The blue years of a Lancashire municipal

Such is the prolific output of Amberley’s colour picture albums that we currently have over 30 of last year’s titles waiting for a chance of a review. This is one of the first released in 2019. Although the title might suggest that content is focused on the years immediately before and after the Big Bang of 26 October 1986, the uncaptioned cover picture of passengers waiting to be admitted aboard a 1965 Leyland Titan PD3A/1 points towards the welcome inclusion of scenes from a good many years before. Mike Rhodes’s introduction tells the story of public transport in what now is a city from the introduction of trams in 1879, the start of electric municipal trams in 1904 and buses in 1922.