Milburn's Tours

This photo courtesy of Northumberland County Council archives is of FBU 493 one of the classic Bedford OB coaches, it carries the name 'Milburn's Tours' other than that I don't have any details about it. Some of the older ones among us may think they recognise the person in the photo, it is in fact Jackie Milburn, the former Newcastle United and England centre forward, and relation of Jackie and Bobby Charlton, who you may also have heard of. Was there a connection between Jackie and the Company? I honestly don't know. Jackie lived his entire life in the North East, so if the photo was taken in the North East and there was a connection! I assume the vehicle must have been bought second hand, BU is an Oldham registration, Northumberland would have been JR, NL or TY.

Ronnie Hoye

01/06/14 - 09:38

For many years there was an operator called Milburn based at Benllech, on Anglesey. The following thread may be of interest. http://rvpt.org/MyBB/showthread.php?tid=60
The Oldham registration could be explained by the fact that there used to be a coach dealer in Oldham called Lancashire Motor Traders, and new vehicles ordered through them were often registered by LMT (in Oldham). Or the OB could indeed be secondhand from an Oldham-based operator, of course, of which there were several.

David Call

01/06/14 - 10:34

FBU 493 is apparently listed in PSV Circle publication C1252, dated 3/13. A one-time operator of the vehicle was R G Jamieson & Son, based on the island of Yell, in the Shetlands - and still trading to this day.

David Call

02/06/14 - 14:36

I have seen this photo before around the late 1950's (1958) early 1960's. I seem to recall it was taken in Ashington Northumberland towards the end of Milburn's footballing life. Although I stand to be corrected.

Alan Coulson

03/06/14 - 11:18

FBU 493 was new to Shearings Tours of Oldham in October 1949. Apart from the "Anglesey" Milburn, the only one I can find a record of is AM Milburn of Leavening (near Malton) in the East Riding. This would be a bit closer to the North East!

Neville Mercer

04/06/14 - 08:00

A bit of digging with the PSV Circle has established the history of FBU 493.
FBU 493 Bd OB 114825 Du 54366 C29F 10/49
Shearings Tours, Oldham (LA);
L Furness & Son, High Green (WR) -/??;
W M Armstrong {Red Wing Coaches}, North Shields (ND) -/??;
J Milburn, Newcastle (ND) -/56;
T R Manson, West Sandwick (SD) -/58;
Sinclair, West Sandwick (SD) 12/71;
Moseley (Q) 7/77;
Moseley Preservation Club (P) c8/77;
Robinson, Stewkley (BKp) 9/86;
PVS, Carlton (Q) 11/92;
D Barwell, Droitwich (P) 2/93 for spares;
scrapped 7/93.
I have three photos of it with "Mid Yell" on the destination, no doubt with Manson of West Sandwick (Yell, Shetland) at the pier to meet the ferry (foot passengers only) for the short sea-crossing to the island of Fetlar(?). Perhaps this is where David may have confused the ownership with Jamieson's?
As it happens, I was in the old premises of Shearing's of Oldham just a couple of weeks ago, putting my car in for its MOT at Stott's of Oldham, a well known independent in these parts.

Dave Farrier - David Williamson also sent the same history information.

04/06/14 - 08:01

I have come across this pic on the net - it is poor, but it ostensibly depicts a Bedford OB owned by Milburn's of Leavening. www.leaveningonline.com/ It obviously isn't FBU 493, but there is, to my eye, a similarity between the 'Milburn's' name on the two vehicles. There were two concurrent operators called Milburn on Anglesey, reputedly branches of the same family. An operation at Gaerwen lasted until the mid-1960s, and that at Benllech probably until the mid-1970s.
There is on the net a partial fleet history of independent operators in North West Wales, and FBU 493 does not feature. All in all, I am inclined to suppose that the 'Milburn' connection is with Leavening rather than Anglesey.
Of course, 'Milburn's Tours' could be a red herring anyway - the vehicle may have passed to an operator in the North East without the Milburn name having been removed.
Note the vehicle in the background of the FBU 493 shot - a mid-1950s Plaxton-bodied underfloor-engined coach, of a type which proliferated with Wallace Arnold.

David Call

04/06/14 - 09:16

FBU 493 comes up on the net as being the subject of two shots in a PSVC Photo Archive, where its owner is given as Jamieson. The photographer may have assumed the wrong operator, of course, or the vehicle may have passed from one operator to another without it being recorded.

David Call

03/08/17 - 07:14

Hello David Suspect the pic on the link is a Plaxton bodied OB from Milburns of Leavening; as shown on: this link.
(Where it is also wrongly listed = I have told them & waiting for them to change it)

Stuart Emmett

03/08/17 - 15:19

It's going back a bit now but I seem to recall this photo listed by Ronnie was taken at Wansbeck Motor Services garage in Ashington , Northumberland. However if others know better then I stand to be corrected.

Alan Coulson

04/08/17 - 06:41

The photo linked to here seems to explain all: www.alamy.com
The caption states: "Newcastle footballer Jackie Milburn seen here dressed as a bus driver. Circa 1957 At one stage during the Fifties, Milburn ran a coach tour business serving Northumberland".
Presumably the coach was sold when he moved to Belfast in 1957 to manage Linfield.

David Hick

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