Time warp photographs of much-loved buses in Arbroath will take readers on a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
They show how buses and the main station have changed.
The images are supplied by retired journalist Gordon Cook.
Gordon worked in newspapers in a career of more than half-a-century and his love of buses gave him an amazing second job in the driver’s cab.
He said: “The bulk of these photographs were going to be dumped, with many others, until I received permission to acquire them.
“The bus pictures are particularly fun to see, as I remember, at the age of about five, being taken by my mother by bus from Banff to visit her old auntie in Fraserburgh.
“The bus was an elderly Alexander double-decker, but on our frequent journeys we were never let down.
“That started the bus mania.
“Many years – and dreams of buses – later, I was living in Friockheim.
“George and Nan Wishart were crofters at Carmyllie and had bought a minibus to do the school contract at Carmyllie Primary.
“The business expanded beyond their premises at Carmyllie and they brought their small fleet to what had previously been Wilkie’s lorry yard in Friockheim.
“The fleet increased further and, with some trepidation, I timidly asked if they needed another driver.
“They did and I passed the PSV test.
“At that time I was a freelance journalist and I had a profound conviction that every freelancer should have a PSV licence, just in case.”
Gordon was on Arbroath buses until 68
As the years passed George and Nan retired and National Express, through its Dundee subsidiary, acquired the yard.
“I got to drive bigger buses, including an Ailsa double-decker, which I loved dearly, even on the school run when a fight on the top deck tumbled down the stairs to the bottom deck,” said Gordon.
“Nobody was hurt.
“National Express made a corporate decision to sell up and the company was bought by its current owner, Gavin Kinnear.
“I drove happily when required for many years, doing schools, service and private hire, until I decided that my 68th birthday was a good time to retire.
“But I didn’t lose my connection with the buses and became the weekend yard man, fuelling and cleaning and generally preparing the vehicles for working.
“This lasted until Covid when the decision was forced on me to retire completely.
“Many of the following pictures make my heart go ping when I see them. I hope readers will also be pinging like pinball machines.”
The bus graveyard
Gordon said: “There was a time when McLennan’s bus yard in Spittalfield was like a holiday camp for me, with a visit every time I was passing through the village.
“These look like four ex-Aberdeen Corporation buses – the two on the right certainly have Aberdeen registrations.”
Arbroath bus station
Gordon said: “A view from Arbroath Bus Station in September 1985, about the time that Strathtay Scottish was created, largely from the vehicles and routes of Walter Alexander & Co, whose colours are seen on the Leyland National.
“But what a Stagecoach decker was doing there is anybody’s guess.”
Arbroath railway station
Gordon said: “Rail replacement buses in Arbroath are not unknown, and it looks as if something similar was taking place in September 1985.
“The coach was a Leyland Tiger with a Duple body based on an American style.
“The story goes that three local drivers did rail replacement to Stirling so often that they were regarded as regulars in a chip shop near the station.”
Catherine Street
Gordon said: “The two Leyland Leopards with the Alexander Y bodies have no trouble negotiating the water, when cars might struggle, in 1985.
“They are likely both Strathtay buses.
“And it looks as if the one emerging from the bus station might have Montrose as its destination.”
Ladyloan Primary School
Gordon said: “A school bus queue at the corner of Hunter Road in April 1987.
“The bus is a Leyland Olympian with Eastern Coach Works 77-seat body, which was originally Northern Scottish NL026.
“After passing as Strathtay 908 for work in Angus, it went to the then-parent company, Yorkshire Traction.”
A view from the high mill
Gordon said: “The view from Francis Webster & Sons’ High Mill overlooking Arbroath Bus Station in January 1993.
“The site formerly housed the cattle mart, with the auctioneer’s building more or less where the bus station buildings were situated.”
A tight squeeze
Gordon said: “A new baby Fiat in June 1993 could squeeze into tiny parking spaces.
“This was demonstrated by the Arbroath Herald motoring correspondent in the Wishart bus yard in Friockheim, with a brace of much-loved Bedford buses.”
Parking the bus
Gordon said: “The building, with its white gable end to camera, was the Alma Bar, named after the Alma Works, which were themselves named after a battle in the Crimean War in 1854.
“At least two of the buses parked to the right are still running as preserved vehicles and were just a few years ago involved in a Dundee Museum of Transport event.”
Wishart coach trip
Gordon said: “In August 1995, members of Arbroath Arthritis Care set off for an evening trip to Damside Herb Gardens, Johnshaven.
“The G&N Wishart coach had a Duple 320 body, and if I know George Wishart, it would have been on a Bedford chassis.”
Charles Avenue
Gordon said: “In October 1995 there was a minor furore among some residents of Charles Avenue in Arbroath, when Strathtay Scottish buses started to use double deckers on that route for operational reasons.
“Some folk complained that this meant that top-floor passengers would be able to see into their houses.”
A bridge too far
Gordon said: “So many high vehicles were striking the rail bridge on the A92 at Inverkeilor, that in January 1999 sensors were installed so that a warning could be flashed on a screen in advance of the hazard.
“The Strathtay decker shown was okay – it was ordered with the bridge in mind.”
A proper mini bus
Gordon said: “(This is) Matt Kerr of Kerr’s Miniature Railway in April 2004, with his miniature bus, newly painted in the colours of its sponsor, Fishers Tours, Dundee.
“The railway drew thousands of visitors to Arbroath each summer.”
Going full circle
“Pictured in July 2006 at Victoria Park in the Sea Front Spectacular was a Leyland Tiger with a McLennan 39-seat coach body built in-house.
“I assumed for years that the bus had been scrapped
“The bus remains in preservation.”
Cleaning up
Gordon said: “This Optare Solo, new to Wishart, did the damage in the yard when a regular driver reversed it into the wall while parking it after a shift on service.
“Both the driver and the bus were undamaged, although the wall suffered quite a bit.
“However, it had been knocked down before!”
It is the final image in our gallery.
Did these images from Gordon bring back any memories for you?
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