From the Archives: National Service

The original National produced between 1972 and 1980 did not enter the Blackpool fleet until 1986 and lasted just five years. Here is ex Crosville 548 on the Promenade trying to drum up interest in a Morecambe Bay bus/boat excursion. (Brian Turner)

The Leyland National was a landmark design. Leyland had absorbed several chassis makers with a range of vehicles and attempted to replace them with a single integral design developed in a joint venture with the National Bus Company. Introduced in 1972, other chassis such as the Bristol RE and AEC Swift continued alongside for a few years and Blackpool was quite dismissive of the National, reviewing it as 'not suitable in many ways' when justifying the tender award for the 1973 single deckers to Leyland subsidiary AEC. The full results were:

• Seddon RU - £10,845
• AEC Swift with Marshall body - £11,038
• Leyland National - £11,510.50
• AEC Swift with Willowbrook body - £12,147
• Metro Scania - £12,774.05

The attractive livery of the Nationals is shown to effect on 544 which is about to turn from Harrowside into Clifton Drive

Several demonstrators were tried with RRM148M in June 1975 - though with 55 Swifts in stock the need for single deckers was not apparent. The Mark 2 type launched in 1980 appeared in November 1980 in the former of demonstrator WRN413V while GCK430W followed in March/April 1981 - both in the Fishwick's fleet. Two Halton examples followed in 1983 EWM630Y in April and CKC929X in May. Finally in January 1984 Blackpool placed an order for four mark 2s.

They arrived between 29 June and 1 July 1984 and after a period of familiarisation, entered service on 7 July, though some may have appeared the previous day. As the previous single deckers had taken the series to 599, they restarted the single deck numbering back at 541-544 (A541-4PCW). They introduced the Gardner engine to the fleet with the turbocharged 6HLXCT. 

542 on the post deregulation 2A at Bispham in August 1987. The front end was now devoid of the Corporation crest. (Brian Turner)

Leyland National production was reaching the end. 541-544 had production numbers 7777-7780 and just 55 more followed - ironically most for municipal operators rather than the NBC which took the majority of production.

Unusually the second hand Nationals all arrived in overall grey primer. Here 545-547 (right to left) show off their Gardner badges (Brian Turner)

A further six were ordered for 1985 delivery, but the council cancelled the order due to the uncertainty of deregulation. The order was taken up by Southdown with two more and they went to their Brighton & Hove division which soon became a separate business. They became their C450-5OAP with several ending up on the Falkland Islands!

The Nationals carried an attractive version of the single deck livery enhanced by a green skirt. 541 was the first to lose this gaining an all-over advert for Agri Electrics in December 1985.

541 was a surprising choice for this Agri Electrics all-over advert. (Brian Turner)

Instead of purchasing new buses, Blackpool entered the second hand market. Crosville Motor Services was implementing a programme of engine changes in its large mark 1 National fleet installing Gardner engines from withdrawn Seddon RUs in place of the unconventional fixed head 510 unit. Blackpool borrowed one (GMB387T) in mid November 1985 for evaluation and Crosville agreed to withdrawn and convert four buses for Blackpool. 

26 May 1986 and 545 poses on Midgeland Road turning circle which shows more than little evidence of oil leaks! (Brian Turner)

February 8 1986 saw LMA413T (to be 548) arrive from Crosville followed by CFM345/7S and KMA399T (545-547) on 17th. 548 was quickly repainted emerging on the 22nd with 547 following. Entry into service was delayed as the Union insisted on moquette seating for the driver, though the passengers had to retain the NBC vinyl! 

547 was first noted in use on 10th March, 548 by the 16th, 546 on the 23rd and 545 in early April. Like the National 2s they were used across the single deck network. Deregulation saw single deckers focus on the 2A (Poulton to Bispham), 3 (Mereside-Bispham), 4 (Wordsworth Avenue to Town Centre), 15 (Staining to Bispham), 23-25 (Hospital to South Shore/Mereside) and 26 (South Pier to Mereside). The Nationals in particular also saw use on tendered services 165 (Preston - Lytham), 180/2 (Fleetwood-Poulton-Preston), 185 (Blackpool-Kirkham-Preston) and the Kirkham Roamer. Later the 173 Blackpool-Lytham-Kirkham was added to the list.

The new fleet livery was somewhat plainer on the Nationals than the first scheme. The first of the Glasgow buses - their LN1 and Blackpool's 156 waits at the evening and Sunday terminus of route 25 on 9 January 1988. (Brian Turner)

The remaining AEC Swifts, while not particularly long in the tooth, were challenging to maintain as they were long obsolete. Strathclyde Buses had purchased 20 mark 1 Nationals in 1979 but they were now largely redundant and 11 remained, at least some by this time in store (Flickr Strathclyde LN1). Blackpool bought all 11 with three arriving in November (GGE156/66/74T), with GGE162/5T at least in stock by the end of the month and GGE161/4/7/70T here by 6th December leaving GGE158/72T outstanding and these arrived in January 1988. As City Pacers had taken over the single deck series, BTS simply adopted the registration number as the fleet number for its new arrivals.

National 167 awaits preparation for service, albeit with Blackpool blinds, in the bus yard on 13 December 1987 (Brian Turner)

165 receives mechanical attention alongside mk 2 542 in the bus compound on 28 November (Brian Turner)

162 sits alongside its new yard mates Atlanteans 311 and 317 and Swift 575 - the latter replaced by the Nationals (Brian Turner)

By this time 541 had been outshopped in the new single deck livery and 156 was the first of the Strathclyde's to leave the paint shop in the same scheme. 174 and 164 then followed. During December at one stage 161, 162, 166 and 170 filled the paint shop together while 165 was in the Body Shop. 156 was the first to enter service in mid December followed by 164/74 later in the month. Repaints continued with 165/7 outshopped in mid January, 172 towards the end of the month and finally 158 in early February.

161 on its first day in service, fully equipped for a duty on service 4, save for the Glasgow blind! It returned to depot with some minor faults in the early afternoon as seen here. (Brian Turner)

The buses were drip fed into service with 166/70 certainly used in January but the rest debuted in February. April saw 541-8 renumbered to 141-8 to group the Nationals together - indeed with the end of the Swifts in February and premature disposal of the Lancets in March the 19 Nationals now formed the entire single deck fleet. 148 did not make an appearance for some time as in March it was badly damaged when hit by a car and its rebuilt took until September to be completed when it returned to use in the new livery. 

Routine repaints followed with 142 the last National 2 painted in July and 145 the last mark 1 in August. This meant that the entire fleet was now in the new livery, except for the special Routemaster and Handybus liveries.

Single deck generations. April 1990 and Nationals 156 and 165 sandwich brand new Deltas 104 and 106 while Mark 2 144 looks on. (Brian Turner)

The decision to buy new Optare Deltas for 1990 spelled the beginning of the end of the mark 1 Nationals which were something of a stop gap. The first batch of eight saw 145-148 laid up after service on 11 March. With the Deltas rostered for the 23-25 and 53, the 15 surviving Nationals were rostered for seven all day duties on the 2A, 15, 180/2 plus the more recent tendered services 190-192 to Great Eccleston and Kirkham. They also provided back up to the Deltas (especially when private hires took them away from their service route) and minibus services. 145/6/8 passed to Norfolks of Nayland and 147 to A1 Service, Ardrossan.

145 and 146 sit withdrawn in the bus yard with still active 166 in April 1990

A second batch of Deltas arrived over the winter 1990/1 and these replaced the Strathclyde Nationals with 162, 164/6/7 and 172 withdrawn in December and the rest lasting until February. All eleven were purchased by Southend Transport. 

With just 141-144 left, it was something of a surprise that these were destined for a short life, replaced by Deltas 118-120/2 and withdrawn on 6 May 1991, leaving for Caldaire North East (United and Tees & District) later in the month bringing the Leyland National era to an end after just seven years.

Afterlife
145/6/8, along with Atlanteans 305-309, revitalised the fleet of long established Norfolk's of Nayland operating services into Colchester. In April 1991 Nofolks were absorbed by the growing Hedingham Omnibus fleet and gained the red and cream livery (flickr link). The three Nationals passed to Northern Bus of Dinnington in May 1996. Two years later Mainline - the former South Yorkshire PTE fleet took over Northern and the Nationals, though all were withdrawn soon after. 146 saw further use with the Appelby group mainly in Hull registered LJI8027 and by 2004 it was to be found in Lowestoft and was still there, for sale, in August 2016. It is not thought that 145/8 saw further use.

Former 148 and 146 with Atlantean 309 in the attractive two tone green and cream Norfolks livery in June 1991 when in the ownership of Hedingham Omnibuses.

147 spent its next life with a member of the A1 Services Consortium in Ardrossan but in January 1995 joined the Stagecoach Group with the A1 business. Now part of Western Buses, it was written off in an accident in April 2000. (Flickr 147 with A1)

The Scottish buses moved to Southend Transport as their 716-726 in numerical order. Some had short lives with 164 used for spares in 1992; 165 transferred to sister British Bus fleet London & Country in 1993 (flickr); 166 used for spares from January 1995 (flickr); 158 accident damaged in October 1996 and sold for scrap (Flickr 158 damaged). 172 and 174 were also sent for scrap in 1995/6. (Flickr 156 with Southend)

The survivors lasted until 1997 with the final bus (ex 167) withdrawn in June. 167 went straight for scrap but some had new lives. 156 went to the London &; Country group fleets which became part of Arriva with the absorption of British Bus. It was used as a driver trainer and on withdrawal passed via a dealer to JSM Driver Training in Edmonton in January 1999 before being preserved by Michael Roulston back in Scotland from November 2001. Sadly it is now understood to have been sold for scrap from the Beith Transport Museum.

161 returned to the North West running with Border of Burnley from November 1997 before being scrapped in June 1999. 162 ran with McKindless of Wishaw from July 1997 and was scrapped in 2000. 165 ran with London & Country until February 1998 and later ran as part of dealer Wealden of Kent's hire fleet until accident damage saw it sent for scrap later in the year.

Former 170 was the exception as during 1992 it was refurbished with a DAF engine (flickr). It entered service as 745 (PJI3745) in December 1992 and outlasted the main National fleet until withdrawal in 1998. It then ran with Supreme of Hadleigh but was last licensed in 2002 (Flickr with Supreme).

The National 2s fitted in well with the United and Tees fleets but two reached a premature end with accident damage, 141 going for scrap in July 1994 and 144 written off in October 1995. 142/3 survived into the Arriva era - interesting Blackpool's Nationals ran with each of the three big groups, Stagecoach (147), First (145/6/8) and Arriva (142/3, 156/65). They were withdrawn in December 1999 but it is believed 142 saw a brief period of use with sister firm Northumbria. Flickr link 541 Tees. 

143 was exported to Ireland on 12 July 2000 joining the fleet of O's Coaches of Hospital, Co Limerick (flickr link). After withdrawal it passed to the Kells Museum in November 2008 where it remains in store, approaching dereliction. Sister 142 was purchased by Cleveland Police (flickr link) as a mobile display unit in May 2000. By 2003 it was in store in Redcar and was taken on by the Redcar Youth Improvement Programme in March 2004. It was bought for preservation in 2009, but sadly was in too poor condition and was used for parts eventually. 

542 in Redcar in March 2004 after withdrawal by Cleveland Police and prior to its adoption by Redcar Youth Improvement Project

Catch 22 Update

Not yet reported here is the purchase of three Optare Versas used previously for Airport Parking at Birmingham. Two - YJ61JHE an YJ61JHH have had fleet green applied to their white base with route branding for the 24, while YJ10MGU is under repaint into all-over green. Darts are expected to be replaced with T143AUA already sold for scrap.

Timetables from 12 December are now on-line. The Cleveleys Connect 23 is revised to run hourly from Cleveleys to Victoria Hospital at 0935-1235, 1405-1605 from Cleveleys returning at 0935-1335 and 1500-1700. The service will run Monday to Friday only with no Sunday service. It is extended from Pheasants Wood via Fleetwood Road North, Woodland Avenue, Lawson Road, Thornton Centre, Four Lane Ends, Fleetwood Road South, Norcross Lane, Bispham Road, Castle Gardens, Poulton Centre, Lower Green, Carr Head, Hardhorn Road, Longhouse Lane and Newton Drive to the Hospital. 

Service 24 is withdrawn between Poulton and Hardhorn as a result, but some weekday journeys are diverted in Thornton via School Road. The hourly Sunday service is extended from Poulton to Knott End.

Olympian 374 preserved

374 ready to depart for Keighley (Mark Whitehead)

Volvo Olympian 374 - the last of the six to remain at Rigby Road departed for preservation today. Purchased by Mark Whitehead, it has gone to the Keighley Bus Museum. 374 was new in November 1994 and operated until the final day on 23 July 2016, working the 1845 Fleetwood Ferry to Starr Gate and returning to depot at 2006.

374 was the first of the batch to gain Metro livery - its first repaint at seven years old entering service on Line 11 in turquoise/yellow on 23 January 2002. It gained black/yellow pool livery in 2005 and then the current fleet livery in October 2012.

Newly arrived at its new home in Keighley (Mark Whitehead)

More Enviros On their Way

406 on launch day (Mike Wilson)

Blackpool Transport's order for 25 more Enviro 400 City double deckers has now been confirmed. They will be similar to 401 to 410 but with 'social seating' layout. It is expected they will arrive in late spring and early summer. Route 14 will be fully converted. With Citaros on the 5, Enviros on the 9 and 14 and many workings on the 7 using refurbished Centros four routes will be Palladium branded - there will be some spare Enviros as the 14 won't need all 25 so perhaps these will cover double deck workings on the 7.

Excel 225 defied predictions in returned to use on Monday on the 11 and again on the 1 on Tuesday, and again on the 11s on Wednesday and Friday.

Excel - over and out?

A last view of Excel 225 in service waiting time at Poulton Church on the 1835 Knott End to Blackpool (Shaun Courtnage with permission)

Excel 225 is now understood to be withdrawn following today's service changes. Its last full day was Friday when it worked route 7. Saturday was spent as spare bus but it was called upon to act as a changeover and left depot to work the 1720 2C from Blackpool to Knott End and the 1835 Knott End to Blackpool from where it returned to depot around 2000.

30 Years of Deregulation - the BTS Network in October 1986

Network changes for deregulation came into effect on Sunday 26 October 1986. There was then a three month freeze on further changes after which operators could register further changes at 42 days notice. Blackpool Transport's deregulation network was, like others, finalised in February 1986 and involved the end of some long established routes including the 5/5A (Grange Park to Halfway House) and 7/7A (Bispham circulars). Some other routes passed to other operators on tenders with Fylde picking up the 8 (Whiteholme) and 10 (Bispham which became its 13). 

Service 2 Poulton to Bispham
The existing service 2 ran Poulton to Blackpool via Hardhorn Road and Newton Drive every 30 minutes (20 minutes late afternoon) with some journeys via Highcross Road as 2A. The new service ran every 30 minutes and was extended to Bispham Hotel via Talbot Road, Devonshire Road and Red Bank Road replacing part of the 7/7A. Buses turned at Cavendish Road in the triangular junction previously used by the 15/15A/15B. This was adopted as the formal terminus in 1987. 3 Atlanteans were used. The evening and Sunday service ran Blackpool to Bispham only and was linked to the 2A. Lancashire County Council (LCC) contracted Fylde to run an extra hourly Poulton to Blackpool evening/Sunday service 2 and also to run the old Bispham Circular (7/7A) Monday to Saturday evenings.

574 heads for Bispham on route 15 - normally the preserve of Leyland Nationals as the rota included trips to Preston on routes 180/2 (Donald MacRae see his Victory Guy photo albums for more from his collection) 

Service 2A Poulton to Bispham and Service 15 Staining to Bispham
Each hourly, these combined to a 30 minute frequency from Staining Road End to Bispham Library. They also made a 15 minute frequency with the 2 from Staining Road End to Blackpool and the 3 from Blackpool to Bispham Hotel. The 2A ran hourly via Highcross Road from Poulton and combined with the 15. Between Blackpool and Bispham Library the former 7/7A route along Dickson Road and Warbreck Drive was followed. The 2A was interworked with the 180/2 (Poulton to Preston) with 5 buses working on the 2A/15/180/182 cycle. Evening buses ran hourly as 2A from Poulton to Bispham then back to Blackpool as service 2 - using two buses. The 15 was provided hourly evening/Sundays and also at peak times by Fylde on an LCC tender.

National 2 542 unloads at Bispham Hotel having arrived from Poulton on the extended 2A on 15 August 1987 (Brian Turner)

Service 3 Mereside to Bispham
The former 3/3A was combined into a single half hourly service. All journeys ran from Mereside - the former Midgeland Road section replaced by new route 10. From Gynn Square the 3 now ran via Warbreck Drive rather than the Promenade and terminated at Bispham Library. The Bispham-Norbreck-Little Bispham service was replaced by the 33. 3 single deckers were needed. The evening/Sunday service was run by Fylde on behalf of LCC from Gynn-Mereside every 30 minutes in the evening and from Bus Station to Mereside, hourly, on Sundays.

Service 4 Blackpool to Wordsworth Avenue
The 4 was an entirely new service replacing the 16/16B. It started on Cookson Street at the side of the Bus Station then followed route 3 along Park Road to Oxford Square, then South Park Drive and picked up the 16/16B route via Great Marton to Wordsworth Avenue. 2 single deckers were needed for the half hourly daytime route and 1 for the hourly evening/Sunday workings. The old 16 via Stanley Park was replaced by the 33.

Service 6 Mereside to Grange Park
This was a merger of the long established 6 (Mereside-Town Centre) with the northern part of service 5 (Town Centre to Grange Park). It ran every 15 minutes using 7 buses daytimes and every 30 minutes evenings/Sundays using 3 buses. Atlanteans were the norm.

Service 9 and 9A Blackpool to Cleveleys
These services were unchanged, operating every 20 minutes using 4 DDs. Evening buses ran every 30 minutes and interworked with the 22/22A while Sunday buses ran every 40 minutes

Service 10 Blackpool to Midgeland Road
The 10 was a new service which followed the 11C route and made a 15 minute frequency with it as far as Highfield Hotel. It then turned onto the previously unserved section of Highfield Road to Midgeland Road then ran to the terminus at the junction of Midgeland Road and School Road. 2 buses - usually Atlanteans - were required for the half hourly service. No evening or Sunday service was provided.

Atlantean 313 stands at the terminus of service 10 at Midgeland Road in 1987 - by this time the 25 had been extended there too hence the presence of 358 behind (Brian Turner)

Service 11C Blackpool to St. Annes
This continued to run on a co-ordinated basis with Fylde - combining to a half hourly frequency with 2 buses from Fylde and 1 from Blackpool. Atlanteans were the regular type.

Service 12 Blackpool to Squires Gate
This simple service which replaced the Lytham Road trams in 1961 continued to shuttle between Blackpool and the Airport. In 1983 it had been revised to run every 10 then 20 minutes with the gaps provided by Fylde's 11/11A service. With no mandate to co-ordinate after deregulation, BTS ran a simple 10 minute frequency but by using Routemasters could speed the journey times so continued to need just four buses as per the previous less frequent timetables. Evenings/Sundays saw OPO buses run at half hour frequencies.

Routemaster 524 approaches the bus stop at the Airport terminus - the keen eyed will notice a dark green vehicle behind the Airport fence on the right of the shot. This was Swift 562 used as a fire training vehicle (Brian Turner)

Service 14 Blackpool to Fleetwood
This was unchanged with a basic 3 bus 30 minute daily service overlaid by extra journeys making a 15 minute headway 1100-1800. One journey from Fleetwood ran as 29 operating via Grange Park and Victoria Hospital. Crew buses were used weekdays, OPO ones on Sundays.

A PD3 on the 14 and a Ribble National on the 85 could have been from any time in the 1980s. The green backed route card in the window of 503 and the lack of an NBC logo on 829 are the only clues that confirm this is a post deregulation - December 1986 scene (Brian Turner)

Service 22/22A Cleveleys to Lytham
Again largely unchanged. A 15 minute daytime service and 30 minute evening/Sunday service ran form Cleveleys to Halfway House alternating as 22 or 22A. Daytime buses extended every 30 minutes to Lytham Square (or Saltcotes Road in the peaks). 9 Crew DDs were required, 6 OPO ones in the evening (with the 9/9A).

Services 23/24/25 Hospital to South Shore
The 15 minute service provided by the 23/23A from Hospital to Royal Oak was retained with new services 23 (hourly), 24 (hourly) and 25 (half hourly). The 23 continued as before via Bond Street, Clifton Drive and Highfield Road but rather than terminate at Midgeland Road ran to Lindale Gardens replacing the 5A. The 24 ran via Watson Road to Mereside, largely replacing the 19 (South Pier to Mereside) and the 25 ran via Watson Road and St. Annes Road to Halfway House replacing the 5. 6 buses were needed, usually single deckers. The 25 ran evenings/Sundays as well - every 30 minutes. Fylde ran an hourly LCC tender evenings/Sundays as a hybrid of the 23/24. This was numbered 23A from South Pier to Mereside via 23 route to Lindale Gardens then via Common Edge Road, School Road, Midgeland Road to Welcome Inn then as 24 to Mereside.

Swift 576 crests Skew Bridge on Lytham Road operating a 25 working to Halfway House - the Swifts had to show 25A as the 25 was not on their number blind! (Brian Turner)

Service 26 Talbot Square to South Pier
This was unchanged, providing a 15 minute daytime (4 bus) and 20 minute E/Su (3 bus) service.

Service 33 Cleveleys to Marton
This LCC tendered service mopped up various missing links. Weekday daytimes it ran every 30 minutes from Cleveleys to Blackpool with one an hour extending to Marton Hypermarket with 3 single deckers used. Evening/Sundays saw an hourly Blackpool to Hypermarket service with one bus. From Cleveleys it followed the former 3/3A route through Little Bispham and Norbreck to Bispham Hotel then ran via Devonshire Road and Warbreck Hill Road to Gynn Square and Town Centre covering part of the 15/15A. It then ran via the 16 route along Hornby Road to Stanley Park, Worcester Road to Wordsworth Avenue then via the previously unserved Kipling Drive, Mereside Shops to terminate at the Hypermarket using St George's School turning circle.

Deregulation saw new routes for the Swifts which appeared on the 4 (Blackpool-Mereside), 33 (Cleveleys-Marton Hypermarket) and revised services 2A, 15, 23-25 and the barely changed 26. 590 heads for the Hypermarket (now Asda on Vicarage Lane) on route 33 in October 1987. (Donald MacRae see his Victory Guy photo albums for more from his collection)

Additionally the following tendered services were provided:

• 7 Kirkham Roamer every hour Monday to Friday
• 165 Preston to Lytham every hour Monday to Saturday daytime
• 180/2 Preston to Poulton every hour Monday to Saturday daytime with evening/Sunday service typically every 2 hours Preston to Fleetwood with extra evenig Poulton-Fleetwood shorts
• 185 Weeton Camp-Preston Mon/Wed/Fri 1 return trip and Blackpool-Kirkham Tues/Thurs 2 return trips

From the Archive: Tendered Services

Deregulation of local bus services in 1986 segregated services into commercial or contracted - the latter procured by local authorities, normally by competitive tendering so were commonly known as 'tendered services'. Lancashire County Council's approach in 1986 was to buy back the service levels prior to deregulation and most gaps in the commercial network were filled by tendered services. This led to some curiosities. Blackpool Transport had operated a half hourly service 2 to Poulton and an hourly 15 to Staining but registered only an hourly Poulton service, so Lancashire awarded Fylde contracts to run to Poulton and Staining every hour. This led to the unusual scenario of a 20 minute evening service along Newton Drive made up of one commercial and two tendered journeys.

Several of Blackpool's evening/Sunday services were put out to tender and Fylde won the 2 (Poulton eves only), 3 (Gynn-Mereside eves/Suns), 7/7A (Bispham circulars eves), 15 (Staining peak hours, eves/Suns), 23A (South Pier - Mereside eves/Suns) and the daytime services on the 8 to Whiteholme and the occasional 13 to Bispham.

Many of Ribble's services were put out to tender and Blackpool was quite successful in securing these - Fylde did win the Blackpool to Great Eccleston and Kirkham routes (190-192) but its other successes from Ribble were mainly school services.

Service 180/182 Fleetwood - Poulton - Preston

January 1987 sees Leyland National 2 543 departing from Preston on route 180 back to Poulton. This is Friargate/Ringway junction - a road that has since been pedestrianised.

Blackpool Transport took-over these services from Ribble on 26 October. The daytime service was basically hourly from Poulton to Preston via Great Eccleston, Elswick, Inskip, Catforth then either via Lea (180) or Woodplumpton (182) then though Ingol into Preston. Evening and Sunday services broadly ran every 2 hours but started in Fleetwood ran via Thornton to Poulton and on to Preston. Additional evening journeys ran from Fleetwood to Poulton. 2 buses were required for the daytime service and by 1987 these were provided by inter-working at Poulton with route 2A. 5 buses did a complex cycle of 2A Bispham-Poulton, 180/2 Poulton-Preston-Poulton, 2A Poulton-Bispham and 15 Bispham-Staining-Bispham. Leyland Nationals were normally used supported by Lancets at times. 2 buses were used in the evenings and on Sundays but with no inter-working.

Ex Strathclyde National 165 operates the Sunday service 182 in Fleetwood. Prior to deregulaton the 180/2 ran though to Fleetwood, but Ribble registered the weekday Fleetwood-Poulton section as the 81/82 (which continued to Blackpool)

Optare Deltas replaced the Nationals around 1991, Blackpool having renewed its contract in 1989 but was unsuccessful in 1992 with Stagecoach Ribble taking over with the service later passing to Phoenix North West. Unfortunately Phoenix ceased trading suddenly in 2001 and after a day of no service, Blackpool stepped in with Optare MetroRiders. This lasted until April 2002 when Stagecoach took-over once more. After a period with ACE Travel from 2003, Stagecoach resumed the service and in 2004 it was converted to low floor operation as part of the Fylde Villager network as service 80/82.

Today the service is run by Cumfybus of Southport from their Poulton outstation and is still recognisably the service Blackpool won in 1986, other than an extension to Fleetwood to replace local Stagecoach services.

Service 165 Preston to Lytham

Nationals were also regulars on the short-lived 165 to Lytham. Here ex Crosville 548 manoevers around Preston Bus Station

Prior to deregulation Ribble had provided a half hourly service from Preston to Lytham on the 167 - and had extended it to St. Annes via Ansdell in 1983. It registered an hourly service and extended it to Blackpool leaving Lancashire to procure a stand alone hourly service to maintain service levels. This took the 165 number as it diverted via Mythop Road in Lytham to replace Fylde's service 4. Blackpool won the contract and used two buses - again normally Nationals with a third at school times for journeys to Queen Mary and King Edward Schools. This lasted until around March 1987 when Ribble registered a half hourly service, replacing the 165 with route 168 which was extended to Heyhouses and later to Blackpool - the 1986 service was a far cry from Stagecoach's double deck operated 15 minute service of 2011.

Atlantean 311 puts in a stint on the 165 - quite rare for the main Preston-Lytham workings. Atlanteans blinds had not been modified to show Preston so white blank had to suffice. This is the layover point for the 165 and 22/22A at Lytham Station.

Blackpool returned to the corridor in February 1988 with the solitary 0610 Blackpool to Preston journey on service 761 - the Ribble/North Western limited stop Blackpool to Liverpool service. A commercial return journey was later introduced and this journey outlasted the withdrawal of the remainder of the 761 in August 1990. Carriages took over 0610 in January 1991 (the return journey was dropped) with Archways succeeding it. Fylde replaced Archways in 1994 and Stagecoach replaced Fylde in 1997 before eventually absorbing this into the main 167/8 service.

In April 2001 Blackpool won the contract for the hourly Sunday St. Annes to Preston 167 service and initially used Deltas with through working on service 12 to Cleveleys. The Metro changes at the end of the month saw the service operate with MetroRiders on a stand alone basis - buses running back to depot for driver change-overs - the replacement driver bringing a fresh bus. In April 2004 the service was diverted via Ansdell to match the commercial service (previously it ran via Clifton Drive) and in November it became the 68 following changes to Stagecoach's service numbers. The contract was reduced to Sunday evenings only in March 2005 and ended in October with Stagecoach taking over.

185 Blackpool to Preston
Blackpool's final service into Preston was an unusual one as it had two distinct versions. Monday, Wednesday and Friday saw it operate from Weeton Camp via Great Plumpton, Kirkham, Treales, Salwick, Lea Town to Preston. The bus departed at 0930 from Weeton Camp to Preston then ran empty to Kirkham for the 1100 to Weeton. In the afternoon it worked a single 1400 Preston to Weeton Camp journey.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays the service ran from Blackpool via Poulton, Singleton, Weeton Camp and Great Plumpton to Kirkham with trips from Kirkham at 0916 and 1316 and from Blackpool at 1230 and 1430. Single deckers were used including AEC Swifts.

The infrequent 185 was not often photographed so we must make do with this withdrawn Swift 594 - and the hand written slip board for "WEETON CAMP 185"

Fylde took-over the contract in January 1988 and two years later it passed to Ribble who only operated the Blackpool-Kirkham section. Around 1992 it was increased in frequency to provide around six journeys per day, Monday to Saturday following the withdrawal of service 158 - the main service through Weeton. By 1995 it was operated by R&M Travel who used a Dodge minibus, or at times a Bristol LHS but by the end of the year it was being operated by Phoenix North West. The route was later extended to Preston, again serving Treales and Salwick but replacing the more frequent 184 (Preston-Salwick service). The extended service ran roughly every 90 minutes. Stagecoach took-over on the collapse of Phoenix and the 185 has evolved into the hourly service 75 provided today by Cumfybus as part of the Fylde Villager network.

7 Kirkham Roamer
Blackpool Transport operated the Kirkham Roamer from 1986 to 1988 and again from 2001-2006. The service ran Monday to Friday only on a four leg rotation, starting in Wrea Green to Lower Lane, then Weshan and Newton and back to Wrea Green passing through Kirkham each time. 

Blackpool Swift 572 operates Kirkham Roamer service 7 at Wrea Green (Brian Turner)

Fleetwood Minibus Services
Ribble introduced a commercial minibus service in Fleetwood, Cleveleys and Thornton in mid October 1986 - just before deregulation. When the initial three month 'honeymoon' period was over and operators were able to make their first service changes, Ribble chose to withdraw the evening services. Blackpool picked these up providing a half hourly Fleetwood to Cleveleys service (F3) and separate hourly services to Thornton (F4 and F5) - all interworked at Cleveleys using three single deckers until the City Pacers entered service in May. The Sunday services passed back to Ribble in early 1988 and the evening services passed to Fylde later in the year.

On the plus side August 1988 saw Blackpool take-over the Sunday 'Fleetwood Leisurelink' circular - effectively a combination of daytime services routed via Marine Hall. This served the Hatfield Avenue and Larkholme areas. It ceased in late 1989 but Blackpool's involvement was not over as a contract for three Sunday evening journeys on route F11 - a re-routed F3 from Cleveleys to Fleetwood started in November 1989 and lasted until May 1990.

The weekday evening and Sunday F11 later came back into the Blackpool fold indirectly as Fylde combined the service with its service 333 in 1994 to run from Fleetwood to Mereside and this was absorbed into the Blackpool network. In April 1996 the Sunday service withdrawn between Cleveleys and Fleetwood and the evening service followed in October 2000.

Fylde also brought with it the evening service on the F9 (Cleveleys-Poulton) and added the Sunday service in July 1996 just as Blackpool absorbed the company. The evening F9 passed to ACE Travel in October 1996 and the Sunday service to Stagecoach in October 1997. Later service changes saw the route evolve into the 88 which Blackpool operated from October 2003 until they absorbed it within Line 2 in 2007. A Sunday service was added in 2009 but the whole service ended in September 2009 partially replaced by Stagecoach service 74.

173 Blackpool to Kirkham
The loss of the 165 was partly offset by the gain of the 173 from April 1987. This Ribble service had been formed in the early 1980s by combining the Kirkham-Lytham 173 with part of the Freckleton to Blackpool 172. The resulting service ran from Kirkham to Blackpool via Wrea Green, Moss Side, Lytham Square, Park View Road, Ballam, Peel Corner, Mereside Estate, Marton Hypermarket, Oxford Square, Victoria Hospital and Layton. Ribble kept the service at deregulation but it passed to Blackpool in April.

The bus operated a Clifton - Queen Mary King Edward School variant in the morning and a return in the afternoon as well as two round trips from Kirkham at 0933 and 1218 returning at 1110 and 1450 from Blackpool. There was no weekend service. In August 1988 the service was withdrawn but partially replaced by a Tuesday and Friday only minibus from Peel Corner to Lytham Square departing at 0945 and returning at 1200. In November the service was extended to start at Wrea Green reaching Peel Corner via Westby and it was renumbered 172. In 1989 it passed to Nuttalls Coaches of Penwortham and had spells with McLaughlin's Coaches and ended up with Phoenix North West. It was withdrawn in 2001 on the closure of Phoenix North West. The original 173 route from Kirkham to Lytham via Wrea Green it today served by the 76 every hour - a far cry from the 1980s and 1990s.

190-192 Blackpool to Great Eccleston (190/1) or Kirkham (192)

Fylde Tiger 43 awaits departure for Kirkham on service 192 in 1987 (Keith West)

Ribble's pre-deregulation 87/88 to Great Eccleston and the Blackpool to Kirkham section of the 193 were replaced by contracted services 190 (Great Eccleston peak hours), 191 (Great Eccleston off peak) and 192 (Kirkham). A basic hourly service over the common section via Poulton and Singleton to Elswick was provided by alternate 191 and 192s with the 190 providing two morning journeys in from Great Eccleston. Fylde usually used Leopard coaches on the service and also provided a two hourly Sunday service between Blackpool and Kirkham which continued onto St. Annes as service 193 - exactly as the pre-deregulation service did.

Blackpool Transport took-over in October 1988, however as Fylde chose to operate the Spring Gardens to Wesham section of the 193 commercially, the Sunday service was dropped as were the early morning short journeys to Poulton. Nationals replaced Fylde's coaches. In November 1990 all 191 journeys were withdrawn except for an afternoon school duty. This left the 192 requiring one bus and the two buses used on the early 190s which ran onto other duties on arrival in Blackpool. Deltas replaced the Nationals in due course and in January 1995 the service was transferred to Fylde - by now a Blackpool subsidiary.

Fylde used a variety of vehicles on the service. It continued to use Deltas (its 1-3 and two (101/2 transferred from Blackpool). The sole Duple bodied Leyland Tiger; the four single deck Atlanteans and examples of the large fleet of Atlantean double deckers appeared. In October 1997 the service passed to Wingates - a Merseyside area firm who won a handful of contracts on the Fylde coast but gave them up almost as quickly. The 192 returned to Blackpool Transport at Squires Gate, moving to Rigby Road on its closure. A Friday and Saturday evening journey was added (1753 from Kirkham and 2230 from Blackpool) but the entire service passed to Stagecoach in 2000. In 2004 it was absorbed into the Fylde Villager network as today's service 76 operated hourly by Coastal Coaches.

754/8 Blackpool to Liverpool

Blackpool Transport's longest service was this unusual Sunday operation. It stemmed from Ribble's long established Blackpool to Preston service 154/8. The evening and Sunday service had been operated by Fylde from 1987 to 1989 and again from 1990. In 1991 the Sunday daytime service was revised to that every 2 hours it was replaced by the 754/8 operated by ABC Travel which operated through to Liverpool via Ormskirk. This replaced the Preston-Liverpool service 101 - an evening service which Blackpool once successfully bid for but pulled out prior to its introduction. The full route was Blackpool via Whitegate Drive, Preston New Road, Weeton (daytime 758) or Wrea Green (evening 754), Kirkham, Clifton, Lea, Ashton, Fylde Road (758) or Garstang Road (754), Preston Bus Station, Penwortham, Longton, Tarleton, Burscough, Ormskirk, Aintree and Liverpool.

Blackpool surprisingly won the contract from ABC in October 1994 - the first departures were at 1000 from Blackpool and 0923 from Liverpool. This meant that Blackpool introduced an X54 at 0730 and 0930 from Blackpool and a 2230 from Liverpool missing out Clifton Village and Ashton. Three Deltas were required and the six hour round trip was accommodated in the driver's schedules thanks to a 49 minute layover at Liverpool which was considered their break. From May 1997 to April 1999 the service ran from Squires Gate, and in October 1999 the contract passed to Ribble.

Fylde continued to provide the 154/158 providing a half hourly Monday to Saturday evening service, a 2 hourly Sunday daytime and evening service on the 154 and a hourly Sunday evening service on the 158. In April 2000 the evening service was reduced to hourly and the Sunday service to two hourly still co-ordinated with the 758. All journeys ran via Wrea Green and were now numbered 158 - following the pattern of the daytime service which had been revised in 1992!

In October 2003 the daily evening service was extended to Knott End to replace Stagecoach service 85. The Sunday service was increased to hourly with the end of the 758 though the daytime journeys terminated in Blackpool. MetroRiders replaced Deltas and in October 2004 the service was renumbered 58 to match Stagecoach's revised numbering. The service was withdrawn in October 2005 with limited Stagecoach replacement from Blackpool to Preston and Blackpool's 2C covering the Knott End section.

Blackpool had briefly operated on route 85 with a single weekday morning journey at 0808 from Hambleton to Blackpool from 1987 to 1992 and a 0655 from Knott End to Blackpool from around 2000 to 2005 - latterly under the 58 number.

88 Fleetwood to Lancaster
If Preston and Liverpool were not far enough, route 88 to Blackpool Transport into Lancaster. This was effectively two linked services. The Fleetwood to Knott End section began life as a temporaryKnott End Ferry during the winter and its periodic service interruptions. It must have proven useful as it became a fully fledged service running from the Marine Hall and Ferry via Amounderness Way, Hambleton, Preesall to Knott End. The bus took 14 miles and 46 minutes to cover the equivalent of a 5 minute ferry journey. After a spin round the Links Road housing estate in Knott End the bus returned to Preesall and then via Pilling and Cockerham - a double run to Glasson Dock passing the Royal Albert Hospital to terminate at Lancaster Bus Station adding 19 miles and 55 minutes to the journey time.

Journeys from Lancaster ran at 0845 1045, 1245, 1445 with an extra at 1735 as far as Hambleton and then onto Poulton. There was also a 1721 Knott End to Fleetwood bus. Fleetwood to Lancaster journeys were 0810 ST, 0840SSH, 1038, 1233 and 1533 with a 1633 to Knott End only. An 0730 Poulton to Lancaster working avoiding Knott End completed the roster. Two minibuses were used. Flickr link to photo of 594 in Lancaster

April 2002 saw the 88 replaced by the 89 from Lancaster to Knott End. Five journeys were provided, one morning journey starting from Poulton, one afternoon journey extending to and from Hambleton and the final journey being the only one to continue right through to Fleetwood via Poulton and Cleveleys. Those journeys that extended beyond Knott End now showed 86 which was the number Stagecoach used for its replacement Knott End to Poulton and Cleveleys service. Stagecoach took-over in full in July and still operate the 86 (Fleetwood to Knott End) and the 89 (Knott End to Lancaster) as the Wyre Villagers.

198 Moorfield to Kirkham
The 198 was a Thursday only market day service which started at the barely recongnisable 'Moorfield' (here roughly) near Treales to Kirkham via Wharles and Roseacre - where the bus reversed into a farm track before heading back to Wharles and Moorside then off to Kirkham. The route dated back to the early 1980s when Granville Coaches provided school contracts from Treales to Kirkham (195 morning) Kirkham-Roseacre-Salwick-Kirkham (196 morning/afternoon) and 197 Kirkham - Salwick - Elswick (afternoon) plus this market day service. The operation survived deregulation and passed through various operators landing with Fylde in December 1995. Normally it was operated by a coach with Leopard 36 being the regular but Tiger 27 took-over for a month or so prior to withdrawal in 1997 with Tiger 21 then taking over - the only one of five ex Shearings coaches to be equipped with a ticket machine. The service passed to Phoenix North West in April 1998 and has since been incorporated into the Fylde Villager.

30 Years of Deregulation: The Blackpool Fleet

30 years ago, in October 1986 local bus services were deregulated. Blackpool Transport Services Ltd took over Blackpool Council's Transport Department. It remained (and still does) owned by the council but was now run commercially as an arms length company. It inherited 110 buses.

61 Leyland Atlanteans (301-309, 311-334, 336-341, 343-364)

A blast of colour was presented by the occasional advert - here is 312 in summer 1986 leaving the Airport on service 12 while advertising Tussauds. (Brian Turner)

61 Atlanteans formed the core of the new fleet out of 64 delivered between 1977 and 1984. Three further examples were owned, 310, 335 and 342 but they were awaiting disposal following a disastrous fire in the depot yard on 1 October. Dramatic photos are on flickr.

2 November - the sad remains of Atlanteans 342, 310 and 335 await their fate. The fire is believe to have started on 310 and spread to its sisters (Brian Turner). 

3 Leyland Olympians (365-367)
The replacements for the fire damaged Atlanteans were replaced by a trio of 1982 Leyland Olympians purchased from West Yorkshire PTE. They were not required by the new Yorkshire Rider operation and arrived in late October. They entered service in WYPTE green livery and were repainted in the new fleet livery in Spring 1987.

Two of the trio of West Yorkshire Olympians being prepared for service - 365 and 367 (Brian Turner)

9 Leyland Titan PD3s (503, 507, 511-3, 515, 518, 538 and 540)
The iconic half cab PD3 continued in the Blackpool fleet with 9 of the 90 PD3s built from 1962-1968 still in service. Regularly used on the 14 and 22/22A, with some appearances on route 12, they would continue in use until 1988.

PD3 507 carried this pre 1933 inspired red and white livery to celebrate the 1985 Tramway Centenary - it is seen in Talbot Road Bus Station awaiting departure for Fleetwood on service 14 (Brian Turner)

6 AEC Routemasters (521-526)
Blackpool Transport acquired six Routemasters in spring 1986 following a demonstration from RM1583 earlier in the year. All six gained the pre 1933 red and white livery and after a period of use on the 5/5A, moved onto service 12 from deregulation.

Routemasters 524 and 521 alonside younger AEC Swift 595 in Rigby Road Depot in November (Brian Turner)

8 Leyland Nationals (541-548)
The eight Nationals, were formed of two batches. 541-544 were mark 2s bought new by Blackpool in 1984 while 545-548 were older Mark 1s bought from Crosville in 1986. 

Ex Crosville 546 - one of four retrofitted with Gardner engines shortly before purchase - is seen on route 26 cresting Waterloo Road bridge (Brian Turner)

19 AEC Swifts (570-577, 583-5, 587-592, 594/5)
Of the 55 Swifts bought from 1969 to 1975, 19 joined the BTS fleet, but were on borrowed times, with withdrawals commencing in December 1986 and accelerated by the purchase of 11 secondhand Leyland Nationals enabling the last to be withdrawn in February 1988.

Although a pre deregulation shot - this could have been timeless as neither 572 or route 26 changed much at deregulation. It is seen here at the Clifton Street terminus (Brian Turner)

4 Dennis Lancets (596-9)
Probably the most eccentric vehicles in the fleet were four 1982 Marshall bodied Dennis Lancets. Not surprisingly they were sold at just six years old in 1988.

Lancet 599 departs Preston Bus Station on a former Ribble service 180 to Poulton (Brian Turner)