National, nationalised - a photo on Flickriver

Lancashire United Transport was once the biggest independent bus operator in the UK. Its red buses served a stretch of south Lancashire in a diamond-shaped area between St Helens, Bolton, Warrington and Manchester. At various times it ran trams, trolleybuses and motor buses and the company only disappeared after being bought by Greater Manchester Transport in 1976.

LUT had bought sometimes-quirky but always dependable buses, and where possible with a reliable Gardner engine. But once GMT bought the company, the Executive was keen to modernise its new acquisition's fleet, accelerate one man operation, standardise with the PTE's own fleet and eliminate some of the company's quirkier purchases.

It's likely that LUT wouldn't have considered the Leyland National as an independent company - too complicated, too untried and possibly too fragile - but it was GMT's standard single decker and a significant fleet was soon arriving at LUT's three garages in Atherton, Swinton and Hindley/Platt Bridge.

Number 466 is seen at Atherton, in company with an older member of the fleet. At least some of LUT's Nationals arrived from the Leyland factory in London Transport red rather than Lancashire United's own shade - the National factory could turn out buses in only a very limited number of colours, and even a major customer like GMT was unable to persuade Leyland to change policy.

Eventualy it didn't matter, because Greater Manchester Transport began to subsume LUT, starting with changing the livery to orange. By the early 1980s work was well under way to eliminate the LUT identity completely, and the company is now just a memory. So is this Leyland National and even Atherton garage, but you can still see a Lancashire United bus - at the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, where we have two on display plus the company's breakdown lorry.

If you'd like to know more about the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester and its collection of vintage buses, go to motgm.uk.

© Greater Manchester Transport Society. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction is strictly prohibited and may result in action being taken to protect the intellectual property interests of the Society.

Taken in: UK / England / Atherton (show map)

Taken on: January 1, 1979

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