BJU23T Bailey , Biddisham
A L Bailey , Biddisham , trading as Axe Vale Coaches took over part of the business of Hender , Biddisham in April 1977 .
In the early 1980s he ran a daily stage service 321 from Burnham on Sea to Bristol . BJU23T is arriving in The Centre , Bristol on 321 in February 1981. I believe that the service commenced on 26th January 1981 , with journeys from Burnham at 08.00 and 13.10 , returning from Bond St., Bristol at 09.48 and 14.53 Monday to Friday.
BJU23T was a Ford R1114 / Duple Dominant 2 C53F which had just been acquired from Ralphs , Longford where it had been new in March 1979. It is quite suitable for the bus service with grant doors , an unusual front detination box , and opening sliding windows. However displaying "Private" is not ideal for attracting passengers to the new service .
The following year Bailey purchased his first new coach , BYC990X , a DAF / Plaxton , which rather surprisingly was bought without a new bus grant , ( then 30% ) , although it was often used on the 321.
BJU 23T was sold to Filers , Ilfracombe by June 1988, where it was often used on their stage services.
A good few years ago , when I retired from Accountancy , I thought that I should write a book. The one thing I had a lot of photographs and a little knowledge of was grant coaches and buses in Somerset. So I started uploading the photographs to flickr with some text as a starting point.
I have now realized that I will never finish the research nor get around to publishing the book , and have decided the best thing to do is to make this first draft available to my followers on flickr as a Covid Christmas present.
This album is designed to be read sequentially from the beginning , and this is the final photograph.
BJU23T Bailey , Biddisham
A L Bailey , Biddisham , trading as Axe Vale Coaches took over part of the business of Hender , Biddisham in April 1977 .
In the early 1980s he ran a daily stage service 321 from Burnham on Sea to Bristol . BJU23T is arriving in The Centre , Bristol on 321 in February 1981. I believe that the service commenced on 26th January 1981 , with journeys from Burnham at 08.00 and 13.10 , returning from Bond St., Bristol at 09.48 and 14.53 Monday to Friday.
BJU23T was a Ford R1114 / Duple Dominant 2 C53F which had just been acquired from Ralphs , Longford where it had been new in March 1979. It is quite suitable for the bus service with grant doors , an unusual front detination box , and opening sliding windows. However displaying "Private" is not ideal for attracting passengers to the new service .
The following year Bailey purchased his first new coach , BYC990X , a DAF / Plaxton , which rather surprisingly was bought without a new bus grant , ( then 30% ) , although it was often used on the 321.
BJU 23T was sold to Filers , Ilfracombe by June 1988, where it was often used on their stage services.
A good few years ago , when I retired from Accountancy , I thought that I should write a book. The one thing I had a lot of photographs and a little knowledge of was grant coaches and buses in Somerset. So I started uploading the photographs to flickr with some text as a starting point.
I have now realized that I will never finish the research nor get around to publishing the book , and have decided the best thing to do is to make this first draft available to my followers on flickr as a Covid Christmas present.
This album is designed to be read sequentially from the beginning , and this is the final photograph.