Southport Leyland - Progress Report
Being an immigrant from the North West of England, I was fortunate when up there as a lad, to see a plethora of different liveries displayed by the many local municipal bus fleets. Early recollections were around Oldham, Rochdale, and Manchester. On moving to Blackpool after the war, I was lucky that my father obtained a job at the Bus Depot and this increased my interest when I was able to see the buses and trams. There was the green and cream of Blackpool (now used by North Birmingham Busways) the blue and white of Lytham St. Annes, and in the Summer the Coliseum Bus Station would be visited by Ribble, L.U.T., North Western, and other operators.
On days out I would come to see liveries of St. Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Liverpool and Southport. Of the latter I think it was the red and cream livery (similar to St. Helens) which I most remember, seeing the buses loading and unloading in Lord Street. the main shopping area at that time. Obviously the North West local authorities primarily ordered locally built buses, and that meant LEYLAND.
On joining the Museum, some years after I had been a normal regular visitor, I was interested to see on the site, buses from Southport, Lytham St. Annes, and Isle of Man. Being cautious of the expenses of maintaining one’s own bus, I decided to channel my efforts into the restoration of one of the Museum’s vehicles. After some consideration I decided that out of the three mentioned above, the Southport was worthy of attention. (Pete has always had other ideas, or so he says. That reminds me Pete, if you’re reading this I hope you've understood the story so far.
So we come to July of last year when we had a members’ meeting, and I, like many others have done in the past, expressed an interest in working or a bus. I was immediately surrounded after the meeting and press-ganged by Messrs Ireland, Gray, & Murphy to inspect the vehicle and I was almost issued with overalls and tools. After that bit of humour, I must say that I felt that I could put something useful into the project. Since then the small team of three have made progress, mainly on the top deck.
Pete, Tom, and myself have tended to work on different aspects of the restoration. Tom has been involved in the metalwork, fabricating stress panels, brackets and framework. I have been concentrating on the woodwork, renewing where necessary. That leaves Pete - what he does is anybody’s guess - answers on a postcard or in sealed envelope to the Trustees. Pete, on the contrary is a vital part of the team, overseeing work, welding parts which Tom has prepared, and giving me instructions by memo. When he has no paper, we get our orders via Fred - I must give Pete my phone number again !!!
The first job was to prepare a weather strip of timber which fits between the stress panels and floor on the top deck. This done, the stress panelling and associated brackets have been completed on the nearside top deck. I have also remade the wooden panel at the front of the top deck which houses the illumination unit for the destination blinds. In rewiring this unit it became apparent we may have to rewire a fair amount of the electrical system.
Other timberwork for the upper nearside has been prepared and is in the process of being painted before assembly, as have the wooden trims for the front window surround on the top deck; these will be given three coats of woodstain. With some wood available there are now drain troughs to make, and then hopefully the nearside upper deck can be repanelled.
Moving down on the nearside, we found on removing the body panels, that several of the vertical and crossmembers of the frame were in need of replacement, and making of new parts is underway. With Fred's assistance in providing drawings of the rear frame of the bus, I was intent on refabricating the lower section below the rear window. I had prepared some of the timber when "Have welder - will travel" Murphy came along and took away the staircase, and then when I called unexpectedly, found he had removed most of the platform. However, in all seriousness, the staircase was out of square and the remedial work should make the platform area and rear panels truer and stronger.
I am at present involved in preparing the timbers for the nearside and rear. Once these have been treated with preservative and painted, reassembly can begin. Tom, meanwhile, has been working on painting the stress panels and removing rust and applying red oxide to the chassis and other areas which require protection.
As you may have seen, there is a small photographic display placed on the bonnet of the bus, briefly depicting its history for the visitors. I am presently working on finding out more about the bus. There are things like the paint colour code, seating arrangement upstairs, and legal lettering for the period when the bus was in service that we need to know. I have been in touch with a gentleman in the North West who owns two similar buses. I anticipate that he will be able to supply much of the missing information and allow us to see a vehicle. I have seen pictures which show that the Southport bus did have destination blinds when it came to Wythall. If anyone knows of their whereabouts, as they must have been removed when earlier work was started, please let Pete or myself know.
I think that covers my involvement with Southport 85 so far, and now I believe that it is proposed the work should move on swiftly with the aim of having the bus available for display at the earliest opportunity. I must therefore put my pen down and get the overalls on again. Feel free to call and view progress at any time, or Friday when I am usually there and Pete isn’t, and if your timing is right you may also enjoy a cup of Fred's tea. I’ve also heard that Dave Parry has been known to make tea on the "isolated" occasion, but that’s another tale, not for the squeamish I’m told. That’s all for now until the next report, which I think will have to come from Pete or Tom if they can be persuaded.
Alwyne Marsden
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
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