Uploads from Richie B., tagged street

Hitler Moustache

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:48:31 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

Two of Alexander Dennis' finest are seen at the top of Exeter's Paris Street.
Exeter has 3 colour-coded Park & Ride fleets which complement the letter-coded City services, themselves a legacy from the days of the municipal Exeter City Transport.

"Oh Shit!"

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:44:02 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Over the last few weeks work has been underway demolishing the former Cumberland Motor Services 1932 built workshops on Whitehaven's Tangier Street.
The building had become an eyesore and structurally unsound and has had to go.
Tangier St. is where the majority of our drivers wait to relieve their colleagues on Whitehaven town services so I have been able to watch the progress of the contractors.
Early this afternoon that progress came to a halt when the excavator being used toppled into the former inspection pits.
As I type this my colleagues inform me that a crane has arrived to attempt a recovery.
Some of my more senior brethren tell me that this is not the first time a vehicle has come to grief on the site in this fashion!

You Wait All Day For A Bus......

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:39:23 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

A busy couple of minutes in Teignmouth as a new to Manchester Trident, heading for Torquay, makes way for an Enviro 400 working the No.2 service to Exeter.
Bringing up the rear is a second Enviro working the Newton Abbot bound No.2.

Commer At A Full Stop

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:21:08 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

1956 saw The Devon General Omnibus & Touring Company purchase no less than 42 new vehicles. Among the many AEC Regents & Reliances were 12 Commer TS3 of chassis-less design, utilising Commer’s 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine.
Six were delivered as 41 seat coaches for the Grey Cars & Townsend’s subsidiary fleets, while the balance received 40 seat bus bodies, all twelve being built by Beadle.
The buses received fleet numbers SC757-9 (ROD757-9) & SC790-2 (TTT790-2) and were initially allocated to Exeter & Torquay depots as traffic spares, although all eventually gravitated to Newton Abbot.
Here we see SC757 having a rest at Exeter Paul Street bus station awaiting service. Route 19A ran from this point out west via Leigh Cross to the village of Christow.
Although economical these buses were not particularly popular with drivers due to being unreliable and, in later years, noisy.
This particular example was scrapped in November 1963 following a head-on collision with an empty Royal Blue coach near Chudleigh in which it sustained serious damage. The bus was operating a staff contract for Candy Tiles of Heathfield (a one-time employer of mine) and unfortunately a female passenger was killed, whilst two other passengers, the conductor of the bus and both drivers were seriously injured.
The remaining 5 buses were withdrawn in 1967.

A Local Guy

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:12:25 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

The oft’ photographed apron area of Exeter’s Paris St. bus station is the setting for this shot of a Park Royal bodied Guy Arab IV about to set off on the six mile journey out west to Heath Cross via Whitestone.
UFJ296 was new in 1957 to Exeter Corporation, one of five identical Gardner 6LW powered vehicles (UFJ295-9).
Delivered concurrently were four similar chassis’ with bodies by Massey (UFJ291-4). These nine vehicles were numbered 51-59 by the Corporation.
In April 1970 (following year long negotiations with a City Council concerned with continual losses) all nine, together with all services & assets of the Corporation, were absorbed into the BET group in the guise of Devon General.
They were renumbered by DG to 251-59.
By the following January only four, Nos.251/3/9 and this one, had survived to enter the fleet of Western National, which had assumed control of Devon General, and during the next year Nos.251 & 299 were also withdrawn.
No.253 was repainted into poppy red in 1978 and carried that livery until withdrawal in 1980. It can be seen here; www.flickr.com/photos/ricardo4eyes/401948246/ and after withdrawal here; www.flickr.com/photos/kevin-staddon/2370428701/
As for the bus shown here, it also saw service with WN until 1980, latterly as a driver trainer, retaining its green & cream livery throughout.
Happily it survives in preservation today ( www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/190868519/ ), one of four Exeter Corporation Arabs still extant, the others being
TFJ808 ( www.flickr.com/photos/ricardo4eyes/2360482327/ ),
UFJ292 ( www.flickr.com/photos/ricardo4eyes/3437686647/ )
& 974AFJ ( www.flickr.com/photos/ricardo4eyes/424407905/ ).
This picture can be dated to shortly after the Devon General takeover as, although retaining its City of Exeter fleet number and municipal crest, it is operating a DG numbered service as opposed to one of the lettered City services of the Corporation.

New View!

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:08:33 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

The demolition of the former Cumberland Motor Services garage building in Whitehaven last year has opened up a vista not seen for 80 years.
Right to left on Tangier Street are; J.D. Wetherspoon's "The Bransty Arch" (formerly part of the original CMS garage complex), "The Shipwrights" public house, the fomer CMS and subsequently Stagecoach office building and the boarded up and redundant bus station.
The Bransty Arch itself was a narrow bridge which carried a horse-drawn waggonway from the Whingill Colliery to the harbour over Tangier Street at around about the right hand edge of this picture. It was demolished in 1927 and a small representation of it can be seen at the top of the pub's frontage.
The closure of the bus station means that all but one of our driver reliefs in Whitehaven occur on one side or the other of Tangier Street at the bus stops.

Wastelands

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:33:11 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

A Scania Enviro 400 picks up on Whitehaven's Tangier Street on its way to Carlisle with a Sunday 301 service.
The area behind the bus shelter was, until last year, the site of the 1932 built garage complex of Cumberland Motor Services.
The filled-in inspection pits can be clearly seen.
Compare and contrast with the picture below.

Incoming!

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:57:17 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

A new to Manchester SD Enviro 400 arrives at Exeter's Paris Street bus station with an X64 from Totnes.

Face In The Crowd

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 07:42:48 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Mrs. B. does some window shopping in Teignmouth's Bank Street.

Evil Eye

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:10:53 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

"Don't take my picture, put some money in the case!"
A busker checks me out, checking her out!

Mind The Gap!

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:56:38 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Evidence of a contretemps of a vehicular nature is provided by the misaligned front panels of this Enviro 400 boarding passengers for a jaunt to "Newtnabbat".
No.19109 is yet another South West bus which began life in Manchester. Like all the "go2" branded examples it carries the name of a town or village on the route, in this case "Dawlish Warren".

View From The Top

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 11:22:31 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

No.15686 sets off from Whitehaven Lowther Street with the 14.10hrs. 301 service to Carlisle.
The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that it appears to be departing over two hours early!
Fact is; that clock stopped months ago.
As with many towns, pleasant Georgian frontages are despoiled by a hotch-potch of sleazy-on-the-eye signage.
The Chrimbo dec's are already up. Any sense of cheer they may bring will be more than counterbalanced by the graffiti daubed phone kiosk and the fag-end strewn litter bins.
A duo of ladies have esconced themselves in the uppper deck front seats in order to afford themselves a panorama of a grey west Cumbrian day.

An Eyesore I Saw

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:19:23 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

The decaying edifice of the former Cumberland Motor Services 1932 workshops on Tangier St. continues to welcome visitors to Whitehaven arriving from the north.
An Alexander bodied Volvo B10 of the buildings last users awaits the return of its driver from the George St. rest room.

Devon General No.875 (875ATA) Exeter

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 03 May 2009 15:17:48 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Exiting the upper end of Exeter High Street nearing the end of its service life is Metro-Cammell bodied Leyland Atlantean 875ATA.
This bus was one of Devon General’s 1959 delivery of 17 of the type (872-88ATA) and in 1961 became one of 5 Atlanteans to receive turbochargers in an attempt to increase performance on Torbay’s hillier routes.
On February the 6th 1968 this bus attempted to pass under the Sharon House railway bridge in Old Mill Road, Chelston sustaining major damage to its upper deck.
It was rebuilt with a top deck supplied by Willowbrook of Loughborough and this gave it a distinctive appearance as can be evidenced by the full length roof ribbing.
It passed to Western National in 1971.
Interestingly I have yet to see a picture of it with its original roof from its pre-accident days.
By March 1981 it had been withdrawn and sold for scrap.

A Message For Workingtonians?

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:01:41 -0800

Richie B. posted a photo:

Graffiti in Oxford St., thanks for the advice.

"Muriel!"

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:01:54 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

to quote Hilda Ogden. Artwork depicting Olde Worlde Workington in Wilson Street.

Roper Street, Whitehaven

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:42:28 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Title says it all, really.

Towering Above...

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:50:20 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

...Kirkby Stephen's Market St. is St. Stephen's, the town's Parish Church, known locally as the Cathedral of the Dales. The building dates from 1175 and has traces of both Saxon & Norman handiwork.