They are two of the three Bristol K6Gs with Massey H56R bodies supplied to Merthyr Tydfil in 1947. On the left is No.9 (HB 6265) and on the right is No.8 (HB 6264). This was an unusual batch, in that the K6G was not common, and nor was a Bristol K with a Massey body.

Alan George has pictures on his website of the bodywork as rebuilt, on his interesting webpage here, and differences include a new maroon & cream livery, a smaller destination box, and new windows. They were withdrawn in 1968 and 1967 respectively. Here is another of Chris's pictures;

Also at Longwell Green's facility is Devon General Guy Arab II GTT 423. A little older than the Merthyr Bristol Ks, this was delivered as fleet number DG323 in November 1945, with a Park Royal body barely distinguishable from a wartime 'utility'. So it's not surprising that the bus was in for a facelift in April 1956 when Chris photographed it; and the work was more than cosmetic apparently, as records show that DG320 to 325 had "Longwell Green" bodies after 1955-56, so perhaps all the Park Royal material was dumped.

Despite the rebuild, the five Guys were put into store during the winter of 1958-59, their duties being taken over by Leyland Atlanteans during the summer of 1959, ending the career of all Guy Arabs in the Devon General fleet. Like several of its compatriots, DG323 was still in store at Torquay in 1960 awaiting a buyer. Was it ever sold? I suspect not, and probably all that effort by Longwell Green ended in the scrapyard after only two summers.

I am most grateful to Chris Taylor for two interesting pictures.

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NEWBURY REGAL

Regular contributor Chris Stanley kindly sent me the above photo from his collection (photographer unknown). He says "I came across the attached pic recently as I was sorting out old photos, and thought you might like it, given your taste for Regals. I've been advised that DMO 320 was AEC Regal O662.4583 / Duple 45107 B35F, new in 1947 to Newbury & District as No.131. In 1950 it moved on to Thames Valley as No.131. The location is Castle Square, Caernarvon, and the operator is probably Hughes of Rhostryfan (all info courtesy of Peter Relf)."

That's all pretty comprehensive. The only comments I would add are that DMO 320 was originally the first of ten similar buses (131-140, DMO 320-329) delivered to Newbury & District, all of which had the pleasing Duple "D" type body. No.131 remained in service (in Thames Valley livery, but using the original fleet number) until 1960 when the last Regals in the fleet were replaced by MW6G buses, and by which time the Newbury & District name had disappeared completely. A surprising number of these Regals were sold to small Welsh operators.

My thanks to Chris for a fine photo.

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CROSVILLE K6A STILL AT WORK

John Sumner very kindly sent this picture he took of lowbridge Bristol K6A JFM 90, delivered new to Crosville in 1949 as MB337, becoming DKA337 in the later renumbering process. As soon as it had been delivered, it was whisked off with 29 others to serve with London Transport, in order to fill a shortage of buses in the capital during 1949-50. Allotted initially to West Green garage (working routes 144 Ilford - Turnpike Lane, and 144a Enfield - Muswell Hill), it was later moved to Dalston and operated 'south of the river'. So JFM 90 (probably unknown to its present owners) can genuinely claim to be a "London Bus" !

It returned to Crosville in 1950, but early in 1966 it was withdrawn from service and began another adventure. Along with sister buses DKA319 and DKA 327 (JFM 72 and 80), both of which had also worked in London, JFM 90 was exported to Canada. There have been no reports (as far as I know) of JFM 80 since a sighting in Detroit in 1969. Meanwhile JFM 72 was last seen in a British Columbia scrapyard in 1997. So it's likely that JFM 90 may be the only surviving Crosville K6 in the world (there are none in UK, although there are some KSWs) - unless you know better.....

John came across it in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, where it has a clearly popular function as the "Bus Stop Refreshments" fast food outlet. Thanks very much to John for the interesting photo.

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SOME SALISBURY SUNSHINE

I've moved this across from the ** STAR PICTURE ** spot on the homepage, because I liked it so much. Never before published, and copyrighted as part of the Nick Webster collection, here seen in Salisbury in June 1952 is Wilts & Dorset MW 6291, a 1930 Leyland (Lion LT2?) which originally carried a Harrington body, but was rebodied C30R by Eastern Coachworks in 1943. Nick mentions a fleet number of W130 but it appears to be wearing the number 83. Can anyone provide more details of this bus?

By the way, the vehicle alongside would appear to be Wilts & Dorset lowbridge Bristol K5G No.267 (DMR 839), from a batch of five bought in 1946.

Many thanks to Nick Webster for sending me the fine picture.

Dave Mant kindly wrote "I've just spotted the excellent 'Star Picture' on the Classic Buses website. I just happen to have a copy of the PSV Circle / Omnibus Society history of W&D published in 1963. This quotes MW 6291 as fleet No.83, Leyland LT2 with Harrington bodywork - REBUILT by ECW in 5/43. It was sold to a company in Southampton (scrap?) in 1/53. Its Company Body Number was 130."

"I'm afraid I'm not quite old enough to remember these vehicles, being born in 1947. However, I well remember the Bristol K type from my time spent in the bus station in Salisbury from the late '50s onwards!" Thanks Dave. That answers all the questions, I think.

Chris Taylor adds "Your photograph (a very nice picture, I might add) of 83 MW 6291, was one of four Leyland LT2s with Harrington C32R bodies (81-84, MW 6289-92), complete with Walman sliding heads, all entering service in May 1930. Nick Webster's reference to W130 for 83 refers to the body number, and may have been W&D's body number.

A few years after delivery the original Leyland 4-cyl 5.1 litre petrol engines (28.9 hp) were exchanged with the Leyland 6-cyl 6.8 litre petrol units (38.4 hp) from Leyland TD1s 74, 75, 87 and 95. All four carried Salisbury Police Plate numbers 9-12 (81-84) in sequence. All four were rebuilt by ECW as C30R in 1943. The original Walman sliding heads were removed and the apertures panelled over. Folding doors replaced the original outward-opening type. 'Cov-Rad' conversion radiators were fitted several years later but, unlike certain other coach rebuilds, maroon flashes were not added.

81-83 were sold to Whitehouse Metal Ltd. (metal merchants), Northam, Southampton 1/53 and then to A.E. Gash & Co. Ltd. (haulage contractor), Millbrook Road, Southampton. 84 went to B. Hanslip, Redbridge, Southampton 3/52; Sparshatts Ltd., Redbridge, Southampton 4/52; a showman by 7/52. Information is from PSVC P.H.2 - Wilts & Dorset, March 1963."

Meanwhile Pete Renaut wrote in February 2012 regarding the K5G (DMR 839) parked alongside. He said;

"This bus was sold to Eastern National in 1963 together with 5 others 264, 266, 268-70. (Registrations DMR 836/8/840 and EAM 612/613. I well remember them being repainted from red to green, which stood out in Prittlewell works in 1963 when making a special visit on the way home from school. They did not last long in Southend, being withdrawn later in 1964 and sold to Twell's, dealer. There are photos of EAM 612 & 613 in service in Southend on David Lang's SCT61 website."

Thank you Pete.

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HANTS & DORSET LION IN USE AS MOBILE SHOP

Peter Caunt, from faraway New South Wales, Australia kindly sent me this picture. RU 8678 is an all-Leyland Lion PLSC3 that started out as Hants & Dorset No.268 in January 1929. It was more than 40 years later that Peter photographed it.

Peter writes "I attach a photograph of it when owned by The Complete Automobilist, who sold vintage car spares and used it as a mobile shop. It was taken at a VSCC (Vintage Sports Car Club) meeting at a Cheshire pub in early 1970. The firm was based in Baston, Lincolnshire."

The bus has survived - almost. Now heading for 80 years old, the body has proved to be beyond saving, but the chassis has been acquired by Dougie and Ross Scoular, who are in the process of attaching a "spare" ex-Ribble Leyland body to it at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum. We hope to see it out and about again in the next few years. Many thanks to Peter for the picture.

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DAIMLER ON LONG VACATION

Another picture from Malta kindly sent by Peter Skerry shows JVV 266G hiding away in storage. Ex Northampton No.266 (now open-top), this Daimler CVG6 dates from 1968, and Peter explains why it's in Malta;

"I thought you would like the attached which has been here in store for nearly 14 years through lack of operating approval. There are 5 other open tops here, all Leyland Fleetline 1977/8 vintage. Three will be employed soon by the operator who has a contract from the ADT (Public Transport Authority) and I am aware that he is purchasing 3 more and a spare from the UK to meet this new requirement."

"The Daimler and the other two Fleetlines belong to an operator who failed to get the contract. However, it now seems highly unlikely that the bid winner will be buying the open tops from the bid loser. There has been some speculation that someone in the UK may buy the Daimler for preservation, or in part exchange for a later coach."

Tony Griffin has a picture of this bus in service on this page; http://tony3972.mysnaps.org.uk/p15750848.html. Meanwhile, sister bus No.267 is in UK, preserved in original condition by the 154 Preservation Society in Northampton.

My thanks to Peter for sending the photo and the information.

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This is Page Two of the "scrapbook" of contributions - Page One is here and Page Three is here.

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