Sargeants on
parade.
In deepest
Herefordshire, tucked in a valley more familiar to Celts and Romans than modern
day travellers, lies Kington which is a small town of 3200 souls and home to
Sargeants Coaches.
As befits an
operator of many years standing, the depot is very traditional, sitting
alongside a public footpath and sharing a vehicle right-of-way with caravans
using the adjacent campground. A single storey office fronts the depot with a
maintenance shed immediately behind, then a yard and at the bottom is a steam
cleaning ramp and wash area.
This is the type of
depot I love as it brings back fond memories. No paved areas, just rough
hardcore surface in-between a selection of various size potholes which are
filled with rain water and a mixture of diesel and oil floating as if a flatten
larva-lamp and hypnotic patterns gently drifting in the light breeze. Men in
overalls that are coated in the grime of many days' labour are under well
maintained vehicles, whilst others scrub and clean oblivious to the drenching
they are receiving.
Small town
operators with a loyal local staff are gradually becoming a rarity, may the
survivors live long and prosper.
R399 EOS, new to
Parks, Hamilton (KSK 950) and YIL 1720, new to Armchair (N713 CYC), both Volvo
B10M-62 with Van Hool Alizee C53F bodies parked adjacent to the maintenance
shed.
W408 UCJ Optare
Excel L1180 B43F was delivered new and now resides at the bottom of the yard
close to the steam cleaning ramp.
The two guard dogs
keep watch over Y877 PWT an Optare Solo M920 C31F, purchased new in 2001.
A line-up of Optare
products.
YJ03 UMK DAF
SDB250, Optare Spectra H47/27F new to Reading Buses in 2003.
YJ58 CFG, Optare Tempo
X1200 B43F, the ex Optare demonstrator, gets a scrubbing.
YJ10 MHU Optare
Solo M950 B31F originally delivered to Hatts in 2010 reverses out ready for the
short two hundred yard drive into Kington bus station and the 13.10 departure
on cross border route 461 to Llandrindod Wells.
FX03 ECC Mercedes
Benz 1223L with Ferqei (Optare import) C39F body acquired from Hatts.
(Never enter a
depot without seeking permission and never board a vehicle unless invited to do
so.)
