Ray Smyth:
ERF-NGC-European:
As an HGV Class 1 driver, I wasn’t qualified to drive buses with fare-paying passengers but I did drive the odd bus, including a Bedford coach on driver assessment; a London RTL double-decker round an airfield(!); an ex-Southdown PD3 ‘Queen Mary’ the owner of which I taught to drive it; and the Leyland PD2/27A double-decker with Northern Counties bodywork pictured below. I bought this bus straight out of service from Stevensons of Uttoxeter. It began life with Burnley & Pendle. I converted it into a motor-home and lived in it from 1990 to 1992. During that time I travelled with it between work, including trips to Brittany and Belgium. It was a delight to drive!Cheers, Robert
Robert, Thank you for the Leyland PD2 pictures. These Leylands were a great machine to drive, particularly if you were
at the wheel of one that was in good nick, same remarks for the Leyland PD3 30 footers that I drove. Your Leyland would
have been fairly close to me here at Wigan in its early days, the Leyland chassis built just 11 miles up the road in Leyland,
the bodywork built 3 miles from me at Northern Counties when their factory was near the town centre, and its early life in
Burnley from new with its original owner. In 1967, Northern Counties bought Massey Bros, another major bus bodybuilder
and moved into the Massey factory in Enfield Street, the factory is still there, just 400 yards from where I am sat typing
this script. Kind Regards, Ray.
My pleasure! Yes, it was in good nick: it had a year’s PSV ticket on it when I bought it fresh out of service with the previous day’s tickets still under the seats! If you’re perplexed by the registration plate, it’s because Stephensons re-registered it just before sale in order to keep the ‘cherished’ earlier plate. This can be seen on the picture below. By sheer and utter coincidence the PD3 next to it was the one I drove later in its life when I picked it up for someone (empty of course). Mine was registered in Jan 1964 so it would have been built in late '63. Robert
