1. (976 MDV) We start with this former Devon General AEC Regent that by September 1976 had taken Holy Orders and been acquired by the Hounslow Evangelical Church in West London. The vehicle still bore the livery of the National Bus Company (NBC) who had taken over the company at the end of the 1960s. Ignore the chimney stack though as it was not used to indicate Papal selection.

2. (FHW 160D) ‘ello, ‘ello ‘ello, what do we have here. From the Almighty to the Hello Officer and this Eastern Coachworks (ECW) bodied Bristol FLF has found alternative employment with the local Constabulary in Bristol. By August 1978 it had been sold off by the NBC-owned Bristol Bus Company and put to good use as a mobile exhibition.

3. (339 TJO) Another mobile exhibition unit was this Park Royal bodied AEC Renown still in the hands of an NBC subsidiary but with its revenue-earning days behind it as it made an entrance at the September 1982 Showbus Rally held then within the sylvan setting of Woburn Park in Buckinghamshire.

4. (GOG 549N) The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) made good use of a former West Midlands PTE Daimler CRL6 during the 1980s. This was another vehicle with bodywork from the Park Royal builders in North West London and provided a fine basis on which to place an allover advertisement for the Society. The vehicle then put to good use as it toured parts of the British Isles, such as London, when it was seen here at Regents Park close by to the London Zoo.

5. (DKT 11) Redundant buses and coaches make splendid mobile homes. Well they did back in the 1970s when this former Maidstone & District Leyland coach was found rested at the side of the road near Gillingham in Norfolk. Strangely enough the other Gillingham in Kent may well have been part of the vehicle’s stamping ground in the 1950s when the coach was placed into long distance service throughout Kent and further afield (although in this case almost in a field!). Passengers cases and other baggage would have then been placed onto the roof rack, access gained from a foothold feature at the rear of the vehicle. Although originally supplied in 1936 with Harrington bodywork, that company provided a replacement body in 1949.

6. (UHY 634H) Information and booking offices are usually found to be static and affixed firmly to the ground. However, in September 1983 the NBC made use of this ECW dual-door bodied Bristol RELL6 in order to promote their Supabus element of the National Express network. Here it was found at rest within the grounds of their base in Bournemouth.

7. (OFW 801) Another mobile office was this Bristol SC that had been converted for use by the NBC Lincolnshire Road Car Company subsidiary. It had at some stage been used as a left luggage office at Skegness. Here it made an entrance to the June 1978 Showbus Rally held that year as part of the Hillingdon Country Show in West London. A future set of postings will chart the history of Showbus from inception during the early 1970s to the present day.

8. (SHE 930S) Moving on by eight years to September 1986 and the Showbus event had also moved on, this time to the grounds of Woburn Park. By an unusual quirk of fate the South Yorkshire PTE had decided to promote their services with this Van Hool McArdle bodied Ailsa B55 that bore the legend ‘Showbus’ on the front and side panelling.

9. (WA 3399) Another Ailsa, this time with Alexander bodywork was this one used by the Wallace Arnold coach tour company based then in Yorkshire. Again with allover advertising, the bus was put to good use as a promotional tool, seen here on this occasion when it visited Chesterfield in September 1997. Unfortunately the registration then affixed was not the original and thus am unable to provide details of previous ownership, unless of course there is anyone out there who can?

10. (TR 6147) In the early 1980s this rather strange looking pseudo charabanc made an appearance in the south. Created on a former Bristol LH6L chassis from 1973, the original ECW bodywork had been removed and replaced as shown and used for both promotional work and as on various tourist routes in the Bournemouth and Poole area. It had originally been registered NLJ 516M and supplied to the Hants & Dorset company as their fleet number 3516.

11. (NUF 439G) Invariably crowded buses have been referred to as ‘cattle trucks’. Well I think in this particular case that very term adequately described this Southdown Motor Services Marshall bodied Bristol RELL6G. By 1986 it was in use as some of store at the company’s Uckfield base during the last years of the NBC ownership.

12. (PRX 186B) Many former Southdown Motor Services double-deckers were scattered far and wide around the United Kingdom after deregulation in the 1980s. One such was this handsome full fronted Leyland Titan “Queen Mary” with Northern Counties bodywork by May 1989 firmly in the hands of the Trent Motor Group in the East Midlands. The bus was obviously used for corporate events as it bore this rather unusual non standard livery and observed here at the now closed American Adventure Leisure facility in Derbyshire. Originally registered 419 DCD in 1964 at some stage it was re-registered but is understood to have reverted back in 2004.

13. (CVF 842) Surrounded probably by drivers' cars in July 1980 this ECW bodied Bristol L was in full time use as the Western National Omnibus Company’s outstation on the quayside at Padstow in Cornwall. It was probably on the site of the town’s former railway station, the location more recently made famous by the Celebrity Chef Rick Stein. Regrettably the outstation facility along with the bus, is long gone, replaced by nothing more than a bus stop and rickety shelter.

14. (SUG 576M offside) An outstation of a different sort is this former Leeds City Transport Leyland Atlantean. By January 1995 it had ventured away from its Northern roots (or should that be routes), southwards to rest alongside the M25 Motorway at South Mimms Services on the north side of London. Here it was in use as a passenger and staff point for co-ordinated changeovers between touring coaches operated by the Wallace Arnold company.

15. (SUG 576M nearside) Worth looking around the other side of the bus where one can observe panelling and strips affixed to the Roe bodywork where information as to what coach would be located where on the parking area.

16. (XPD 659Y) This rather sad looking vehicle was once a demonstrator for the Hestair Dennis company based at Guildford in Surrey, a company now more renowned for the Dennis Dart. A Falcon that eventually took flight from an endless period of time as it demonstrated its skills to companies up and down the country from 1982. It was built with an East Lancs body and powered by a Mercedes-Benz engine. Here seen at Stevenage in Hertfordshire snuggled up behind the town’s playhouse, wings clipped and used as a Playbus back in 1987.

17. (TCH 93) However, the previous Falcon was maybe a good idea as it replaced this rather over the top livery applied to an unidentified Leyland Atlantean, the history and detail I am unable to provide. It was captured at the same location as the previous image but earlier in July 1984 in the hands of the Stevenage Borough Council.

18. (KF52 NBY) A Playbus of quite a different type though was this Dennis Mini Pointer Dart with Plaxton bodywork built and supplied as new to the East Herts Playbus organisation in 2002. Here it was seen a few miles south of the two previous Stevenage Playbuses passing through South Hatfield in September 2006.

19. (OOD 361M) Coaches also find further service on many occasions, this one for example as a promotional tool for the Isle of Wight. I suspect with evidence of the name ‘Red Funnel’ on the waist rail it was owned or loaned by that ferry company. Here this former Bedford YRT with Duple body and once owned by the Greenslades coaching company from the West Country, arrived at the September 1985 Showbus Rally held that year in Woburn Park.

20. (GGE 175T) And finally to end with, something to put a smile on your face, or not as the case may be. Something of a comedown from the hard revenue-earning service of its earlier years with Greater Glasgow PTE, this 10.3m long Leyland National built in 1979, was by 1992 used as a promotional vehicle by Strathclyde Buses.