Contrasting coach styles.
It would be hard to imagine two more diverse looking British coaches. Ok, things had moved on a little in circa fifteeen years which seperated the two offerings but the East Lancs bodied coach on the left was a bit of a shock to the system when compared to other contemporaneous designs of the day from main stream suppliers like Plaxton and Duple. In some strange way, the Hyndburn (Accrington Corporation) coach was so ugly it was brutally attractive II peversely thought. To compound the quirkiness, STC 986M was built upon a Seddon RU chassis . . . not a chassis noted for its coach like pedigree before or since.
On the other hand we have Charlie Fowler's elegant butterfly grille Duple Vega bodied petrol engined Bedford SB, 509 DVT. The latter was the mode of transport from North Staffordshire for the visiting enthusiasts which included our friend Clem Smith. This little coach was something of an anachronism in The Potteries working as long and as late as it did before final withdrawal. Allegedly Mr Fowler, of Acorn Garage, Stockton Brook, never re-painted it in all the years he was custodian as an owner driver, merely lavishing care, attention and polish on it.
The little Bedford was sold on to a heritage operator who was going to give it a working retirement, but I believe it sadly fell into decay.
Contrasting coach styles.
It would be hard to imagine two more diverse looking British coaches. Ok, things had moved on a little in circa fifteeen years which seperated the two offerings but the East Lancs bodied coach on the left was a bit of a shock to the system when compared to other contemporaneous designs of the day from main stream suppliers like Plaxton and Duple. In some strange way, the Hyndburn (Accrington Corporation) coach was so ugly it was brutally attractive II peversely thought. To compound the quirkiness, STC 986M was built upon a Seddon RU chassis . . . not a chassis noted for its coach like pedigree before or since.
On the other hand we have Charlie Fowler's elegant butterfly grille Duple Vega bodied petrol engined Bedford SB, 509 DVT. The latter was the mode of transport from North Staffordshire for the visiting enthusiasts which included our friend Clem Smith. This little coach was something of an anachronism in The Potteries working as long and as late as it did before final withdrawal. Allegedly Mr Fowler, of Acorn Garage, Stockton Brook, never re-painted it in all the years he was custodian as an owner driver, merely lavishing care, attention and polish on it.
The little Bedford was sold on to a heritage operator who was going to give it a working retirement, but I believe it sadly fell into decay.