Regular visitors to this site will know that I am interested in all things Maidstone & District. Neil Gow (whose photographs grace other bus sites on the net) sent me these excellent photographs dating from the pre-deregulation period.
More photographs by Neil can be found on his AEC Bus Site.
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Biddenden in the Weald of Kent is famous for Siamese twins who lived in the village in the 18th century (illustrated on the village sign). Leyland National 3548 complete with Maidstone Area Bus Services vinyls passes the village green in June 1985 en route to Tenterden and Wittersham. |
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To facilitate trolleybus replacement in the Hastings area, M&D purchased some of the first Leyland Atlanteans. 6445 was one of the originally lowbridge batch allocated to Silverhill and is seen in Chatham in April 1978 on a service 327 journey between Rainham and Gravesend. |
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M&D ordered BET style single deckers in large numbers during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The early examples were AEC Reliances with Weymann bodywork as illustrated by this example in Hastings in the summer of 1978. |
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Willowbrook bodied Leyland Leopard PSU3 was originally purchased to work express coach services, venturing as far afield as Devon and Norfolk. By April 1974 it was wearing NBC dual purpose livery although it spent its remaining days on stage carriage duties. 2816 is seen in Earl Street, Maidstone with a 155 service to Chatham via Aylesford, Burham, Wouldham and Rochester. |
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Maidstone & District purchased a number of shorter wheelbase Leyland Leopards for rural services. Willowbrook bodied PSU4 3428 is seen at East Grinstead in September 1979 after working a service from Crowborough. |
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M&D was selected by the National Bus Company for trials of new generation double deck vehicles. The hilly terrain of Hastings and the Medway Towns was considered particularly suitable for putting the buses through their paces. Originally Metropolitans, Metrobuses and Titans were due to be evaluated although the latter never operated with M&D. Scania/Metropolitan 5255 is seen on a Medway Towns local service in September 1982. |
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Maidstone & District received several batches of Northern Counties bodied Daimler Fleetlines during the 1960s. One of the earlier examples 6087 waits to enter Maidstone Depot after working a service from Borough Green in April 1982. |
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MAP revisions in Maidstone in August 1981 resulted in the closure of Maidstone Depot. One of the consequences of this was the joint M&D/East Kent 10 service between Folkestone and Maidstone was extended to Sevenoaks, bringing East Kent buses deep into traditional M&D territory. Bristol VRT/ECW 7676 passes through Ightham in July 1985. In September 1996, this vehicle was involved in an accident in Hothfield while on rail replacement duties and did not return to service. Thanks to Duncan Page, a former East Kent driver for the above information. |
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Despite appearances, this is a Maidstone & District bus - or at least, it was. M&D were never enthusiastic about Leyland Nationals - 3503 was transferred to East Kent becoming their 1503 and is seen leaving Ramsgate Harbour in June 1986 |
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