Western SMT
AEC Regent III 9612E
Northern Counties L27/26R

Western SMT took fifty-eight of these handsome preselector Regent III’s with Northern Counties lowbridge bodies between 1947 and 1950, being registered BSD 401 to 458, Strangely, BSD 441 of 1949 never entered service with them and was immediately sold to the independent York Bros. of Northampton. The rest of them continued with WSMT until withdrawal between 1962 and 1965. BSD 454 had survived a further seven years or so with an unidentified owner until being sold to North’s, the dealer, of Sherburn-in-Elmet – in whose yard it is seen here awaiting its final fate in the Summer of 1970. It would be interesting to know why BSD 441 was sold without being used – does anybody know?

Photograph and Copy contributed by John Stringer

02/12/13 – 16:13

"an unidentified owner" could be some sort of contractor, using the vehicle for staff transport, if the markings on the offside are any guide. Is that a Weymann coach body behind her?

Pete Davies

02/12/13 – 16:51

Looks like a Fanfare to me, Hawkeye…..

David Oldfield

03/12/13 – 06:21

At a rough guess it is probably a Yorkshire Woollen Fanfare.

Philip Carlton

03/12/13 – 06:22

I don’t know why BSD 441 was sold unused. But I do know that 6 further buses were diverted to Hants & Dorset on the south coast. They were very non-standard for this company, but lived out a reasonably full service life. They were numbered 1213-1218, and registered JEL 752-757 in Bournemouth, as would be expected for H&D stock at that time. I believe that this transfer was at the instruction of the BTC, as both H&D’s parent, the Tilling Group, and Western SMT’s parent SBG had recently been nationalised. Presumably a Whitehall boffin felt that such a transfer made sense…?? They were fitted with Tilling-style destination screens, although not so deep as the normal standard.

Michael Hampton

03/12/13 – 07:51

‘Bus Lists On The Web’ gives Western 548 as having had the registration BCS 453 rather than BSD 453. Conversely, Western 394, the last of a batch of 22 Northern Counties bodied Daimler CVA6s, is given as BSD 453, whereas the previous 21 are shown BCS 429/31-3/5-41/3-52.
There is a pic on the net of 548 displaying the registration BCS 453, when with subsequent operator Laycock of Barnoldswick.
Almost as strange as the ‘BSD 441’ enigma.

David Call

03/12/13 – 07:51

The single decker on the right of the picture looks to be a Lancashire United Guy UF with Weymann Hermes body, one of six delivered in 1954. The front of these bodies was different to the standard Hermes body having a curve to lower windscreen line to match previous Atkinson Alphas with bodies by Northern Counties, Roe and Willowbrook but being different in detail around the cab windows.

Phil Blinkhorn

04/12/13 – 07:16

Concur with you on the LUT UF, it was my thought straight away on seeing first sight.

Mike Norris

04/12/13 – 12:11

I didn’t record the details of the other vehicles in the photo, but can confirm that the one on the right is an ex-LUT WTB-reg Arab LUF. There were others of the batch at North’s on that day, I have another photo which includes WTB 71. The bus to the left is one of several ex-WYRCC LS’s, and in the background an ex-YWD Fanfare, of which there were others.

John Stringer

05/06/20 – 08:07

Can anyone tell me what became of 473 (BSD 436) from this batch? I have a feeling it ended up in Ireland.

Bill Headley