These are letters pages and the views expressed therein are purely the views of the writers; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or publisher of BUSES
LEYLAND NATIONALS
I very much enjoyed reading the piece on Leyland Nationals at 50 (Buses July). I can still vividly recall my first ride on a National, Lincolnshire 2803 (UFE 805M). This was one of the operator's first batch of four and was allocated to Grantham, where I lived at the time.
As a young enthusiast, on my 11th birthday, May 3, 1974, the local team had arranged for it to operate service 31 to Knipton on the journey I used to return home from school. The bus was very new - possibly only its third day in service.
The staff there were very supportive to me and helped me to improve my industry knowledge and (I am sure) helped to confirm my desire to work in the industry. Riding on this compared to (say) a Bristol MW felt like space age technology at the time. I would have seen Nationals before this, as family visits to both Leicester (Midland Red HHA-L batch) and Nottingham (City Transport GAU-L batch on the city centre service) were quite regular.
In later years I disliked Nationals, like a number of us of a certain age…
