The British Commercial Vehicle Museum has reopened following a major refurbishment that has also allowed it to reorganise some of its displays that include three locally operated postwar Leylands
The British Commercial Vehicle Museum, in the sole surviving part of the original Leyland Motors factory in the centre of Leyland, Lancashire reopened in January following a major refurbishment made possible by a £1.8million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
First opened in 1983, it tells the story of commercial vehicles and buses in Britain from the 1860s to the present day, with a static display of vehicles and supporting visual and audio-visual material. There is a particular emphasis on Leyland and Foden vehicles, but many other makes also are represented.
The vehicles on display are changed occasionally. The buses currently there include one of the oldest exhibits, a 26- seat open-top horse drawn double-decker operated by Edinburgh & District Tramways Company, the precursor of today’s Lothian Buses.
Two Leylands from the local Fishwick’s fleet are a 1957 Weymann-bodied Olympian integral single-decker and a 1974 East Lancs-bodied Atlantean double-decker. The Olympian is one of six bought by Fishwic…
