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Southport Open Top Tours
2015 Season
FOLLOWING on from the success of the
1st 3 years' operation starting in 2012, the Merseyside Transport Trust (MTT)
is pleased to announce that it will once again be operating circular open top
tours of Southport during the holiday season of 2015. These tours will be
provided entirely by volunteers using historic vehicles.
Starting from the traditional location of Southport Pier, the tours will operate
as a free of charge circular service taking in the sights of Southport that have
on a tour that has proved a popular tourist attraction for many decades.
Ensuring that the tours continue operating has proved to be very popular with
Southport locals, families and tourists alike; since their first year extra
journeys have been added to cope with increased demand and popularity.
Picking up where Arriva left off in 2011, the tours are to be operated using
historic Leyland Atlanteans that have been operating these tours in past years
and are now in preservation; 1449 (GKA 449L) and 1551 (OLV 551M). After a leave
of absence during the 2013 season, 1551 went through an intensive rebuild and
has been restored to the livery it carried during the 1980s when it originally
operated the tour and is ready for its public once again. Ready for the 2014
season, 1449 has been treated to a front end repaint into yellow to commemorate
30 years since the Liverpool Garden festival in 1984; so here's your chance to
come out and ride the festival bus! A closed top vehicle will be substituted in
adverse weather conditions.
The tours take in such beautiful Southport attractions as the Marine Lake,
Marine Bridge, Royal Birkdale Golf Course, Hesketh Park, Lord Street Boulevard
and the Botanic Gardens.
The operation of the tours will commence on Sunday, 26 July 2015 and will operate
on every Sunday through to Sunday, 30 August 2015, also including August Bank
Holiday Monday, 31 August 2015. Departures are timetabled for 12:00, 13:00, 14:00
and 15:00 hours from Southport Pier, in front of the carousel.
For more information, please consult the MTT's
website.
If you did not know, the MTT is a registered charity based in
Burscough, Lancashire with a collection of historic vehicles from the Merseyside
area ranging from a 1946 AEC Regent II and 1949 Daimler CVA6 through to vehicles
from the MPTE and Merseybus eras, some which are in private ownership and on
loan to the MTT. The MTT holds many events during the year, including two
Running Days at Easter and in September which allow the general public and the
enthusiast community alike the chance to come and ride on the buses of their
past. The MTT is (and the tours are) managed and run entirely by unpaid
volunteers.
The open top tours have been a part of Southport's
history for many decades, latterly being operated by Arriva but also its
predecessors Merseybus, Merseyside PTE and Southport Corporation before that.
CitySightseeing contractor ACE Travel operated a tour in Southport during the
2010 season, but this wasn't repeated. Arriva operated its final tour season in
2011 using Leyland Atlantean 1449 (latterly 3980) before this vehicle passed
into preservation in early 2012.
Atlanteans 1449 and 1551...
The 2 open top Atlanteans being used by the MTT on its tours had operated in
Southport for many years before being sold for preservation, both to members of
the MTT and now operating as part of the MTT's collection, being on long term
loan. Both Atlanteans have famously led double lives whilst in the Merseybus and
Arriva fleets, being regularly used as homecoming buses for Liverpool FC (1551)
and Everton FC (1449). 1551 went through a complete restoration during 2013 and
is ready to be released to its adoring public once again for the 2014 season
whereas 1449 has been transformed into a 1984 Liverpool Garden Festival bus to
celebrate the Festival's 30th Anniversary. |
