‘Scene’ at the age of 100. ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ 9 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I have learned that the bus rally planned for Sunday the 25th. of April in Chatsworth park to mark ‘Hulleys’ centenary has had to be postponed until later in the year in order to comply with the current regulations surrounding the Covid 19 pandemic.

 

For ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ /1, see blog posted 01/04/2021. For part 2 see blog posted 05/04/2021. 

 

This series will now run almost daily until I run out of images to post. 

 

So, watch this space.

 

April 2021 sees the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of what has become ‘Hulleys of Baslow’, the well known Derbyshire based independent bus operator.

 

Founded by Henry Hulley, the ownership of the company has changed hands more than once but the name of its founder has survived all the changes.

 

I have known the company for over 60 years and during that time the buses initially painted (in my time at least) in shades of red and red and grey have been a fixture in Rutland Square in Bakewell.

 

These days, the livery has changed to cream and dark blue. 

 

A combination that ‘Hulleys’ inherited from ‘South Notts’ when buses were bought from that fleet and the livery adopted.

 

Although Hulleys ‘main line’ is probably its service number 170 from Bakewell to Chesterfield via Baslow.

 

The company operates widely across North Derbyshire, to Sheffield and in the past year to Manchester.

 

HW54 BUV ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 22. Transbus Dart SLF / Plaxton Mini Pointer

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New as No. 314 to ‘Musterphantom’.

 

It also worked for ‘Damory Coaches’  and ‘Southern Vectis’ earlier in its career.

 

Both companies being part of ‘Go South Coast’.

 

Pictured in use at Rowsley railway station where it was used as a control vehicle at the 2019 Peak Park Preserved Bus Gathering.

 

 

 

 

AE05 EUY ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 16. MAN 14.220 / MCV Evolution /1

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

Pictured in Matlock bus station.

 

 

 

 

AE05 EUY ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 16. MAN 14.220 / MCV Evolution /2

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

AE05 EVC ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 2. MAN 14.220 / MCV Evolution

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘NCP’, Luton Airport.

 

Pictured just leaving Chesterfield coach station.

 

 

 

‘Scene’ in Somerset. ‘Firstbus’ 2 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The ‘Firstbus’ fleet in Somerset falls into two distinct categories.

 

In one of those categories are the members of the fleet that carry the full green or branded liveries and the other are those that don’t.

 

This blog deals with the first category and the second category will be covered in future blogs.

 

X202 HAE ‘First South West’ No. 43822 ‘the buses of Taunton’. Dennis Dart MPD / Plaxton Mini Pointer.

 

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

New to ‘First Bristol’ as No. 202.

 

 

 

Pictured in Taunton.

 

 

 

 

SN60 EAG ‘First South West’ No. 67705 ‘the buses of Somerset’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) Enviro 300 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 300 /1 

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘First Glasgow’.

 

Pictured in Watchet.

 

 

 

 

SN60 EAG ‘First South West’ No. 67705 ‘the buses of Somerset’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) Enviro 300 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 300 /2 

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘First Glasgow’. 

 

Pictured in Minehead.

 

 

 

 

MK63 XAP ‘First South West’ No. 47538 ‘Taunton’s park&ride’. Wright Streetlite D/F

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

New to ‘First Somerset & Avon’.

 

Pictured in Taunton.

 

 

 

 

MK63 XAP ‘First South West’ No. 47538 ‘Taunton’s park&ride’. Wright Streetlite D/F

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

New to ‘First Somerset & Avon’.

 

Pictured in Taunton.

 

‘Scene’ in retrospect, ‘yourbus’ part 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

This particular blog runs to 26 images and would be far too long to post at one go.

 

This then is the first of several blogs that will be transmitted on successive days telling some of the story of ‘yourbus’ of Heanor, Derbyshire who closed down on October 4th. 2019.

 

This is not the place for looking at what went wrong nor the personalities involved but a look at some of the vehicles that served the company.

 

Always combative having over the years taken on ‘Nottingham City Transport’, ‘trentbarton’ and ‘ARRIVA midlands’ in head to head competition. 

 

Like many more before them, they have passed into history.

 

One personal observation over the years is that ‘yourbus’ (yb) never seemed to attract passengers in large numbers. Many buses running very lightly loaded.

 

My first contact with them was when in 2009 they took over the Ripley/Matlock., (Derbyshire) service No. 141.

 

The first livery was maroon all over with the silhouettes of passengers in silver on the sides.

 

I would add that my sympathies go to all the workforce at ‘yb’ who have lost their jobs. 

 

I wish them well in their search for further employment.

 

More tomorrow.

 

KU52 RYN ‘yourbus’ No. 1007 Branded for Nottingham services 81 & 82. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Pointer

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘Pete’s Travel’, West Bromwich.

 

Pictured in Matlock bus station.

 

 

 

 

X632 AKW ‘yourbus’ No. 1012. Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘Pete’s Travel’, West Bromwich.

 

Pictured in Belper, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

 

LG02 FFC  ‘yourbus’ No. 1501. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Mini Pointer

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘London United’ as No. DPK619.

 

Pictured in Nottingham.

 

 

 

 

M526 WHF ‘yourbus’ No. 3003. Volvo B10B / Wright Endurance

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘Merseyside’ as no. 6526.

 

Pictured in Matlock.

‘Scene’ at Showbus 2017. ‘Plaxton 3’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

The history of the British bus industry is littered with companies that like shooting stars shone for a while and then fell to Earth.

 

Fortunately ‘Plaxton’ is not one of them.

 

Now part of the ‘Alexander Dennis Ltd.’ group and turning out current standards like the 

E20D / Enviro 200MMC alongside its own branded coach production.

 

There is however a long history of ‘Plaxton’ production, a little of which is seen here. 

 

There will be a small number of blogs about ‘Plaxton’ bodied vehicles seen at ‘Showbus 2017’.

 

For ‘Plaxton 1’ see blog dated 18/06/2018, ‘Plaxton 2’ see blog dated 05/07/2018.

 

LHE 601W ‘Johnson Bros. (Tours)’, Worksop, Notts. Volvo B58-56 / Plaxton Supreme IV

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

CBM 13X ‘Premier-Albanian’. Leyland Tiger  / Plaxton Supreme VI

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

UVT 14X ‘Stevensons’ No. 14. Leyland Tiger / Plaxton Supreme

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New as XBF 423X to ‘Bassett’, Tittensor (Staffs).

 

 

C262 GUH ‘National Welsh’ No. XC 262, ‘National Express Rapide’ livery. Leyland Tiger / Plaxton Paramount 

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

SAC 500 ‘Thorne’s. Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Premiere 350

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New as N200 VHO in 1996 to ‘Thornes’.

 

 

R726 TYC ‘Fowlers’, Holbeach Drove, Spalding, Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Premiere

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

X185 CTG ‘Select’ No. 101. Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton MPD

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘Cardiff Bus’ as its No. 185.

 

 

 

LK03 GMF ‘MP Travel’ No. 484, Warrington. Volvo B7TL / Plaxton Pesident

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Formerly ‘Metroline’, London as its VP 484.

 

 

 

XX11 PSW ‘Paul S. Winson’, Loughborough. Volvo B9R / Plaxton Elite 

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YX66 WNP ‘Stagecoach Midlands’ No. 54283. Volvo B11RT / Plaxton Elite i

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YX17 OGT ‘Fowlers’, Holbeach Drove, Spalding. Volvo B8R / Plaxton Leopard

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YX17 OGZ ‘Plaxton’, Demonstrator. Volvo B8R / Plaxton Panther

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ in Burnley. Part 1, The Burnley Bus Company (BBC) on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

North Lancashire and North Yorkshire is very much ‘Transdev’ territory in bus terms. 

 

The company uses local identities in Blackburn, Burnley, Harrogate and Keighley together with ‘Coastliner’ to engender in the populations of the towns and localities the feeling that these are ‘our’ buses.

 

From the loadings I saw in Burnley and I have before on earlier visits to Harrogate (see blog dated 11/06/17) and Keighley (see blog dated 27/06/14), it works!

 

Burnley Bus Station is typically modern with a drive in reverse out layout with all the facilities you would expect.

 

SN64 CTF ‘The Burnley Bus Company’No. 607 ‘Burnley Connect’ Wright Streetlite D/F

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

SN64 CSY ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No. 604 ‘Burnley Connect’. Wright Streetlite D/F

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

YJ12 MZZ ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No. 216 ‘Burnley Connect’. Optare Versa V1110

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YJ04 LXR ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No.708 ‘Burnley Connect’. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Mini Pointer

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

YJ04 LXS ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No.709 ‘Burnley Connect’. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Mini Pointer

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

This bus carries additional branding ‘follow the clarets’which refers to the towns ‘Premiership’ football team Burnley Football Club.

 

 

 

SN64 CTY ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No. 611. Wright Streetlite D/F

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YJ17 FVZ ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No. 258 ‘Mainline’. Optare Versa V1170 /1

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YJ17 FVZ ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No. 258 ‘Mainline’. Optare Versa V1170 /2

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Something I have not seen before is the countdown on the destination screen announcing when the bus is due to depart.

 

It seems to come on at a minute to go and then counts down to zero in increments of 5 seconds.

 

 

 

 

YJ17 FWE ‘The Burnley Bus Company’ No. 263 ‘Mainline’. Optare Versa V1170

on ‘Dennis Basfords’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ in the SouthWest.’Citybus’and others in Plymouth on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I have visited Plymouth on a number of occasions down the years and I always find something of interest.

 

Like many fleets, ‘Plymouth Citybus’ (part of the ‘Go-Ahead Group’) has a variety of brands within the fleet.

 

Possibly the most common is ‘citybus’.

 

 

PF06 ENL ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 370 ‘city’ Scania N94UB / East Lancs

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘Thames Travel’ (another ‘Go-Ahead’ group company).

 

 

 

 

 

WX62 HHE ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 707 ‘city’ MAN 18.270 EcoCity / Caetano

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

New to ‘Anglian Bus’.

 

 

 

The next 2 images of buses built by the same builder seven years apart show that although a lot has changed mechanically, there is very little difference in appearance.

 

 

WA08 LDJ ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 137 ‘city’ Dennis Dart SLF / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 200

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

WJ65 HMA ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 147 ‘city’ Alexander Dennis Ltd. E20D

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

WJ55 HLR ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 87 ‘city’ Mercedes-Benz Citaro

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

The Dennis Dart is alive and well in Plymouth with a number of operators.

 

LX05 EYW ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 255 ‘city’ Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Mini Pointer

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

This one being new to ‘London General’.

 

 

 

 

WA03 BHW ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 67 ‘city’ Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

WA64 JVV ‘Plymouth citybus’ No. 72 ‘SuperRider’ Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

Seen in an earlier livery.

 

 

 

 

 

BX54 DLD ‘JACKETTS’ Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

PX05 EKV ’Stagecoach South West’ No. 34686 Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I know that operators move buses around the various fleets within their group for a variety of reasons. I do wonder though about the economics of the exercise.

 

This particular bus, seen in Plymouth was photographed in Carlisle by me nearly 4 years ago. 

 

According to Google maps, Carlisle is 388 miles away.

 

New to ‘Stagecoach North West’.

 

 

 

YX65 RCV ’Stagecoach South West’ No. 26034 ‘park&ride’ Alexander Dennis Ltd. E20D

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

SN65 ZHK ’Stagecoach South West’ No. 10495 Alexander Dennis Ltd. E40D

on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’