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Site Updates / News / Anything
interesting? |
| New site is
now viewable !!! |
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Although it will take some time
to transfer the old content from
this site over to the new site,
we do hope to get it done as
fast as possible.
If you have any questions please
feel free to >
Contact
Us <
The
reunion 2009 photos are already
viewable on the new site.
>
New Website Address < |
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Update:
23rd September 2009 |
| Things are
going to change round here !!! |
|
No we are not having to lay off
any staff due to the recession
and it is not a change of owners
or a management buy out or even
a change of driver and yes I
will be stopping as well!
Although I do wonder why I do
stick around ? It really does
feel like I am the poor
conductor at times! |
|
The BIG change will be how the
website works and better still -
It will be made really easy for
you Ex-WYRCC staff and not
forgetting the odd anorak who
pops by from time to time to add
things to the site yourselves!
Simply by registering as a
member when the new site is
launched it could open up a
whole new world if you always
wanted to add your own photos or
stories? All you will need is an
email address and it will only
take two seconds to join a
password will even be emailed to
you so not to think any of your
personal passwords could be
compromised and once you log in
you could also pick one of your
own via your own personal
dashboard. Also once registered
you will be able to use the
members only forum and if you
would like to add photos or post
your own interesting facts and
finds a simple email to us and
we can upgrade your membership
status ... We really are having
a major refit, all the seats
will be removed and a cleaner
will do a "propa" job. A new
paint job will also be added to
the old livery and unlike those
bus mechanics! I plan to do it
as fast as possible without a
single service off the road or
even a running board going out
of the window!!! It will also be
FREE to join forever there
really will be no catches of
small print... I promise !!! |
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Did someone say when will it
happen?... Well The 2009 Reunion
is going to be held on Saturday
3rd of October. The plan is to
enjoy that evening and let CG
let his hair (or lack of it)
down with the odd diet coke! And
I plan to get the new site in
place for Monday 5th. I will
also be telling CG to tell as
many people as he can about the
new website launch at the
reunion or if he does not tell
you about it = Ask him! He tells
me "things slip out of my mind"
and at that point Karen checks
if he has put his false teeth in
the cat dish again! Old age - It
comes to us all ... But more to
you older folk I find... Not
forgetting CG!! |
Thank you for passing by and I
hope everyone enjoys this years
W.Y.R.C.C. Staff Reunion!
Remember CHANGE OF VENUE
this year. Details below.
Thank you for reading this! Even
those who skipped past bits! You
know who you are !!!
Mark Wilson - Webmaster and Son
of the Driver - Colin G Wilson!
(By the way: CG has no
idea I have put this on the site
and truth be told he would have
less of an idea how to remove it
if he wanted to!.. So do not let
him fool you into thinking he is
the computer expert round here!
He always has had a touch
of visions of grandeur!) |
Venue :-
Bradford Irish Club (IDL),
Rebecca Street, Bradford BD1
2RX.
Date :- Saturday 3rd of October
2009, from 7.30pm.
Unfortunately this year it will
be £2 per person, as the
Transport Club has closed and we
have to pay for the new venue.
Any raffle prizes would be
appreciated
As usual, there will be food and
Steve Rice will be providing the
background music. |
|
Update:
10th September 2009 |
CELEBRATE 40
YEARS OF THE NATIONAL BUS
COMPANY
TAKE A JOURNEY INTO THE PAST
SUNDAY OCTOBER 11TH 2009 |
 |
FREE BUS SERVICES
STEAM AND DIESEL TRAIN RIDES
(at normal fares)
SKIPTON TOWN CENTRE AND BOLTON
ABBEY RAILWAY STATION
5TH YORKSHIRE DALES
VINTAGE BUS RUNNING DAY AND
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DISPLAY
Timetables £5 from Rally
Secretary, 13, Every
Street,TODMORDEN, OL14 5RA
or from rally control on the day
at Skipton Bus Station or Bolton
Abbey Rly Station
>
Click Here To
View Poster
<
Adobe PDF
File - 248kb |
|
Update:
2nd September 2009 |
| David Rhodes
Collection - WYRCC Scan
Collection. |
 |
David Rhodes Collection - WYRCC
Scan Collection.
25 Images added
to the
Galleries |
Venue :-
Bradford Irish Club (IDL),
Rebecca Street, Bradford BD1
2RX.
Date :- Saturday 3rd of October
2009, from 7.30pm.
Unfortunately this year it will
be £2 per person, as the
Transport Club has closed and we
have to pay for the new venue.
Any raffle prizes would be
appreciated
As usual, there will be food and
Steve Rice will be providing the
background music. |
| Grahame
Richardson - WYRCC 1977 Scan
Collection. |
|
|
Grahame Richardson - WYRCC 1977
Scan Collection.
36 Images added
to the
Galleries |
| The longest
serving driver at Harrogate
depot! |
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The longest
serving driver at Harrogate
depot, Stuart Wroe, is retiring
at the end of the month. Stuart
started with West Yorkshire in
September 1968 at Harrogate. He
joined the coaching unit in the
1970s. After closure of the
Coaching Unit in the 1980s he
stood his ground for two years,
unable to drive in service as he
had been employed as a Crew
Driver before he went coaching!
A deal was struck which saw
Stuart and a number of coaching
drivers transfer to Wetherby
depot.
The story of Stuart being spare
for two years and unable to turn
a wheel is now infamous at
Harrogate.
On closure of Wetherby in 1990/1
Stuart returned to Harrogate
where he has been based ever
since.
Stuart met his wife Dot while
she was a conductress for West
Yorkshire, unfortunately Dot has
been in poor health for several
years and Stuart has worked part
time for about five years.
Later in the year the Trade
Union at Harrogate will be
organising a retirement party
for Stuart and several other
drivers who have retired this
year. In the meantime, all
friends and colleagues are
invited to join Stuart for
farewell drinks on Saturday 5th
September from 7.30pm in
Wetherspoons on Parliament
Street in Harrogate. |
12th of
August 1989
So this is what 20 years feel
like! Almost 20 years since I
and many other road staff could
utter the immortal words…”I work
for the West Yorkshire Road Car
Co Ltd”
This may sound strange, but I
for one, am glad it ended when
it did! I would have hated to
think that a once proud company
would have finished up just
being a business, like all bus
companies appear to be these
days. The West Yorkshire ran a
bus service, tailored to the
passengers and, on the whole,
was very decent to its staff.
Cracks in the West Yorkshire
began to show long before
privatisation, passengers became
secondary, vehicles were being
neglected and routes being
messed about with because it
made “business” sense.
12th of August 1989 was a very
sad day, but better that, than
diminishing that lovely red &
cream livery to that of “First
Bus” or “Stagecoach”!
This year’s REUNION, on the 3rd
of October will, with any luck,
be another full house, as it was
last year. Due to the closure of
the Transport Club, this year we
have had to change the venue to
the Bradford Irish Club (IDL)
Rebecca Street Bradford DB1 2RX
(Behind the Beehive on Westgate)
I’m sad to say that absent
friends this year include Peter
Silson, Hughie Talbot and Ken
Sutcliffe (Captain Birdseye)
I will post details of the
REUNION closer to the time. |
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It is with great sadness that we
have to report the death of KEN
(Birdseye) SUTCLIFFE.
Ken died at home, on Wednesday
the 27th of May at 4:10am.
The funeral arrangements for Ken
Sutcliffe's are :-
Scholemoor Cemetery, Friday the
5th of June...10:50am.
Everyone is welcome to the
Fairweather Green W.M.C,
Thornton Old Road BD8 0HT after
the service. |
The late Ken
Sutcliffe (Captain Birdseye)
I feel that letting this moment
pass without saying a little
something, would be doing Ken’s
memory an injustice.
As bus drivers go, Ken was,
without doubt, unique! There
wasn’t a timetable on the West
Yorkshire R.C.C, that Ken
couldn't make totally redundant,
be that stage carriage or
National Express! Ken had his
own agenda when it came to
getting from A to B safely. All
who work with him will
understand what I mean. Some
driver’s got very frustrated the
way Ken would never be rushed,
but they knew it was pointless
saying anything….if a bus was
running late, inevitably you’d
hear the detailer say “It must
be Birdeye!”
In all the years I knew Ken, I
never saw him get annoyed, never
grumble or make any derogatory
comment about any of the people
he worked with. He just came to
work, did the job HIS way and
went home.
Ken was a character, maybe as
Paul (Gunner ) Rhodes said, even
a legend!
I’d also like to take this
opportunity on behalf of Ken’s
widow, Sylvia, to thank Leo &
Debbie Shackleton for the help
and friendship they showed to
Ken & Sylvia in this time of
great need and sadness.
|
Once again it
is with deep regret that we have
to report the death of a former
WYRCC employee.
HUGHIE TALBOT. Hughie worked on
the WYRCC at Bradford depot in
the 60's. He then moved to the
Bradford City Transport (Later
METRO)
Funeral arrangements;- 10.50am,
on Tuesday 5th May at Nab Wood
Cemetery. |
Funeral
arrangements for Peter Silson
Thursday 2nd of April at Nab
Wood Cemetery.
Everyone is welcome to the IDL
Club, Rebecca Street Bradford.
BD1 2RX after the service. |
| Service
starts at 2:40 pm |
It is with
deep regret that we have to
report the death of PETER SILSON.
Peter was a driver at Bradford
depot for many years. Our
thought are with his wife,
Wendy.
Funeral yet to be arranged. |
Sad News from Harrogate
The death of John Berry,
ex-WYRCC Garage Foreman from
Grove Park Depot.
The funeral for John Berry takes
place on Friday 17th October at
12.20 at Stonefall Cemetery in
Harrogate. All welcome.
John started with WYRCC in the
1940s, with a break for national
service, he retired early in
1985. He started as a fitter at
Grove Park, finishing as Garage
Foreman. He took early
retirement as part of the
"restructuring" that took place
in 1985.
I'd like to thank Daniel Maguire
for this information. |
The W.Y.R.C.C 2008 Reunion
For the first
time in a number of years, I was
confident that there would be a
good turn out for this years
reunion. My wife, Karen, had
worked tirelessly this year with
phone calls, e-mails & posted
invitations to make this a good
one! I was not disappointed!
Over 130 ex West Yorkshire staff
made it standing room only by
9.30! There were a few "friends"
from "First Bradford" made the
effort to show their faces.
The engineering side of the
company were out in force, as
were the coaching drivers &
hostesses. One of the hostesses,
Paula (2) Duggan (Daglan), was
kind enough to bring along a
number of photos which I will
publish on the web-site. Thanks
Paula.
Another ex-conductress/office
reunion regular, Maureem
Mitchell, also brought a few
photos which, again, I will
publish on the site. Thanks
Maureen.
There were a couple of new,
"old" faces this year, Jimmy
Baldwin with his wife and Phil
Quantrill. There were also a few
Keighley & District staff made
an appearance, along with the
ex-Keighley-West Yorkshire lads
that have shown up for a number
of years. Also from the Keighley
area, John Piplica and his wife
Dora. John was a very popular
Inspector at Bradford depot and
it is always a pleasure to see
them both.
There is a good chance that next
year we will have to find a new
venue for the reunion, as the
Transport Club is being sold by
the owners of the building, Pase
Management. Karen & I would
welcome any suggestions for a
new venue, baring in mind
accessibility from all part of
the district.
So, thank you everyone who came
along to make this a great
night. Also many thanks to Garry
Bushby for providing the
background music and working his
socks off with the raffle!!
Thank Garry & Tracy.
All being well.........see you
next year......
Colin & Karen Wilson. |
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One of the last tickets issued
by West Yorkshire bus service
from the Bradford Interchange on
the 12th of August 1989 add:
Memorabilia Gallery |
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A little piece of history!!
One of the tickets issued on the
final West Yorkshire bus service
from the Bradford Interchange on
the 12th of August 1989. The
reverse is signed by the
Inspector on the night, John
Piplica. |
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Free Bus Time Tables For the
80 years of West Yorkshire
Road Car Rally - Bolton Abbey. |
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80 years of West Yorkshire
Road Car Rally - Bolton Abbey.
Bolton Abbey Railway Station
on 12th October.
Free conecting buses will be run
from Leeds by Otley,Ilkley and
Bramhope,Guiseley and from
Bradford by Shipley, Ilkley and
Bingley, Keighley |
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W.Y.R.C.C
Staff Reunion 2008
Friday 3rd October 2008 |
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W.Y.R.C.C Staff Reunion 2008
Friday 3rd October 2008
Transport Club (First bus) from
7.30pm
Food + Music - £1 per person on
door - Raffle Prize Welcome
Contact Details: Colin &
Karen Wilson
24 Lambeth Residential Park,
Lambeth Road, Balby, Doncaster.
DN4 8HX.
Tel: 01302 854 304 -
Email:
colin@wyrc.co.uk
|
One of the
things that has dismayed my son
and I, over the time the
web-site has been out on the
Internet, has been the lack of
interest from other depots.
Well, at last that may be
changing! We recently received
an e-mail from Daniel Maguire, a
driver and TGWU Branch Chairman
of Harrogate & District,
informing us of the retirement
of a very senior member of staff
and ex-West Yorkshire R.C.C
Driver, Mr Frank Butters.
After further communication with
Daniel, he has now sent a number
of other photographs of staff
that worked for the West
Yorkshire, some of whom now work
for Harrogate & District. So we
decided to open a new gallery
dedicated to WYRCC, Harrogate.
Thank you Daniel, I look forward
to future developments!
The West Yorkshire R.C.C.
covered large areas of North &
West Yorkshire, with depots
dotted over large parts of the
County. The likes of
Bradford, Leeds, York, Otley,
Ilkley, Keighley, Skipton,
Grassington, Wetherby & Malton.
There must be hundreds of
photographs of staff from those
depots, along with memorabilia,
that we would welcome on this
web-site.
If you could either e-mail or
post any item (We promises to
return any items after
scanning), with any relevant
information, we would be more
than pleased to publish them on
the web-site & credit the
sender.
Thanks for supporting our
web-site....
Colin & Mark Wilson....
|
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David Blackwood - The longest
serving employee at Harrogate.
Photo added to:
Staff Gallery |
| This black
and white photograph was taken
around 1962 and shows David
Blackwood at Central Works.
David is the longest serving
employee at Harrogate, having
started in 1962 as an apprentice
at Central Works. He is still
with us as a Day Fitter at
Starbeck garage. |
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2p, 3p & 5p Concessionary
Transport Tokens. Added to the
Memorabilia
Gallery |
Route
Learner Sheet &
Certificate For Safe
Conducting added to the
Memorabilia galleries.
|
2 Old
Images added to the
galleries.
|
Welcome to
the updated West Yorkshire
Reunion web-site.
As regular visitors will know,
there has been very little
happening on the web-site for
quite some time. The reason for
this is we have had one or two
technical problems and, due to
more important projects, this
site had to go on the
back-burner for a while.
Despite this, the hits on the
site have been very good, so
thank you to all who continued
to support the site.
The whole site has been
re-designed slightly, but we
have still kept the initial look
of the site much the same and
although some of the old content
is as the moment not available,
we are hoping to re-add it over
the next few weeks. The big
difference is in the galleries.
These are now much easier to
navigate and comments now can be
made regarding any content in
any of the galleries, so please
feel fee to make use this
facility.
If anyone has any interesting
photographs with regards to the
West Yorkshire Road Car Co,
especially of ex-staff, I would
willingly add them to the
relevant gallery.
Once again, thank you for your
continuing support. |
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