On the buses: vintage vehicles

Passer-by Linda Firth takes a closer look at this replica bus in St Annes in April 1983

Just take a look at these historic vehicles, captured in pictures through the years by Gazette photographers.

Below is a rather unusual vehicle, dating from October 1941.

As a wartime measure when fuel was short, but this gas-powered Blackpool Corporation brought in this gas-powered bus.

The first bus was converted and it passed the test – being taken out in a high wind.

The single decker had a special arrangement of seats to give more room to stand.

The gas container occupied the entire top deck of buses – and passengers could smell it.

Above is a delightful picture of a bus which was turning heads in St Annes in the 1980s.

In a photograph from April 1983, Linda Firth can be seen taking a closer look at the vehicle, as it was parked outside a St Annes hotel. It might have been the world’s first minibus. It was a replica of a 1920s bus, complete in every detail.

An undated picture shows a circular tour bus in Blackpool.

There is no caption on the photo, but the ladies’ hats and men’s flat-caps would see to indicate it dates from the early 1930s.

The sign on the open-top vehicle reads “6d Park Circular Tour”.

1985
Buses at the Blackpool Corporation depot — 1985 Buses at the Blackpool Corporation depot

It appears to have taken outside the Midland Bank.

Restored to its former glory and pictured here in December 1991, is a three-year labour of love – Tommy Jeffries with a 1936 old corporation bus.

The Leyland Lion was ready to hit the road again as a flagship of a Fylde bus fleet, just as Tommy, who helped to restore it, celebrated his 50th year at the company.

An electrician, he first worked on the vintage bus in 1942 as an apprentice with Fylde Transport.

He was on the small team which worked on the restoration of the bus for the more recent past.

The vehicle was sold by the corporation in 1957 and had travelled all over the country. Blue Buses bought it back from Memory Lane Coaches in 1988, to use as a company mascot.

The 34-seater was revamped to make it ready for the following summer season. And buses are lined up neatly in another shot, of the Blackpool Corporation depot, in 1985.