MUO 328F | Bristol LH | Fleet No. 716

Details

Registration: 

MUO 328F

Fleet No.: 

716

Date acquired: 

Sat, 31/10/2009

This Bristol LHBristol Commercial Vehicles Light Horizontal engined single-decker bus chassis LH at 30' (9.1m); nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 6L with 45 seat ECWEastern Coach Works Ltd was a bus and railbus body building company based in Lowestoft, England. ECW closed in 1987 bodywork was one of 10 new medium sized buses delivered to Western National in the summer of 1968 with 5 going to Southern National. Built by Bristol Commercial VehiclesBristol Commercial Vehicles Ltd was a manufacturer of buses and trucks based in Bristol, England. Closed 1983. (BCV), the light weight LH was the replacement for the earlier MW and SU models which had similar mid-mounted, horizontal, underfloor engines. The engine was a LeylandLeyland Bus was a British bus manufacturer. It emerged from the Rover Group (formerly British Leyland) as a management buyout of the bus business. It was subsequently acquired by Volvo Buses in 1988 and the name finally disappeared in 1993 400 fitted to a manual 5 speed gearbox and the Girling air brake system was adopted.  

The records show that 716Bristol LH 6L with 45 seat ECW bodywork was one of 10 new medium sized buses delivered to Western National in the summer of 1968 MUO 328F | Bristol LH | Fleet No. 716 | CBPG(MUO 328FBristol LH 6L with 45 seat ECW bodywork was one of 10 new medium sized buses delivered to Western National in the summer of 1968 MUO 328F | Bristol LH | Fleet No. 716 | CBPG) was delivered new to WN's WherrytownWherrytown depot, Penzance no longer exists (where LIDL is now) depot at Penzance painted in standard Tilling green livery and fitted with the non-standard 'T' shaped destination box arrangement. The main routes worked by 716 out of Penzance were to Porthcurno (504), Paul (505) and Madron (511). After formation of the National Bus Company in 1969, vehicles were re-painted in leaf green with white lettering and the double N logo was applied. By 1973, 716 had been repainted into the 'national' colour scheme and later in the decade, she received a complete front end modifcation. This involved the complete removal of the front end to be replaced by a kit produced by ECW following complaints from taller drivers that visibility was severely restricted through the shallow depth front windscreen. This modifcation was carried out on all the first batch of LH's and was later adopted as standard. With the increased windscreen size came the conventional side by side numeral and destination blind arrangement. Apart from 3 months towards the end of 1976 when 716 'was on tour' to other depots, she remained at Penzance until early in 1981 when she was withdrawn from service. After a brief spell stored at the St Austell depotSt Austell, 716 was sold to Continental Pioneeer of Richmond and painted into their blue livery. After several other homes, 716 eventually ended up at Winkleigh with Colin Shears to enter preservation and was acquired by Colin Billington of Maidenhead in June 2008. Working with Colin during 2009 and early 2010, our Cornish LH was prepared for her MOTMinistry of Transport test which was successfully acquired in time to drive 716 back to Cornwall for our Running DayEach year in April CBPG holds an Annual Running Day with free bus trips around West Cornwall - check our Events for more information. We managed to keep 716 on the road during 2011 and she attended the Kingsbridge Running DayFree vintage bus services on coast and country routes in South Devon usually held in September in September. However, after winter storage, water pump problems and some electrical issues were identified. We managed to sort these but on returning to her 'home', the clutch said 'enough'. This necessitated a drawbar tow by a local recovery firm which I must say was an experience I would not want repeat again soon! New clutch plates have been sourced so this is now the next job. After a long lay up, 716 was moved to Devon in January 2015 for major refurbishment including new window rubbers and a repaint. This job has almost been completed and it is very much hoped that 716 will make an appearance at the Penzance Running Day on Easter Sunday in 2019.