Classic wedding conveyance(s)

Whilst Blackpool's Wedding Chapel/Venue on the promenade has been very popular as an authorised venue to tie the knot - Blackpool Town Hall with its less exposed location is equally sought after. The classic interior resonates a time when the town really was considered to be at the forefront of holiday resorts and an all round place to spend a week or two (as opposed to an overnight or weekend stay).

Organisers of such personal occasions are free to choose the manner and style of their celebration. It was therefore stunning to see the now married couple's Rolls Royce in classic cream colour alongside a reminder of the equally classic Lytham St Annes Corporation all Leyland bus to carry the guests to their Reception. Both were parked in front of the Town Hall (after the football protest march had moved on to Bloomfield Road of course). In brilliant sunshine the Wedding Party were boarding this all time smart municipal liveried vehicle - another reminder of former times when local transport was in the hands of municipalities keen to maintain ownership of their buses, trolleybuses (and the remaining trams). Lytham St Annes perpetuated the blue and white livery of its early trams (closed in the 1930s) on its bus fleet right up to privatisation and onset of the Fylde Bus operation. With several variations over several decades the 'prussian blue' and white with black trim always well maintained from wartime to the 1960s - was probably the most stunning.

Faithful to Leyland Motors up to the end of that company's bus building operation, and thereafter to Lancashire builders - Lytham St Annes Corporation Transport put its purchasing money into the northwest (for the most part). It even operated former Preston and Accrington trams for a few final years of its tramway service; in addition to the bulk of its tram fleet - built either in Trafford Park or at Preston - where else? This really was the 'Northern Powerhouse'.

Photos Copyright : John Woodman