Bristol Omnibus Co's L8468, an LD-type Lodekka, new in 1958, spent all but the last year of its life on "country" services ...firstly at Bath, and from December 1964 at Wells. You'll have noticed the folding platform doors which distinguished "country" LDs from their "city" brethren. The vehicle will also have been equipped with a five-speed gearbox and "heating".
At the beginning of 1972, a sure sign that its time was nearly up, it was transferred to Lawrence Hill, a city depot. Buses were often transferred between the various subsidiary fleets during the final months of their lives as part of the Company's mysterious and complicated "mileage adjustment" arrangements. It was withdrawn from service on 31st October 1973 but on 1st January 1974 was returned to the fleet as a temporary training bus. Normal training buses always had a high observation seat behind the cab from which the instructor ("Drop 'n down a cog") could keep watch and bawl his instructions ("Switch 'n off and leave 'n unattended, Driver"). The backs of the cabs were removed in case the necessity should unfortunately arise for the instructor to lunge forward and make an emergency application of the handbrake. These temporary training buses were not modified in any way, apart from the application of an L-plate. They were reserved for the more advanced trainees ...usually ex-lorry drivers talked into changing their jobs by wives who disliked their husbands' nights away from home. In the end the bus was taken into the permanent training fleet and given a "works" fleet number, W154. It was not repainted into the training fleet livery until July 1979 and no internal modifications were ever made.
The photograph was taken on Friday 6th April 1979 at College Green, Bristol.