Rossendale Transport

Easter Sunday 16 April 1995 – Rossendale Transport MCW Metroriders parked at the Corporation Road yard in Rochdale. Left to right: 62 (F62 ARN); 60 (F60 ARN); 1 (F91 CWG); 3 (F93 CWG); 59 (E59 KHG); 57 (E57 KHG); 63 (F63 ARN); and 58 (E58 KHG). The KHG registered buses were new in February 1988 and the ARN registered buses were new in March 1989. The CWG registered buses were new in October 1988 to the ATL owned Yelloway. Very soon after they entered service the mis-managed Yelloway business was closed down and the Rochdale operations passed to another ATL company, Crosville Motor Services to whom the vehicles were transferred becoming fleet numbers MMC101/103. In 1989 ATL sold Crosville to Drawlane and the buses passed to Bee Line Buzz. When Bee Line withdrew from the Rochdale routes in 1991 the buses passed to Rossendale Transport. So, in the space of three or so years they had four owners! Just visible in the centre distance is the roofline of Oakenrod School on Bury Road. This was the school I attended from about 1955 to 1961, first in the infant school on the ground floor and then in the junior school on the upper floor. The building was demolished circa 2011.

Easter Sunday 16 April 1995 – Rossendale Transport buses at the yard in Corporation Road, Rochdale. The yard is on the site where the Standard Mill (built in 1889) once stood, one of the many cotton mills that existed in Rochdale. The double decker is 28 (SND 28X), an East Lancs bodied Leyland Atlantean new in February 1982. Alongside it is 119 (BAJ 119Y), a Duple Dominant (bus) bodied Leyland Tiger that had been to Trimdon Motor Services in May 1983. The bus on the far left is 95 (F95 XBV), an East Lancs bodied Leyland Tiger new in March 1989.

Easter Sunday 16 April 1995 – Rossendale Transport buses at the yard in Corporation Road, Rochdale. The yard is on the site where the Standard Mill (built in 1889) once stood, one of the many cotton mills that existed in Rochdale. In the background is a small remaining part of what had been Brimrod Mill. It had been owned by AEI (Associated Electrical Industries) for some years and I recall the names of its subsidiaries Siemens, Edison Swan on the building in the 1960s. On the left are 93 (F93 XBV) and 95 (F95 XBV), East Lancs bodied Leyland Tigers new in January 1989 and March 1989 respectively. The double decker is 28 (SND 28X), an East Lancs bodied Leyland Atlantean new in February 1982. Alongside it is 119 (BAJ 119Y), a Duple Dominant (bus) bodied Leyland Tiger that had been to Trimdon Motor Services in May 1983. In the background is the ERF tow truck YJX 538Y named Hector.

Saturday 15 April 1995 (Easter weekend) – Rochdale bus station Left is Rossendale Transport 3 (F93 CWG), an MCW Metrorider new in October 1988 and one of four such vehicles delivered to the ATL owned Yelloway (F91-94 CWG). I have read that they wore an all over cream livery with a red/maroon skirt. Very soon after the mis-managed Yelloway business was closed down and the operations passed to another ATL company, Crosville Motor Services to whom the four vehicles were transferred becoming fleet numbers MMC101-104. In 1989 ATL sold Crosville to Drawlane and the buses passed to Bee Line Buzz. When Bee Line withdrew from the Rochdale routes in 1991 the buses passed to Rossendale Transport. So, in the space of three or so years they had four owners! Right is GM Buses North 4305 (MNC 505W), a Northern Counties bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68A/1R new in August 1980 to Greater Manchester PTE.

Monday 26 April 1999 – Rossendale Transport 15 (P915 XUG), an Optare MetroRider new in April 1997, seen in Newgate, Rochdale when working service 244 to Rawtenstall via Norden, Owd Betts and Edenfield. The coaching subsidiary of Rossendale Transport is Ellen Smith (Tours) Limited. Note the advertising on the bus side. Across the road on the right is the Ellen Smith travel office.

Sunday 27 February 1999 (1055) - Rossendale Transport 23 (H110 MOB), a Carlyle Dartline bodied Dennis Dart new to London Buses (DT110), seen in Rochdale bus station.

Easter Sunday 16 April 1995 – Rossendale Transport buses at the yard in Corporation Road, Rochdale. The yard is on the site where the Standard Mill (built in 1889) once stood, one of the many cotton mills that existed in Rochdale. 28 (SND 28X), an East Lancs bodied Leyland Atlantean new in February 1982, and 119 (BAJ 119Y), a Duple Dominant (bus) bodied Leyland Tiger that had been to Trimdon Motor Services in May 1983.

Saturday 21 March 1992 – Rossendale Transport 41 (PRJ 497R), a Northern Counties bodied Daimler Fleetline that had been new to Greater Manchester PTE (7947) in December 1976, seen in Rochdale.

Easter Sunday 16 April 1995 – In the Summer of 1982 Rossendale Borough Transport added two East Lancs bodied Bristol LHS midi buses primarily to work some of the tighter routes to destinations like Cowpe, a village near Waterfoot. Numbered 50 (SND 550X) and 51 (SND 551X) they were new in June and July 1982 respectively. 51 is seen here at the Corporation Road yard in Rochdale. In the background is 390 (170 BHR), an MCW Metrorider new to Capital of West Drayton as D741 ALR in 1987, in the livery of Ellen Smith Tours. Rossendale Transport bought the old family business in 1991 and continued to use the well respected name.

Saturday 15 April 1995 (Easter weekend) – Rossendale Transport 63 (F63 ARN), an MCW Metrorider new in March 1989, seen in Rochdale bus station.

Saturday 1 November 1997 – Rossendale Transport 65 (F165 DET), an MCW Metrorider that had been new to BTS, Borehamwood in May 1989, seen entering Newgate in Rochdale bound for Shawforth on service 464. Rochdale has had a number of substantial buildings spread around the town centre which were probably not totally appreciated in the past. This view features the tower of the Town Hall and a corner of the old General Post Office building.

Monday 26 April 1999 – Rossendale Transport 73 (PJI 9173) seen in Rochdale bus station having arrived on service 444 from Bamford. The body is an East Lancs EL2000 which was new in 1992 fitted to a 1981 Volvo B10M-61 chassis. The chassis originally had a Duple Dominant III body and was new to the Western SMT in June 1981 as their V117 registered NCS 117W for use on their Scotland-London services. To see what it would have looked like with the Duple Dominant III body, and wearing the striking blue and white Scottish coaching livery, here is a photo of sister vehicle V119 (NCS 119W): www.ipernity.com/doc/davidslater-spoddendale/42496980

Saturday 15 April 1995 (Easter weekend) – Rossendale Transport 93 (F93 XBV), an East Lancs bodied Leyland Tiger new in January 1989, seen in Smith Street, Rochdale about to enter Rochdale bus station.

Sunday 22 March 1992 – Rossendale Transport 94 (F94 XBV), an East Lancs bodied Leyland Tiger new in February 1989, seen in Rochdale bus station.

Saturday 15 April 1995 (Easter weekend) – Rossendale Transport 104 (H104 CHG), a Reeve Burgess Pointer bodied Dennis Dart new in June 1991, seen in Rochdale bus station. Reeve Burgess, based in North Derbyshire, was acquired by Plaxtons in 1980 and built smaller type bus bodywork. The company continued building until 1991 when the Derbyshire site closed and production moved to Plaxtons at Scarborough. In the late 1980s Reeve Burgess developed and launched the Pointer model which became quite successful and more well known as a Plaxton branded product (and later TransBus then Alexander-Dennis)

Saturday 1 November 1997 – Rossendale Transport 113 (P213 DCK), an East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart new in June 1997, seen in Rochdale bus station loading for Shaw and Buckstones on service 435. It carries ‘Easyride’ branding. The stone building on the left is the former Yelloway office block now occupied by accounts BDO Binder Hamlyn. It had originally been a warehouse owned by Kelsall and Kemp. The building to the right of that was originally ‘Electric House’ built in the early 1930s as the showroom and administrative offices of the Rochdale Corporation Electricity Department. When the electricity industry was nationalised in the late 1940s it passed to the North Western Electricity Board (Norweb). Those two buildings and the bus station shown were all demolished in the early 2000s. The tower of Rochdale Town Hall, which thankfully still survives, dominates the background.

Saturday 1 November 1997 – Rossendale Transport 113 (P213 DCK), an East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart new in June 1997, seen in Rochdale bus station loading for Shaw and Buckstones on service 435. It carries ‘Easyride’ branding.

Sunday 27 February 1999 (1020) - Rossendale Transport 113 (P213 DCK), an East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart new in June 1997, seen in Rochdale bus station. It carries ‘Easyride’ branding.