A day out in North Wales, October 1969 - Part Two

A day out in North Wales, October 1969 - Part Two

Not seen Part One Click here

Continuing from where I left off in Anglesey, we now retraced our steps to Bangor, but only briefly as there was plenty more to see and the sun was already on the decline.

Purple Motors, Bethesda WTY 906 Bedford SB5 1962 Duple Midland B42F (ex Clarke, Consett 1966)

Purple's Bedford SB WTY 906 was not the most inspiring of vehicles with its plain Duple Midland bus body. It had been new to Armstrong of Westerhope, passing to Purple via Clarke of Consett. Just time for a quick black and white of it on the stand at Bangor Clock, and then on towards Caernarfon, albeit by a rather roundabout route. Firstly we made for the Deiniolen Motors route and found a suitable photographic location at Rhiwen, about half a mile short of the village of Deiniolen. Coincidentally, Rhiwen was the home of the family which founded the company.

Deiniolen Motors RKU 220 AEC Regal III 6821A 1959 Plaxton Highway FB39F (ex Gillard, Normanton 1964)

Working the service was the distinctive Plaxton bodied AEC Regal III, RKU 220. This was another refugee from the far side of the Pennines. It and its sister, RKU 221, were the very last Regal IIIs built for the UK market, for Gillard of Normanton, in 1959. It possibly arrived at Deiniolen in 1962, the year its sister was sold to another interesting independent operator, Ezra Laycock of Barnoldswick. The Plaxton Highway body was essentially a design for the underfloor bus era, now well established, and clearly no effort was put into styling the front end to suit a front engined chassis.
From Rhiwen we skirted the flanks of the Snowdon massif to make our way to Waunfawr. Before arriving there we found a suitable spot to get a shot of Whiteway's ex Lancashire United PS1 on the last leg of its journey from Caernarfon to Ceunant.

Whiteways, Waunfawr JTJ 97 Leyland Tiger PS1 1948 Roe B32F (ex Lancashire United 372 1961)

This was the last survivor of a quartet of the JTJ batch which had found their way to three different operators in the Caernarfon area. (The others went to Express Motors (2) and Silver Star (1)). It was then a short hop down into the village of Waunfawr to the Whiteways garage.
Here we found the ex Warrington PD1/Alexander (DED 797) indoors and frustratingly unphotographable.

Whiteways, Waunfawr MHU 50 Bedford OB 1949 Duple B30F (ex Bristol Omnibus 208 1957)

The one vehicle out in the yard was however a reasonable substitute. A Bedford OB with a Duple bus body may not seem that remarkable, but in practice the bus body was less common due to concentration on the very popular coach version, which was still often used for stage work. More interestingly still, its origin was from a Tilling group company, namely Bristol Omnibus. It is one of several former Whiteways vehicles which were sufficiently long lived to become preservation projects.

From here it was down to that Mecca for bus enthusiasts, Castle Square in Caernarfon. If the quality of some of the views is less than brilliant, this is due to the fact that the sun was now distinctly low, creating very awkward shadows and reflections.

Express Motors, Rhostryfan FFM 524 Bristol L6A 1946 ECW B35F (ex Crosville SLA30 1967)

First off the blocks is Express Motors' ex Crosville L6A. Oddly, I have no recollection of the livery of this bus, which considering it must have been bright red is remarkable. When I first scanned the image, I thought it might still be in Crosville green, but I have since seen John Stringer's view of the same bus in 1967 when it was definitely red. It even appears to have had some further painting in the interim, as the thin cream band below the windows has disappeared. The bus must have appeared and disappeared too quickly to enable the use of both cameras, as I am sure I would have accorded it a colour view if possible.

Wessex Coaches, Bristol FBC 322 AEC Regent III 9612E 1949 Brush H33/27R (ex Leicester City Transport 56 c1965)

Next is one of the former Leicester City Transport Regent IIIs with Brush bodies of Wessex Coaches. This Bristol based firm had won the contract to supply the majority of staff transport for construction workers at the Wylfa power station project in Anglesey. If this one is indeed travelling from there as far as Pen-y-Groes, as displayed on the blind, the route was of considerable length, well over 40 miles, and without the benefit of today's vastly improved roads in the area.

Crosville SSG636 636 LFM Bristol SC4LK 1959 ECW B35F New

For those of you who have been wondering whether Crosville were on strike, here at last is one of their buses. For me, coming from Merseyside, their vehicle types were pretty well catered for already, and therefore generally not deemed to require the expenditure of celluloid this day. The SC however did not feature significantly in that more populated zone, particularly the bus version with an almost 'proper' radiator, so the camera was put to use.

Silver Star, Llandwrog 9574 F Bristol SC4LK 1958 ECW B35F (ex Eastern National 400 c1964)

Following up is one of Silver Star's examples of the same vehicle type. This was one of the pair that came from Eastern National via KW Coaches (dealer) of Daventry in around 1964, their first of the type; two more, one also ex ENOC, the other ex Thames Valley, joined around 1970.

Express Motors, Rhostryfan AJC 41 Bedford OB 1948 Duple C29F New

The last Caernarfon view is of another Express Motors vehicle, in a two-tone green version of their coach livery. This OB coach was apparently bought new in 1948.
It was now time to make our way back to Liverpool, but on arriving at Glanadda on the edge of Bangor we were met by the sight of another of the Wessex Coaches Regent IIIs parked at the

Wessex Coaches, Bristol FBC 309 AEC Regent III 9612E
1948 Brush H33/27R (ex Leicester City Transport 43 c1965)

roadside, nicely in the sunshine, so a further stop had to be made.

Howard, Glasgow SHN 737 Bristol LS5G 1954 ECW B45F (ex United Automobile Service U47 1969)

Close by was yet another, apparently, contractor's vehicle, in the shape of this ex United Automobile Services LS. Checking with the excellent Bristol website run by Gerry Tormey, it was in the ownership of John Howard Limited, a Glasgow contractor by 1970. It appears that they were involved with a Rio Tinto Zinc Ltd contract in the Holyhead area, so this shot is probably taken in Howard ownership. The board in the window is inscribed Bangor - Llangefni.
While we were stopped, three more interesting vehicles passed which were too interesting to ignore.

Deiniolen Motors FCK 844 Leyland Tiger Cub PSUC1/1 1959 Saunders-Roe B44F (ex Ribble 412 1969)

First was another Deiniolen Motors service bus, which had found its way back close to its birthplace, having been built by Saunders-Roe at nearby Beaumaris. When preparing these photos, I was intrigued by the appearance of a route number, which also appears on other views available on the web. It turns out that this is simply the company's telephone number!

Crosville DFB150 AFM 113B Bristol FLF6B 1964 ECW CH37/18F New

Next through was one of Crosville's dedicated Cymru Coastliner coach-seated FLFs. This is working the longest version of the route, running from Liverpool right through to Caernarfon. Although limited stop, it was essentially still providing local links along the route, and as such must have been about the longest double-deck bus (as opposed to coach) route in the UK.

Guest's Coaches, Runcorn HJP 670 ?Bedford SB ?1962 Yeates Fiesta C??F (ex ?? 196?)

Finally at this location a vehicle that I must have photographed as much for the novelty value as anything else. All I know about it is that it belonged at that time to Guest's Coaches of Runcorn, and that it has a Yeates Fiesta body. I presume it to be a Bedford SB; the little trapezoid panel above the grill has what appears to be the letters 'SB ' plus another undecipherable character, but I cannot say that I have ever seen a Bedford so designated elsewhere. Clearly not new to Guest, from the registration, so any assistance with details will be most welcome.
That was not quite the end of the day. Passing through Flint we came across one more bus that we felt was worth stopping for, even though it was now pitch dark.

Hollis, Queensferry ABG 809 Leyland PD2/3 1951 Leyland H31/26R (ex Birkenhead Corporation 209 1968?)

This was one of Tom Hollis's exBirkenhead all-Leyland deckers parked up, presumably waiting to cater for a night shift contract somewhere. This was deemed to justify not only a colour view, but the expenditure of a relatively expensive flashbulb as well. And that really was good night.

To sum up, we had photographed buses belonging to 17 different operators, representing 22 distinct chassis types from 10 manufacturers and 20 different bodybuilders - all in a day's work. There are still some question marks in the detail of a number of vehicles, and any assistance in turning them into definitive information will be welcome.

To conclude I must express my debt to Keith Jaggers, whose paper on buses in the Bangor area has been invaluable in supplying details of so many of the vehicles encountered. For those interested, it can be downloaded from his website at this link. Keith tells me that he is looking to expand the paper, from what he says I expect this to be largely on the back of Neville Mercer's book. Keith also supplied me with a copy of the BI article.

Alan Murray-Rust
01/2013

 

Appendix

Chassis manufacturers                             Bodybuilders

AEC Regal III Beadle
  Regent III Brush
  Reliance Burlingham
Albion Nimbus Crossley
Beadle Rochester Duple (Midland)
Bedford OB Duple (Northern)
  OWB ECW
  SB Gurney-Nutting
Bristol FLF (Jones-Home Built)
  L Leyland
  LS Mulliner
  SC Northern Coach Builders
Crossley DD42 Park Royal
  SD42 Pennine
Guy UF Plaxton
Leyland PD2 Roe
  PS1 Saunders-Roe
  PSUC Weymann
  TD5 Willowbrook
Seddon Pennine 4 Yeates
  Pennine 17  
Thornycroft Lightning  

25/01/13 - 14:32

May I say Alan what a superb Gallery, you have some great shots there. What with this and Johns Tour of Shropshire and North East Wales all I am short of for knowing practically all there is to know about the area is apparently Nevilles book.

Spencer


25/01/13 - 15:50

Alan,
I'm afraid I can't help with any history of Guests Coaches HJP 670 but I think it may be a Commer rather than a Bedford. The body looks to be the Yeates Fiesta Continental, and appears to be sitting high on the chassis, a feature shared by other coachbuilders who built on Commer chassis. Then there is the radiator filler cap below the flap that has SB on it.I think if it was a Bedford the filler cap would be behind this flap.
The two curved windows on the corners below the windscreen would also account for the higher body.
There are a couple of photos of similar bodied Commers on the sct'61 website. Select photo index, then under chassis makers click on Commer then scroll down the thumbnails. The two Commers are near the bottom.

Eric Bawden


25/01/13 - 15:53

HJP 670 is a Commer Avenger TS3 with Yeates Fiesta C41F body, new 1962 to Stringfellow, Wigan. Possibly the 'SB' on the front of the coach referred to Stringfellow Brothers?
The Tiger Cub, FCK 844, lives on in preservation in Anglesey. It is expected to appear at the Anglesey Festival of Transport and Machinery at the Anglesey Showground on 18/19 May, hopefully together with similar FCK 884 and the similarly bodied Guy Arab LUF.

David Williamson


25/01/13 - 17:20

I must agree with Spencer - what an excellent Gallery Alan. The Whiteways Tiger photo is particularly nice - I wish I'd been able to get out into the countryside more and been able to record gems such as this in the spectacular scenery, but being on a family holiday I was totally reliant on my parents for transport at the time. Caernarvon's Castle Square may be very neat and tidy nowadays, but it has lost all its atmosphere, the buses having long since been banished to a windy, inhospitable side street. I did take a few Crosville photos on my visits, and if I can restore them to a presentable state (some are rather iffy) I will post them - but only when I think Neville Mercer's not looking !

John Stringer


25/01/13 - 17:22

David W : Many thanks for clearing up the details of the Guest's Commer. The possibility of the SB relating to the previous owner makes plenty of sense. Although I have no great expertise where coaches are involved, I was never really comfortable with the idea of it representing the chassis type, as this wasn't standard manufacturer practice for Bedford.

Alan Murray-Rust


26/01/13 - 06:11

Two excellent galleries. From January 1969 until September 1974 I regularly visited North Wales and well remember many of those vehicles.
The X4 covered around 83 miles. None of Ribble's double decker routes out of Liverpool or Manchester with White Ladies and the cream Atlanteans came near. The FLFs were magnificent vehicles though I preferred the cream with black window surround scheme.

Phil Blinkhorn


26/01/13 - 06:22

The front of the Plaxton Highway body on an AEC Regal chassis looks a pretty neat job to me. Given the height of the radiator and the need for the filler cap to be accessible, it's difficult to see what more could have been done without altering the engine cooling system.

Peter Williamson


26/01/13 - 08:22

Many thanks to Alan Murray-Rust for these two North Wales galleries. Fantastic stuff. I particularly remember the Whiteways Bedford OB's and Tiger xLUT on Scout Camps at Llanberis in the early 1960's but didnt even have a camera in those days. Also the Purple Motors buses and the first Bristol disposals to private operators in the Carnarvon area. Brings back great memories.

Ian Lynas


27/01/13 - 11:46

Excellent Gallery, Alan. Just as good as Part 1.

Pete Davies


27/01/13 - 14:00

Lovely article but could I please just query a detail on the caption of the Plaxton bodied AEC Regal 111, specifically the build date of 1959?.
I was under the impression that the last Regal 111's built for the home market were three for Doncaster Corporation and three for Liverpool docks in 1953 (the last ones entering service actually being two earlier chassis for Gelligaer which apparently didn't enter service until 1954), production of the chassis did continue for export for some time after that. The style of body on this chassis didn't go into production until 1957.
Is it possible that the date in the caption to your photo relates to the age of the body rather than the chassis?, perhaps an obsolete half cab coach chassis rebodied?. Or were these export chassis?.

Andrew Charles


27/01/13 - 17:10

The last Regal III 9621 (9.6 engined) chassis supplied to home market customers as PSV's were Belfast Steamship Co., Liverpool, PKD 588-590 (9621A1585-1587) and Doncaster Corporation 22-24 (9621A1588-1590).
9621A(or E)1591-1711/1713-1716/1718-1720 were exported.
9621S1712 is thought to have been a van XTV 328 for W. E. Saxby of Nottingham.
9621S1717 was a plate glass carrier GDJ 604 for Pilkington's of St. Helens.

However RKU 220/221 were 6821A (7.7 engined) models and were numerically the last of this type to be supplied as PSV's (6821A760/761).
6821A632 had been York Pullman JVY 516 with Barnaby C35F body.
6821A633 was a goods vehicle WPB 500 for Fosters Transformers of London SW19.
6821A634/637-676/679-758 were for export.
6821A635/636/677/678 were goods vehicles UMB 156/155, VMB 651/650 for Metal Containers of Ellesmere Port.
6821A759 was a goods vehicle 513 PMX for City Display Organisation, London N22.
Then came 6821A760/761 as RKU 220/221 for Gillards of Normanton.
Finally 6821A763 was a goods vehicle 146 RNU for Glazebrook Transport.
Unfortunately the PSV Circle chassis lists for these models do not give build dates, but I think the York Pullman Regal was new in 1954, though chassis numbers were allocated as orders were placed and do not always reflect the order in which they were built. It seems likely that the RKU's could well have been leftover stock from a cancelled order for goods vehicles.

John Stringer


12/02/17 - 07:39

Your gallery brings back happy memories of holidays in North Wales as teenager. If I am not mistaken, the Bedford OB in your photo used to do a Caernarfon to Manchester round trip on Saturdays in July and August to coincide with the various South Lancs Wakes weeks. I certainly remember such a bus dropping of at Plas-y-Nant CE holiday home in Betws Garmon, just up the road from their garage at Waunfawr. The last time I stayed there was 1969, so it coincides with your photo.

Mic Aldington

 


 

Comments regarding the above are more than welcome please get in touch via the 'Contact Page' or by email at


If you have any bus related photographs that you would like to appear in a gallery on this website please send them to me by email at


Quick links to  -  Galleries  -  Comments  -  Contact  -  Home

All rights to the design and layout of this website are reserved     Old Bus Photos does not set or use Cookies but Google Analytics will set four see this

Old Bus Photos from Saturday 25th April 2009 to Thursday 28th March 2024