Verwood Transport
1966
Guy Arab V 6LW
Northern Counties H41/32F

WTE159D is a Guy Arab V with Northern Counties H73F body (well, she did start her life with Lancashire United!) in service with Verwood Transport. The indicator display has been altered to suit a more rural operation, and we see her in the yard at Mallard Road during an open day at the Bournemouth Corporation transport depot on 22 May 1983.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Pete Davies

22/09/16 – 07:16

This beauty gives one a good idea of what a front entrance Middlesbrough Arab would have looked like Quite superb in my opinion!

Chris Hough

22/09/16 – 13:21

Thanks, Chris. When Wilts & Dorset took the firm over, they were so impressed that they painted a VR – S suffix so too new for these pages – in Verwood livery. Equally smart.

Pete Davies

22/09/16 – 15:07

U seem to remember that the proprietor of Verwood Transport trained as a driver at Middlesbrough and that’s why he chose the blue livery.

Stephen Allcroft

22/09/16 – 16:42

So, Stephen, a variation on the theme of Managers taking the livery of their former command to their new one – there are several instances in these pages!

Pete Davies

24/09/16 – 07:42

In the early 1980s Verwood was a growing community somewhat neglected by public transport. Hence Andy Wood stepped in to provide services to Poole and Christchurch on different days. As Verwood Transport , he acquired a Leyland PD3 ex Brighton Corporation. This was soon replaced by the Guy Arab shown. Both vehicles and indeed subsequent rear engine vehicles were always worked OMO [as it was known in those days].
The Guy was unique in the area and was much appreciated by passengers and enthusiasts.

Keith Newton

24/09/16 – 07:43

These buses had deep, vertically slatted grilles either side of the destination boxes when they were with LUT. Were they fitted with Cave-Browne-Cave heating equipment when new or were the grilles for some other purpose? Either way, this beautifully presented vehicle has had them removed and replaced with very much smaller, natural air vents.

Chris Barker

24/09/16 – 08:39</EM&GT;< em>

Keith, I wasn’t aware of an ex-Brighton PD3, never having seen it, but I do have a view somewhere in our Editor’s ‘in tray’ of a former BEA Routemaster.

Pete Davies

25/09/16 – 06:17

Unfortunately, due to lack of space following our recent move to a flat, most slides are unavailable at present so I cannot attach an image of the PD3. Likewise the Routemaster which was RMA11.

This subsequently passed to an operator in Leighton Buzzard who used it in full Verwood Transport livery.

After de-regulation, Andy together with Roger Brown [Shaftesbury & District] re-introduced services in the area and I have attached an image of RMA37 in the green livery seen in Christchurch.

Finally is an image of the rebuilt and extended Routemaster RME1 which remained in red and is seen in Salisbury.

Keith Newton

26/09/16 – 10:11

What superb liveries are the blue and green examples shown here. I’m having to pinch myself here to make sure that its not April 1st . Joking apart, I have never heard of the RME extended Routemaster – have you any more details please. Even allowing for the Routemaster’s legendary front and rear modules this must have been quite an engineering feat, requiring longer prop shaft and pipelines of varying sorts.

Chris Youhill

27/09/16 – 05:45

Further information about RME1 may be found at the bottom of the page here:- www.countrybus.org/cob2002/cob2002c.htm

And also here:- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shaftesbury

Roger Cox

27/09/16 – 05:46

Chris the last time I saw RME 1 it was on a wedding special in Halifax for a Keighley operator.

Geoff S

27/09/16 – 11:15

Many thanks indeed Roger – I can’t understand how I’d never heard of this ambitious project, and very neatly and professionally executed I must say. I have to be quite honest, when I saw the picture I did think that it was a "spoof"

Chris Youhill

27/09/16 – 16:38

The centre staircase on RME1 is a one-piece grp unit from an Alexander bodied Ailsa.

Stephen Allcroft

28/09/16 – 06:20

I knew of the extended Routemaster Chris (Y), and think it is a fascinating vehicle, but assumed that the conversion would have been carried out by London Transport rather than Shaftesbury & District. It just goes to show that we should never underestimate the ingenuity of the independent operator. Looking at Keith’s photos of the blue and the green Routemasters made me drift off into two of those ‘what might have been’ moments. The blue RMA gives a hint of what Samuel Ledgard’s later purchases may have included, following on from its successful ex-LT RTs and RTLs. The green RMA’s livery is somewhat reminiscent of Leeds City Transport’s (although the upper deck window surrounds and roof would have been in the darker green of course), and could have been one of a batch bought new for use on the Leeds-Bradford 72 joint service with Bradford City Transport. Just idle thoughts I know but…….

Brendan Smith

28/09/16 – 06:21

I notice in the photo at Roger’s second link, dated 2010, that the vehicle has acquired a twin headlamp front.The even window-widths make for a much neater style than the later halfwindow-width extended RM’s.

Chris Hebbron

02/10/16 – 05:37

Just an update for Chris. RME1 was on a two RM wedding special passing through Shipley this afternoon for Red Bus Days of Keighley.

Geoff S

Cardiff Corporation
1964
Guy Arab V 6LW 
Neepsend H37/28R

Cardiff took delivery of this Guy Arab V in 1964. The Neepsend H37/28R body was built on frames supplied by the associated East Lancs and
ABO 434B was originally closed top but as can be seen has since been converted to open-top for tours of Cardiff City and special events. The reverse livery really does justice to this superb vehicle. It was a popular ‘runner’ at the Bus & Coach Wales 2014 event in Merthyr Tydfil carrying healthy loads on some hilly terrain.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Les Dickinson

07/04/15 – 07:05

Thanks for the photo Les. My wife and I went on a BR Merrymaker Excursion from Sheffield to Cardiff in the late 70s. We found 434 on the Cardiff City Tour so we had a very pleasant ride on the top deck – bit cool, I think it was April time.I have some black and white photos taken on the tour somewhere.

Ian Wild

07/04/15 – 07:26

I’ve found this photo I took of 434 back on the 24th June 1977 at Cardiff Central bus station. The only difference between this and the recent photo appears to be the advertisement.

Gary T

Cardiff Corporation
1964
Guy Arab V 6LW
Neepsend H37/28R – O37/28R (1976)

This vehicle was new to City of Cardiff Transport in 1964 and is now owned by Cardiff Transport Preservation Group having been donated to them in 2008 by the National Museum of Wales. One of 12 Guy Arab V’s fitted with Neepsend rear entrance body it was converted to open-top by Cardiff in 1976 for use on city tour duties along with similar bus 424 which is preserved in Essex . It is seen in service at the Barry Island event in June 2013.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Ken Jones 

09/07/13 – 07:41

There are pictures of the different types of Arab Vs owned by Cardiff Transport on Mike Street’s fleet list covering 1964-72,including no. 424 mentioned above.The original maroon and cream livery suit these buses much better than orange and white.For the fleet list paste the following into your browser:-
mikestreet.webplus.net/Cardiff_Bus_Fleet1964-1972.pdf

David Jones

09/07/13 – 11:40

Following its appearance at the Rally, ex-Cardiff 434 was selected to appear at the Rhiwbina Festival (Rhiwbina is a suburb on the northern edge of Cardiff). A lady approached a couple of us who were there with the bus and asked ‘Is this a Guy?’. When we confirmed that it was, she told us that her father had worked for Guy Motors and that she had some photos and documents. Would we like to see them? We most certainly would!

She has now sent me the attached scan of a photograph of Burlingham-bodied Guy coach (28 RRF – or is it 29 RRF? – no. 51 in the Harper of Heath Hayes fleet, very similar to the preserved one that appeared at last year’s Newbury Rally.
The lady tells me that her father was George Edgar Harris (b.1917, d.1980), and that he was appointed manager of the export sales department at Guys in 1948. He was appointed to the board of Guy Motors (Pty) Ltd in 1957, and was a director of Guy’s parent company from January 1958 to about 1960.
The photograph appears to have been taken during a visit by several potential Guy customers from far and wide to the fleet of a regular buyer of Guy Motors products.
As a postscript, I attended the Llangollen Railway’s Classic Transport Weekend on Saturday and was delighted to see ex-Chester Corporation (and now resident of the North West Museum of Transport) Guy Arab IV/Massey arriving to take up its position as one of the three buses on the Glyndyfrdwy-Corwen run. A notice above the front windows upstairs highlighted that it’s now celebrating its 60th birthday. It ran on the service in fine form and is a credit to all concerned.
Guy Motors lives on!

Berwyn Prys Jones

12/07/13 – 12:13

The lady who provided the photograph has sent me some additional information:

I should mention that the bus in my photograph (the one you submitted to the website, “old-bus-photos”), is almost identical to a bus in a photograph on page 79 of Robin Hannay’s book, “80 Years of Guy Motors Limited”. The two buses look as though they belong to the same fleet. They both bear the name “Harper”, but the bus in my photo has the number 51 painted on it, and its number plate is 28 RRF, while the numbers of the bus in Robin’s photo are 52 and 27 RRF respectively. Robin’s photo was taken in 1960, and his bus looks more dilapidated than the one in my photo, which I believe was taken in 1957!

Berwyn Prys Jones

13/07/13 – 08:00

Something about this Seagull has struck me as "wrong" – it just doesn’t look "right" from the front . . . but I’ve not been able to put my finger on it. Until now – I just leaned back at my desk and noticed the OOC Wallace Arnold Seagull in the display cabinet above my desk: the headlights are normally above the front beading, with any spot/fog lights beneath – here they’re mounted much lower down at the same level as the spot lights.

Philip Rushworth

29/04/16 – 06:01

According to the new Burlingham body list published by the PSV Circle (B1002) the Guy is thought to be the very last Seagull Mark III.

Alan O. Watkins