Historic coach arrives at British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland to become new exhibit

A historic 'East Kent' coach has travelled 300 miles north to the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Lancashire.

The single-deck luxury coach, which started life in 1938 as a 'Leyland Titan' double-deck bus, will become a prominent new exhibit at the renowned museum located in Leyland. 

The vehicle had a varied life while in service with East Kent. Firstly as a double-deck regular service bus, then later as a single-deck tour coach which also provided an Express Service between several Kent towns and London's Victoria Coach Station. 

After the end of World War 2 there was an increasing demand for single deck coaches, but orders for new vehicles met with long delivery times. 

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To ease the problem, the bodies were removed from pre-war double-deck buses and new integral single-deck bodies built and then installed onto the original chassis. 

In this case, the new body was constructed by J C Beadle Coaches of Dartford.  

Today, the Beadle Group successfully operates with multi-franchise car distributors. After retirement from service, the coach was maintained and used by the "M&D and East Kent Bus Club.

The British Commercial Vehicle Museum has a rich history itself, dating back to the 1930s, and was formerly part of Leyland Motors as well as being part of the town’s motoring history.

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Although still in full working order, the coach has a top speed of only 40 mph, so it was given a sedate but speedy ride to Lancashire on a specialist vehicle operated by Rochester based Neil Yates Recovery. 

It now proudly shares a display area which includes many rare and famous vehicles including the Popemobile built for John Paul II's visit in 1982,.

There are also several historic steam lorries dating from 1896, a large 1st World War gun tractor and a huge heavy haulage Scammell lorry.  

You can follow the story further on the museum's website www.britishcommercialvehiclemuseum.com.