Sheffield retro: Keen-eyed Star reader realises bus pictured in 1960s is on display at Transport Museum

A keen-eyed reader of The Star was delighted this week to realise a bus pictured in one of our retro galleries from the 1960s is not only still here today - but is lovingly on display in a museum.

Dave Jordan was looking through one of The Star’s recent galleries of pictures from our archives when he spotted a familiar face.

No, it wasn’t a fondly-remembered teacher or long-forgotten shop owner, but nevertheless a friendly sight and something that has probably aged better than most things or people from the 60s - a Sheffield United Transport panorama bus, pictured on Pond Street in 1961.

Not only that, Dave knew what bus it was - coach number 322 - because he knows exactly where to go to see it if he wanted to check.

It is on display, right now, in the South Yorkshire Transport Museum, in Waddington Way, Rotherham, where Dave works.

The picture may be 63 years old, but the lovingly-preserved licence plate made it unmistakable - it’s the very same.

Dave, a member of the Ex Sheffield United Transport Employees Group, was able to share a wonderful account of the bus’ history with The Star.

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He writes: “This very same coach formed part of a 10 year restoration project financed by a £24,000 grant from the national science museum at Broughton.

“The ‘panorama’ coach was a joint development between SUT AND Plaxton’s coach builders of Scarborough, which changed coach design with its large windscreen and large none opening windows, hence the grant and the need to preserve.

“John Otter, an electrician at SUT, won a competition to name this coach ‘Panorama,’ however he later admitted he got the idea from watching BBC PANORAMA running at the time.

“SUT with its fleet of over 100 coaches specialised in British and continental tours as well as all holiday express services to all major seaside holiday destinations.”

The South Yorkshire Transport Museum displays painstakingly restored vehicles from the county’s history, with over 80 preserved exhibits dating back to 1947 over 25,000 square feet. Visit their website for more information.