Free bus services on Boxing Day in West Cumbria allowed passengers to step back in time with Workington Transport Heritage Trust.
The trust laid on two hourly routes from Whitehaven to St Bees and Harrington-Workington-Seaton, using buses built locally.
The morning timetable was operated by former Stagecoach Volvo B10Ms, a familiar sight from the 1990s when they were the workhorses of bus services in Cumbria.
In the afternoon, duties were taken over by a pair of former Cumberland Motor Services Leyland Nationals, built at Lillyhall, near Workington: CHH210T, a 1979 ‘Country Cousin’ variant was on home turf working out to St. Bees while 51 year old GRM353L, preserved as delivered, carried passengers in its spiritual home of Workington for the first time since 1989.
As testament to the ground-breaking design of the Leyland National many passengers boarding the oldest example didn’t realise they were boarding a bus that was over 50 years old, and some even remarked on the warmth of the saloon and windows that were clear and not dripping with condensation, the trust said.
Workington Transport Heritage will be running free services again, with Leyland Nationals and a selection of other heritage buses from all over the country, during the Leyland National 53 Festival at Whitehaven during the Bank Holiday weekend of May 3 and May 4.
