Buses on Stockton High Street in 1974 just after the take over of Teesside Municipal Transport by Cleveland Transit. Courtesy of Chris Hall. 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Buses on Stockton High Street in 1974 just after the take over of Teesside Municipal Transport by Cleveland Transit. Courtesy of Chris Hall.
Can anybody remember catching a United coach/bus from Stockton high street up by the Odeon to London Victoria coach station? I remember as a young child on two occasions late 60’s and early 70’s and it was an overnight service. Any photos out there?
can anyone tell me whose name was on the bottom of the the bus I.E like chief engineer which was in white?
Believe it was Wilson. His son Peter was in my class at RH before his parents moved him on to Barnard Castle boarding school. Was a marvellous swimmer.
The name on the buses was W.C.Wilson, whose nickname was ‘Flush’ for obvious reasons. We, at Grangefield Grammar were told this by one of his relatives.
The two ‘United’ buses that you saw at Stockton Depot were not actually United ones. They were both London Transport Rouemasters. They are part of a batch of five which are due to go to Canada very soon. They are, I understand, going to Niagra falls where they will work a tourist service. One of the Routemasters was brought through Stockton High Street on an engineering test run recently. I managed to get a photograph of it and will post it here soon. London Routemasters are not totally unknown on Teesside, back in 1987 one was brought up for an art exhibition called the ‘Best of British’ which exhibited British Icons. The London Routemaster was obviously one of them. It was stored at Cleveland Transit’s Middlesbrough depot when it wasn’t on display.
Northern Bus purchased a number of Routemaster vehicles from AEC, with the intention of using them between Darlington and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I understand these vehicles had different/upgraded differentials in the rear axle.
Hope I didn’t upset anybody with my remarks about why there were two old united buses hidden away in the Portrack depot because now they have gone!?
At the bus depot in Portrack are two old united buses – you can see them through the fence. Memories should not be hidden away.
The bus in the centre of this picture is a former Teesside Railless Traction Board Leyland PD2 working the 37 to Park End. In the middle 70’s at least three of these had been transferred to Stockton Depot. The red single decker on the right is a former Wilkinsons of sedgefield AEC in United livery, United Automobile Services had taken over Wilkinsons back in 1967. In the right background working the 34 is a former Stockton Corporation Leyland Atlantean which is being overtaken by a then new Bristol LH of United Automobile service and which dates the picture to not before 1975 when these were new. Just visible on the extreme right is the back end of a TMS bus.If only such vehicles were still in service today!