However, of these four vehicles, 8645 had not been seen in any of the scrap yards in Barnsley and therefore investigations took place to try to track where it had gone after it left Crook Street in Bolton and it was tracked to a dealer, with whom we made contact.  Unfortunately he could not recall to whom he had sold it, but it had been sold for use by Morris Dancers. 

He did recall that a Liverpool garage had carried out some repair work on the vehicle and so through contact with this organisation we obtained a phone number and eventually spoke with the organiser, Margaret Lawlor, of the Solitaire Morris Dancers in Liverpool.  Upon first telephone contact to ask about the bus they thought it was a wind-up but realised the seriousness of the approach once documentation about the SELNEC Preservation Society and our collection of vehicles had been sent to them in the post.  Subsequently, a small group of members visited the site in Netherley, Merseyside, where the bus was kept on Saturday 31st May 2003 and we were pleased to see the vehicle in almost out of service condition.  It had been resprayed in First Manchester red with a blue section added below the lower deck windows, the three piece destination display had been blanked out and other than the fact that part of the parcel bars on the luggage rack had been removed in order for the dance uniforms to be hung up it was otherwise totally intact. 

This vehicle had been delivered new in white, orange and brown, to Greater Manchester Transport on 22nd June 1983 with body number 2433 and chassis number 8300316 and had seen a number of subsequent liveries.  It had in fact only been acquired by the Solitaire Morris Dancers on 22nd August 2002 and apparently thereafter in order to get the vehicle through its Class V MOT to be certain that the bus was safe for transporting the children who take part in the Morris Dancing activities, a considerable amount of money had had to be spent on the vehicle in terms of its steering, brakes, mechanics, etc.  Clearly as this had only taken place within the previous nine months of our visit on 31st May 2003 the Morris Dancers were not keen to part with the vehicle as they had clearly invested in it for the future and consequently it would not lend itself to being a preservation project for many years to come.  This was disappointing to our member Lea Worrall, particularly bearing in mind that Morris Dancers and other second and subsequent operators of ex-public service vehicles do tend to use them until such time they are worn out and are in need of replacement which would mean preserving a vehicle at a stage when a lot more rectification work would need to be undertaken. 

However, we did canvass the possibility with Margaret Lawler of undertaking an exchange with a newer vehicle, perhaps a A-Reg bus from the last batch 8731-8765, but other than being 12 months newer there was not really much to be gained, although if this was an agreeable course of action, Solitaire Morris Dancers would like their next vehicle, whenever it arrived, to be in a livery designed by themselves.  All that had happened with 8645 is that it had been repainted in First Manchester red and some blue paint added to make it look a little different with the words �Solitaire Morris Dancers� applied to the offside and nearside mid-deck panels.

Nothing definite was decided but we felt we ought to see what potential exchange vehicles were available and again turned to Ian Wild at First Calderline who had been so helpful in assisting us with obtaining vehicles in the past and allowing us to secure a considerable number of spare parts, spare engines, etc.  We had also already obtained two preservation candidates from First Calderline, being Fleetlines 6912 (PTD 640S) and 8141 (GNF 16V) and they had also supplied a Fleetline for preservation at the Museum of Transport, being 8017 (XBU 17S).  Subsequently, we had been allowed to remove parts from 8636 (ANA 636Y) and to purchase 8662 (A662 HNB) as a whole spare alloy framed Atlantean vehicle.  As it happened although First Calderline/Huddersfield no longer ran ex-Greater Manchester Atlanteans two were still in service with First in Leeds at this time, being 8557 (ANA 557Y) and 8737 (A737 NNA).  Clearly the latter of these was a newer vehicle than 8645 and in fact one of the very last batch alloy framed Atlanteans to be built and it was identified to be the one in best mechanical condition.  However, it was in fully operational day to day service.  So here we were with a situation of the Solitaire Morris Dancers having brought 8645 up to an operational standard which they were happy with, and First in Leeds still running 8737 in day to day service and it was doubtful that anything would happen for some considerable time.  However, a turn of events then occurred which were unexpected. 

Firstly, we were contacted by Solitaire Morris Dancers on 11th August 2003 when, in anticipation of the need to renew the MOT by 22nd August 2003, it had failed its Class V MOT on seven different categories. 

            1)                  Excess play in the right hand steering mechanism king pin.
2)                  Front suspension � six u-bolt nuts had no locking device.
3)                  Right hand shock absorber link fouling spring and fitted the wrong way round.
4)                  Air build up too slow and air tank strap adrift.
5)                  Below effective service brake performance.
6)                  Right hand front wheel nut fitted the wrong way round.
7)                  Exhaust system heat shield insecure.