Coaches in Maidstone in the late 1970's

[JFO]

Martyn H. also visited Maidstone a few times courtesy of NBC "WanderBus" Tickets, and in the summer of 1979 he saw one of East Kent Buses's AEC Reliance rebodies 8533 533FN with then recent Plaxton Elite coachwork, on route 008 to London Victoria at Maidstone's old Bus Station, while on another visit during the summer of 1980 he captured East Kent UFN487H a Duple AEC Reliance 691, heading through the centre of Maidstone on route to Dover, passing a Maidstone & District Buses Plaxton Leyland Leopard on Route 26, though we can't quite make out the registration it appears to be LKJ463N?
Finally also in 1979, Martyn snapped Maidstone Borough Council's HNU123N, a second hand Leyland Leopard Duple Dominant 'E' Express Coach shell, fitted with a Bus interior, that had recently arrived from Nottingham and was still wearing it's 'Lilac Leopard' livery but with the addition of MBC fleetnames, when seen on Route 88 to Senacre Wood.
However having been to Maidstone myself several times, I have so far struggled to recognize the locations of the two Colour shots, so does anyone have any ideas?

[Neil Gow]

The Leopard bus is 3453 (EKJ 453K) - Marshall not Plaxton. I reckon 8480 is pictured in King Street and appears to be turning into Wyke Manor Road, although I don't know why it would go that way as it doesn't seem to be the most obvious route to either the A229 or the A249.

[Clive Cheeseman]

In the left hand picture the coach is turning from Lower Stone Street into Mote Road, having presumably left Lower Stone Street bus station.

The right hand view is taken in Lower Stone Street Bus station. 

On Saturday, November 14, 2020 at 6:52:09 PM UTC JFO wrote:

[JFO]

For some reason Martyn's above mentioned 1979 shot of the Maidstone Borough Council Coach failed to upload, so here's HNU123N, a second hand Leyland Leopard Duple Dominant 'E' Express Coach shell, fitted with a Bus interior, that had recently arrived from Nottingham and was still wearing it's 'Lilac Leopard' livery but with the addition of MBC fleetnames, when seen on Route 88 to Senacre Wood, however having been to Maidstone myself several times, I have so far struggled to recognize the locations of this shot, so does anyone have any ideas?

[Richard Ratcliffe]

Not Wyke Manor Road – it’s turning into Mote Road from Lower Stone Street (the crossroads with Knightrider Street).  Those buildings “modern” at the time (Miller House) have now been completely remodelled from office to residential (flats).  Nice shot of recent Maidstone architectural history.

 

Ratty

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[Group_owner]

It's just come out of the (then fairly new) Stoneborough Centre bus station (later the Chequers Centre, now The Mall), and is about to turn left from Romney Place into Lower Stone Street.

The Stoneborough Centre was opened in 1976 and Maidstone Borough Council buses used it first, many M&D services remaining in their own Lower Stone Street Bus Station (though some would run through Stoneborough in the meantime) until this was finally closed and sold for redevelopment after close of service on 28th February 1988.

Many will be unaware that the shopping centre was initially to be called the Lenworth Centre (town maps dating from about 1974/5 show this name).  Since then it's had three different names, but the name Lenworth survives in the form of Lenworth House (a building recently refurbished as a block of flats, now sandwiched between Sainsburys car park and the west side of Wat Tyler Way), the oldest parts of which are claimed to date from the early 19th century.  The river Len (having started at Lenham and flowed through the lakes at Leeds Castle and Mote Park) runs underneath Lenworth House and the Mall centre, emerging into the pond in front of the former Rootes building in Palace Avenue before emptying into the Medway.

I sense a river-themed thread coming on....

Derek J

[JFO]

Thanks Derek, now you've said that I think I've finally worked out where HNU123N was, and that shot is looking towards Chequers Bus Station with the big multi story car park on the left isn't it?