Western SMT

August 1973 - Western SMT 2388 (YSD 348L), an Alexander Y type bodied Leyland Leopard new in February 1973, seen close to Chorlton Street Coach Station in Manchester. It carried the destination and service number for the overnight service from Glasgow.

August 1973 - Western SMT 2356 (WSD 746K), an Alexander Y type bodied Leyland Leopard new in June 1972, seen close to Chorlton Street Coach Station in Manchester.

August 1973 - Western SMT 2356 (WSD 746K), an Alexander Y type bodied Leyland Leopard new in June 1972, seen close to Chorlton Street Coach Station in Manchester.

December 1981 - Western Scottish V119 (NCS 119W) seen at Baldock when working the London to Glasgow day north service via the 'old road'. The 'K' prefix to the fleet number is a depot allocation code - Kilmarnock I presume. It is a Duple Dominant III bodied Volvo B10M new in June 1981. The blue and white livery adopted for the Anglo-Scottish services of the Scottish Bus Group companies is carried.

July 1973 (a Saturday evening) - Quite a rare visitor indeed on a service through Rochdale was this Western SMT Alexander bodied ‘Y’ type coach which had been provided by Ribble as a last minute X79 duplicate. A very, very poor shot I admit because it was taken in the darkness of the Yelloway garage at Weir Street just before the coach went on its way with no time for a proper picture – with barely time to run to my desk to grab the camera. Ribble and WSMT worked their joint Lancashire-Glasgow services, their drivers routinely driving each others coaches. The coaches were often utilised as required when they were in the other partners possession which is what brought this vehicle quite unexpectedly to Rochdale. Hubert Allen’s white Daimler car can be seen in the background – he always parked in this spot. Just beyond that was the passenger waiting room the seats of which came from vehicles from a bygone age. The evening sunshine lights up what would be a deserted ‘top office’ (The General Office). The staff here (typists, wages, accounts etc) didn’t work after lunch on Saturdays. A further link between Yelloway and Western SMT was that the WSMT office at 55 St. Enoch Square in Glasgow was the principal Scottish booking agent for Yelloway issuing tickets for passengers travelling between Scotland and the South West of England via Manchester using the Ribble/WSMT service from Glasgow to Manchester where they then connected to the Yelloway 'Devonian' service.

Friday 29 July 2022 (1243) – During June 2022 the pattern of workings on National Express service 727 (Heathrow-Great Yarmouth) changed with Ambassador Travel taking over most of the trips that had been worked by National Express themselves. However, a new operator to appear for the first time from 1 July covering the 0920 Heathrow-Norwich trip was Edwards Coaches of Llantwit Fadre, South Wales, a company that also has a base in Bristol. Edwards BV22 VTZ was seen here on the A11 in Suffolk approaching Fiveways roundabout at Barton Mills in typical slow moving Friday traffic. Consequently, it was running about 20 minutes late. It is a Caetano Levante III bodied Scania K410 that was March 2022 (to National Express owned Clarke’s of London?). This particular 727 trip is different from all the others in that there are no intermediate places served between Cambridge and Norwich (all the others serve Newmarket, Mildenhall and Thetford).

Friday 29 July 2022 (1244) – During June 2022 the pattern of workings on National Express service 727 (Heathrow-Great Yarmouth) changed with Ambassador Travel taking over most of the trips that had been worked by National Express themselves. However, a new operator to appear for the first time from 1 July covering the 0920 Heathrow-Norwich trip was Edwards Coaches of Llantwit Fadre, South Wales, a company that also has a base in Bristol. Edwards BV22 VTZ was seen here on the A11 in Suffolk approaching Fiveways roundabout at Barton Mills in typical slow moving Friday traffic. Consequently, it was running about 20 minutes late. It is a Caetano Levante III bodied Scania K410 that was March 2022 (to National Express owned Clarke’s of London?). This particular 727 trip is different from all the others in that there are no intermediate places served between Cambridge and Norwich (all the others serve Newmarket, Mildenhall and Thetford).

Friday 29 July 2022 (1244) – During June 2022 the pattern of workings on National Express service 727 (Heathrow-Great Yarmouth) changed with Ambassador Travel taking over most of the trips that had been worked by National Express themselves. However, a new operator to appear for the first time from 1 July covering the 0920 Heathrow-Norwich trip was Edwards Coaches of Llantwit Fadre, South Wales, a company that also has a base in Bristol. Edwards BV22 VTZ was seen here on the A11 in Suffolk approaching Fiveways roundabout at Barton Mills in typical slow moving Friday traffic. Consequently, it was running about 20 minutes late. It is a Caetano Levante III bodied Scania K410 that was March 2022 (to National Express owned Clarke’s of London?). This particular 727 trip is different from all the others in that there are no intermediate places served between Cambridge and Norwich (all the others serve Newmarket, Mildenhall and Thetford). (The peculiar shadow on the rear is of a nearby road light and pole)