‘Transpire’ of course being ‘The Chesterfield Bus Society’ of which I have been a member for 30 years or so.
Last years rally was cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic whilst this years rally was postponed from its usual June date.
The largest contingent of vehicles from one operator present on the day came from ‘Midland Red.’
UHA 225H ‘Midland Red’ No. 6225. Daimler Fleetline CRG6LXB / Alexander ‘J’
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
Beautifully restored.
JHA 227L ‘Midland Red’ No. 227. Leyland Leopard / Marshall
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
At the time, there were a number of bus body constructors who built bodies to the same design for companies who were part of what was called the ‘BET Federation’.
BET standing for British Electric Traction.
The background and history of BET is too long and complicated to be gone into here.
I would suggest that anyone interested should Google ‘BET Federation’ and go to the Wikipedia file.
A selection of operators who were a part of BET includes Midland Red, Trent, East Midland, Ribble, East Kent and many others.
SOA 674S ‘Midland Red’ No. 674. Leyland Leopard / Plaxton Supreme lll
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
BVP 808V ‘Midland Red’ No. 808 ‘Chaserider’. Leyland National ll
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
The ‘Chaserider’ branding refers to services on and around Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.
