The Wanderings of a Dennis Condor

Bank View Travel's 1989 12m Dennis Condor at the start of its morning school run on Leach Lane in St Annes

A rather interesting bus has turned up on the Fylde Coast, some 12 years after having previously operated in the area. Bank View Travel is a small company based in Freckleton near Preston, among their collection of vehicles is a monster 12 metre tri-axle Dennis Condor with Duple Metsec bodywork. This bus has had rather a long career, new in 1989 to China Motor Bus of Hong Kong as number DL43 in their fleet, it passed to New World First Bus in 1998 after China Motor Bus lost the franchise for all their routes. NWFB sold the bus, along with many more Condors, for export to the UK in 2001, the vehicle receiving the registration G452FVX for use in this country. The Condor was purchased by Northern Blue of Oswaldtwistle and mainly used on school contracts, although also seeing occasional use on stage carriage routes at weekends when not required for school work. The stage carriage use while with Northern Blue saw the vehicle venturing as far as the Fylde Coast occasionally on the X4 Colne, Nelson & Burnley to Blackpool & Fleetwood route. A few years later the Condor passed to WJC Buses of Airdrie near Glasgow, again mainly for school contract work, and sometime after it was purchased it was given the personalised registration G5WJC, which it still carries. Within the last few months the Condor was purchased from WJC Buses by Bank View Travel of Freckleton for use on local school contracts. The livery of G5WJC is blue, white and yellow, very reminiscent of the former Fylde Borough Transport colour scheme. So now 12 years after this well travelled Dennis Condor first visited Blackpool and Fleetwood on the X4 with Northern Blue, it can be seen in St Annes and Lytham ferrying children around on the 570 school service. For more photos of the Dennis Condor on the 570 school service see Blackpool Trams on Flickr.

Condor G5WJC turning into Worsley Road in Ansdell on the southbound run to Lytham with a good passenger load

G5WJC at St Bede's Catholic High School in Lytham at the start of another afternoon school run through to St Annes

A rear view of Dennis Condor G5WJC on the afternoon school run on Headroomgate Road in St Annes

Dennis Condor G452FVX in Glasgow in 2008 while in the service of WJC Buses (photo courtesy of dmgbuses)

Northern Blue Dennis Condor 152 (G452FVX) in Blackpool on the X4 service to Nelson in July 2002