Whippet Coaches
1963
Bedford VAL14
Yeates C52F
Taken on Sunday April 21st 1963 at a somewhat wet Brighton coach rally this photo shows a Bedford VAL
14 with a Yeates Fiesta C52F body of Whippet Coaches from Hilton in Cambridgeshire Registration No 390
GEW. This was one of only eleven VAL’s bodied by Yeates at least six of which went to Barton Transport
and were all fitted with dual doors with either 50 or 56 seats which would seem to make them D/P’s, that
of course is open to question.
Whatever your view the Yeates bodied Bedford VAL was a fairly
unusual combination and was in my view an attractive vehicle which would have benefited from a more
restrained paint job.
Photograph and Copy contributed by Diesel Dave
03/11/14 - 06:36
This is a Fiesta body; the Barton ones were based on the
earlier Europa styling. Possibly the siting of an exit door amid sloping window pillars may have
been considered unsatisfactory.
Peter Williamson
04/11/14 - 06:47
If Dave is correct about Yeates bodying only eleven VALs and
seven are accounted for here, could we possibly have details of who had the others?
Chris Barker
04/11/14 - 07:00
Charles Rickards of Brentford had AYV 92B, a Yeates bodied
VAL.
John Hodkinson
04/11/14 - 11:26
Barton, Chillwell
963 963 RVO Bedford VAL14 1016 -
Yeates 0010 C50D 6/63
964 964 RVO Bedford VAL14 1104 - Yeates 0011 C50D 6/63
965 965
RVO Bedford VAL14 1111 - Yeates 0012 C50D 7/63
966 966 RVO Bedford VAL14 1115 - Yeates 0013
C50D 7/63
967 967 RVO Bedford VAL14 1145 - Yeates 0015 DP56D 7/63
968 968 RVO Bedford
VAL14 1146 - Yeates 0014 DP56D 7/63
969 969 RVO Bedford VAL14 1167 - Yeates 0016 DP56D
7/63
Gibson, Barlestone
54 179 CNR Bedford VAL14 1126 -
Yeates 0020 C52F 5/63
58 407 EAY Bedford VAL14 1195 - Yeates 0021 C51F 10/63
Rickard. W2
AYV 92B Bedford VAL14 1181 - Yeates 0029
C52F 5/64
Whippet, Hilton
390 GEW Bedford VAL14 1060 - Yeates
0019 C52F 5/63
These were the only Bedford VAL with Yeates
bodywork.
Ron Mesure
05/11/14 - 11:38
This may be a trick of the camera, but the odd thing about
this body seems to be the high ground clearance which gives it a rather primitive lorry-look: this
and as Dave says the (typical?) Yeates paint job is bucking the trend towards smoother, unfussy
lines eg the Harrington Bartons…. and by-the-by why Whippet?- in northern climes, it is a poor
man’s Greyhound (delightful though they are, he adds hastily) and "Whippet Quick" is not a
phrase you want attached to your business.
Joe
05/11/14 - 15:40
I think it’s inherent in the design, it looks high. The Duple
Vega Major looks low, sleek and right. To a lesser extent, so does the Plaxton Val. The other
mainstream coach on the VAL, the Legionnaire, looked higher - as did the other minority body, the
MCW Topas II.
David Oldfield
09/11/14 - 06:51
To not answer Joe’s question about the name
"Whippet", unfortunately the book issued to mark the operators 90th anniversary says that
the "the origins of the name are obscure" so presumably the present owners never asked
their grandfather where he got the name from. They also own a non trading company called Bloodhound
Bus Lines!
Nigel Turner
10/11/14 - 06:56
If Paul Carter, the author of the "Whippet" book,
and of several other comprehensive East Anglian transport volumes, cannot positively elicit the
origins of the name, then I doubt that anyone ever will. It has been suggested, however, that the
name was adopted to give an indication of speed, and "Greyhound" had already been
(over)used elsewhere to such an extent that the name was becoming rather a cliché, hence
"Whippet". Originally, it was "The Whippet", but in more recent times,
presumably inspired(!) by the Go Northern, Go Ahead, Go Whittle etc Academy For The Misuse Of The
English Language, it has traded as "Go Whippet". As one living locally to this operator, I
continue to be bemused by its radical changes of livery every few years. The only constant factor is
the inclusion of blue in some form. Latterly this has become a rather unexciting shade that covers
almost the entire vehicle, but individual buses have differing applications of the relief colour -
this is just a simple yellow stripe on the latest acquisitions. All the Busway vehicles, Whippet and
Stagecoach, wear the same livery, which is rather confusing to the public as the tickets of the two
operators are emphatically not inter-available. The County Council did attempt to introduce a common
ticket along the Busway, but this fell foul of rejection through inter operator rivalry, and has
been abandoned. Another characteristic of the company is the policy of allocating individual buses
to individual drivers - each driver keeps the bus for the entire working day. This may be a sound
policy for coach work, but it mitigates against efficient bus utilisation. At certain times of the
day, the bus stations at St Ives and Huntingdon are full of Whippet buses on layover.
Roger Cox
17/11/14 - 06:44
Whippet has been sold to Tower Transit - an Australian
company.
Mark Smith
17/11/14 - 17:21
Back in 1952, Mr Lee was in talks with Eastern National about
selling the business however nothing came of it. According to the EN records Mr Lee wished to retire
but did not think his sons were capable of running it.
Nigel Turner
18/11/14 - 06:13
Even before that, in May 1947, and again in early 1951, Mr
Henry Lee entered into talks with Mr Arthur Lainson with a view to selling out to Premier Travel.
Now, nearly 27 years since the demise of the Lainson era Premier Travel, Whippet is still around,
though I foresee some significant changes on the horizon once a financially hard nosed new owner
takes charge.
Roger Cox
19/11/14 - 15:17
I think a sell off by Whippet has been on the cards for some
time, Stagecoach would probably have bought them if it was not for the monopolies commission. At
least it should now put Whippet in a stronger position in the Cambridgeshire bus scene & provide
some competition to Stagecoach.
On a lighter note, I wonder if they will replace the Whippet
with a Kangaroo!!
John Wakefield
10/01/16 - 05:52
A year or so on & Tower Transit have not made significant
changes to Whippet, they are still only operating around the same amount of services, many tendered
rural route supported by Cambridgeshire County Council. No new buses have been acquired although
some ex London ones have cascaded down but these are ‘old’ vehicles including some short
Dennis Darts on 03 plates. But they also have three 12 plate ADL Enviro 200’s branded ‘Puppy’s
for use on rural routes. As at present they are no threat to Stagecoach. They have though produced a
useful fold up timetable covering all bus routes.
John Wakefield
10/01/16 - 10:50
I like John’s comments about Whippet and the name for the ADL
Enviro 200. Among my traffic duties with Southampton City Council was visiting applicants for
disabled parking bays. On one occasion, I was ushered in and I saw the back end of a dog
disappearing through a doorway. A few minutes later, one of the household asked, "Where’s
Tyson?" "He’s in the back garden," was the reply. Now, Tyson, in the canine context,
projects an image of some of the more vicious breeds. Eventually, Tyson condescended to return
indoors. I saw a whippet. Clearly, the owner had a good sense of humour!
Pete Davies
27/01/18 - 07:05
Whippet have recently terminated a number of subsidised routes around
Huntingdon and St ives which have now been taken by Stagecoach Busway and Dews.
David Ormerod
12/06/19 - 06:29
Whippet are hoping to celebrate in some way or another, it’s 100 year
anniversary (sometime in 2019 but no one knows when!). I would love to hear from anyone with ideas
how best we could celebrate this event(we will most likely pick a date in Aug 19 for our
celebration). I don’t believe we will wish to go too over the top and the budget will be
limited.
Pauline
13/06/19 - 06:29
Pauline (I assume you are in someway connected with Whippet)
The event
that you could have chosen for the 100 year celebration was Bus Fest at Whittlesey in May, but that
event is now past. You really should have arranged a date at the beginning of the year and ahead of
the rally season. Most events have now been advertised in the various bus enthusiast publications
and calendars. I do wonder if there is much interest in the company now since the take over by Tower
Transit and more recently Ascendal. Sad that this old & respected established company was sold out
of the Lee family ownership.
John Wakefield
14/06/19 - 06:30
Hi John
Yes, I am Office Manager at Whippet Coaches and (last week) was
given the enviable task of organising an event to celebrate the 100 year anniversary.
No name given
