Following on from the
most successful event of 2015, the independent transport videos cameras
were invited back to record the Ribble Vehicle Preservation Trust’s third
Lytham Hall Running Day. The event took
place on Monday 29th August 2016 and was centred at the magnificent
Georgian Grade 1 listed Lytham Hall and its beautiful grounds, offering a
superb backdrop to the fine vehicles owned by the Trust as well as some
visiting vehicles. Even the weather
could not have been better, a warm and sunny day complete with blue skies!
Our filming begins
early in the morning at the RVPT’s Freckleton depot as we see the run out into
service of the participating vehicles.
These range from the beautifully restored Leyland Lion LT2 of 1931 through
to the Leyland Olympians of the 1980s.
Our cameras now board 2057 (RN 6822) a Leyland Titan TD5 dating from
1939, with an Alexander L53R body that dates from 1949 for the journey to
Lytham Hall. We get both the passenger
and driver’s views as we motor along the deserted roads and streets to our
destination. On the arrival at the Hall
we see the buses and coaches taking up their positions. As well as the Ribble
vehicles we have a representative from the erstwhile Lytham St Annes
Corporation fleet. Number 24 (TJ 6760)
is a 1934 Leyland Lion formally a Leyland demonstrator, looking resplendent in
the royal blue of that undertaking. A
ten-minute service was operated from the Hall to St Annes, via Lytham town
centre and Fairhaven Lake. This ensured
that preserved vehicles were in sight for most of the day in both towns and
along the sea front. It also made
interesting comparisons with the contemporary Enviro400 double deckers from
Ribble’s successor, Stagecoach and the new ‘Palladium’ liveried Plaxton Centro
bodied Volvos of Blackpool Transport!
We now take a ride on
Ribble 452 (FCK 884) a Leyland Tiger Cub with Saunders Roe B44F bodywork to
Lytham town centre to capture the action in Clifton Street and along Central
Beach. Our next ride is onboard 2101
(GFR 101W) an ECW bodied Leyland Olympian to St Annes Square. This is a very busy location with preserved
buses seen from all angles as well as modern Stagecoach and Blackpool Transport
vehicles. We even see a former Blackpool
Corporation Leyland Atlantean in service with ‘Catch 22 Buses’ on their route
21. We return to Lytham Hall on former
Blackpool Corporation 512 (HFR 512E) a 1967 Leyland Titan PD3A with MCW bodywork. From the Hall we board former Ribble 1995
(OCK 995K) a Bristol VRTSL6G, which was converted to open top when it was
operated by Eastern Counties. Now
preserved in it’s former livery of Eastern Counties, this VRT is owned by Neil
Halliday and is operated by the Keighley Bus Museum Trust. We ride on it to Fairhaven Lake and record the
action at this location. When 1995
returns from St Annes we board again for our ride back to the Hall to join our
final ride of the day. This is on 338
(NCK 338J), a Bristol RESL6L with ECW B47F bodywork for a ride back to Lytham
town centre to catch the late afternoon action.
Final footage is shot along the lovely long driveway leading to the
Hall, offering a super backdrop for these fine vehicles. We say farewell to the vehicles as they are
parked up back at their Freckleton base and say thank you to the Ribble
Preservation Trust for providing an excellent event, which we hope you will
enjoy on this programme.