Yorkshire Rider Darts

The articles on this blog about the Yorkshire Rider Darts and their use by First Eastern Counties has generated some interest amongst readers

Three ex Yorkshire Rider Darts at Caister Road Depot © Ryan

Godfrey Talford, now a resident of Happisburgh in Norfolk, contributes the following:-

May another Yorkshire exile in North East Norfolk be permitted to assist Michael Sayer's memory? The batch of 68 Darts M201-268 VWW were numbered 3201-3268 when new. Only the first 18,had Plaxton bodies; they went new to Huddersfield, at the same time as a much larger batch of Dennis Lance/Plaxton Verdes numbered in the 4xxx series, and a host of Mercedes Benz minibuses in the 2xxx series.

The remaining 50 Darts (3219-68) had Alexander bodies and were new to Leeds. As Michael says, some of the Plaxton batch later migrated to Yarmouth and several of the Alexander batch came to Norwich. The durability of the Yorkshire Rider moquette seat coverings impressed me - it lasted the whole of the long lives of the Norwich Darts, and was far more presentable even at the time they were finally withdrawn from service than some of the 'First' seat coverings on the early low floor Darts, even in mid life

Many thanks for the information and your thoughts on these vehicles Godfrey. I am also grateful to Ryan for the photo