THE M & D AND EAST KENT BUS CLUB
The Bedfordshire & Buckinghamshire 18th
August 2001
Tour report by David Burrin
(first published in Club News Sheet 589 Aug '01)
The third trip of 2001 took us in an upmarket vehicle of Streamline Coaches from Kent into two counties north of London.
Our first stop was at Arriva's Luton
depot, not yet relocated, where a mixture of old and new was in evidence,
including two ex-M&D VRTs.
From Luton we went to the village of Maulden, where the depot of
Shorey's coaches revealed a fleet including four revamped ex-London Metrobuses,
plus several DMSs still apparently being used.
The next depot visit was to Cedar of
Bedford, where there was a striking contrast between a Y-registration Ayats
Bravo and a very vintage Dennis Lancet, the latter at the rear of the
yard. Several ex-Lothian Olympians
were also in evidence as well as an ex-M&D Metrobus.
We then moved on to the modern depot
complex of Barfordian Coaches on the outskirts of Bedford. After a lunch break at Bedford Bus
Station we travelled to Milton Keynes, with visits to the Bus Station and
Depot. There have been many
changes in the fleet - much had come from London and the West Midlands, MK
Metro being part of the Status Group.
Our next port of call was the Arriva
depot at Aylesbury, much modernised since our last Club visit. Four Optare Solos were in the yard
there amongst the other vehicles.
These are owned by Buckinghamshire County Council, but operated by
Arriva. Missing the town centre of
Aylesbury due to threatening rain, we visited Mott's depot in Stoke Mandeville,
but were unable to see the ex-East Kent Metrobuses as they were out on football
duties.
It had been intended to visit Mullany's
depot near Watford football ground, but 5pm on a Saturday when there is a home
game on is not a good time to call, so we had a "comfort stop" at
South Mimms and returned to Kent with an hour in hand. South Mimms proved a treasure trove of
old buses, including an ex-Southdown PD in "Kinder Egg" livery in a
nearby yard!
It was only after leaving South Mimms
that the rain, which had been "promised" much earlier and threatened
once or twice, actually fell with a vengeance. We often wonder how David Cobb manages it -it was a close
call this time!
Thanks
to our two drivers for their professional work on our behalf and to David Cobb
for his organisation. Next time -
Guildford!