In Wigan, the passenger could easily find their chosen destination by the different colour of their bus – most famously the town’s “cherry and white” Corpy buses.
But there were also others, such as the bright red of the LUT (Lancashire United Transport) buses based in Atherton, the Ribble maroon bus, the Fishwick green bus, and the Corless Motor Service bus, all plying their trade competitively in the town.
Here we take a fond look back at these great old buses of yesteryear, and some of the characters who worked on them.
1. Young 'clippie' Pat Rainford takes part in a feature by the Wigan Evening Post, 'A day in the life of one of Wigan's bus conductresses', in 1974.
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2. Wigan Corporation bus conductress Anne Walsh, aged 60, on her last day of work before retiring in January 1972. Anne first became a clippie in 1940 but was made redundant six years later before being back on the buses in 1952. She is pictured with driver Dick Broomhead who was her bus driver mate for the last seven years. (Pic: Frank Orrell)
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3. The Ribble buses inter departmental football team ready to board the bus on Wigan market square in 1965. (Pic: Frank Orrell)
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4. A Wigan bus makes its slow way up Standishgate in a snow storm in the 1970s
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