Cheltenham Gold
Cheltenham 75
Blog
12th September 2009...
Cheltenham 80 Celebration
 Ex-Cheltenham Bristol VR no. 5030 and its sister 5031 were a turning point for Cheltenham. These were the first double decks new to Cheltenham for some years. They were also bodied in the now usual dual door format though 5030 was subsequently converted to single door. 5030 went on to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Cheltenham District Traction and was later something of a heritage show vehicle for the Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company. It passed to Hampshire Bus in 2000 where it remains a heritage vehicle. In this shot, it is seen drawing past older Bristol FLF in the latest iteration of the Stagecoach livery. The FLF was due out on the 94 but sadly failed  Sister to 5030 is 5031 seen above as it would have been upon arrival in Cheltenham in 1975. The pair were the first in the town to receive leaf green livery as used elsewhere on Bristol Omnibus, marking the end of the tradition of using red liveried buses in Cheltenham - till 1983 at any rate. The vehicle remains in preservation locally  At the Racecourse was this 69 year old Bristol K C3336 in Bristol blue (though it was presumably delivered in wartime grey and by the time of its post war repaint would've gone straight to Tilling green), together with 5031, 35 years its junior. Both the K and VR saw service on the 80 during the afternoon, the rider on the former being considerably stiffer than the latter!  Period wartime advertisements within the Bristol K complemented the vehicle nicely, adding authenticity. The utility construction within meant that the braces across the interior roof were exposed and not skinned over with a ceiling  The first 58-seat Bristol LD double deck to arrive in Cheltenham was in 1955. Such vehicles lasted in Cheltenham till 1976, by which time they had operated in the complete gamut of liveries including 'Cheltenham' red, poppy red and, quite remarkably and only just, in leaf green. The above vehicle is 1959 LD 8515 in Tilling green and operating under the Bath Services name, another company within the Bristol fold at that time. Compare the seating capacity of the LD at 58 to the single deck RELL to its right, delivered with 53 seats  Although the FSFs were short lived, the slightly longer 70-seat Bristol FLFs enjoyed a longer career at Cheltenham, on both town and country routes. There were also far more of them, between the two. They first arrived for town duties in 1962 and, like the older LDs, found themselves in two variants of red and also in green. The FLFs worked throughout the 1970s though were gradually replaced by driver-only vehicles, both Bristol VRs and by then Leyland Nationals. As seen here, destination indicator changes in the 1960s and 1970s was hardly a push-button affair, as it is today. This vehicle sadly never made it into service on the day
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