I warn you now this is a monster post. I love travelling and I’m somewhere new. It goes on and on, much like me.
First the little scroats that are burning our cities want dealing with. It will be all right now. Dithering Dave has flown back from Italy to put the fear of the Lord into them. I rather liked the twist on history………….sitting in Italy whilst England burns………….I am sure we are safe now!…Hindsight is a wonderful thing if he and barmey Boris hadn’t sacked the Met. Police bosses he’d have had another week or so annoying Italian waitresses.
I’m at a place, a magical place called Bowber Head. I’d post a map but band width is narrow. Google it yourselves…. Now listen up………….this is home to Cumbria Classic Coaches. No Blakey but home to some wonderful old busses. ( If you Google the title you will get a resume of an early seventies Sit Com).
All images today, all three hundred, are HDR so without further ado I’ll get on.
The view from the van or just twenty yards away…………there is a tree in the way if I look from the camper.
Sheep in the hamlet of Bowber Head.
Another wee corner.
Another little bit.
Detail and…………..
Finer detail this is built into a field wall and the date is only a year away from the one on the farm in the previous image…………different initials though.
Back to busses……………this is a 1959 Bristol Lodekka, she is called Harvey and has a 10.45 litre Gardner diesel engine built in Manchester…………..Bloody Hell!…………My jacket is growing fur round it’s hood.
This is Florence………….. She was built in 1948 and is an AEC Regal. Yes I do know the engine size. She has one interesting feature she has a pre-select gearbox…………Hang on!…..Hang On!…….I’m just away to trim the fur on my Parka…………Canna see what I’m wirtnig.
That’s better.
This is Lawrence a Guy Arab which dates from 1951.
Here she is again.These two images shot three hours apart
She’s called Klipper and was built by Leyland in 1949………….seats 49 passengers and has a four speed crash gearbox……………Hold on……where are the clippers………….or should that be Klippers?
Peter a 1959 AEC Regent
Florence again……………..Live writer is struggling and has just messed up all my diligent composting.
Finally…………..Phew!…. Rosie a 1946 Leyland Tiger. With sun blasting off her windscreen, That’s the fleet and here they are……………..
At six this morning……Go on ………….go Awww! They are bobby dazzlers.
And three hours later……………much the same. well they would be if one is sixty to seventy years old not a lot changes in three hours.
There sixteen HDR images and not a halo to be found………….I’ve got my tired head coming on so it’s off for a siesta or as they say round here a kip.
I was here to look at a wonderful nature reserve but having the concentration span of a fruit fly I got distracted. I’ll do flora and fauna tomorrow.
Have fun. Hugs to the ladies.
Hi Adrian....By the time I read your posts, and stop laughing I just about forgotten what I saw...maybe that's just old age...(no question marks needed) lol
ReplyDeleteThe country side is so quaint ..I love it !
The stone work always gets me no matter how many times I see..it is fascinating!!
Buses...thats a lovely fleet...not sure you could get me in one of those ...especially on the top level...
Thanks for the bus tour! : }
Grace
Wonderful images Adrian. Love the old colourful buses.
ReplyDeleteDo you get to ride in any of the coaches? That's one of the things I enjoyed when I visited Crich Tramway Museum. Probably not the same nostalgic feeling in a coach, much too comfortable.
ReplyDeleteSome lovely old 'ladies' lined up there....A wonderful bus tour- thanks Adrian.
ReplyDelete-Trevor
A real feast today Adrian, a cracking post.
ReplyDeleteThe buses, and Blakey; I remember it well. Those old buses look lovingly cherished.
The landscape shots are just stunning. You are the master at what you do. It looks a magnificent place to spend some hours.
As for the toe rags looting our cities, I think the police should be issued with live rounds, sort them out properly. Harsh? No, I don't think so. This country is fast going down the pan. It's time we got our balls back.
Grace, I tag the images as I post them.......I'm one step ahead cos you can't do that.It is a wonderful place.
ReplyDeleteTrevor, serendipity is a grand thing, tempered by the price of stopping here. I love old stuff.
John, if it rains tomorrow yes I do. They run a service with them. Barnard castle tomorrow. Cost a tenner mind. It is nothing like Crich as it's a Cumbrian farm, camp site, sheep, cows and busses.
Trevor, it was a good find, I've seen their vehicles about but until I drove up had no idea where they lived.
Keith, cheers, it's a grand spot and open all year. Put it in your diary.
This country is going down the pan because we have nobody running it..........Daft Dave thinks he can work it from Italy on a Blackberry!.....He must think it's a computer game. Daft sod.
Adrian ,what a super post! You've found a fantastic place to rest there.
ReplyDeleteSome great landscape images.
But those coaches and buses, wow, what a wonderful collection!
My favourite is Lawrence, only because of the vintage, 1951 was a great year, lol! They're all excellent examples though.
The last two images are stunners, excellent. [:o)
Adrian, absolutely STUNNING photos of coaches! makes me think of Thomas the Tank Engine (silly me I know!).
ReplyDeleteHope they will be protected for a looong time.
The countryside looks gorgeous as well, you chose well your vacation area! So much to discover if you take the time...
Wonderful photos, lovely buses.
ReplyDeleteThe Olde Buses, they are brilliant to look at, to drive, and to take out across this our planet. I used have one.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post Adrian and yes I remember Blakey, Stan ,Olive and Arthur so well...
ReplyDeleteI watched a rerun recently and it was crap lol..
How time/tastes change...
Beautiful old buses and I take it they are all still in use... a lovely place.
Sad B... that I am I recall all those in use. Loved the 'another wee corner' shot.
ReplyDeleteABSOLUTELY BLOODY FANTASTIC POST!! I've just got my parka out too. I started off thinking how lovely the countryside there is and then I saw the Crosville Bristol Lodekka. The miles I have travelled in those. The miles and miles I have travelled on Crosville buses. I have the book of their history. I've gone and got my model Crosville Coach on the desk - what a way to end a day; in anoraktic contemplation.
ReplyDeleteGret photos, love those old Busses. Have a great day and a good kip.
ReplyDeleteThose busses are worth a long post. Gorgeous! And they've been taken care of, too.
ReplyDeleteTrevor, Thanks I'm glad I found this spot. There wasn't much rest with all that lot to process.
ReplyDeleteDee Bee, that's not silly.....They give all of them names and the HDR provides the primary colours of Thomas. It is not a vacation but a vocation. I'm an Old Age Traveller.
Bengt, thank you.
Bob, I've never driven one but it would be fun. They would make a handsome camper. A bit sacrilegious to convert one though.
Andrew, yes they run weddings, and a couple of service routes with them..the one to Barnard Castle year round on Tuesdays. That's market day in Barney.
John, so do I. Crosville I forgot, they were your local company. It is a step back in time to come here. Mostly second homes as usual but good despite the lack of scrap and cow muck.
Graham, what have I started? In a way it's sad that there is no longer so much variety in transport. Cars, buses, trains, planes are all much the same. Nothing to spot anymore so put that Parka away.
Horst, thanks, they are a wonderful sight.
JoLynne, they are well looked after but not restored to as or better than new. They are still used for passenger carrying so have to be tested......A nightmare getting brakes up to modern standards I imagine.
Fantastic images, Adrian.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to see England's countryside, up close and personal.
Your images are the next best thing!
I really did go, 'awww', Adrian. :D Seeing them all lined up, like deebee, I thought of Thomas the Tank Engine too. They're wonderful and I remember there still being buses like that when I lived near Fort William for a while, in the seventies. I loved 'On the Buses' when I was a child..... Olive was a riot. :O)
ReplyDeleteLaura, thanks. They do tend to reflect the positive side of life though.
ReplyDeleteLesley, you can't tell but I was typing in my Ringo Star voice. I can never think of Ringo without recalling a cruel comment from John Lennon. When asked by a journalist if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, he replied.
'He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles'.
Who says there is no Blakey, great bus photos. I'm bus green with envy
ReplyDeleteDING DING
Steve
ON THE BUSES fan club
Now in our 11th year
Nostalgia Never goes out of fashion
Entertaining to the end, never had so much humour looking at a set of buses. At the end of the post, they all look like horses in a stable gagging for a run out ! I didn't realise until recently when I was that heritage bus along Wensleydale that all these vintage machines had names. On a side note, the first four images of this post are quality & look like a set of postcards.
ReplyDeleteJay, at the risk of immodesty they are better than many for sale in Hawes. The worlds pits for postcards. It's early morning for the shadows that does it.
ReplyDeleteThey are a grand fleet of buses.