| Samuel Ledgards’s blue buses operated between Bradford, Otley, Harrogate and Leeds. Ledgard’s empire, based at the Nelson Hotel, where he was the publican and brewer, started with haulage in 1906 and grew to include outside catering and a quarry business. He ran his first bus in 1912 and ran a charabanc with an interchangeable body (U 1949) to Blackpool and Scarborough in 1913. After the war, his business grew with the acquisition of other companies, retained as legally separate subsidiaries in Company livery. Samuel died in 1952, and the Company continued for a further 15 years under the control of the executors, finally being sold in October 1967. Samuel always bought new Leylands, so the executors’ choice of six Roe bodied AEC Regent Vs was surprising at the time. The first of these was registered 1949 U, recalling Sam’s first chara. The Samuel Ledgard Society has erected a blue plaque on the Nelson, where Sam was publican for 54 years. Destination 1 – Leeds via Otley. Destination 2 – Ilkley via Guiseley. Release date: August 2007 |
