A heritage running day of free vintage bus rides will be held in Pudsey, West Yorkshire on 14 October to remember the Ledgard Company.
The occasion commemorates entrepreneur Samuel Ledgard – publican, caterer, farmer, and fleet operator. From 1912, the Ledgard Company operated distinctive blue-and-grey buses in and around Leeds and Otley, which became its main business.
In 1967, 15 years after Samuel’s death and 55 years after it started, the company was sold to West Yorkshire Road Car Company.
The last Ledgard buses ran on 14 October 1967. On Saturday, 50 years to the day after the company finished, vintage bus rides from the Pudsey Civic Hall in Cote Lane will be run by a Ledgard vehicle and preserved buses from other Yorkshire operators. They include a Leyland Lion from 1927.
There is also a Transport Collectors’ Fair in the hall from 1000-1500hrs, with 100 stalls selling transport memorabilia, and refreshments will be available.
More vintage buses will be run from Otley bus station on Sunday 15 October, with a display of vintage buses in Cattle Market Street nearby.
