R.I.P Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022

On this incredibly sad day and while watching the funeral of our Queen, I thought it appropriate to remember how our local buses including Metro and Black Prince celebrated her Silver and Golden Jubilees.

The Silver and Golden Jubilees saw many bus operators and other services going silver or gold in celebration of the Queen's 25/50 years of reign.

Metro produced the rather fine example of JUM201L during the Silver Jubilee celebration of 1977 - the silver and purple livery really looked superb on the "Jumbo" bodystyle and the bodyside lettering read "THE QUEEN'S SILVER JUBILEE 1977" .

In 2002, the paintshop at Fountain Street were tasked with the repaint of H811WKH (811) into a special gold livery with golden jubilee lettering along the bodysides.

811 looked fabulous with the crown on the bodyside and it was great to see Brian and Sheila joining the Golden Jubilee spirit!.

The photographs attached were taken by Martin Calvert in 1977 and Michael Nash in June 2002.