Subject: Bradford C. T. 831 (LHN 781)
Chassis: BUT 9611T
Body: East Lancs H37/29F
Location: Thornbury, Leeds Road
Date: 6-Oct-1962

831 is still visibly new here having only been in service just over two months. These only worked the 89 briefly before being transferred to Saltaire to work the Crossflatts service - these had electric panel heating, instead of none on the vehicles they displaced and were deployed to win customers back who had deserted the trolleybus in favour of the heated West Yorkshire buses in the bitterly cold winter of 1962/63. The heaterless vehicles were displaced to shorter routes where the issue was less important (and there was no competition!).

The photographer has captured the scene at the end of Hawthorn Street (off to the right) which would in a few years form part of the turning loop at Thornbury following major road alterations there. What is less obvious is that Hawthorn Street moved a little in the process and its alignment now runs through the two terraced houses, the timber shoring on which points to a reason to demolish them. The long terrace immediatly behind those two houses is also long-demolished - these were back-to-back houses which probably explains why they didn't survive whilst the row beyond did.

From an original negative in the David Beilby collection, from the collection of D. Butterfield and G. Butland