(05 Sep 2015, 9:09 pm)thetravelman wrote I also remember, while still attending Junior school when De-regulation came around, and Northern changed livery from Yellow to Red & White - that we were all taken into the school hall and had a talk about how Go Ahead Northern was now a private company and no longer governed by the local PTE authority, and that everyone should be respectful and behave themselves when travelling on any GoAhead Northern service.
I presume it was only the Juniors who received a lecture about how Northern was now a private company as, at the time of deregulation, I also lived in Blaydon and attended infant school however I can't remember any such talk.
I used to live in the rows of terraces across the road from The Huntsman and can recall how slow the Atlanteans were climbing Blaydon Bank, especially the bit between Murray Street and Ann Street (the section of Bowland Crescent below The Huntsman). As kids, we used to race buses up that particular section. Although I don't think any of us won the race I can remember it being quite close.