EYMS Memories
Memories from Fred Wilson
Fred Wilson was born in November 1904 and became an East Yorkshire bus driver in May 1933. In February 1955 Fred was promoted to inspector and
continued in this role until his retirement in November 1969. Much of his driving career involved touring the country with coach parties, in which time
he amassed an extensive collection of brochures, postcards and photographs of the places he had visited. This collection was donated to EYMS and was
recently rediscovered whilst we were reviewing the company archive.
The photographs below show Fred with some of the vehicles used for coach tours during the 40's and 50's. If anyone is able to give us more details about
any of these vehicles it would be most appreciated.
Pictured above are 2 of 3 Windover bodied Leyland Royal Tiger Coaches which were purchased in 1953. NRH 656 was fleet
number 615.
Above are two pictures of 33 seater 1947 Duple-bodied AEC Regal coaches, three of which where acquired from Sheffield United
Tours in 1948 for a total of £8621.3.6d.
Connor & Graham Ltd.
On the 21st October 1921 Mr Campbell Connor and Mr James H. Graham bought a 14 seater model T Ford to run between Easington and Hull. This was
the start of Connor & Graham. The business was successful so during the next few years more buses were bought.
AT 6226 - A 1921 Model T Ford negotiating the flooded road on route to Easington.
In 1954 Mr Campbell Connor was bought out and the company then became a limited company with Mr J. H. Graham, Mr T. W. Graham and their two
wives becoming directors.
CWF 575 - A 1943 Bedford OWB negotiating the snow on route to Hull
In 1974 the company bought Embassy Coaches from its retiring owner, Mr H. Falkingham. This increased the business by 5 coaches and a minibus,
and also included the Alma Street Garage in Withernsea.
Connor & Graham ran both daily services between Hull and Withernsea, and also many excursions. Connor & Graham's buses were also used in
the production of Winifred Holtby's 'South Riding'.
SNF 939 - A 1956 Bedford SBG
In 1981 Connor and Graham celebrated its diamond jubilee year. In 1993 Connor & Graham sold three double deck buses to East Yorkshire Motor Services,
these were YNA 358M (869), PRH 246G (872) and XJA 508L (885). By 1994 East Yorkshire Motor Services had bought the Connor & Graham business.
A607 UGD (Volvo B10M), KUC 915P (Daimler CRL6) and OJI 7078 (Volkswagen LT55) later to become EY fleet 87, 895 and 96
In 1983 Leyland Leopard OBT 693M was named Mrs Marjorie Graham, a name it was to keep up to 1998 when it was sold.
Farewell to EYMS Routemasters
Sunday 2nd September 2001 saw the last EYMS Routemaster on regular service. East Yorkshire bought a
number of Routemasters to run on various routes in Hull between 1988 and 1993. Four of these vehicles
were retained, converted to open top and had been a regular feature on the Scarborough seafront since
June 1996 when 812, 816 and 819 was converted. 817 was converted later and had done the 109 service
since April 2000. The company decided that the conventional one man operated vehicles were more suitable
and these have been used since the 2002 summer season.
The Routemasters have been retired and sold except for fleet 812 which is now part of the Heritage
fleet and is available for hire.
Back on the Road with 808
In 2001 East Yorkshire Motor Services put its preserved London-style "Routemaster" double-deck
bus back into regular service for 3 days. This was both as part of EYMS's 75th anniversary celebrations,
and to celebrate 45 years since the first Routemaster carried fare-paying passengers on the streets of London
on 8 February 1956.
East Yorkshire bought a number of these well-known London buses to run as crew - rather than driver only - services on a number of routes in Hull
between 1988 and 1993, and the company’s preserved example was one of those and was new to London in 1959. Here are a few photo's of the
first day out.
The crew on the bus pictured below are Martin Cleary (driver) and Heather Charlton (clippy).
EYMS Bristol VR's
Saturday 28 February 2004 saw the end of an era at Hull bus company EYMS when the last of a long line of double-deckers built by the now-defunct
Bristol Commercial Vehicles ran its last day in service, giving bus enthusiasts their last chance of a ride.
Bus 517 (PAG 517W)
The Bristol company built its first bus - a 16-seater - in 1908, and its first double-deck in 1923. The first rear-engined version appeared in prototype
form in 1966 and the ubiquitous VRT (Vertical-Rear-Transverse) started production in 1968. This had the engine mounted across the chassis at the back
of the bus, and with a few design modifications along the way the VRT continued in production until 1981, by when 4474 had been built.
EYMS’ first Bristol VRT arrived in 1973 and between then and 1981 no less than 150 came into East Yorkshire, about half of them second hand, forming
the backbone of the double-deck fleet for many years.
791(MWG 941X) and 520 (WKH 520X)
In their latter years those remaining had been relegated to spare duties and now the last of the line has disappeared from the streets of Hull,
although three remain at Scarborough for the time being, having been converted to open-top for the seafront service.
Apart from the 3 open-tops, the last EYMS Bristols were the company’s fleet numbers 517 bought new in 1981, and 995 acquired secondhand in 1992.
Even now these EYMS buses are not all going to the scrap yard as both 517 and 995 were bought by a small operator in the north-east for further
service. 517 is now preserved and was recently at the 80th anniversary celebration at the Hull Streetlife Museum of Transport.
Bus 839 (VDV 139S)
With the arrival of the Volvo B10M Citybuses from Finglands the open top Bristol VR's at Scarborough are now close to retirement marking the true
end of the Bristol VR in the EYMS fleet.