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Paul Williams

@northwestern299a.bsky.social
104 followers 136 following 86 posts

Amateur historian, corporate communications leader, vintage bus owner, trustee at Museum of Transport Greater Manchester.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“We went on holiday to a railway station” “What, a real one with trains?” “Yes, absolutely” “Oh no, that must have been terrib- oh…”
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Brilliant view of the partial eclipse… 😹
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
🇬🇧 British Political Spectrum Quiz My result: Social Democrat Economic: leaning collectivist Social: centrist Sovereignty: cosmopolitan Military: leaning hawkish Authority: leaning authoritarian Constitutional: centrist Take the quiz: quiz.jmoxley.co.uk
quiz.jmoxley.co.uk
British Political Spectrum Quiz
Find out where you sit on the British political map across six dimensions.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
1/2 About 3 years ago, I booked in to Travelodge Manchester Arena. Got there, found that my room hadn’t been prepared and was a mess. Went back to Reception, they gave me another room. As I reached it, I *thought* I heard a noise from inside. So I knocked, and a lone woman guest answered the door.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
First instalment of my Big Day Out to Carlisle via the Settle-Carlisle railway today. First leg from Lichfield to Crewe is on time but for some reason there’s no heat on the train so it’s freezing 🥶
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Got to the platform at Birmingham New St this evening to catch the train back to Lichfield. This was in the platform - but sadly not our train! It left a minute later, leaving us with rather more mundane transport home…
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
My restoration project in a trade magazine. It’ll be a long and bumpy road to completion…
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Reposted by Paul Williams
Sheffield Tribune @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
“It broke my heart, that was my savings towards a new car,” one woman who paid Milne tens of thousands of pounds told us. “He has just wiped me out.” Who is Andrew Milne - the solicitor sending "very aggressive" letters to Sheffield homeowners? www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
sheffieldtribune.co.uk
A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived
Exclusive: The Tribune can reveal that Andrew Milne has threatened leaseholders with high court action. It ‘broke my heart’ one woman says
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Not all cartoons are just simple and funny. This one is so uplifting it brings me to tears, and strongly reminds me of my daughter’s cancer journey. xkcd.com/2386/
xkcd.com
Ten Years
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
I'm posting this thread not because I think people will read it, let alone find it interesting, but for my own amusement. I've always been interested in transport, whether it be land, air or sea. But my first love is buses. Here's the story of how I restored my North Western 299A, a 1968 Bristol.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
It’s a dreary and miserable day AGAIN. Then I look at this photo from February in Auckland, and I feel better 🙂
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
I recently bought a 1965 classic coach to restore. Every time I see it, I overwhelmed by two thoughts: "what a lovely survivor, what a treasure it'll be when it's finished"; and "oh good grief, what on earth have I done?"
The inside of a very tatty 1960s coach, looking towards the front. There are no seats, no windscreen and ther overall effect is that it's in very poor condition.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Superbly thought-out proposals.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Oops, I did it again... I appear to have commenced a new restoration project. Should keep me busy for the next few years.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
More productive than watching 'Cash in the Attic'...
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
That moment when you’re working on a restoration project that’s years away from completion, and you’ve spent all day in the sweltering heat removing the dirt, oil and corruption of sixty years from various chassis components, and suddenly you pause and think ‘oh actually, that’s looking better’.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Am I alone in feeling that, while I’m sorry for the young man and his family, it feels a bit OTT that this morning’s BBC breakfast news is completely dominated by a Portuguese footballer dying in France by crashing his Lamborghini…?
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Wow, what a day. As a raffle prize I got a morning on a @gwr.com class 800 simulator. Once the instructor realised I knew a little bit, he started throwing all kinds of trouble at me! A memorable day.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
My daughter had cancer when she was six. Here she is at 29, a successful graphic designer, near the finish of her first half marathon - she smashed it in 2:01:59. I couldn't be prouder of her.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
*STILL* in #Whamageddon - went to a family gathering last night, their Alexa had been told to play Christmas songs, but 'that song' never played! I know there's no prize, but I'm unreasonably smug about having got so far without living under a rock for the last 22 days.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
I can’t believe I’m still in the game - haven’t heard ‘that song’ once since the beginning of December. Easily the furthest I’ve ever got. #Whamageddon
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
I deactivated the dead bird site today. Feels good.
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Reposted by Paul Williams
Museum of Transport Greater Manchester @motgm.uk · 22/11/2024
This year marks the 200th anniversary of buses, and it all started here in Greater Manchester. Here Mayor of GM @andyburnham.bsky.social recognises the part buses have had to play in our region's history, culminating in the creation of Bee Network.
youtube.com
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
I like taking photos in the snow. I went out this week and got a few during our recent cold snap.
A red DB Cargo freight train waits in the sidings at Peak Forest in Derbyshire. There's a sprinkling of snow on the ground.
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Reposted by Paul Williams
Museum of Transport Greater Manchester @motgm.uk · 15/11/2024
Invalid handle.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Let me tell you a whimsical story. When I was young, I was fascinated by the red buses that passed my school, with an ornate 'Lancashire United' emblem on the side. What I didn't know at the time was that Lancashire United Transport, or LUT, was the UK's biggest independently owned bus company. 1/6
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
So I was chief organiser for the Manchester Museum of Transport event this weekend to commemorate 200 years of Britain's buses. Very busy! But I managed to get one trip out on our free heritage bus services, and I snapped our 1986 'GM Express' bus at the rather dramatic Central Park Metrolink stop.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 05/11/2024
Churchill didn't say this, but it is very much in my mind today: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they've tried everything else."
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 04/10/2024
Hello Dublin - it’s been a while… ❤️☘️
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Reposted by Paul Williams
Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 04/09/2024
In a shameless attempt to grow my following on here, I'm going to be giving away a GE2024 poster to one lucky winner who retweets this post (and is following) in 24 hours time. Best of luck!
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 29/08/2024
I wrote another thing. www.buscentreofexcellence.org.uk/blogs-collec...
buscentreofexcellence.org.uk
Bicentenary Bliss: Celebrating 200 Years of Britain's Iconic Bus Industry Journey, Pride, and Service — Bus Centre of Excellence
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 25/08/2024
Im in my happy place 🚌
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 24/08/2024
Ho hum, owning vintage buses is a never-ending job. Dragging rear brake, so new retainer springs and probably new clevis pin bush (yes I know, jargon jargon). This bus was made by AEC which apparently stands for ‘Always Eating Cash’.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 21/08/2024
I wrote a little thing, a write-up on the lovely Beamish Museum and specifically its transport operation. It'll appear in Coach & Bus Week magazine this week.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 17/08/2024
Went to see Olga Koch at the Edinburgh Fringe. Quite brilliant, I highly recommend her. The photo sums up the atmosphere quite well…
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 12/08/2024
Childishly pleased that I got the broken light fitting in my 1968 bus repaired and working again. Owning a vintage bus (or two) is like painting the Forth Bridge, it’s never finished.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 08/08/2024
Platform (9+10) is less compelling as a Harry Potter theme than 9 3/4… #Crewe
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 07/08/2024
Same, travelator. Same.
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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 07/08/2024
Well I’m here, away from the hell hole that the bird site has become. I’ll probably just post pictures of my preserved buses and whimsical/funny things I see…
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