BUS VCH 838

[PaulLincoln91]

Hello,
Could anyone help to identify a 1950s or 1960s Leyland single deck bus, registration VCH 838. The registration is Derby but I cannot find any information about the vehicle. I photographed it at Howden, near Doncaster, in 1980 and would just like to know a bit more about it. Thank you.
PaulLincoln91

 

[Eyersey468]

Bus Lists on the Web has it as a Leyland Tiger Cub PSUC1/1 with a 45 seat Willowbrook body new to Trent March 1961

 

[Leedsbusman]

Hello,
Could anyone help to identify a 1950s or 1960s Leyland single deck bus, registration VCH 838. The registration is Derby but I cannot find any information about the vehicle. I photographed it at Howden, near Doncaster, in 1980 and would just like to know a bit more about it. Thank you.
PaulLincoln91

After service with Trent it went to Philips of Shiptonthorpe in East Yorkshire which maybe who had it in 1980.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

After service with Trent it went to Philips of Shiptonthorpe in East Yorkshire which maybe who had it in 1980.

Yes, Phillips of Shiptonthorpe. They operated school contracts and, before the practice was outlawed, used to park vehicles near the outer end of the route they worked. One of the more formal outstations was Howden railway station.
In June 1988 the services and some vehicles (but not the depot) were sold to East Yorkshire. However, according to the book "Phillips of Shiptonthorpe" by Stuart Emmett and John Briggs VCH 838 was not among them and was still stored at Phillips premises in January 1991. It had presumably been withdrawn many years earlier; Clive Phillips very rarely got rid of vehicles, instead storing them in a field behind the garage to yield spare parts if required.
The depot premises were eventually cleared with many of the buses going for scrap; it seems that VCH 838 was scrapped as the book mentioned above does not record it as being preserved, and the trail of photos on Flickr ends in Phillips days.

 

[Eyersey468]

Yes, Phillips of Shiptonthorpe. They operated school contracts and, before the practice was outlawed, used to park vehicles near the outer end of the route they worked. One of the more formal outstations was Howden railway station.
In June 1988 the services and some vehicles (but not the depot) were sold to East Yorkshire. However, according to the book "Phillips of Shiptonthorpe" by Stuart Emmett and John Briggs VCH 838 was not among them and was still stored at Phillips premises in January 1991. It had presumably been withdrawn many years earlier; Clive Phillips very rarely got rid of vehicles, instead storing them in a field behind the garage to yield spare parts if required.
The depot premises were eventually cleared with many of the buses going for scrap; it seems that VCH 838 was scrapped as the book mentioned above does not record it as being preserved, and the trail of photos on Flickr ends in Phillips days.

Whereabouts in Shiptonthorpe was Phillips garage?

 

[PG]

Yes, Phillips of Shiptonthorpe. They operated school contracts and, before the practice was outlawed, used to park vehicles near the outer end of the route they worked. One of the more formal outstations was Howden railway station.

Outlawed? By whom?

 

[Dwarfer1979]

Outlawed? By whom?

Not so much outlawed as formalised. Anywhere you are parking vehicles up overnight everyday/regularly needs to be a registered operating base with evidence that you have the correct permissions (planning, council & owner) to park a large vehicle there and that it is safe and not going to cause undue nuisance. You can't just let the driver take it home and leave it near their house informally.

 

[PG]

Not so much outlawed as formalised.

Thank you for the clarification

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Not so much outlawed as formalised. Anywhere you are parking vehicles up overnight everyday/regularly needs to be a registered operating base with evidence that you have the correct permissions (planning, council & owner) to park a large vehicle there and that it is safe and not going to cause undue nuisance. You can't just let the driver take it home and leave it near their house informally.

Yes that's what I meant, just a poor choice of words!

Whereabouts in Shiptonthorpe was Phillips garage?

It was either side of Clay Lane not far from the Market Weighton boundary. Clive Phillips lived in a bungalow that faced onto York Road (at the time the A1079, before the Market Weighton bypass was built) and some of the buses were parked around and behind the bungalow and were visible from the main road. I remember stopping a couple of times with my father and nervously surveying them from the verge; Clive had a reputation for appearing brandishing a shotgun!
There was another bungalow on site which I believe is still there, along with part of the workshop buildings. The other bungalow (which I think was Clive's) has been demolished and replaced with a modern equivalent. They can be seen on York Road just the Shiptonthorpe side of Clay Lane corner.

 

[Simon75]

Not so much outlawed as formalised. Anywhere you are parking vehicles up overnight everyday/regularly needs to be a registered operating base with evidence that you have the correct permissions (planning, council & owner) to park a large vehicle there and that it is safe and not going to cause undue nuisance. You can't just let the driver take it home and leave it near their house informally.

So how come some operators may outstation a few vehicles in the day (Notts and Derby), at Spath, nr Uttoxeter, but its not registered as outstation ? So I guess it applies to overnight only ?

 

[John HG1]

Not knowing Clive's reputation, a friend and I called in round about 1970 and asked if we could look round. We were allowed to roam through the field full of withdrawn vehicles and found some remarkable history. Somewhere I may have a list of what was there, but a standout bus was a Bedford OWB.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Not knowing Clive's reputation, a friend and I called in round about 1970 and asked if we could look round. We were allowed to roam through the field full of withdrawn vehicles and found some remarkable history. Somewhere I may have a list of what was there, but a standout bus was a Bedford OWB.

He was helpful to some enthusiasts and indeed quite a number of his vehicles were sold to preservationists.
I believe there were some instances of theft of parts which hardened his attitude to people turning up on spec.

 

[Eyersey468]

@Pyewipecarshed thank you for the reply

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

@Pyewipecarshed thank you for the reply

No worries

 

[Dwarfer1979]

So how come some operators may outstation a few vehicles in the day (Notts and Derby), at Spath, nr Uttoxeter, but its not registered as outstation ? So I guess it applies to overnight only ?

As I said, it is overnight only where it is considered as a base. Parking during the day is just parking, no different to someone parking a bus in the bus station between the peaks or parking a spare bus in town in case of issues.