This Thursday I had a very interesting bus tour of South East Northumberland. The weather was looking good. I did not have a definite plan for the day and just decided to take the first bus that came along. I left Newcastle Haymarket on Arriva 7490 a Wright bodied Volvo B7 taking the 8.48 service 43 to Seaton Burn. The journey was fine with no issues. The bus was relatively quiet and I got a good seat upstairs.

At Seaton Burn I visited the Brenkley Way yard belonging to the Rush family. Various members of the family operate a number of coach companies all based at the same premises. These are KJS Travel Limited, Newcastle Taxis Limited and North East Coach Travel Limited. John Rush also has an operators licence in his own name. I obtained permission to look around and take photos from one of the family members. The yard was pretty full and I got good photos of the many kinds of vehicles present. The staff in the garage were friendly and helpful. The yard is also home to a number of smaller operators. These are Kingston Park Coaches LLP, Mark Rayner (JM Travel) and Helpmego.To Limited. I was able to get photos of all of these operators’ vehicles. Helpmego.To Limited operates the party bus which you can see in Newcastle near the Bigg Market on a Saturday night.

After thanking the staff at Rushes I headed to Seaton Burn College which is ran by a charity, the North Tyneside Learning Trust. The college operates single Peugot Boxer on a Section 19 Permit. The North Tyneside Learning Trust operates approximately 15 minibuses based at various academies and colleges on North Tyneside. At the college there were lots of students going to get their GCSE results. They mainly looked nervous on the way in. You could tell by their faces on the way out how they had done. I cannot remember getting my GCSE results, it was 25 years ago!

I did not have to wait long for my next bus, which was Arriva 7445, another Volvo but with Alexander body work. This was a short journey and I was on this 43 service for less than 5 minutes. I alighted at Dudley and crossed over the road to wait for my next bus. This was an Alexander bodied Volvo B10 4522 operating the 53 service. There were more people on this bus, mainly pensioners. The journey again was short (less than 10 minutes) and I alighted at Annitsford.

At Annitsford I visited both garages owned by members of the Cooper family. A brief family history is that William Cooper (a miner) had two sons, George Parker Cooper (1894-1975) and Henry Cooper (1900-1963) along with other children. George Parker Cooper and Henry Cooper were in partnership together for a time as bus and coach proprietors. George Parker Cooper had two sons who followed him into the coaching business, George William Cooper 1921-1977 and Henry Cooper 1937-.

Two of George William Cooper’s children also entered the bus and coach industry. These are John Cooper (1958-) and James Cooper (1961-). Henry Cooper (1900-1963) had a daughter named Lily. Lily married Norman Garwin Greaves (1922-1988), their son William Graham Greaves now runs Henry Cooper Coaches at Annitsford. James Cooper and his wife run James Cooper & Son (Tyneside) Limited which is also Annitsford based. His elder brother, John Cooper runs Kittybrewster based Coopers Tourmaster Travel Limited and Tourmaster Travel Limited. The extended Cooper family run in the region of 50 PSVs via their various companies. They also have haulage interests.

I visited the garage of James Cooper & Son first of all. They had 10 vehicles present in total. These included a number of Irizar bodied Scania luxury coaches which looked very smart. The garage also contained some interesting withdrawn stock at the rear including a 1989 Alexander bodied Scania N113 and 1982 Duple bodied Volvo B10. I was able to get good photos and the staff were fine about my visiting both garages. Unfortunately I could not photograph the Scania decker as it was parked behind a HGV. Next I headed across to the main garage of Henry Cooper. This branch of the family has a number of AEC Routemasters and I was hoping to get some photos of these. There were no Routemasters in the main garage but I was able to get good photos of the family’s very smart coaches and buses in the yard. The garage building itself was closed though. Also present were Robinson (Abacus Travel) who owns a single Mercedes 0816 and Explore4All Limited. This new company owns two Ford Transits and a very smart looking Mercedes coach. Their vehicles all have been reregistered with an EX prefix. The livery is a very attractive silver and blue on a white background. Again I was able to get good photos of these vehicles. I then went to the filling station part of Henry Cooper’s premises. To my delight there was a Routemaster undergoing maintenance over the pit along with a Plaxton bodied Volvo B10M. I was able to take some OK photos of the Routemaster from the garage forecourt.

After a short wait I caught Arriva Optare 2834 operating the 10.22 53 service to Cramlington. This was a really busy bus and there were very few seats. Luckily I was only on this service for a short time. I alighted at Southfield near the Education Village. I visited the premises of new minibus operator Phillips (Crown Travel). Unfortunately there were no vehicles present. I therefore jumped on the first bus into Cramlington. This was a Wright DB300 (7624) operating the X10. This was a comfortable but short journey. I alighted at Eastfield and visited Cramlington Kids Club. This charity owns a single minibus, but it was not present at their premises. I therefore took a short walk to the registered operating centre of Reed (Target Taxis) on Kettering Place. No vehicles were present for this operator. I was hoping this was not going to be a trend.

I boarded another DB300 (7615) operating the 11.12 X11 back to Parkside, this was another short journey of only 3 stops. It was a very warm day and I did not want to overdo the walking! I alighted near Shanklee School. This primary has a Section 19 minibus licence; again to my dismay no vehicles were present. Nor were there any vehicles present at the nearby Helen McArdle care home. This care home business has a PSV o-licence. They have just purchased a new wheelchair adapted Transit for their Gateshead home. I headed towards the town centre. On the way I visited Hillcrest School who operate a single Iveco minibus and Cramlington Youth Project Limited, a charity with a single Ford Transit.

At the town centre shops I boarded the 11.37 57A service operated by Arriva Dart 1775. This service seemed to be full of complaining old ladies including an obese grandmother who was shouting like mad at her little grandson all the way. I alighted at Cramlington railway station after a few stops with a headache coming on. I therefore decided to walk slowly across recreation land to Nelson Village and the garage of Mullen (Adamsons Coaches).  Mr Mullen was fine about me taking photos. He has a fleet of 3 coaches all with Van Hool bodywork. Also based here is Warwick (Warwick Travel) who operates a single Mercedes minibus in all over white livery and Miller (Millers of Seaton Sluice) who has a single Van Hool bodied DAF

Next I visited the garage of Target Taxis. This is a short walk over a field from Adamsons Coaches on the South Nelson Industrial Estate. There were 8 minibuses and midibuses at the garage which comprises two rented industrial units located back to back. LDVs are the most common type of vehicle operated but Mercedes midibuses are also owned. The LDVs mainly seemed to run on taxi plates, being wheelchair adapted for school contract work. Their livery is a white background with blue and red vinyls depicting a target motif. They looked rather good and the livery suited them well.

My next destination was the Admiral Business Park located on the Nelson Industrial Estate. It took me about 10 minutes to walk there and it well worth it. After passing through the security gate at the front of the estate I visited Green Mountain Travel Limited. I obtained permission from company founder and majority shareholder Tracy Thorpe to take photos. This fleet is very smartly presented and the vehicles are in immaculate condition. The company recently increased its o-licence to 15 vehicles based at the Business Park. There were 12 vehicles present including two stunning King Longs. Also at the garage were a number of Renault Masters and various Mercedes minibuses and coaches. I took my time and got really good photos of this company’s vehicles.

After leaving GMT I walked to the top of the Business Park and visited Parkside Travel Limited. They are located right at the back of industrial estate. There were 4 Mercedes minicoaches and a number of midibuses present. The staff were fine about me taking photos and I was able to get good shots of the Mercedes vehicles. I also noted a Citroen Relay nearby which belonged to the Ashington Learning Partnership. This organisation operates two schools in Ashington. These are the High School (which is currently being rebuilt) and Milburn Road Primary. The primary school has an old Olympian which is used as a classroom situated in it’s playground.

I then walked to Fisher Lane with the intention of jumping on the first bus to arrive. This was Alexander Dennis Trident 7502 on the X22. I took this bus to the centre of Bedlington. It was a good fast journey with no screaming old ladies to get on my nerves. At Bedlington I had my lunch and explored the town centre. After lunch I visited the premises of Kennedy’s Minicoaches (two transits present), Coach 42 (Robson, one Mercedes minibus) and then Craiggs who had a single Van Hool bodied DAF at their new operating centre by the Vulcan Garage. I remember visiting this location in the 1980s to see independent bus operator Raisbeck (now long gone). Raisbecks used to operate a local service in Bedlington and had fleet of 3 vehicles including an East Lancs bodied Volvo B7. This was the only one of its type in the UK I believe. Vulcan Garage was also home of Jordan’s Coaches in the 1980s, they used to operate a fleet of Bedford Ys on miners contracts. Jordan’s and the pit at Ashington are both no more.

The 14.03 service number 2 to Morpeth was my next bus. This was operated by 29 seater Dart 1765. This bus was on time despite being quite busy. I was only on a short tine and then alighted at the Swan pub near Choppington. From here I walked over to the Barrington Industrial Estate which is located on an old colliery site. The first operator I visited was youth training charity Choysez which runs 3 Transits on a Section 19 Permit. I photographed these on the road outside their premises. I then set off to find Robertson (Astley Coaches).

At this point a young guy in his early twenties who was visibly out of shape came bounding up to me and demanded to know why I was photographing the Choysez minibuses. I started to explain I was an enthusiast however he had turned bright red in the face and began panting for breath. I was very concerned, I thought he might collapse. Thankfully after a while he caught his breath and started to recover. We had a good chat about bus enthusiasm as a hobby. He was very surprised as he had never met an enthusiast before. When I saw he was OK I headed towards Astley’s yard. This yard was locked up and there were 4 vehicles present. It did not take long to find. It was most surprising to see an open topped former London Buses 1984 MCW Metrorider in Bedlington! The other vehicles were 3 Mercedes Minibuses, only 1 of which appeared to be in use. I then passed the yard of minibus operator Hoggan (Seaton Sluice Limosines) but only limos were present.

After about 5 minutes walk towards Bedlington Station I passed the premises of Gatis (A2B Travel). This minibus operator is located in the Binks Yard. There was an LDV and a midibus present. However I could not get details of the midibus due to a thick hedge surrounding the premises. There was also a preserved 1975 Devon General Bristol LH in the yard, KTT42P. After arriving at Bedlington Station (which looked scary) I headed towards Bedlingtonshire Community High School. This council run school has a Section 19 Permit for a single minibus, however no vehicles were present.

I did not want to hang about in Bedlington Station; it reminded me of pictures of Tripoli after an air strike. There were chavas hanging around with cans of booze in their hands. Luckily Dennis Dart 1758 arrived operating the 14.55 number 1 to Blyth. This service was well used and we passed the Coopers garage at Kittybrewster before heading over the bridge towards Blyth. I alighted at the first stop in Blyth and walked the short distance to Bebside. Readypay Limited (Phoenix) has a small garage at Bebside. There was a single Nexus liveried Optare present undergoing maintenance.    

I then walked to the new Blyth Academy which also houses the local library. They have a single LDV minibus which has the fleetname Vibe. I was surprised to see there were no bus stops on this housing development; I would have thought Arriva would have a service to visiting the new estate. I then headed towards Premier Bus & Coach Limited on the Kittybrewster Industrial Estate. There were plenty of vehicles present which I was able to spot. However when I knocked at the office, it was empty. I therefore did not want to hang around the premises taking photos without permission.

Phoenix Coaches was my next goal; I walked part of way along the old mineral railway which is now being prepared for a housing development. Phoenix’s yard on Albion Way had 4 deckers present. I had spotted one of their deckers previously in Ashington working the 30 service. I did not think they had so many of them. There over 20 vehicles in their yard ranging from the deckers to midibuses. I was hoping to get some photos of the deckers. However when I asked at reception, they would not allow me into the yard for health and safety reasons. I therefore spotted what I could from Albion Road but could not get any decent photos. I could only get details of two of the deckers. The other two were double parked. I anyone has the details can they let me know. From Albion Road I walked into Blyth town centre and visited the Arriva depot and bus station where I did some spotting. The depot has 3 withdrawn Dennis Darts at the rear which were looking a bit forlorn. Someone had sprayed yellow graffiti on them. Blyth was really quiet and it felt more like a Sunday than a Thursday

My last bus of the day was Arriva Wrightbus 7607 working the 16.52 308 service to Newcastle. I was able to get the seat upstairs above the driver. I was joined by 2 small children aged about 3-4 who amused themselves by playing a game. Basically when a truck or lorry came in the opposite direction, they shouted “baddie” and hid under the seats. The journey was going well until the stretch between Blyth and Seaton Sluice. At this point the little girl shat herself. The smell was intolerable; the little girl meanwhile went downstairs to tell her parents she had had an accident. Luckily the family alighted soon after at the caravan park near Saint Mary’s Island.

The rest of the journey was OK and the bus got busier and busier with commuters returning home from work. The smell had dissipated by the time we arrived in Whitley Bay. It was not a pleasant experience though. At Newcastle I quickly alighted from the bus into the heaving bus station. From there I made my way home savouring the comparatively fresh air. The views on the coastal section of this route are very good and it’s well worth a trip. At Seaton Sluice we passed owner-operator Glynn (Glynn’s of Tyneside) who has a single Van Hool bodied Volvo B10.

I had a really good day all in all, not bad going for an unplanned trip. For my next trip I’m probably going to try Darlo and maybe Newton Aycliffe. Hopefully there will not be any kids crapping themselves on the day!

Hope you enjoyed the review.

Charles