SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Hi,I posted this back in 2007 but thought I would repost it again for some of our new members here who may be interested.===============================================Thought I would share a few memories with you.I started with Leeds City Transport in March 1974. We were the last trainees taken on with the old L.C.T. because the change to WYPTE came in on the 1st April.The first day was spent in the conductors training room at Swinegate listening to all the rules and regs.The second and third days were used for playing with the ticket machines (Ultimate), learning how to put new ribbons in without ending up with blue hands, and also getting kitted out with our uniforms.Suddenly we were bus men.Then it was off to our respective garages.The first day seemed to fly by. Issuing tickets, trying to remember which combination etc, the only thing was as you had a full time clippie with you there was no need to worry about the bell.After a few weeks you soon got used to all the fare stages etc.On occasions if you were spare you would get sent to other depots, especially Middleton Depot which always managed to save you the worst possible shift.On one occassion I ended up doing a late turn to Swarcliffe. I had never been near the place and when one passenger asked me for the Squinting Cat I thought he was mucking me about,. I later found out that it is a pub one Swarcliffe estate.The big day came for me in August of that year when at the ripe old age of 21 I was sent to the driver training school at Seacroft.At that time the vehicles in the training school were Leyland's, and 1 lonesome AEC Regent.We were paired off and sent out with our instructor called Len Joy.The first few days consisted off driving around Leeds ring road.After a week of this we were then introduced to a senior driver whose job it was to iron out the wrinkles ready for our test.The big day came and off we went to Kirkstall Road. I elected to go first, completed the drive, answered the questions, and hey presto got the big o.k.A few days later i collected my brand new bright red badge.BB 700023. I was now a driver.The next step was to complete 24 hours driving with a qualified driver, he then signed your chiity.Blackmail reigned, and for the price of a cup of tea the chiity was signed in no time.At that time it was a bit of a status symbol to be a driver, I had the chance to drive Leyland, AEC, and Daimler half cabs, and then of course the jumbo Atlanteans and sometimes the Fleetlines if we had a Seacroft bus.One last thing which i remember was that all the double door buses at Bramley were Leyland and the door controls were pedal operated on the floor. These were back and forwards pedals.One day I ended up with a Seacroft fleetline of the 156 type. These had 2 pedals which were like house bricks. One press to open, 1 press to close. Forgetting that I had pressed it to open, and then pressing it again resulted in a very large lady getting jammed in the doors as they opened when the bus stopped, and immediatly closed as she tried to get off.This resulted in a visit to Swinegate and the dreaded Mr Smith with the warning "Never Again".I had some great times and after leaving the job in 1980 I came back to bus driving in 1996 with EYMS.This resulted in me taking a full "Live" test on a Bristol L.H.But that's another story.

Again taken from 2007.===============================================Hi again,A few more memories from the 70s.These memories concern the routes I used to work and some of the buses I had to drive.Good old route 23. Bus Stn - Intake..A running time of 29 mins each direction with a reverse at Intake terminus. The late turn duty was like The longest Day. Normal operation was with the "Baby Atlanteans 331 - 340. Squashed up like a sardine for 4.30hrs.Route 405 Short Lived shoppers service from Swinnow - Half Mile Lane.Supposed to carry shoppers from surrounding areas to Bramley Shopping Centre. Normally operated by AEC Swifts 1251 - 1253.Used to carry more staff than fare paying passengers.Route 77. Town End - Gipton.Originally crew operated when I started and the first route I ever worked on.The worst journey was just after 16.00 from Gipton as you used to pick up a full load from Burtons clothing factory.Converted to o.m.o.Worst bus on this route on a late turn was 444. For some reason this bus did not like to operate the last journey of the day and broke down regular at Gipton. A dead spot for radio you had to wait for the Service 16 coming down from Seacroft and ask the driver to relay the message when he got to The Fairway pub at the top of the hill.Route 78 Leeds - Bradford (Hall Ings).Normal bus allocation was for Atlanteans of the 356/7 group which did not have power steering.The left turn from the top of Lowtown in Pudsey when travelling to Bradford used to involve standing up in the cab to try and steer around the corner.Route 508 Leeds - Halifax.Taken over from Hebble the buses used on this service were equipped with new electronic Almex machines that looked like a cash register. They needed a special waybill which at the end of each journey was inserted into a slot at the bottom and overprinted with all the journey detail.Beware the stone shelters in Halifax Bus Station. Get too close and you return to Leeds minus a mirror.One last memory has to be of the great times and fun we used to have.Some of the old gang included Chris Youhil, Gilbert Townend, Mel and Wynn Harris, Steve Talbot, Lee Reucroft, Wilf Mackintosh, in fact too many to mention.Sadly nowadays the job has been ruined by tighter running schedules, longer shifts, more abusive passengers, and generally more pressure on the drivers to keep services operatingno matter what.

Ah the good old days Terry - see also my posting today in the "oldest route numbers" topic.

Terry M wrote: Again taken from 2007.===============================================Route 77. Town End - Gipton.Originally crew operated when I started and the first route I ever worked on.The worst journey was just after 16.00 from Gipton as you used to pick up a full load from Burtons clothing factory.Converted to o.m.o. After we moved from Harehills to Bramley in 1959 the 77 bus used to deliver me, aged 10, right across the city to school in Harehills lane. Without this amazing bus route , almost door to door service, I couldn't have finished my last 2 terms at Brownhill primary school. Does anyone remember the 44 route? It used to run from Harehills lane to Chapel Allerton and Headingly by a circuitous route through the suburbs. I can't remember where the route started and finished (or where the omnibus terminii were when latin was commonly spoken in Leeds )

Hi blackprince,44 Route (Halton Moor - Stanningley):Ullswater Crescent - Neville Road - Halton Moor Avenue - Neville Parade - Osmondthorpe Lane - York Road - Harehills Lane - Harrogate Road - Stainbeck Lane - Stainbeck Road - Grove Lane - Shaw Lane - Otley Road - North Lane - Kirkstall Lane - Bridge Road - Leeds and Bradford Road - Newlay Lane - Broad Lane - Leeds and Bradford Road - Town StreetIan

iansmithofotley wrote: Hi blackprince,44 Route (Halton Moor - Stanningley):Ullswater Crescent - Neville Road - Halton Moor Avenue - Neville Parade - Osmondthorpe Lane - York Road - Harehills Lane - Harrogate Road - Stainbeck Lane - Stainbeck Road - Grove Lane - Shaw Lane - Otley Road - North Lane - Kirkstall Lane - Bridge Road - Leeds and Bradford Road - Newlay Lane - Broad Lane - Leeds and Bradford Road - Town StreetIan Hi Ian,Thanks for the detailed answer about the 44 route. What a circuitous route it was. We were never short of choices for getting from A to B in Leeds in those days. I could have used the 44 or the 77 to travel from Harehills to Bramley without changing buses as a child. The 77 was more convenient. Many more options were available if you changed bus in the city centre of course. In general I think we were pretty well served by LCT. I have no idea what has happened to bus services in Leeds since about 1974. Did these long routes such as the 44 and 77 survive?        

The 44 used to run past where I used to live. As a lad in the 1950's it was a handy way to get to Halton Moor (hence to Templenewsam) if I did not fancy walking there (nor getting the tram at the Shaftesbury) and also for getting to the Clock cinema and the cinema a bit further up Harehills Lane on the right towards Harrogate Road (Ive had a mental block as I can't recall the name of that cinema).

Hi blackprince,I am sorry but I have no knowledge of when or how the Leeds bus routes changed. The information in my previous post was from an Austick's Tellway (Alphabetical) Street Directory book which I bought in 1968. It also lists the LCT bus routes and some other pieces of information about the city.Ian

blackprince wrote: [ Did these long routes such as the 44 and 77 survive?         Very few routes have survived unscathed since 1974, many having being altered a little and others beyond recognition, especially since De-regulation in 1986. The 44 though is one which survives largely unaltered as the 91, and is in fact now a bit longer as it now terminates in Pudsey rather than at Stanningley Bottom. The 77 though has seen much amendment, although a large part of it remains unaltered as the central portion of the new 49 - but it now starts at Seacroft and terminates in the garage yard at Bramley Depot rather than at Town End.

Thanks for the update Blakey- very informative as usual.