Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Railways, trams, buses, etc.
harrym1byt
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Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by harrym1byt »

I happened across a Youtube video dated 2015, obviously mid summer, which showed numerous old Leeds buses, some almost vintage, being used on service routes in Leeds close to the market area. Was there some sort of old bus extravaganza on at around that time please?

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blackprince
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by blackprince »

Its an event called the Leeds vintage ( or classic ) bus running day. It has been run for 1 day in August for the last 4 or 5 years.
I have been meaning to attend for several years but finally managed to get there on Aug 20 this year. I am not a bus "spotter" but I thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane travelling on the top deck of my old school bus , No 46, to Armley, although not over the same route. The event included half price entry to 2 museums which were also new to me. Overall a good day out , well worth my trip over the Pennines to attend. Keep an eye open for the event next year if you are interested.
https://whatson.leeds.gov.uk/all-events ... atson-1747
It used to be said that the statue of the Black Prince had been placed in City Square , near the station, pointing South to tell all the southerners who've just got off the train to b****r off back down south!

harrym1byt
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by harrym1byt »

Thanks Black Prince, there were a surprising number of Black Prince buses appeared in the video.

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blackprince
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by blackprince »

harrym1byt wrote:Thanks Black Prince, there were a surprising number of Black Prince buses appeared in the video.
Nice to see them flying the flag for BP enterprises. I should get an upgrade to business class when I catch one of them.

One bus I would like to have travelled on again was the South Yorks low bridge double decker, which I used to get from Leeds bus station to Doncaster in the late 50's -early 60's. There was one at the event this year but I kept missing it and ended up on the green ones instead.
It used to be said that the statue of the Black Prince had been placed in City Square , near the station, pointing South to tell all the southerners who've just got off the train to b****r off back down south!

jma
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by jma »

A couple of shared memories there. Between October 1967 and December 1969 when I lived in Greenhill Close, I used to travel to and from work at Dewsbury Road Police Station on the 46 - a scenic tour of Leeds 11 and Leeds 12. On one occasion going home off nights I fell asleep on the slow-moving bus and the driver stopped at the end of our street and woke me up. (The 46 was one-man operated at that time in the morning.)

Before that, between 1954 and 1961 when we lived in Castleford, we used to travel on low bridge buses, if they are the ones with the upstairs gangway sunken on the right hand side, with the seats 4 in a row to the left. My dad was a smoker so we went upstairs and if it was a late bus, all the drunks were laid out on the seats.

volvojack
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by volvojack »

jma.
Your post reminded me that when i managed a small carpet shop in Bank St. Cstleford early 1960s i used to catch the 6pm. Red bus to Leeds each night i had to alight on Hunslet Rd i think about Crown Point. to walk on to Meadow Rd and catch another bus up Dewsbury Rd. The bus was warm and packed plus the motion on the journey that often i fell asleep and woke up in Leeds. When that occurred it was like starting the whole journey again.

One thing for sure is that all being well i shall be certain to take one of these Leeds Bus Trips next time.

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blackprince
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by blackprince »

jma wrote:---------------------- we used to travel on low bridge buses, if they are the ones with the upstairs gangway sunken on the right hand side, with the seats 4 in a row to the left. My dad was a smoker so we went upstairs and if it was a late bus, all the drunks were laid out on the seats.
Yes they are the ones. The design allowed the overall height to be about a foot lower than a conventional double decker. The dropped gangway reduced the head height for the lower deck passengers sitting on the right. The 4 aside seating upstairs would have made them a nuisance if passengers were getting on and off all the time, but I only remember using them on long journeys such as Leeds to Doncaster. I only remember 2 stops on that route, at Castleford and Pontefract, so the seating arrangement upstairs was fit for purpose. The Pontefract stop used to be long enough for a cup of tea and a visit to the loo.

East Yorks also ran Low Deckers with a distinctive arched roof needed to pass under Beverley Bar.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3716/1394 ... 6140_b.jpg
It used to be said that the statue of the Black Prince had been placed in City Square , near the station, pointing South to tell all the southerners who've just got off the train to b****r off back down south!

jma
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by jma »

blackprince wrote: ... East Yorks also ran Low Deckers with a distinctive arched roof needed to pass under Beverley Bar.
By coincidence I remember them too, although I never knew why they had the pointy top. When I was little just after the war we used to go to what was then a ramshackle "caravan" park at Charity Farm at Sewerby, near Brid. The caravans in those days were old buses and railway coaches etc. (It's still there but with modern caravans.) Re the East Yorkshire service buses which we sometimes used to catch into Brid, apart from the roof shape, the things that stick in my mind are the larger capital "E"s at each end of the name, and the bus tickets, which were different to what we had in Leeds at the time. They were a long strip of paper with different fares down one edge. The conductor put the ticket in his machine, slicing off the edge up to the amount of the fare, leaving a sort of "L" shaped ticket. My earliest memory of Leeds City Transport tickets is of the conductor having a rack with the range of tickets and the ticket was punched before it was given to the passenger. After that, it was the machines on a strap round the conductor's back which contained rolls of tickets of different values.

The other childhood memory was of being terrified whenever the EY bus used the level crossing near the farm because I thought nobody had any way of knowing when a train was coming. It seems silly now, but it worried me then :oops:

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blackprince
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by blackprince »

jma wrote:
blackprince wrote: ... East Yorks also ran Low Deckers with a distinctive arched roof needed to pass under Beverley Bar.
By coincidence I remember them too, although I never knew why they had the pointy top. When I was little just after the war we used to go to what was then a ramshackle "caravan" park at Charity Farm at Sewerby, near Brid. The caravans in those days were old buses and railway coaches etc. (It's still there but with modern caravans.) Re the East Yorkshire service buses which we sometimes used to catch into Brid, apart from the roof shape, the things that stick in my mind are the larger capital "E"s at each end of the name, and the bus tickets, which were different to what we had in Leeds at the time. They were a long strip of paper with different fares down one edge. The conductor put the ticket in his machine, slicing off the edge up to the amount of the fare, leaving a sort of "L" shaped ticket. My earliest memory of Leeds City Transport tickets is of the conductor having a rack with the range of tickets and the ticket was punched before it was given to the passenger. After that, it was the machines on a strap round the conductor's back which contained rolls of tickets of different values.

The other childhood memory was of being terrified whenever the EY bus used the level crossing near the farm because I thought nobody had any way of knowing when a train was coming. It seems silly now, but it worried me then :oops:
You have a good memory for detail jma. I think the entire population of Leeds must have decamped to Brid and Scarboro' for summer hols in those days
Like you I had a childhood holiday in a "caravan park" south of Brid in the early 50's. I remember it was at the terminus of the bus service from Brid and then there was a walk along a cliff top path, maybe about 1/4 mile.
The path was unlit at night and there were loads of bats flying around. The "caravan" park was like an old army camp with wooden huts raised on brick columns. There was a small grass area where children & dads played cricket and one chap seemed to spend the whole holiday fixing punctured inner tubes of his old car. Happy dayz!
It used to be said that the statue of the Black Prince had been placed in City Square , near the station, pointing South to tell all the southerners who've just got off the train to b****r off back down south!

TABBYCAT
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Re: Bus extravaganza 2015 Leeds?

Post by TABBYCAT »

blackprince wrote:
jma wrote:
blackprince wrote: ... East Yorks also ran Low Deckers with a distinctive arched roof needed to pass under Beverley Bar.
By coincidence I remember them too, although I never knew why they had the pointy top. When I was little just after the war we used to go to what was then a ramshackle "caravan" park at Charity Farm at Sewerby, near Brid. The caravans in those days were old buses and railway coaches etc. (It's still there but with modern caravans.) Re the East Yorkshire service buses which we sometimes used to catch into Brid, apart from the roof shape, the things that stick in my mind are the larger capital "E"s at each end of the name, and the bus tickets, which were different to what we had in Leeds at the time. They were a long strip of paper with different fares down one edge. The conductor put the ticket in his machine, slicing off the edge up to the amount of the fare, leaving a sort of "L" shaped ticket. My earliest memory of Leeds City Transport tickets is of the conductor having a rack with the range of tickets and the ticket was punched before it was given to the passenger. After that, it was the machines on a strap round the conductor's back which contained rolls of tickets of different values.

The other childhood memory was of being terrified whenever the EY bus used the level crossing near the farm because I thought nobody had any way of knowing when a train was coming. It seems silly now, but it worried me then :oops:
You have a good memory for detail jma. I think the entire population of Leeds must have decamped to Brid and Scarboro' for summer hols in those days
Like you I had a childhood holiday in a "caravan park" south of Brid in the early 50's. I remember it was at the terminus of the bus service from Brid and then there was a walk along a cliff top path, maybe about 1/4 mile.
The path was unlit at night and there were loads of bats flying around. The "caravan" park was like an old army camp with wooden huts raised on brick columns. There was a small grass area where children & dads played cricket and one chap seemed to spend the whole holiday fixing punctured inner tubes of his old car. Happy dayz!

Everything in your post, BP, describes South Shore holiday camp (as it may still be called) to the letter as I too remember the terminus, long walk,huts and grass area as described.

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