Arriva Colchester have received some new buses recently. Well, they haven't, they've received some cast offs from other Arriva companies - I don't think any new buses have been delivered for quite some time, making the company the Western National of the Arriva group.
Three of the "new" buses are Volvo B10s with East Lancs bodywork, which came from Horsham. I remember these buses when they were new, as they were among the first to carry Ray Stenning's London & Country livery, which suited them very well. It's a marked contrast to Arriva's colour scheme, which doesn't really look good on anything.
I have a theory about people who design bus liveries. I think they're slightly embarrassed that they're dealing with buses and resolve to pretend they're designing a new airline livery. The original Stagecoach livery is an example of this - all over white with stripes sweeping up to the tailplane. Unfortunately, your average Bristol VRT is bereft of a tailplane so this effect was never really going to work. The new Stagecoach livery is a slight improvement, although I still get the impression that the designer didn't really have his mind on buses when they were scribbling on their pad. To be fair, the First livery is vaguely sympathetic to the lines of the bus although it uses colours one wouldn't want to look at first thing after a heavy night on the town.
The National Bus Company had a corporate livery that I actually quite miss now. It was dull, but at least it followed the lines of the bus (except on Leyland Nationals, which didn't have any relief in the early days). NBC also preserved local identities while having a national corporate identity, something that Arriva, First and Stagecoach seem intent on obliterating.
I've recently returned from Cornwall, where my wife became very confused when she saw what she thought were Eastern National buses in St. Ives. They weren't Eastern National buses of course - they were the opposite, but they were the same type and colour. They also had "First" in big letters on the front (First would doubtless be very pleased about my wife's reaction). The fleetname "Western National" had been removed from most of them (and most of the bus stops), a process that appears to be happening across the First empire.
I expect Arriva will be next to dispense with local identities. In Colchester, there are Arriva serving Southend buses, Arriva serving the Shires and Essex buses, Arriva serving Surrey buses and even one or two Arriva serving Colchester buses. It would obviously save a lot of time scratching off redundant vinyls if these identities were scrapped altogether.
I think that we haven't seen the last of local identities. This may be wishful thinking or a indication that a revision to medication is needed, but I think the likes of Eastern Counties, Maidstone & District and maybe even Southdown will rise again. My only basis for saying this is that things have a habit of going around in circles. Many of us thought that they had seen the last of Lancashire United when the great orange wave swept across Greater Manchester in 1974. We were wrong.
Nigel Chatfield
Arriva Colchester 614, a Volvo B10 with East Lancs bodywork. This bus was new to
London & Country and is seen in Colchester on 13 September 2002.
A national livery with a local identity. Maidstone & District 3458 passes
through Biddenden, Kent (photo: Neil Gow)
A picture I thought I'd lost - Maidstone & District 5742 was the company's
Silver Jubilee bus, seen at Brenchley Gardens, Maidstone in 1978. The Jubilee
legend has been pasted over with an additional advert for the sponsor, Chatham
Reliance Building Society.