From the Archives: Service 14 - happy 90th Birthday

PD3 540 heads down Lord Street tram tracks on another run to Blackpool. PD3s were associated with the 14 from the mid 1960s to 1988 (Brian Turner)

The 14 is one of Blackpool's longest established bus service still running under the same number. It has provided unbroken service between Blackpool, Carleton and Thornton since 15th July 1927 and to Broadwater and Fleetwood since August 1929.

The 14 serves Carleton and crossed the railway line at 'Carleton Crossing' this could delay buses but the running time had an allowance built in (Brian Turner)

The route first ran between Talbot Mews (site of the later Talbot Road Bus Station) via Layton, Carleton, the Castle Gardens, Four Lane Ends to Crabtree Road at Burn Naze. Two buses were used on a 40 minute frequency. In August 1929 it was extended via Fleetwood Road, Queens Hotel, Poulton Road and Lord Street to Pharos Street. This incorporated route 11 which ran from Fleetwood Pharos Street to the Shakespeare Road Cemetery and had been started by William Smith in November 1924, and taken over by Blackpool Corporation in 1926.

The extended 14 ran every 30 minutes and needed four buses - usually 1928 built Leyland or English Electric bodied Leyland Lions 55 to 64. By 1930 an intermediate service was operated as far as Thornton Social Club (now the Bourne Poacher) and this showed number 14A. An off road reversing area was later provided here. The running time was later reduced to 39 minutes and three buses now provided the basic half hourly service and the newest single deckers tended to be allocated. It was not until 1939 that the route was upgraded to double deck operation.

Transport in the Fleetwood had polarised into two camps. Blackpool Corporation had purchased the Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad in 1920 and Smith's local bus route in 1924, whereas Ribble had bought other local businesses and provided town services, routes to Cleveleys, Poulton and beyond. LMS Railway partly owned Ribble in those days and they also ran a Fleetwood to Blackpool railway service. Ribble perceived Blackpool's outer borough operation to be outside its remit and several battles ensued over the years. At one stage in 1937 a licensing irregularity with the 14 nearly saw Ribble step in with a replacement service but eventually the traffic commissioners found in favour of Blackpool.

PD3 529 in preservation parks on the former reversing area at Thornton Social Club - this was removed during a recent housing development (Paul Turner)

The argument led to route 14 being artificially restricted to a half hourly service for decades. Loadings justified more, but Blackpool was bound by a co-ordination agreement with Ribble buses between Castle Gardens and Fleetwood and could therefore not increase frequency. To address this most journeys on route 14 were duplicated and pairs of buses were used to provide the necessary capacity. The 14A also helped on the less contentious Thornton to Blackpool section and route 1 from Poulton provided further capacity from Castle Gardens to Blackpool.

Ribble and Blackpool - often in conflict - alongside each other in Talbot Road Bus Station. 503 is on the 14 stand which was in the centre of the Bus Station - note the hose on the pillar for topping up radiators! (Brian Turner)

The other end of the route - 538 is about to set off from Queens Terrace terminus (Brian Turner)

During World War II the 14 was curtailed to run hourly but the half hourly timetable was reinstated in December 1945. Earlier that year the Pharos Street terminus was replaced by Queens Terrace - just round the corner. The 14 settled down to routine stability. Centre Entrance PD2s replaced the pre-war examples used until the early 1950s, followed by rear entrance PD2s and later PD3s.

Atlantean 304 turns towards Blackpool at the Castle Gardens in Carleton (Brian Turner)

With the last PD3s arriving in 1968, attention then focused on buying one person operated single deckers for quieter routes and the 14's status as a prime route for new buses ended. It was a strong hold for PD3s until the late 1970s when Atlanteans started to run alongside. The odd Routemaster appeared from 1986 onwards. One person operation appeared on Sundays - certainly by deregulation but possibly earlier.

In 1975 agreement was reached to increase the frequency of the 14 and additional journeys started from 1115 to 1815 making a 10/20 minute interval with Ribble filling the gap to make a 10 minute service at the Fleetwood end. The 14A continued but was progressively reduced in operating period with the limited Sunday service first to go by 1973. In 1976 it ran from 1000 to 1800 every 30 minutes with one extra evening journey. 1977 saw the service dropped as a regular route, but the number remained for a few short journeys on the 14. 1980 saw a few extra journeys introduced in the morning peak to replace those provided by route 1 between Castle Gardens and Blackpool. One of the early evening journeys from Fleetwood was re-routed via Poulton, Grange Park and Victoria Hospital to arrive there at visiting time (1900) with Ribble route 183 providing the reverse working at 2000. Blackpool's journey showed number 29.


Sister 308  at Queens Terrace terminus (Brian Turner)

In June 1983 the 14 was retimed so that the 10/20 minute headway was replaced by a 15 minute one after 1100. Six buses were needed, reducing to three evenings and Sundays.

Deregulation (October 1986) saw no major changes to Blackpool's timetable, but new local operator Easyway started a peak hour and Saturday competing service using two buses on an uneven headway. This lasted a matter of weeks as some unusual behaviours saw Easyway lose its right to run bus services. Fylde later introduced a competing service from May 1988 operating every 30 minutes to Thornton (Monday to Friday) and onto Fleetwood (Saturdays/ Sundays). The weekday service ended in November 1988 and the Saturday/ Sunday service in April 1989. If this was not enough, North Western Road Car ran in competition between Blackpool and Thornton during summer 1988 (27 July to 3 Sept) using buses which ran into Blackpool on day trip services. Follow this link for a picture of North Western's 527 (FBV512W) laying over in Blackpool with displays for the 14.

Route Map, as drawn in 2011

Surprisingly in November 1987 Blackpool reduced the 14 to half hourly with the 14A reinstated to make a 15 minute service to Thorton, terminating at Trunnah Road. This used OPO Atlanteans with crew double deckers remaining on the 14. The Atlantean and PD3 mix remained until the end of PD3 operation in autumn 1988 though evening duties were now OPO. Blackpool responded to competition in two manners. Oddly it chose to duplicate Fylde's Sunday service (itself five minutes ahead of Blackpool's) with minibuses meaning a Fylde minibus, a Blackpool minibus and a Blackpool Atlantean departing within a five minute spell on a Sunday daytime. Minibuses also ran some positioning journeys for evening contracted services. Blackpool also duplicated North Western's weekday service to Trunnah Road.

In August 1988 the 14A was extended to the Social Club turning via West Drive, Amounderness Way and Bourne Way - rather than using the reversing point. Peak journeys were extended to Ash Street Fleetwood and showed 14B. The last return journey form Ash Street reinstated the 29 Hospital working which had ceased in November 1987 though it no longer served Poulton. 3 OPO double deckers were used, reducing to two off peak.

For 1989 the service settled back to normal with the competition over with a half hourly 14 supplemented by the 14A (off peak) and 14B (peak). Single deck operation returned to the 14 in October 1991 when Optare Deltas took over evening and Sunday workings. The 29 working ceased in March 1992.

November 1994 saw the introduction of a consolidated network following the takeover of Fylde. Route 14 saw its first extension since 1929 as it was merged with route 11C to St. Annes via Ansdell Road and Spring Gardens. Route 14A was absorbed with all journeys now running form Fleetwood through to St. Annes every 15 minutes (days) 30 minutes (evenings/Sundays). In St. Annes alternate buses ran via Headroomgate Road as 14 or St Davids Road North as 14A. 11 crew operated Atlanteans ran Monday to Saturday with 6 OPO buses evenings/Sundays - evening buses generally ran off route 22/22A at St. Annes and were initially Deltas but later Atlanteans or Olympians. In July 1995 the daytime service after 9am was extended from Queens Terrace to the new Freeport complex at Fleetwood using one extra bus on weekdays, though the Sunday service retained existing resources.


The five coach seated former Fylde Atlanteans ran on service 14/14A after Squires Gate Depot closed. This is 442. (James Millington)

In April 1998 the evening and Sunday service was increased to run every 15 minutes between Fleetwood and Blackpool with the short workings extending to Rigby Road Depot. Every evening 9 buses were used (six double deckers and three single deckers) as the long and short journeys interworked at Fleetwood Ferry. On Sunday daytimes, 6 double deckers provided the St. Annes to Fleetwood Freeport workings and 4 minibuses the Rigby Road to Freeport journeys. City Pacers were initially used but Metroriders soon took-over with Solos appearing in 2000.

Atlantean 358 on the 14 in May 2003 shortly before the second batch of Tridents entered service (Brian Turner)

Saturday March 25 2000 saw Atlantean 360 provide the final crew bus working as the 1850 14A from Fleetwood to St. Annes from where it ran empty to depot. Monday 27th saw the introduction of a 100% OPO timetable and the standardisation of buses on the 14A route via Heeley Road/St. Davids Road North under the 14 number. Rigby Road short workings now displayed 14A. Reliability problems saw some duplication and timetable changes saw extra running time allocated. The evening short journeys were withdrawn in August 2000 but the Sunday daytime ones remained.

Metro Line 14 branding on a dark green base (Brian Turner)

Trident 302 has arrived in St. Annes and will shortly turn to the photographer's left to start the terminal manoeuvre read to head back to Fleetwood (Brian Turner)

30 April 2001 saw the new Metro network debut. The 14 was revised to run every 10 minutes from Fleetwood to Blackpool and every 20 minutes to St. Annes. Evening/Sunday journeys ran every 30 minutes to St. Annes while on Sunday daytimes an extra 30 minute service ran from Tower to Fleetwood. 16 buses were needed on weekdays, five in the evening and 10 on Sunday daytimes. Atlateans 355-360/3/4 and Olympians 374-9 formed a dedicated pool. The Sunday Tower journeys were later cut back to Corporation Street matching the daytime shorts. From May 2004 they once again continued to Rigby Road.


Pool liveried Trident 317 heads out of Fleetwood on a short working to Blackpool (Brian Turner)

 From 9 Tridents were introduced normally on the St. Annes workings and from May 2003 a second batch allowed a 100% low floor guarantee to be introduced and Tridents were supported by Excels as required. A small diversion took buses further along Leach Lane in St. Annes to avoid the Tridents making the tight turns in and out of Dawson Road. February 2010 saw the withdrawal of the evening service between St. Annes and Blackpool.


Excel 222 standing in for a Trident arriving in Blackpool before heading back to Freeport (Brian Turner)

 The major network changes from 26 July 2010 saw route 14 diverted at Daggers Hall Lane to run to Mereside, replacing service 6. All buses ran Fleetwood to Mereside every 10 minutes weekday daytimes (17 buses), every 20 Sunday daytimes (8 buses) and every 30 minutes evenings (5 buses). The low floor guarantee was dropped and five Deltas were allocated along with 12 Tridents despite the near 100% low floor operation since 2003. The Deltas were withdrawn later in the year and Volvo B7s and the occasional Excel supplement Tridents and Olympians. From November 2010 the service has terminated at Queens Terrace once more with route 1 now serving Freeport instead.

Delta 125 stands at Freeport on the first day of the revised service to Mereside and the end of guaranteed low floor provision (Paul Turner)

From 2nd April 2013 the 14 was extended from Mereside Tesco to Peel Park DWP offices on Monday to Fridays, with every journey at peak times and alternate ones in between. This was funded by DWP for a three year period. In April 2016, on expiry of the funding the service was reduced to just four journeys.

Trident 346 at the Peel Park terminus on the first day (Brian Turner)

Route 14 entered the 'Palladium' era on 24 July 2016 when the Sunday service was converted using the first batch of new Enviro double deckers. November 2016 saw the frequency drop to every 12 minutes for the winter, with extra running time due to the increased traffic in the Layton and Norcross areas due to the closure of the Plymouth Road Bridge. 25 more double deckers arrived in spring 2017 and the new buses began to appear on the 14. A major network change saw the Mereside section detached and replaced by route 6 again. After 23 years of cross town operation, the 14 was back to running from Blackpool to Fleetwood only and once again had a fleet of brand new buses - its first since 2002/3. Its town centre termini were Corporation Street in Blackpool and Bold Street on Fleetwood - quite close to the original Talbot Mews to Queens Terrace route. Journey time is now 56/58 minutes - a significant increase to the 39 minute daytime journey time which lasted from the 1930s through to the end of crew buses in 2000.

Meridian Prepares Tridents for Mortons

Tridents 333 and 335 have recently passed through Meridian Coachworks in Yorkshire for a refurbishment and repaint. The livery suggests Morton's Travel of Basingstoke - owner of Excel 225. Here is 335 in the early stages of prep (Lea Worrall)

335 losing its Blackpool ID (Lea Worrall)

Morton's unusual livery is shown to effect - this is believed to be 333 (Lea Worrall)

Morton's unusual livery is shown to effect (Lea Worrall)

Quite a transformation - seats have been removed perhaps for replacement with seat belted coach seats (Lea Worrall)

Rear View Bus in Blackpool

Volvo Citybus G91PES, new to Tayside in 1989 has been modified as a mobile theatre and is seen here on Queen Street, Blackpool on 14 July (Paul Turner)

This week has seen an innovative theatre production featuring a heavily modified 1989 Volvo Citybus. The show is based at the Grundy Art Gallery and is split between a performance in the nearby library and a 30-40 minute trip on the bus which included Springfield Road, the Promenade behind the Metropole, the Prom to Gynn Square, Dickson Road and Bank Street. At various points an actor narrated poetry to the passengers through headphones. The Citybus has been completely rebuilt at behind the cab with theatre style seating facing backwards - which gives an unusual perspective for both the passengers and other road users when on the road! 

The performance is touring a number of cities - see here for details

The 'interior' has been modified with banks of seating, theatre style, offering unusual views of the town (Paul Turner)

A rear view of the Rear View bus (Paul Turner)

Catch 22 Dart Upgrade

Catch 22 has added four more long Dennis Darts to its fleet to replace elderly MPDs it operates. First were 11 year old SN55HSK and SN55HSZ which came from Manchester Airport where they were new in December 2005 - the latter went straight into service in early July retaining an all-over advert for Manchester Airport parking. Y379/381GAX have been collected from Vale Bus Lines (t/a Capital Links), a Cardiff Bus subsidiary. These are 16 year old examples and rejoin several 1999 and 2000 vintage long Darts from Cardiff.

SN55HSZ on service 21 retaining its Manchester Airport advert 

T144DAX - the Domino's all-over advert is now out of use, scruffy sister T145DAX which has run since 2015 in white Select Buses livery is also now showing as SORN on the DVLA website and is presumed newly withdrawn. The third of this nearly 18 year old trio - T147DAZ is also on SORN - this has been occasionally used as a towing vehicle, rescuing stranded sisters. Only V657HEC and W466UAG are still licensed of the short Darts. V658HEC is believed sold, having been advertised for parts on a Facebook page.

Trident LX03BVJ has been sold to City Sightseeing in Budapest as an open topper. 

Old and New

Contrasts - Enviro 409 on service 1 on Sunday 25th June passes preserved Delta 133 on the Totally Models shuttle (Brian Turner)

Contrasts - Enviro 409 on service 1 at Starr Gate on Sunday 25th June with Centenary Tram 648 on a heritage tram tour (Brian Turner)

Seen at Totally Models

As part of 'Totally Models' Two preserved buses owned by Martin Gurr and Gary Conn provided a half hourly shuttle from Blundell Street to Starr Gate connecting with the Heritage Tram Tours. Delta 133 of 1991, poses alongside Centenary 648 of 1985 (Paul Turner)

Atlantean 362 of 1983 was the other bus, seen here at Blundell Street with 133 (Paul Turner)

Heritage livery Trident 332 was brought out for photos and was briefly posed alongside 133 (Paul Turner)

The model display was in the Paint and Body Shops at Rigby Road and the entry area allowed a view of the bus yard, and different vehicles were kindly posed during the day. Restored, but not yet operational Atlantean 364 and Heritage Trident 332 pose together (Paul Turner)

Later 332 and 364 moved into the storage rows, alongside ex Fylde Atlantean 45 - 364 and 45 were two of only four Atlanteans to receive B-prefixes - 45 being the last to enter service of maintstream UK production (Paul Turner)

Among the excellent models was Mike Wilson's recreation of Fylde's Squires Gate Depot with his amazing collection of local models, many scratchbuilt. (Paul Turner)

Spot the difference- Mike's model has a removeable front section to allow the original brickwork or later panelled front to be displayed. (Paul Turner)

From the Archives: 30 Years of the City Pacers

Brand new City Pacers 564 and 560 contrast with 20 year old PD3 518 in Rigby Road depot (Brian Turner)

On 24 March 1987 the first of an eventual fleet of 35 Optare City Pacers arrived at Blackpool. Minibuses had become common following experiments by the National Bus Company in Exeter in 1984. Most early minibuses were van conversions or coach built bodies on van/chassis cowl. Optare broke new ground in 1986 with the coach built City Pacer, still based on a van chassis (Volkswagen LT55) but with a stylish body and higher driving position addressing many weaknesses of the van conversions.

The coach built City Pacer body was quite high floored with a narrow door and high driving position. Here the brand new 561 contrasts with the tangled wrecks of a nearly scrapped OMO tram and burnt out Atlantean (Brian Turner)

The pioneer was numbered 560 (D560YCW) and was joined by sisters 561-564 (D561-4YCW) over the next few days. Although the City Pacer could see 25, Blackpool opted for just 19 seats - with higher backed seats on 563/4 for private hire work. They entered service, initially on tendered services, in May before moving onto the St. Annes Handybus route in June.

Demonstrator D898NUA, which became Blackpool 566, among more traditional fleet members (Brian Turner)

The second batch - bought for route 26 - arrived rather fitfully with 549 (E549GFR) first to arrive on 27 August, ten days before the launch of the 26. Earlier in the month Optare provided two demonstrators for driver training and they were soon purchased becoming 565 (D854MUA) and 566 (D898NUA). The latter (uniquely for Blackpool) featured automatic transmission and 25 seats - rather than the normal 5 speed manual gearbox.

The rest of the new batch were 550-559, 567/8 (E550GFR etc). 550-3 arrived between 12 and 20 September, 554-59/67/8 between 18 and 31 October and all were in use by early November. 565/6 were repainted into Handybus colours from their white demonstrator corridor.

560 and 562 pass on St. Thomas Road on the St. Annes Handybus route in 1987 (Brian Turner)

Batch three arrived in the last two weeks of July 1988 ready to launch route 9 on 1 August. These featured 4 speed gearboxes and were 569/70 (E569/70OCW) and 571-8 (F571-8RCW). They were followed by 579-82 (F579-82WCW) on 5 December, a week before the launch of the 7/7A.
The City Pacers settled into a routine life with little out of the ordinary, save for a charity trip from Paris to Blackpool undertaken by 582 on 9 April 1989. Blackpool Transport names and promotional lettering for the trip were applied and retained to its first repaint. In 1990 it was decided to fit an extra double seat in place of  the luggage bin making them 21 seaters.

A 35th solo joined the fleet in December 1989. Optare had provided a demonstrator (F934AWW) for a short period in January 1989 and sold the bus to Blackpool at the end of the year. Numbered 583 it was used initially in Optare's colours  - often as a driver trainer - until repaint into black and yellow during the summer. Routine repaints took place featuring a yellow roof to reduce sun absorption during the early 1990s.

Several City Pacers became caravans, including 573 which remained local to the Fylde as seen here at Fairhaven Lake in 2004 (Brian Turner)

Run Down
The take-over of Fylde Borough in May 1994 saw the Handybus fleet expand with 20 Renaults, though several were withdrawn during the integration of the two networks in November 1994. Soon after the launch of the City Pacer MCW launched the integral Metrorider - with no van influences, but this was not enough to secure MCW's future and it closed down. Optare bought rights to the Metrorider which hastened the end of the City Pacer. A seed vehicle was placed with Blackpool Transport in 1995 (584) and resulted in an order for eight which arrived later in the year. October 1995 saw City Pacers 549, 550, 560 and 561 were withdrawn and were part exchanged for Metroriders 585-588 while in November 551/2, 562-4 went back to Optare in exchange for 589-592 - the ninth effectively replaced by 584.

These initial nine disposals all went for further use. 549 was briefly with Jones Llanfaethlu (flickr)before reaching Zak's of Birmingham and moving onto a brief final career with City Hopper of Portsmouth in 2001. 550's next service career was short, running with Walsh of Middleton before sale as a motor home by August 1996. It has proved long lasting, it is currently taxed and MOT. 551 went to Walsh with 550 but became a non psv with a firm in Eccleston during the summer, lasting until 2002. 552 travelled around running with Bratihwaite in Cumbria, Globe in Barnsley, J&R in Accrington and finally Jowett of Hull in 2001.

560 went to Reading Buses and later Thames Travel and has been with a preservationist as a spares donor since 2001, its understood to be intact pending a future project to restore a sister Reading example. 561 ran with Top Cat of Mirfield before becoming a non psv, while 562 ran for a Northumberland operator. In still survived in 2010 under conversion to a mobile home. 563 is believed to have survived until 2002 but with an unknown owner. 564 joined 549 at Zaks but was withdrawn after a year.

More Metroriders arrived in 1996 (593-6 in May and 501-4 in September). These, and changes to routes in August 1996, saw 553-558 and the two demonstrators (565/6) withdrawn. 553-555 went to Handybus, Warminster (a new firm using Blackpool's name) in January 1997 (555 on flickr). 553/4 moved to Powercrafts of Blackburn in December 1997 for two years service and were scrapped in 2004 after several years gathering dust in their yard. 555 passed to Virgin of Oadby and ended its career in 1999. 556-558, 566 passed to Reading Buses to compete with Reading Mainline (who had ex Blackpool Routemasters!). They lasted until 1998. 566 was exported to Guernsey, 558 ran with Thames Travel who used 557 for spares. 556 was stripped by Reading. 565 was exported to Ireland.

With 17 sold, 18 remained in service at the start of 1997. More Metroriders arrived in late 1998 but through elaborate cascades replaced Atlanteans so 559, 567-583 survived once more. Optare launched the low floor Solo minibus to replace the Metrorider and Blackpool took 15 at the end of 1999 to replace the last City Pacers. 

569 was withdrawn in October having suffered mechanical failure and started to donate spares to its sisters. The first Solos were to convert route 33 from 4 January 2000 and this allowed 559, 567/8, 570-3, 580/1 to be withdrawn on 30 December. 559/67 racked up just over 12 years service - credible for this type. 575 retired on 24 January with 576/7 soon after leaving 574, 578/9 and 582/3 for the final day on 29 January all working routes 23, 24 and 25.

Former 583 with Mac Tours in their attractive red and cream livery (James Millington)

Early disposals saw 572 and 583 pass to Mac Tours of Edinburgh in February where they ran until 2002. 570 followed for spares in October 2000. 583 rematerialised on Ebay in September 2007 as a aborted caravan conversion. 570/2 have been scrapped. 580/1 are believed to have gone to Ireland, 577 remained in Blackpool as a mobile showroom for a local bathroom company who used it until 2003. 573 was purchased privately as a caravan and was seen around the Fylde until 2006. 575 was purchased for preservation by Graham Oliver who painted in green and cream as a what might have been. It has since returned to black/yellow and is now in LTT ownership.

McKindless of Wishaw swept up the remainder - 559, 567/8, 571, 574, 576, 578, 579 and 582 and the remains of 569 (flickr 567). Not all were used, but some received Irish registrations. 559/68 were scrapped locally, several others went to Holts of Bolton dealership. 567 was later used by Craven Arms Taxis in 2001, 574 became a caravan and was still in use in 2011.

Known or probable survivors are:

• 550 E550GFR - mobile caravan, taxed and MOT'd (photo here 2016)
• 560 D560YCW - long term store as future spares donor for another bus
• 562 D562YCW - SORN - static home in Blyth (photo here Feb 2017)
• 574 F574RCW  - SORN, MOT Expired 2011
• 575 F575RCW - LTT stored

Market Street Contrasts

Enviro 418 on the 11 (MA5), Stagecoach 15576 on the 68 (MA4) and Trident 302 on the 7 (MA2) on 8 June

23rd May saw the opening of the new bus stops on Market Street. Four bays in chevron format now accommodate the space of the previous three, with a the extra stop in place outside the Town Hall. 

• Stop MA5 nearest the camera is used by BTS 11, 
• Stop MA4 by Stagecoach 68, 
• Stop MA3 by 5, 
• Stop MA2 by the 7
• Stop MA1 by the 6 and 17 outside the Town Hall north of West Street

Initially the 11 and 68 were to use MA5, with the 7 on MA4 and 6 on MA2 but this proved unworkable due to clashes between the 11 and 68, both terminating services and the arrangements changed on 23rd.  Corporation Street stops have settled to CO1 6, CO2 2/2C, CO3 14 with CO4 outside the Town Hall used by 15, 16 and Stagecoach 61.

A contrasting Trio. Atlantean 324 leads the line with sister 353 and 349 behind in September 1982. (Brian Turner)

Disposal Updates

342 has now been withdrawn again after its brief reinstatement and it is understood to be leaving imminently. The other five long Tridents, 333-337, are understood to have passed to North West Bus Sales for onward disposal. 333 has been reported in the yard of Tyrers of Adlington but this may just be for storage. 334/337 are currently taxed, 333/5/6 SORN. 337 has been reported in Selby with Stockdale's Coaches. 

Solo 253 has passed to an operator in the Cheltenham area, leaving on 31 May.

Enviro 435 has received a revised version of the 'Love your Bus' graphic on its offside with a larger font and incorporating the rainbow shades of the LGBT community to mark the recent pride event.

From the Archives: A Big Hand for Handybus - 30 years ago

A typical light load of three for City Pacer 564 in September heading for Spring Gardens (Brian Turner)

The bus industry in the mid 1980s was fixated on the minibus. Ribble had introduced them to the Fylde coast in 1986 at Fleetwood and it was inevitable that others would follow. Blackpool Transport's chose the new Optare City Pacer and introduced the "Handybus" brand. A distinctive black scheme with yellow skirt was adopted for the new minibus fleet in 1987. 

560 signals left to turn into St Davids Road North as 562 heads up St Thomas Road bridge (Brian Turner)

Five City Pacers arrived at the end of March 1987, numbered 560-4 D560-4YCW and entered service on tendered service 33 (Cleveleys to Marton Hypermarket) and the F3-F5 evening/Sunday contracts in Fleetwood and Cleveleys in May. The 33 was only a temporary arrangement as on June 1st they moved to St. Annes operating a free launch day service on the new Handybus route that started for real the following day. Four buses were required providing a ten minute service starting at Spring Gardens and serving almost entirely previously under served roads to St. Annes Square before continuing to Whalley Place. The northern leg competed with Fylde's 193 which ran half hourly and the southern leg arguably competed with the hourly Roamer but also both Blackpool and Fylde's main services along Church Road.

Handybus leaflet front and back covers showing the two route legs

The high frequency was somewhat ambitious and loadings were not particularly encouraging. The service was daytimes only with buses from St. Annes to Spring Gardens at 0751, 0811, 0831 and every 10 minutes to 1721 then 1741 and from St. Annes to Whalley Place at 0730, 0750, 0810 and every 10 minutes until 1700 and 1720. Buses started their day by operating as service 11C from Blackpool to Spring Gardens where they picked up their first working. Likewise their final journeys from St. Annes to Spring Gardens continued to Blackpool. From there one retired to depot but three ran to Fleetwood to work the evening services and positioning journeys on the 14 (Fleetwood) and 4 (Thornton).

One of the hired in Ford Transits heads to Whalley Place (Brian Turner)

A further 15 City Pacers were obtained to convert service 26 to high frequency operation in September 1987 but only one had arrived by launch day! Two demonstrators were purchased and a third borrowed but Blackpool Transport had to hire some two year old Ford Transit minibuses from Midland Red North. These - amongst the earliest of the first generation minibuses - were normally used in St. Annes to release the five City Pacers for the 26. C39-43WBF arrived in late August and were temporarily Blackpool's 379-383, C37WBF followed in September (385) and C49WBF in October (389). All except 49 arrived in blue, grey and purple livery and as part of the loan deal Blackpool Transport repainted each one into Midland Red North's new red/yellow livery. 39 went back first in early October (replaced by 49) and the rest followed by the end of October.

The Transits were repainted as shown by 43 (new red livery) and 37 (old blue livery) (Brian Turner)

Blackpool covered this hire under the blanket of a research exercise and passengers were given a questionnaire to fill in to compared the Transit and the City Pacer. The results were never published.

The other marketing initiative was to provide through fares to the extended Routemaster operated service 12 (St. Annes to Blackpool). However loadings were still poor and the inevitable notice was issued in February advising that the service would cease on 27 February 1988 - ironically the buses were used to part convert service 12 to minibus operation.

562 demonstrates how the buses penetrated local housing estates in St. Annes (Brian Turner)

This was not the end of minibus experiments in St. Annes for Fylde had a couple of valiant attempts. First was the Shoplink 1 and 2 from 9 December 1989. Each ran hourly with the 1 serving Alexandria Drive, Clifton Hospital Grounds and Kingsway to Ansdell then through South Park to Lytham with the 2 serving Mayfield Road, Shepherd Road, Jubilee Way, Hall Park and joining the 1 route in Ansdell to Lytham. Five journeys ran each way on each route and Renaults 111 and 114 launched the services. Oddly at times Bristol REs stood in - which with 44 seats provided a huge excess of supply over demand. The services were unsuccessful and ceased in February 1990.

Route map for services 1 and 2

The next attempt started on May 10 1993 when service 88 started. This followed much of the route of the Handybus from St. Annes via Oxford Road, Dobson Avenue and Frobisher Drive but terminated at the recent housing development on Appealing Lane known as "The Hamlet" - not a name which screams 'good bus territory'. The 88 ran every half hour from 0945 to 1415 (1645 on Saturdays) and 15 minutes later back from St. Annes with a break for the regular driver's lunch. The leaflet (below) credited the idea to a local councillor and quoted fares from St. Annes:

• to St Patricks Road North of 25p (20p on the Handybus in 1987); 
• to Links Hotel of 40p (25p in 1987), 
• to Rodney Avenue of 50p (v 35p) 
• and to the Hamlet of 65p compared to the 45p maximum on the Handybus. 

Like the 1 and 2 the service lasted just two months, ceasing at the end of July.