An undated (probably mid-fifties) image of a 1939-vintage S.H.M.D. Daimler COG6, fleet-number 2, reg.no. FTU132.
The bus is seen leaving Hamnett Street in Hyde town-centre on the '15' service from Hyde to the Shaw Hall estate in the mill-town's Newton district. The streets around Hyde's market area had to make do as an improvised bus-station until one was built in the early '60s.
This particular bus went on to be a driver-training vehicle and then was converted into a crews' canteen-vehicle that was parked on waste ground near Hyde bus-station for many years (there was a recent e-bay sale of a photo of the bus in its canteen role). I believe it was sent for scrap in the late '60s.

There can't be many preserved buses with this style of N.C.M.E. body with the thick upper-deck pillars at front and back: in fact, only the ex-Leicester preserved A.E.C. Renown from 1939 comes to mind.

On the left of the picture is the town's old U.C.P. café; many of these well-patronised U.C.P. cafés and shops
disappeared overnight, just like Woolworths (which was on the opposite corner), a Santander branch (ex-Abbey National) is now in the much-altered U.C.P. premises.

(The photograph was taken by a now-unknown Hyde person and ended up with my contact Susan Jaleel).

Photographer unknown, courtesy John Hardman, mid 1950s, Hamnett Street, Hyde

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