Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester

Museum Mini is Mint for the Memories

17 October 2011

Manchester’s Museum of Transport is taking visitors back to the time of rah-rah skirts, red braces and mobile phones the size of bricks - for just one weekend next week (22/23 October). And at the centre will be an iconic mini – a 1980s ‘Bee Line’ minibus, that is.

In October 1986, bus services were ‘deregulated’ and companies were allowed to compete on Greater Manchester’s roads for customers. It was a time when bus companies sprang up – and disappeared – almost every week, and probably the biggest one of all was the Bee Line Bus Company.

Bee Line’s yellow and red minibuses buzzed all over Greater Manchester, with a catchy bee logo and little buses every few minutes. But the competition was too much, and within a few years Bee Line was just a memory and eventually their little minibuses went to the scrapyard to be recycled into tin cans.

That is, all except one. Manchester’s Museum of Transport rescued one lonely little Bee, and now – exactly twenty-five years later – bus number D63NOF has been restored to ‘as new’ mint condition and will be giving free rides to visitors at the Museum’s ’25 years of deregulation’ special event (subject to availability).

“It might seem like only yesterday, but everything about Greater Manchester’s buses changed a quarter of a century ago,” said event organiser John Pollock. “Nothing was the same after October 1986. Bus companies came and went, drivers literally raced each other to reach the bus stop first. And the absolute symbol of it all was the little minibus with the bright red and yellow paint and the bee on the front. And just for one weekend, we’ll bring back that time to the streets of Manchester, or at least the street outside the Museum of Transport.”

There will be other buses from the 1980s on display at the Museum, plus displays inside showing everything from timetable leaflets to photos of lines of buses queuing up for business. And there’ll be free bus rides from the Museum, bringing back the days of Gordon Gecko and 80s fashion disasters. John Pollock said that the Museum would be taking part in the fun of the period: “It’ll be a cheap day out for the family and a bit of fun. But just to add a bit of the 1980s spirit, the Museum will be offering free entry that weekend to anyone who dares turn up wearing red braces!”

Ends

About the Bee Line minibus

D63NOF is a ‘Freight Rover Sherpa’ built in 1986. It has 18 seats and has been restored in time for the event.

About the Museum of Transport and the '25 years of deregulation' event

The event will be held at Greater Manchester’s Museum of Transport on Saturday and Sunday 22/23 October from 10 am to 5 pm. The Museum is in Boyle Street, Manchester M8 8UW (close to Manchester Fort shopping park) and an admission charge will apply - accompanied children under 16 visit free.