Here’s my review of the North East Bus and Coach show. I do not think many of you will like the opinions I put forward and I apologise in advance if I cause any upset.

My day started with GNE 4935 a Wright Solar bodied Scania working the 10.50 67 service from Deckham to the Metrocentre. The bus was lightly used and was on time. It was the usual cross Gateshead suburban service. A boring but handy service if you are travelling to the Metrocentre and beyond. We arrived at the Metrocentre without any problems and I made my way over the bridge to the rally. The weather was thankfully improving.

The first thing I noticed was that the bays nearest the entrance to the coach park were empty. Straight away this gave a bad impression. This space should have been utilised by a stand manned by people welcoming visitors to the rally and providing information. Instead it looked as though vehicles had not turned up or were late. Undeterred I took a slow walk up to the top of the displays of vehicles to where GNE and Arriva had their vehicles parked. Where was Stagecoach though? Despite the intermittent light rain it was busy with enthusiasts and families. There was a good turn out of vehicles both active as psvs and preserved. There was also a good representation of operators from the North East. The organisers had done a good job in displaying the vehicles in categories e.g. Northern, Busways and independent operators.

What I did notice was the lack of information and displays whilst walking along the rally. No-one was handing out any flyers or publicity material. There did not appear to be a brochure giving details of the event. I’d been to the 500 Group’s Teesside Running Day the previous Sunday. There for £5.00 you could buy a colour brochure giving details of the vehicles, routes and timetables. The brochure also provided a route map and details of which vehicles would be working a particular route at a given time. I found this most informative and very useful in planning my day on Teesside.

I understand the Metrocentre rally is a lot bigger and work on compiling and preparing a brochure or guide would take some time and effort. However it would be very useful for rally visitors, a good proportion of whom are not enthusiasts but families going to the Metrocentre for shopping and leisure. It would also raise funds for the NEBPT as many people would be prepared to pay the cover price to purchase a copy. One group, The North East Electric Traction Trust did have some good publicity displays outside their vehicle.

Having reached the top of the coach park I started methodically photographing each vehicle in turn as I made my way gradually back towards the rally entrance. This took me a good hour or so. Eventually I made my way down to the stalls. I can only say the amount and variety of stalls was quite disappointing given that the Metrocentre rally is meant to be the biggest in the North East. Last year I felt there were a lot more stalls selling far more material. To give an example there was only a single book stall this year. Where were the PSV Circle or Omnibus Society? I would have expected them to attend this prestigious event. Surely it’s a good location to attract new members especially younger enthusiasts with their parents? Last year the PSV Cirlce’s book stall appeared to do a good trade. There was however a stall selling bus photos and what I can only describe as celebrity bric-a-brac. Call me uneducated if you wish but I cannot see the connection between North East bus services and Elvis Presley.

Moving past the stalls I continued photographing the vehicles. When I’d finished photographing it was about 12.30 so I decided to get some lunch in the Metrocentre and have a look around the shops. I found a quiet seat on which to have my lunch. Sitting nearby were a pair of “enthusiasts” slagging a local independent bus operator. The operator in question then came talk to them and they were as nice as nine pence. Sorry, but what a pair of two-faced so and so’s. That really annoyed me, I’m not going to name any names though. After lunch I returned to the rally as I was looking forward to taking a few good vintage bus trips.

Last year I went up to Tanfield Railway and had an enjoyable look round. I also travelled over to Scotswood and back. I went to join the queue and asked when the next bus was due and what route it was taking. I was told that the service this year was only going to Dunston and Swalwell. What was the reason for this, perhaps it was the traffic or the arduous uphill climb to Sunniside? This only increased my sense of disappointment. There seemed only to be one harassed looking old guy with a clip-board organising the bus service. Perhaps a display board with a printed timetable, route and vehicle details would have been a good idea. NEBTs Routemaster was parked alongside, perhaps they could have had a stall. Since they had a captive audience in the queue, they probably would have got good sales of their merchandise if they did put a stall out.

I took the first bus that arrived this was a smart orange Alexander Y which was at last week’s Teesside event. I was reminded of the Alexander Ys North Eastern Bus Services used to operate on their 92 service in the 1980s. What annoyed me though was some guy thinking he was a comedian making loud sarcastic comments at the start of the journey. Sorry fella, but if you want to be centre of attention get yourself on stage at the Comedy Club. Give him his due he quietened down and politely talked to his friends for most of the journey.

Now you can say I’m a philistine but Swalwell in my opinion just does not have the same attraction in terms of scenery as the countryside around Tanfield. Dunston Health Centre does not have the aesthetic value of Causey Arch. In short it was a bloody boring journey. A good thrash up Lobley Hill and through Streetgate, now that would have been exciting. The view down the Tyne from Scotswood Bridge, that’s worth looking at. To make matters worse we got stuck in traffic on our way back to the coach park. At this point I was getting rather fed up. I was thinking this day could not get any worse. On arrival back at the coach park what did I see…

Only that magnificent flower of the bus enthusiast community the Cling-Ons. There they were standing in a circle chatting, in all their scruffy unshaven semi-idiotic glory. What an advertisement for bus enthusiasts to all and sundry! My god, who let them stand at the entrance to the rally? If you want to scare away interested members of the public then that’s the way to do it! Fighting off a deepening feeling of heart-rending woe I decided to have another walk up to the top of the rally and back. Despite it being about 13.40 with an improvement in the weather the rally was a lot quieter than earlier. Many people just seemed to have drifted away. I got a few more photos on the way. I was in two minds to try another bus trip but just could not motivate myself to enjoy the sight of the Western Bypass.

I’d noticed when we passed Kingsmeadow School that there was an 11 a side youth league match in progress. Utterly dispirited with the bus enthusiast scene I caught a GNE Citaro working the 49. I watched the remainder of the exciting game which cheered me up. Whilst the rally had many interesting vehicles from plenty of operators I felt the organisation was lacking in certain areas. Compared to last year it was a bit of an anti-climax. I continue however to have the greatest of respect for those preservationists who work hard and will continue to give the movement my support.

Thank you for reading, I apologise if you found the tone too negative but I wanted to get my feelings across.

Charles