A photograph of a ‘special’ bus on Stockton High Street, destination ‘shipyard’. The Empire theatre still standing in the background tells us it’s before 1969…
Photograph and details courtesy of Peter Jordison.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
The photograph was taken by Philip Battersby on 21st June 1967. It shows a Stockton Corporation Park Royal-bodied Leyland PD2 which had recently been painted in turquoise livery in readiness for the mergers of the Middlesbrough, Stockton and TRTB fleets into Teesside Municipal Transport.
If we could read what was showing at the Odeon that week it would give a date for the photograph.
The bus appears to be in the Teesside livery. if this is so then perhaps 1967-68 as I believe some vehicles may have been painted in the new livery before the merger of the authorities actually took place in 1968
In the background the property on the right hand corner of Bridge Rd / Yarm Lane was once known as ‘Barry’s Corner’, on account of the electrical retailers of that name, who occupied these premises for many years. It’s upper windows became a favourite vantage point for a legion of postcard-photographers, the historic views from which looking up the High Street, can be seen on many pages of this site. The building became a ‘men’s boutique’ called Spirit during the early 70’s, after which it was converted to the offices of a legal-firm.
I used to travel on these buse’s when I worked at Davy United which was situated before the shipyard at Sweethills next to the I C I sulphuric acid plant so it was far from sweet. The air was sometimes choking !
And the Leyland Atlantean bus in the background tells us it couldn’t have been taken before 1964, the year these buses were introduced.