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Hello all!.. It's been a long time since we have posted in our blog, after technical issues put a stop to proceedings a few months ago!...We hope the issue is now resolved and will be posting the latest updates shortly!. Meanwhile, who has got any old Black Prince related items they might want to pass on to an extremely good cause? We are interested in anything related to Black Prince, in our quest to build a comprehensive history collection of the business and it's merchandise, such as timetables, leaflets photos and cards/luggage tags, tickets and posters.. It would be great to hear from you if you can help with such items :-) Cheers!

On fathers Day 2016, 441 appeared at the 40th annual "Peak Park" running day, based at Rowsley South station near Matlock. The day was absolutely heaving, with a huge cycling event in progress in nearby Bakewell, at the showground and free bus services operated by heritage buses linking several sites in the area, including Matlock, Darley Dale, Bakewell and Chatsworth. 441 carried a good load of invited guests to and from the show, and during the event, operated on routes 3, 4 and 5, with guests on board taking great interest in the history of the vehicle and it's status as an Optare demonstrator for the "Prisma" body design. The first two photographs below show 441 sharing the line up of vehicles with some very interesting machines, the Renault, Northern Counties to the left being of the same experimental London bus batch as our own stalwart fleet member Scania S113, F113OMJ, which along with an Optare Delta, were trialled in London service in the late 1980's. 441 is seen awaiting departure with a service 4 to Matlock Interchange, with the top man, DNC at the controls. Arriving back at the rally site, 441 is seen after working a Darley Dale service, to connect with the steam train service. Peak shopping village was the terminus of the route number 5, a short hop from the rally site. 441 was duplicated by the Chesterfield Leyland Leopard, PRA109R. Ready for the return run home to Morley, after a great day in the Peak District, thank you to all concerned-rain showers dodged successfully!. #441 #PeakRail #MercedesBenz #BlackPrinceBuses #OptareDemonstrator #Optare #Prisma

Congratulations, ConneXions Buses, Tockwith-on your takeover of former Black Prince route 38 which serves the White Rose Centre or Wortley via Headingley to Gledhow. The route was operated by Black Prince, contracted by Metro on weekday evenings for the latter part of the 1990's into the early 2000's and saw regular traction in the form of Optare Vecta/MAN midibuses or Scania and Mercedes citybuses. To mark the takeover of the route by one of Yorkshire's largest indpendent bus operators, preserved Black Prince bus, number 441, was taken to the ConneXions Buses depot on the 9th June, the week before the new 38 route commenced operation, to be posed up with a Scania saloon, both buses displaying appropriate matching front displays!. #441 #OptareDemonstrator #MercedesBenz #Optare #BlackPrinceBuses

The sun shone bright over Nottingham on Sunday June 5th 2016, where the huge classic car show of the Austin Seven club was taking place, along with a funfair, music and the stately home of Wollaton Hall forming the stunning backdrop for cars old and new of all descriptions which were on show-the sheer number of vehicles was truly awesome! A huge crowd attended to which we contributed a bus full of guests, travelling in style from Morley on board Mercedes-Benz 577. A nice selection of buses and commercials added some variety and naturally a huge display of NCT and Trent vehicles formed the centre of the display. #577 #MercedesBenz #Optare #BlackPrinceBuses #Prisma

The newly restored 441 made its preservation debut in Black Prince livery at the Morecambe vintage bus day on 29th May 2016. Organised by the Ribble vehicle trust, the event ran smoothly and was blessed with beautiful sunshine for the whole day and huge crowd numbers visiting the seaside. 441 performed superbly and made a nice bright and different addition to the days proceedings. Many thanks to Jack Berry for sponsoring this day trip, which was enjoyed by several Black Prince friends and enthusiasts, culminating in a scenic tour home via the Yorkshire Dales with a fish and chips call in Skipton and an opportunity for a photo call or two!. #441 #OptareDemonstrator #MercedesBenz #Optare #BlackPrinceBuses #Prisma

With great pride, I announce the unveiling of newly restored 441, named "Natasha", after the youngest member of the Black Prince family!. 441 was saved for preservation by Jack Berry in 2015, being placed in the care of Bradley McMullan and restored by David Crowther. The bus has had a makeover, with some panel work undertaken, before the paintshop took over and transformed the exterior to the same high standard as previous project, 577. Kevin, Marie, Andy and friends at the paintshop have done a fantastic job outshopping 441 in time for its debut event at Morecambe, and we share our thanks and grateful appreciation for your efforts and skills with the project. 441 has also had an interior makeover and is now once again in a condition befitting it's status when new as an Optare demonstrator. Here we present 441 on a photo shoot shortly after collection. Look out for the bus at events around the North of England soon!. #441 #OptareDemonstrator #MercedesBenz #Optare #BlackPrinceBuses #Prisma

577 had a monster day out on the 15th May 2016, when our Mercedes teamed up with a Scania, from the fleet of ConneXions Buses, THE Harrogate Bus Co. to make the journey from West and North Yorkshire to Whittlesey, near Peterborough for the Fenland Busfest, 2016. We all of us had a most enjoyable day at the event and it was great to be able to give the buses a good leg stretching, photographed above with an interesting selection of vehicles in Gonerby Moor services, A1 southbound. On arrival at the business area of the event, we were given a wonderful cake which was a really nice surprise!. 577 participated in the free bus service, linking the centre of Whittlesey with the local classic car show which was tied in with the Busfest. 577 carried full standing loads and there were many positive comments and lots of questions about the bus and the livery, as it is not a colour scheme local people were familiar with. The last ride of the day for 577 was a trip over the 701 route, duplicating 1500. I think it's safe to say this is the first appearance of a Black Prince bus in Peterborough bus station!. Many thanks to all who were involved with the organisation of the event, good luck with your 2017 "Busfest!". On the way home, we stopped off at the services on the A1, for a diablo sandwich and a doctor pepper, where we were greeted by an old friend and colleague, who was in charge of a superb Mercedes-Benz Tourismo, of the Shearings Grand Tourer fleet, making an interesting comparison with it's 20 year old cousin, N577EUG. #577 #Optare #Prisma #BlackPrinceBuses #MercedesBenz

Thank you to the YTCC and friends of Crow Nest park, for inviting us to join in the fun at Dewsbury, Crow Nest park, on bank holiday Monday, 02/05/2016. We had a superb day, dodging the rain remarkably well and enjoying the classic cars and commercials on display. 577 ran a free feeder service to this event, leaving Morley as a 205 at 1000, returning at 1530 from the event. #YTCC #CrowNestPark #577 #BlackPrinceBuses

#577 #Optare #Prisma #MercedesBenz #BlackPrinceBuses

The 54 started running again recently in West Yorkshire - but I don't imagine anybody was expecting this to turn up at Leeds City Square on a damp Saturday morning! Keith Billingsley is the proud owner of the unique low height Volvo Ailsa that was new to Derby as 71 (RTO1R). He has saved it from the scrapman on two occasions now, and after much hard work on its mechanicals and bodywork, it was ready for a repaint. A massive Black Prince fan, Keith chose the best colours possible for an Ailsa - red, yellow and maroon of course! Thus 814 was born in its own unique interpretation of the Black Prince livery. A massive well done to Keith and everyone involved in this project, what a superb job - the Black Prince revival continues. Here it is calling at Morley Asda, terminus of the original Black Prince 54 route, shortly after it emerged from the paintshop in early March 2016. #Ailsa #Volvo #Alexander #4738Group #Lowheight #Derby

Easter weekend 2016 saw two notable events in the transport calendar, the Kirkby Stephen classic vehicle rally and the LVVS Easter open day at the Lincoln transport museum. 577 attended BOTH events, covering 100's of miles in one weekend, operating in service and creating lots of interest with the visitors who had the pleasure of Mercedes-Benz power. Expertly driven by Mr Crowther, we paired up with a red and yellow Clydeside Scottish Routemaster in Kirkby Stephen, similar to Black Prince's very own "Rudolph" RM441..and as we drove the main street in convoy, a Blue Ailsa passed us by, a vehicle which was present at the final days operation of Black Prince in 2005!.. In Lincoln, 577 paired up with a Metropolitan for service, from a batch of buses which were a familiar sight around morley in the early 90's..we had a super time and it was a shame the weather was a little unkind, but it did provide some great photo opportunities nonetheless!. #577 #MercedesBenz #Prisma #BlackPrinceBuses #LVVS #KirkbyStephen #MetropolitanScania #Clydeside

In 2016, preserved Black Prince buses can be seen supporting the program of events at the WRomt, Dewsbury bus museum. The season kicked off with the event in spring, Sunday March 13th, with a historic vehicle running day, vehicle display and depot open day. A huge selection of buses, coupled with good warm weather ensured the 2016 spring event was a bumper day and huge passenger numbers were recorded by the museum. We went along with 577, starting the day with a trip over the 204 route from Morley to batley, specially extending to the bus museum to connect with the event in Ravensthorpe. Black Prince operated the 204 in the early days of de-regulation, using Leopards and Nationals alongside REs. 577 could also be seen operating Dewsbury shuttle trips and a special service to Whitley. A very enjoyable day was had and thanks are extended to all involved with the organisation of the event. http://www.dewsburybusmuseum.co.uk #Dewsbury #577 #Optare #BlackPrinceBuses #Prisma #MercedesBenz