Bus preservation group drives heritage forward
WHEN it comes to a love of buses, Paul Pearson has gone one step further than most.
As secretary of the Potteries Omnibus Preservation Society (POPS), a group that preserves old buses, there are five vehicles owned by the organisation that he can enjoy.
But Paul has also purchased four buses of his own as he indulges in an interest that goes back to when he was a youngster.
The 54-year-old civil servant said: "I dread to think how much I have spent.
"I bought my first one in 2002 and don't know whether it was the right thing to do in life but it snowballed from there."
His first vehicle, a Bristol VR, was one of 131 that bus company First ran in the region but there were less than 10 around when he made his purchase.
From there, he has gone on to buy more from the company, which used to be PMT.
Paul's buses often get taken out when the group attends events and he says he is not the only one to make purchases of his own.
The group has around 75 members, many of them still in the Potteries but others live in places such as Kent, Wales and Bristol. One has even moved to Saudi Arabia.
Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Longton Workingmen's Club.
Paul, of Osborne Road, Hartshill, said: "Our main objective is to save the buses from being scrapped and keep them for future generations to see.
"We are all grown-up kids who probably had toy cars and buses when we were lads and it turned into the real thing as we became adults.
"Some people stay with model collecting because it is more affordable but I longed to get my hands on a real bus."
POPS was set up in 1976 by PMT when the company wanted to preserve a bus that was due to be withdrawn.
John Cooke was one of the employees at the initial meeting and is still a member today.
The former bus driver, who retired from work at the Adderley Green depot five years ago, said: "I had always been interested in buses, trains and air crafts but used to edit the PMT in-house magazine and got more into historical information then.
"I'm not surprised the group has lasted so long because you could tell from the atmosphere at that meeting that people really wanted to give it a go."
The first bus was handed over to the group in January the following year and was a Leyland OPD2, which was new in 1949 and ran until the '70s.
Next came a Leyland Atlantean, a model double-decker bus, of which there were 105 in the Potteries between 1959 and 1980.
The buses are kept in storage and brought out for events between May and October.
One of them is the Potteries Transport Rally, which is organised by the group and takes place each May.
John, aged 69, who lives in Star and Garter Road, Lightwood, said: "We are not a huge society in terms of having hundreds of members like others do but the fact that we can run one of the top rallies in the country shows something."
POPS will have some of its vehicles on display at Churnet Valley Railway's Froghall station tomorrow, from 10am.
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