TROLLEYBUSES!

We're now on the Isle of Axholme and heading west, soon arriving at Belton village. Here's a postcard of an area called Grey Green.

 

A windmill and a bridge over one of the many drains in and around Belton.

Belton station, on the Axholme Joint Railway.

Here's what's left in 1974.

The Sir Solomon was a pub in the centre of Belton. It's gone now.

By the church, the Vicarage.

Also close to the church, the Crown Hotel.

The Crown became a Darley's house, as seen in 1976. I'm happy to report that it's still going strong.

Heading west, out of the village, we can call in at the Wheatsheaf.

Barry Dodd's bus (trading as Selwyn Motors) could have taken us onwards to Sandtoft (centre photo by Andrew Fieldsend)..

As we arrive at Sandtoft, we pass the old RAF airfield, part of which is in use by the Sandtoft Transport Centre, now known as the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft.Here, back in the early 1970s, volunteers are erecting the poles to carry the overhead wires.

Doncaster Corporation 375 was the first trolleybus to run under its own power at Sandtoft.

Some overhead work taking place.

Here are a few of the resident trolleybuses, from Nottingham, Derby and Aachen.

Each July, the Sandtoft Gathering is held, with lots of visiting vehicles. London's RM737 was a regular attendee.

It wasn't just buses at the Gathering.

A feature of each Gathering is the beer tent. The erstwhile miniature railway passes by in 1998.

This railway has now gone, but here it is in action. A new line is now under construction.

A Mainline bus prepares for departure at the end of a Gathering day.

Sandtoft once had a short-lived bus service, operated by Lincolnshire Road Car.

Epworth Travel was a bus company based at Sandtoft. It didn't last long.

A good place to end today's journey is the Reindeer, in the centre of Sandtoft village.

Next time, we'll enter South Yorkshire. Here's a link to the route so far.