Subject: Rhondda 395 (395 WTG)
Chassis: Bedford VAL14
Body: Duple Vega Major C47F
Location: London, Elizabeth Street
Date: mid-1960s

395 was loaned to Ribble for a period during its first summer (1964) and this photograph may well have recorded this hire but it isn't possible to confirm without a date.

It's certainly on hire to W. C. Standerwick who had been an 'arm's length' subsidiary of Ribble since 1933 and in whose name the London express services were mainly operated. However, the possibility of it being pressed into service when it would otherwise have been idle in London cannot be ruled out.

The name of the cafe it is passing seems to be particularly appropriate for a Rhondda vehicle!

395 will be in the original cream and red livery here. It is following what is almost certainly a North Western Leyland Leopard with Alexander Y-type body from the batch 140-149 and another similar bus appears to be pulling out of Victoria coach station in the distance.

Photograph by courtesy of Phil Sposito