Heritage Liveries in Southend

[PeterC]

While driving through Hadleigh today I noticed buses with colours and branding for three former operators.

Westcliff on Sea and Eastern National were parked outside the First garage so I assume operated by them. The Eastern National branding was in the cream and green livery that I think was used on the open top buses. The third was in Southend Corporation colours with the borough coat of arms. I was driving so couldn't check if it was a First or an Arriva vehicle.

Does anybody know the reason for this outburst of nostalgia?

 

[cnjb8]

While driving through Hadleigh today I noticed buses with colours and branding for three former operators.

Westcliff on Sea and Eastern National were parked outside the First garage so I assume operated by them. The Eastern National branding was in the cream and green livery that I think was used on the open top buses. The third was in Southend Corporation colours with the borough coat of arms. I was driving so couldn't check if it was a First or an Arriva vehicle.

Does anybody know the reason for this outburst of nostalgia?

That Southend Corporation bus is with Arriva

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

While driving through Hadleigh today I noticed buses with colours and branding for three former operators.

Westcliff on Sea and Eastern National were parked outside the First garage so I assume operated by them. The Eastern National branding was in the cream and green livery that I think was used on the open top buses. The third was in Southend Corporation colours with the borough coat of arms. I was driving so couldn't check if it was a First or an Arriva vehicle.

Does anybody know the reason for this outburst of nostalgia?

The management of First Essex have historically had a thing for heritage liveries; the Westcliff decker replaced a Trident that had previously had the livery. There's also an NBC leaf green EN, an off white coach version, and a Badgerline era one at Colchester plus a Thamesway one.

Now, apologies if I'm being curmudgeonly, but it's not as if the First fleet is particularly well presented. You might think they'd have more important things to concentrate on. There's the old argument about tapping into some groundswell of nostagia but Thamesway? Really? It appeared in 1991 and was gone in not much more than 10 years.

 

[PeterC]

That Southend Corporation bus is with Arriva

Makes sense as they took over the Corporation operation.

I saw the Westcliff vehicle first and initially thought that it was an independent resurrecting the name.