Ribble - Lytham Hall
Running Day 2018
The
independent
transport videos cameras have again been
invited back to record the
Ribble Preservation Trust’s fifth Lytham Hall Running Day that took
place on
August Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August 2018. As usual the event was
centred on the
magnificent Georgian Grade 1 listed Lytham Hall and it’s beautiful
grounds,
offering a superb backdrop to the fine vehicles owned by the Trust as
well as
the visiting vehicles. As
on our
previous programmes of this event, the filming begins early in the
morning at
the RVPT’s Freckleton depot as we see the participating buses and
coaches
starting up and inching their way out of the depot for a busy day in
service. This year
we have changed the
format of our programme. So,
we jump in
the cab of the beautifully restored 1934 Leyland Lion LT5A, in the rich
blue
livery of Lytham St Annes Corporation for the driver’s eye view of the
journey
through the deserted roads and streets to Lytham Hall.
On arrival at the Hall we begin to see the
arrival of vehicles taking up their positions, giving us a chance to
have a
good look at them as they manoeuvre into place.
As in previous years a ten-minute service was operated
from the Hall to
St Annes, via Lytham town centre and Fairhaven Lake.
Our next location is in Lytham town centre on
Clifton Street and Central Beach, where we see the buses in action
along with
some of the new Blackpool Transport ADL Enviro400 City double-deckers. If you are fan of these
magnificent new buses
they can be seen in more detail on our recent DVD programme “Blackpool’s Buses
2017 & 2018”. From
the busy streets of Lytham our next location is St Annes Square in the
centre
of St Annes. Here
we observe the
preserved vehicles in action as they arrive and depart with good
passenger
loads. The most
poignant sequence is of
Lytham St Annes Corporation number 10 (JTD 381), the 1948 Leyland Titan
PD2 as
it runs through the streets that it had done so many times before
whilst in
it’s service days! We
return to Lytham
Hall on board the superbly restored Leyland Atlantean AN68/1R, 1397
(NRN 397P),
which has a Park Royal body in the poppy red livery that Ribble buses
wore
during the National Bus Company days.
On
arrival at the Hall we see the comings and going of the buses as they
pick up
and deposit the crowds enjoying the event in this lovely setting. We also film along the
long driveway leading
to the Hall and at the grand entrance arch near to Ballam Road where
there is also
plenty of action to observe.
Towards the
end of the day, we see the buses depart from the Hall for home,
including a
lovely Bristol ‘L type’ from the West Yorkshire fleet and many other
visiting
preserved buses and coaches. Our
return
to Freckleton depot is in the height of luxury!
We place our camera in the cab with the driver of
Standerwick 60 (LRN
60J), the 1971 Bristol VRL/LH6L with ECW CH60CT bodywork. This huge double-decker
coach would have been
used on services from the northwest of England to London along the M6
and M1
motorways. It has a
toilet, a large
luggage area and sumptuous seats.
This
short journey should give you some idea what travelling on one of them
was
like. On arrival at the depot we film the vehicles being put away at
the end of
a perfect day and say thank you to the Ribble Preservation Trust for
providing
an excellent event, which we hope you will enjoy on this programme.