From its formation in 1919 in Wigan, Lancashire, Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company Limited grew to become one of Britain’s most prominent bus builders. From independent operators both large and small, through to the municipal sector, the British Electric Traction and Scottish Motor Traction groups and the large PTE fleets, their coachwork appeared throughout the land. In this book, Howard Wilde focuses on the later years, with photographs from the late 1980s onwards, showing Northern Counties-bodied buses at work in various locations across the country. Some of these show buses as they were when new; others depict the colourfully varied second-hand scene that this deregulated era fostered. The selection provides a fascinating insight into the state of the British bus industry at the time, as well as paying tribute to this well-loved and much-missed coachbuilder.

Howard Wilde was born in Hyde, Cheshire in 1966, and has had a strong interest in buses since early childhood. Away from buses and his ‘day job’ in the banking industry, he is also a keen amateur musician, and has played saxophone and clarinet in several wind bands over the years. He is married with one grown-up son.