EAST YORKSHIRE

A total of 34 new buses and coaches joined the fleet in 1934, these including 20 Leyland TS6s of which 11 had bus bodywork by Brush and 9 were coaches, 6 bodied by ECOC and 3 by English Electric. The remaining 14 were Brush highbridge-bodied Leyland TD3s, 10 being of conventional styling and the final four to East Yorkshire's own specification. On the latter, the top deck was tapered slightly inwards and the roof was specially shaped to correspond with the Gothic arch of Beverley Bar, an obstacle built in 1409 under which vehicles had to pass to gain access to Beverley town centre. These buses set the scene as far as East Yorkshire double deckers were concerned for over 30 years. Apart from the special contour of their roof, another unusual feature of these 'Beverley Bar' (and all subsequent) double deckers was the application of a broad white band around the edge of the roof. This, it was felt, created the optical illusion of a normally-shaped bus and tended to hide the high peak of the roof to some degree. This band, painted along each side of the roof and across the front dome (but for some unknown reason not continued on to the rear dome) was perpetuated until the demise of the blue livery in the 'seventies, and strangely was even applied to low-height buses such as the AEC Renowns and Bristol VRTs. Furthermore it was revived when the Routemasters acquired in 1988 received the traditional livery, officially described as indigo, primrose and white.