Category: Articles
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An Arresting Experience
Chris Youhill As a conductor in the Spring of 1960 I was off duty one fine Sunday and decided to visit a friend in Leeds for the evening. When I got on the bus in Burley in Wharfedale it was full to capacity with day trippers from Ilkley and so I rode on the platform…
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My memories of A Mayne & Son
N Mather I lived along with A Mayne & son most my life now being 53. I have a tape recording in the loft of an AEC ride from Stevenson Sq to Sunnyside Road, I loved the sound of the AEC engine, the only other AEC’s were LU?s I lived in Shakespeare Rd just off…
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“’Arf a day trip she’s paid for…”
Stephen Ford Round about 1956 my uncle, aunt and cousin booked a half-day pleasure tour with Trent from Nottingham to Dovedale. I guess it would cost about 4/6 in those days. I haven’t a clue what the vehicle was, but it had a central entrance, and uncle and cousin managed to snaffle the front nearside…
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A Really Great Guy
Chris Youhill It was during the dark days of World War 2 and in November 1943 The Ministry of Supply allocated to Samuel Ledgard two Guy Arabs with rare Pickering utility bodywork. One was an FD1, with a short flush fitting bonnet (JUA 762). This vehicle had little connection with Otley and Ilkley but the…
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Fog!
Peter Williamson There can be few sights more incongruous than that of a half-century-old bright red Manchester Corporation Leyland PD2 making its way through lush, green Derbyshire countryside on a warm sunny day with the word FOG displayed in huge letters on its via blind. But that was one of the attractions of the June…
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Burlingham’s flock of Seagulls – Part 3
Neville Mercer To read Part 1 click here or Part 2 click here Not Really Seagulls Burlingham’s bodywork for front engined chassis evolved from the “full fronted” Sun Saloon model of the late 1940s (some later versions of which carried the Seagull “tank” moulding on their sides) into this nameless “Seagull lookalike”. The 1953 body…
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Burlingham’s flock of Seagulls – Part 2
Neville Mercer Not read Part 1 Click here The move to lighter designs (by both bodywork and chassis manufacturers) had been occasioned by tumbling revenues as operators felt the pinch from increasing private car ownership. Similar economic pressures led operators to demand a front entrance version of the Seagull which could be one-man operated on…
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Burlingham’s flock of Seagulls – Part 1
Neville Mercer The original Mark 1 Seagull was a beautiful machine and is represented here by PSU1/15 Royal Tiger HAW 579. Delivered to Whittle of Highley in 1951, and painted in their stylish dark blue and red livery, it was a 39 seater. It was later sold to Buckminster of Leighton Buzzard.(R F Mack via…
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Western National Cornwall
Stephen Ford My father worked for British Railways in Nottingham, so unlike most of my schoolfriends who had to be content with holidays on the Lincolnshire coast or maybe North Wales, we made the very best use of our free rail travel. A favourite destination was Cornwall, and since the railway came to an end…
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AEC Disasters
David Oldfield “All one can do now is salute the old firm and what it achieved. …..the men and women who together comprised AEC may not have always got it right but they produced many fine vehicles and many which made big advances in design. They will long be remembered.” Thus Alan Townsin closes his…