Wet Monday In Norwich

Regular reporter Dan High was out this morning in Norwich City Centre enjoying (!) the miserable wet weather.



His first photo features First Eastern Counties Wright StreetLite 47505 SN64 CPZ on St Stephens Street in its recently applied Apollo Health and Social Care livery. 'The Apollo project' is designed to address recruitment and retention challenges faced within the health and social care sector'.

The StreetLite was one of six allocated at Great Yarmouth's Caister Road depot when new in November 2014. Just over two years later it was transferred to Norwich (along with 47506) and in May 2017 was sent to Simon Morris at Ipswich for the application of its Charcoal livery for use on services to Poringland, Bungay and Halesworth,



He also observed First Wright StreetDeck Electroliner 35787 BK73 AMO in use on the X29 route between Fakenham and Norwich

My thanks to Dan for the photos.

Roy

Simonds Eldest Lady

Peter Oakes has been in touch to relay his adventures with the oldest vehicle in Simonds of Bottesdale fleet.

'My allocated vehicle at Simonds (KDX108) has been off the road for some repairs so I was blessed to drive the oldest coach on the fleet (4940VF). Despite its age this coach travelled in 2 days 780Km which is 485 miles. Covering a lot of miles across Norfolk and Suffolk she didn't miss a beat as VF is usually allocated a run out of Diss High School to some local villages.



Friday VF is seen at Ipswich rail station forecourt waiting to do a factory contract to Eye



Seen here at Silverleys Green, Cratfield while enroute to nearby Metfield to start a school run off. In bus timetables in the 80s and 90s this was known as Osbornes corner.



Taking a break in Thetford leisure centre after bringing a school from Attleborough



Saturday she's taking a break in Great Yarmouth after completing a factory contract.'

My thanks to Peter for the information and photos.

Roy

First StreetDeck Repaint

Dan High spotted First Eastern Counties Wright StreetDeck 35199 SK16 GVY in central Norwich today, sporting the new corporate First Bus livery. The bus, previously in Pink Line colours, was returning to the city on the X29 from Fakenham.



Thanks Dan.

Norwich Yesterday

Our Norwich correspondent Dan High was at Dolphin Autos' yard yesterday where he saw BMC Condor 220 YK06DNN, a type that recently seems to be a favourite for this operator. It was new to First West Yorkshire as their 68638 and later passed to B & H Travel of Huddersfield. It still retains the latter's fleet number 9. (Note the strategic placing of a brick in front of the nearside wheel!)



In Castle Meadow he observed Completely Coach Travel's Berkhof bodied Volvo B12B K28 CCT passing First Eastern Counties Electroliner 36533 BK73 AHA.



He also captured Simonds' East Lancs bodied VDL DB250 YJ56 KCK leaving the city on the 82 route to Reydon, still in its previous operator's colours.



My thanks again to Dan for the photos

Roy

Five At The Beach

Four out of the five coaches observed at Great Yarmouth's Beach Coach Station this afternoon were Mercedes-Benz Tourismos.



Two of them, shown in our first photo, were Gibbons Holidays' BU18 YMM and A Lyles and Son's 

L8 YLS.



The remaining trio were Leeds-based Blue Sky Coaches' Setra L88 BSC, Alfa Travel's BV20 HNK and Hughes Brothers' AP68 ALP from Llandudno.

Roy

Service Alterations Registered ~ 25th September 2024

There is just the one entry of 'local' interest in today's East of England Traffic Commissioner's Notices and Proceedings Report.

Following a Public Inquiry on 5th September 2024 concerning P F Travel Limited of Woodbridge, it was decided to reduce the number of vehicles authorised from 5 to 3. The operator also agreed to an independent audit and that 6 weekly PMI checks should be carried out by an authorised service provider. Additionally a self-employed driver should be offered a permanent employment contract subject to the operator’s employment disciplinary procedures. The operator should also maintain a list of vehicles owned and operated under the licence with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.

The full Notices and Proceedings Report will be available to be viewed here soon.

Roy

1940s Weekend ~ Sunday

A few more photos from the North Norfolk Railway's 1940s Weekend featuring vehicles in attendance yesterday.

First up is Bristol RELL6G / Eastern Coach Works EPW 516K which was new to Eastern Counties in April 1972. (Mr Vardy will be pleased!)



Next is Eastern National ECW bodied Bristol KSW5G WNO 479 open topper which began life with Westcliff on Sea in 1953.



The last photo is of LYF 464, former London Transport Green Line AEC Regal IV / MCW RF113

My thanks again to Dan High for the photos.

Roy

Leeds Arrival

A comparative newcomer to First Eastern Counties' Vulcan Road depot in Norwich is 35291 SL67VXV. The former First West Yorkshire Wright StreetDeck still retains its Leeds City Green livery after a presence of some ten months.



Thanks Dan High for the photo and also to 'Anonymous' for the correction.

Roy

Rail Replacement Sunday

With railway engineering works affecting Great Yarmouth train services, a rail replacement bus service was in place when I passed the station this afternoon.



I was there in time to witness the departure of an unidentified Our Bus vehicle but fortunate in being able to get a photo of Angies Tours Scania OmniCity YN56 FAM on standby. The bus still has the Tyrers branding despite having being acquired from them by the Lowestoft operator late last year.

Roy

1940s Weekend ~ Saturday

Dan High visited the Sheringham 1940s Weekend, an event that began several years ago with the North Norfolk Railway and has since been supported by the station towns of Sheringham and Holt. It also highlights the operation of preserved buses and coaches alongside the railway services.



Earlier today at Sheringham, several vehicles were parked in the car park next to the railway station, among them was Richmond Coaches' Van Hool Astromega WVJ 539, which originally registered as WJ66 KCC in October 2016.




Two Duple bodied Bedford OBs were observed at the event. They were 1950 built MYB 33 and MHU 49 from 1949



Regular attendee AEC Park Royal Routemaster RML2419 JJD 419D was employed in its London Country colour scheme.



Eastern Coach Works bodied Bristol RELH Southern National Royal Blue 1457 LDV 567F was also snapped by Dan



His final offering is that of Mercedes-Benz O814 YN06 MXG from the Sunbeam Luxury Coaches fleet. With thanks to Dan High for the many photos.

Roy

Thursday Run

After dropping my daughter off in Great Yarmouth this morning, I continued to the town's seafront and found Eagles Coaches' Van Hool bodied Scania K360EB4 YN11 OWT disgorging its passengers on North Drive.


The Castle Acre-based operator had acquired the Scania from Reays of Wigton in August last year but it was new to Leons of Stafford as RDD16 DUG in June 2016.


Whilst in the vicinity, I looked in at Beach Coach Station and noted two coaches parked up. Greenline's Mercedes Benz Tourismo GC18 GLC was located next to regular visitor Gee-Vee Travel's Yutong TC12 GT17 GVT.

Roy

Panther Painted

A few days ago First Eastern Counties Plaxton Panther bodied Volvo B9R 20802 TFO 319 was unveiled in its new corporate First bus livery.



Today it passed Dan High in Norwich's Castle Meadow and he quickly took a few snaps of it for us to use on the blog.



My thanks to him for the photos and I must say it looks much better than its previous Truronian green.



Roy

Service Alterations Registered ~ 18th September 2024

For the second week in a row, there are no 'local' interest entries in today's East of England Traffic Commissioner's Notices and Proceedings Report. Nevertheless, the complete report will be available for viewing here soon.

Roy

Dolphin Movements

There has been some recent changes at Norwich-based Dolphin Autos with one vehicle in and one vehicle out.



The arrival is Scania K420EB6 /Irizar BU51 MAC and is seen undergoing inspection in Dan High's photos earlier this month. It was new to McEwen of Mansfield as YN08 MMV and subsequently operated by Reading & Wokingham Coaches of Portsmouth as BU51 MAC. It then passed to Adam of Livingston trading as Harlequin Coaches.



The departure is that of Wright Solar-bodied Scania L94UB Y336 VST. New in June 2001 to Rapson Coaches of Inverness as their 209. It passed to Carson (WJC Buses) of Chapelhall in June 2010 where it was reregistered Y3 WJC during most of its stay. As Y336 VST it passed briefly to Heartlands of Tamworth in March 2012 before moving to Midland Classic the following month. Dolphin acquired it from Hodson of Clitheroe in February 2022 when it was subsequently re-registered KIG 2473.

I am grateful to Dan for the information and photos.

Roy

Two Completely

After photographing yesterday's five photos in the previous post, I returned to the car and almost immediately witnessed two Completely Coach Travel's double deck coaches pull up.



They comprised Van Hool X28 CCT, still in Oxford Tube colours, and Berkhof bodied Volvo B12B K28 CCT. The latter's origins and previous identity are not known. (See comment below for updated details of previous registration - my thanks to anonymous responder)



The pair were transporting workers on the approximately one hour's journey to the Banham Poultry factory.

Roy

Beach Coach Station Five

I looked in at Great Yarmouth's Beach Coach Station yesterday afternoon and found five coaches on site.



The first photo shows Felixstowe Travel's VDL/ Berkhof M30 FXO and GDS Travel's Volvo/ Jonckheere V100 GDS. Noticeably the former's fleet names have been removed.



The second pairing was of Roselyn of Cornwall's Neoplan HGZ 7544 and Caledonian Travel's Mercedes-Benz Tourismo HN15 NDH



Standing on its own was Alfa Travel's Mercedes-Benz Tourismo A147 BF24 AOV.

Roy

Simonds Surprise

Our Norwich contributor Dan High observed the unusual appearance of an Alexander Dennis Enviro400 on Simonds' 82 route earlier today.



SN11 BTU was previously with the London Borough of Redbridge and I am assuming it's now with Central Conect. The decker was new to the then First Capital in June 2011.

My thanks to Dan for the photo.

Roy

Service Alterations Registered ~ 11th September 2024

There are no entries of 'local' interest in today's East of England Traffic Commissioner's Notices and Proceedings Report. However, the full report will be available to be viewed here soon.

Roy

Anglian Exiles in Essex

Mark Doggett was in Clacton earlier today where he noticed three former Anglianbus vehicles now in use with Hedingham. I searched through my photos and found the same buses when with Anglian so I thought I would do a now and then comparison for each one.



His first contribution shows Hedingham's 852 AO57 HCD on Pier Avenue on the 76 to Colchester. The Anglian photo shows it in Gorleston High Street on 27th July 2016. The Scania CN230UD was new to the Beccles operator in February 2008



Next up is Scania K230UB 456 AN61 BUS also pictured on Pier Avenue. It was new to Anglian in October 2011 and is shown in Gorleston's Magdalen Square on the short lived 61 service two days earlier than the HCD photo.




Mark's final contribution is Hedingham's 460 YN05 HFF in an all over advert for Greatest Hits Radio. The Scania N94UB was new to Metrobus in April 2005 and transferred to Anglian in May 2012. It is seen in its Anglian days on a diverted 61 service heading into Yarmouth Way in Great Yarmouth on 3rd July 2012




My thanks to Mark for the Hedingham photos

Roy

2024 Cycling Tour of Britain

The six day men's 2024 cycling Tour of Britain ended today with a final run from Lowestoft to Felixstowe.

It started off in the Scottish Borders on Tuesday travelling through County Durham, Yorkshire, Derbyshire Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

The Suffolk leg left Lowestoft's Promenade this morning weaving its way through Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth, Framlingham, Saxmundham, Aldeburgh, Wickham Market and Martlesham prior to a sprint to the finish line in Sea Road, Felixstowe.

Paul Bennet was kind enough to send a large number of photos of the variety of the coaches used by the support teams. Thanks Paul.

Roy

Gull Wing Bridge Opens

Lowestoft's Gull Wing bridge, which has been under construction since 2021, was officially opened to traffic today. The £145 million pound bridge is the third crossing over Lake Lothing, which runs through the centre of town.

During the afternoon, the first motorists crossed the bridge, led by two vintage buses from the East Anglia Transport Museum. They comprised former Lowestoft Corporation Transport AEC Regents 8 918NRT and 21 GBJ192. They departed from either end of the bridge and passed one another on the opening span.



One of Tim Major's photos also shows the twosome assembled together outside the Corporation's former Rotterdam Road bus/tram premises.



As Tim points out, the new bridge does open up one or two different photo opportunities of a transport interest; the bus/tram depot plus railway activity.

My thanks to Tim for the photos and report

Roy