Regent re-visited.
Last Saturday saw a rare bout of decedence for the wife and me as we forked out to ride the modern day 'Blue Pullman' from the frozen wastes of the north down to the sun drenched shores of the English Riviera at Torquay.
During our brief stay there we had sufficient time to walk from the station into the town centre via the harbour. Needless to say, though I didn't burden the Mrs with it, my mid wandered back to times when the place echoed to the sounds of AEC and Leyland products.
Back in 1976 I'd been on holiday thereabouts and with my borrowed camera had taken as many photos as pocket money would allow. Here outside the old Pavillion Theatre I'd encountered freshly re-painted (and probably freshly converted) open top AEC Regent 507 RUO looking pristine in this fetching variant of NBC 'Poppy'. My original image was in monochrome, this offering being one of my colourisations, I couldn't afford colour film back then!
Whilst the Regent may still exist, I believe the Pavillion Theatre closed the same year I took the original photo. Since then its been a skating rink and a shopping arcade . . . a far cry from the Eric Sykes show advertised on the billboard here. Although a listed building, its been semi derelict due to the poor condition of its structure since 2020.
Regent re-visited.
Last Saturday saw a rare bout of decedence for the wife and me as we forked out to ride the modern day 'Blue Pullman' from the frozen wastes of the north down to the sun drenched shores of the English Riviera at Torquay.
During our brief stay there we had sufficient time to walk from the station into the town centre via the harbour. Needless to say, though I didn't burden the Mrs with it, my mid wandered back to times when the place echoed to the sounds of AEC and Leyland products.
Back in 1976 I'd been on holiday thereabouts and with my borrowed camera had taken as many photos as pocket money would allow. Here outside the old Pavillion Theatre I'd encountered freshly re-painted (and probably freshly converted) open top AEC Regent 507 RUO looking pristine in this fetching variant of NBC 'Poppy'. My original image was in monochrome, this offering being one of my colourisations, I couldn't afford colour film back then!
Whilst the Regent may still exist, I believe the Pavillion Theatre closed the same year I took the original photo. Since then its been a skating rink and a shopping arcade . . . a far cry from the Eric Sykes show advertised on the billboard here. Although a listed building, its been semi derelict due to the poor condition of its structure since 2020.