A picture which finally gives up its story

In Gateshead in the late 1920s

Now a few weeks ago I was pondering on my failure to unlock the story of an old photograph.*

We all have them in the family collection of pictures.

They are those with no name, or date or any clue as to where they were taken or even what connection they have to the family.

Now this is almost one of those, and I say that because I am pretty sure it will be where my father worked in the 1920s but that is about it.

So I was very pleased when my friend David from Furness Vale came up with these two pictures and the accompanying text.

A Leyland Lion, 1927

"This is a Leyland Lion of 1927, and another from 1929. 

Both of these buses are at the Museum of Transport.**

I'm not an expert on buses but vintage transport does have an appeal. 

The bus in your picture does look like a Leyland but without a clearer view of the radiator I can't be sure. 

It is likely to be mid 1920's at the earliest. 

Leyland supplied a lot of buses with their own bodies but as has always been the case, many other coachbuilders also built bus bodies. 

I can't see any buses on the internet with that stylish curved panel so it may have been built by a small coach works. 

These buses were beautifully built and finished and often lasted a long time so dating the photo is difficult. I have had a good look on the internet and drawn a blank. I will hazard a guess though. 

Leyland Lion 1929

Motor garages quite often ran a local bus service. As this bus is posed outside a garage it could be that this is one such operator.

Ribble operated mostly red double deckers out of Lower Mosley Street Bus Station which they shared with North Western. Most routes ran to north into the Lancashire towns.”

Now despite David’s modesty I think he has pretty much solved my question.

Pictures; courtesy of David, Furness Local History Society.

*The picture which stubbornly refuses to give up its story, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the 1920s
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-picture-which-stubbornly-refuses-to.html

**Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester, http://www.gmts.co.uk/