Colwyn Bay UDC

Colwyn Bay UDC
1960
Bedford J2LZ2
Spurling B21F

The small Colwyn Bay fleet comprised (I think) of 5 Bedfords of this general design running for a couple of miles or so along the seafront between Old Colwyn and Rhos on Sea.
No 5 is pictured at Colwyn Bay pier, a small part of which remains today but derelict and unusable. The photo was taken in September 1967, I think Colwyn Bay continued to run services including the Promenade into the 70s. No bus service runs along the seafront there nowadays although the Arriva 12 does make a brief appearance at Rhos on Sea harbour before disappearing inland again.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Ian Wild

14/06/20 – 08:02

Colwyn Bay was – until Local government disorganisation in 1974 – a "Municipal Borough" like Colchester, Darwen, Morecambe & Heysham, Scarborough, not just an "Urban District" like West Bridgford or many of the local operators in South Wales.

Pete Davies

15/06/20 – 07:29

I may be wrong, but I think they had Hawson bodies.

Keith Nixon

15/06/20 – 07:30

Operations ended in September 1986.

Paul Turner

16/06/20 – 07:01

According to BLotW, the bodies on these five Bedfords (three 1954 OLAZ, two 1960 J2LZ2) were by Spurling.

Graham Woods

17/06/20 – 07:13

Despite what BLOTW and other published sources have quoted over the years, the three 1954 vehicles were actually A3LZ and not OLAZ chassis. This is acknowledged now apparently by the PSV Circle. The OLAZ was of the earlier generation of Bedfords introduced in 1939, which included the K, M and O models with the traditional front end, the most familiar to us probably being the OB. The bodies on both the A3LZ and J2LZ2 Colwyn Bay vehicles were Spurling ‘Spermomet’ types. Spurling’s works was fairly close to the Vauxhall headquarters and they produced a large number of vans and quite a few ambulances of a similar to the buses.

John Stringer

17/06/20 – 07:14

Photo taken at the Colwyn Bay Pier terminus. The North Wales Main Line railway runs above the embankment at the left, still quadruple track in 1967. Hidden from view the bus is the old miniature railway that used to run beneath, usually worked by a 4-6-2 locomotive named “Prince Charles”. Pier and miniature railway are both gone now.

Mark Evans

18/06/20 – 06:49

If the radiator grill/cab shape is to be believed, these vehicles were generically TJ models, of which the sub-classes, according to weight/engine size, were J0 to J6.They available from 1958 to 1975. I had an uncle who owned one.

Chris Hebbron

22/06/20 – 06:46

John, the OLAZ was based on the OL lorry chassis with 157 inch wheelbase it did not include the K & M models.
The OLAZ chassis had the diff in the centre of axle as opposed to the longer OB chassis (174 inch wheelbase) which had the offset diff to enable a lower floor. The OLAZ was boded by Duple (MacBraynes had some)with a shorter Vista body, and also the ‘Sportsman’ with exposed wood aka Morris Minor Traveller, it was not a success and I think only one, maybe two were built.

John Wakefield

11/07/20 – 06:21

Colwyn Bay Corporation operated a second route, from the Pier to the Welsh Mountain Zoo, which was in the hills above the town. In the mid sixties, no 2 worked the Zoo service and 4 and 5 worked the Promenade. 1 was the spare vehicle. I never saw 3, but a friend saw it in use as an ice cream van(!) in Eiras Park.

Don McKeown