With the increasing onward thrust towards complete low floor bus operation in the Chesterfield area by Stagecoach it set me wondering when the first such examples were introduced to the area. It was really not all that long ago that the low floor revolution was set in motion when a number of such buses were introduced into service on Merseyside, pipping London to the post back in the mid-1990s. Likewise it was not the major local area operator who did so here, but Aston Express Coaches who introduced us to the type back in 1997 with four Dennis Dart SLF. These came as two that sported Wright Crusader bodywork (R529/31 YRP) and two with UVG bodies (R566/7 UOT). Their regular haunts were the 99 (Chesterfield-Crystal Peaks) and the 253 (Sheffield-Eckington), although a shorter 199 (Chesterfield-Eckington) also saw the type used thereon. Below are a selection of images of these four buses taken during the period 1997-2000 in and around the Chesterfield area.

For notes on Stagecoach low floor buses, see below these photographs

R529 YRP New Beetwell Street October 1997

R529 YRP Royal Hospital October 1997

R531 YRP Apperknowle October 1997

R531 YRP Middle Handley October 1997

R566 UOT Apperknowle October 1997

R567 UOT near Apperknowle October 1997

R567 UOT St Mary's Gate October 2000

Now when it came to our local major operator it was not until 1999 that the low floor type was introduced by Stagecoach. However, it was not on an established service but a joint effort with Virgin Trains to create a Rail Link from their major West Coast Main Line route at Macclesfield. Three Dennis Dart SLF with Plaxton Pointer bodywork (T801-803 OHL) were acquired and allocated fleet numbers 801-803 and appeared in a livery nothing like what we had seen before, being as it was akin to the Virgin corporate branding. These linked the WCML through the Peak District at varying times via Buxton and Bakewell to Chatsworth and Castleton and brought a distinctive image to the region. Once again two of the three buses are illustrated (802 always seemed to allude me), mostly in the sylvan setting of Chatsworth Park, but a couple taken at Buxton and Tideswell. Unfortunately whenever I saw them they were sparsely used and in due course they were repainted into Stagecoach's corporate livery and transferred onto local stage service work. They remain externally distinctive from other similar buses by their roof mounted air conditioning pods.

801 Chatsworth Park June 1999

801 Chatsworth Park June 1999

803 Buxton October 1999

803 Tideswell June 1999

33401 (formerly 801) Church Way September 2009

(C) Tony Wilson. All pictures the property of Tony Wilson (except the final one: Oliver Foreman) and must not be copied without permission