(19 Nov 2024, 11:11 pm)AndyMHeed wrote https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/incoming...e=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

Photo 5 here shows the site with buses in situ bottom right as you remembered. Image is from Tyne Wear archives. That’s behind the old tram power station of course so makes sense the site would be used by Northern or PTE

Wow !

Photo 5 shows exactly the place I remember. Every Saturday when Newcastle were playing at home, I used to go to Manors with two fellow bus-spotters and cross the Manors platforms by the footbridge, to get to the platform served by trains coming from Heaton direction (and Riverside branch as well, I suppose). After that we used to walk over the Tyne Bridge and head up Gateshead High Street to the Blue Bell pub for pies and pints before heading back to St. James for the match. Probably viewed Gateshead shed from the opposite wall on the way. Probably also loitered around Gallowgate coach station in case anything exotic was passing through.

In 1977 those buses pictured at Manors compound would have had R or S suffix registrations - single decks would almost certainly be Nationals, double decks probably VRs with ECW or Willowbrook bodies. I'm pretty sure that it was not just buses for Gateshead depot that were stored there, but buses for the whole Northern company. Of course we didn't know which depot they were destined for at the time.

Frightening how quickly time passes, fifty years ago but only seems like yesterday !

Thanks for all your good work in researching this.