INTRODUCTION

 

 

  Dublin 1966

 

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  WEBSITE AUTHOR - MIKE BEAMISH

 

(page by page index to left)

 

 

HELLO,  AND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE, WHICH I AM DEDICATING TO THOSE NOT SO FAR OFF DAYS WHEN, EVEN THOUGH INCREASING PERSONAL WEALTH, TELEVISION WATCHING AND CAR OWNERSHIP, AND THE MARKED PASSENGER DECLINE THAT THEY WERE CAUSING WERE ALREADY UNCOMFORTABLE FACTS FOR MOST PUBLIC TRANSPORT OPERATORS, BUSES WERE, TO MOST ORDINARY PEOPLE, STILL ESSENTIAL TO SOME PART OF THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES.

COME TO THINK OF IT, THEY WERE ALSO A WELCOME SIGHT AND SOUND, OFTEN AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY AND NIGHT,  ON OUR COMPARATIVELY SAFE STREETS TOO!  

FROM THE ENTHUSIASTS VIEWPOINT THEY SEEMED (MORESO GENERALLY THAN TODAY)  VARIED, INTERESTING AND COLOURFUL........

......AND, IF YOU ARE A 45+ ENTHUSIAST  WHO CAN ACTUALLY REMEMBER PAYING HIS FARES IN SHILLINGS AND PENCE,  I EXPECT THAT YOU MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH A LOT OF WHAT  I  HOPE YOU WILL TAKE TIME TO BROWSE THROUGH. WHATEVER YOUR AGE THOUGH,  IT'LL BE A JOLLY GOOD EXCUSE TO WALLOW IN A BIT OF UNASHAMED TRANSPORT NOSTALGIA, SO PLEASE TAKE A LOOK.

CERTAINLY I INTEND THIS WEBSITE TO REMAIN PRINCIPALLY ABOUT ROAD PASSENGER TRANSPORT SO I'M HANGING ON TO THE SAME WEBSITE TITLE THROUGHOUT,  BUT THAT'S NOT ALL.  BECAUSE MY TRANSPORT INTERESTS ARE QUITE BROAD  I HAVE ADDED, OR HAVE PLANS TO ADD SEVERAL PAGES COVERING OTHER  FORMS, SO IF YOUR PREFERENCES INCLUDE TRAINS, BOATS, PLANES, CLASSIC CARS AND VINTAGE COMMERCIALS  OR, EVENTUALLY, TRACTION ENGINES, ROAD ROLLERS, SHOWMANS AND FAIRGROUND EQUIPMENT AND AGRICULTURAL VEHICLES THEN SOMETHING TO TEMPT YOU IS EITHER HERE ALREADY FOR YOU OR IS IN THE PIPELINE.

 

I HOPE YOU WILL FIND THESE PAGES INTERESTING.

 

WELCOME ABOARD - MIND THE STEP, HOLD TIGHT -  PLENTY OF ROOM INSIDE 

YOU ARE PASSENGER No.

 

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Bolton 1962

 

 

Manchester 1963

 

 

Rotheram 1964

 

 

Ryde IOW 1964

 

 

Edinburgh 1966

 

 

London c 1986

 

 

 

 

Leicester c1976

 

 

Sunderland 1963

 

 

Leicester 1964

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manchester 2005

 

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I'M  A LONDONER, DELIVERED EARLY IN 1944 (MOST DEFINITELY TO UTILITY SPECIFICATION)  WHO EXILED HIMSELF TO THE EAST MIDLANDS IN THE MID-1970s. I CAN NOW LAY CLAIM ( IF YOU COUNT EARLY DAYS OF SPOTTING) TO AN INTEREST IN AND FOLLOWING OF ALL THINGS OMNIBUSOLOGICAL THAT IS NOW EMBRACING A SIXTH CONSECUTIVE DECADE.

MY LAST REMAINING AUNT WHO WAS JUST TWELVE WHEN I WAS BORN STILL LIKES TO REMIND ME OF THE TIME WHEN SHE WAS WITH ME AND MY MOTHER ON A BUS WHEN I WAS BUT A FEW TENDER MONTHS OF THIS LIFE IN LATE 1944/EARLY 1945 (MY FATHER BEING OTHERWISE OCCUPIED IN THE RAF AT THE TIME).

WHEN WE HAD TO GET OFF SHE WAS HOLDING ME AND GOT UP, LIFTED ME AND, APPARENTLY, MUCH TO MY DISCOMFORT, BANGED MY HEAD QUITE HARD ON THE SALOON ROOF. WAS IT AN LT, AN ST, STL, OR SOMETHING ELSE? FOR SOME QUITE OBSCURE REASON AUNTIE DIDN'T NOTE THE BONNET NUMBER!  I'M SURE I'LL NEVER KNOW, BUT THAT VEHICLE CERTAINLY HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE SOMETHING GOT DRUMMED INTO ME THAT DAY AND I GUESS THAT'S WHERE MY LONGTIME BUS ENTHUSIASM HAS ITS ROOTS.

MY WORKING CAREER FROM 1961 TO 2005 INCLUDED A TWENTY-FIVE YEAR STINT WITH THE FORMER LONDON TRANSPORT, CLOSE TO TWO-THIRDS OF OF THAT TIME (THE LATTER PART) BEING SPENT INVOLVED IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER WITH ITS HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS AND WORKING FIRST AT CLAPHAM AND THEN THE SYON PARK AND COVENT GARDEN LOCATIONS.

 

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I was never a great fan of the all-over advertising concept for buses, London or elsewhere. The original capital one on Routemaster RM1737 for Silexene Paints in 1969 was inevitably well received and, in my view anyway, was never equalled by any of those that followed it in London. Some of the later designs there were indeed quite uninspiring but above I show three of my personal favourites.

 

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I'M CERTAINLY SOMETHING OF A 'JOHNNY COME LATELY' WITH ALL THIS HIGH-TECH www STUFF AND I AM PERHAPS STARTING A BIT LATE IN LIFE TO EVER GET ON EQUAL TERMS WITH  jpegs, raws, bitmaps, hyperlinks ETC.AND THUS BE CONFIDENT THAT I WILL GET  A SMOOTH PASSAGE THROUGH ALL THE TECHNO-BABBLE.

 

WHILST I HAVE MANAGED TO UNEARTH AND PUT TO USE A FAIR NUMBER OF MY EARLIER COLOUR (USUALLY PRINTS ORIGINATING FROM TRANSPARENCIES) & BLACK & WHITE IMAGES, THE ILLUSTRATIONS I  HAVE CHOSEN TO LAUNCH THIS WEBSITE HAVE ALSO BEEN SCANNED FROM THE SIZEABLE, BUT FAR FROM FULLY REPRESENTATIVE, COLLECTION OF MY LATER  PHOTOGRAPHS THAT I HAVE AT HAND.

 

 I AM  CURRENTLY ATTEMPTING TO MASTER THE SCANNING PROCESSES WHERE THE SOURCE REMAINS A NEGATIVE OR IS A TRANSPARENCY. WHEN I AM ABLE TO TAKE THIS ON IT WILL WIDEN THE SCOPE SIGNIFICANTLY,  BRINGING TO THE FORE A MUCH LARGER STORE OF THE OLDER MATERIAL IN MY ARCHIVE, MUCH OF WHICH HAS NEVER YET BEEN PRINTED, AND WHICH, FOR COST REASONS AT THE TIME (CERTAINLY IN THE 1960s) WAS VERY MUCH BIASED TOWARDS MONOCHROME.

 

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HAVING SURPASSED MY PERSONAL DIAMOND JUBILEE I DON'T DO MUCH IN THE WAY OF TRANSPORT PHOTOGRAPHY AT ALL NOW, ALTHOUGH I HAVE BEEN TEMPTED OUT IN MORE RECENT YEARS BY THE BRITISH TRAMWAY RENAISSANCE AND ON RARE VISITS TO LONDON HAVE BRIEFLY RECORDED EXAMPLES FROM THE CONFUSING ARRAY OF DE-REGULATED MODERN FLEETS NOW PLYING ON THE CAPITAL'S STREETS. IN GENERAL THOUGH THE PATIENCE OR THE NECESSARY AGILITY TO DODGE THE INCESSANT TRAFFIC WHERE BUSES ARE CONCERNED IS BECOMING HARDER TO FIND AS THE YEARS ROLL BY - WITH COMPARATIVELY SO FEW PASSENGERS TO PICK UP THESE DAYS OUTSIDE OF THE BIG CITIES YOU CAN'T NOW COUNT ON BUSES TO STOP AT MANY PLACES MID-ROUTE FOR YOU LIKE THEY USED TO. COMPULSORY STOPS SEEM TO BE A LONDON PECULIARITY.

 

BUT, HAVING  WITNESSED SO MUCH RARELY FOR THE BEST CHANGE IN THE ROAD PASSENGER TRANSPORT SCENE OVER THE LAST HALF-CENTURY I DECIDED TO HAVE A GO AT THIS TECHNICAL WONDER IN ORDER TO SHARE MY MEMORIES WITH YOU AND TO BE ABLE TO SHOW YOU SOME OF MY VARIED PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD. THIS WAS MAINLY AMASSED BETWEEN 1960 AND 1970 BUT ALSO HAS A LOT OF LATER STUFF, INCLUDING COLOUR SUBJECT MATTER FROM MAINLAND EUROPE.

 

OK, SO MAYBE THERE'S NO FOOL LIKE AND OLD FOOL, BUT I STILL HARK BACK TO THOSE NOT SO LONG GONE DAYS OF OLD WHEN INDIVIDUAL BUSES HAD CHARACTER, WERE MUCH LESS INTRUSIVE ON THE NEIGHBOURHOODS THEY SERVED AND, ABOVE ALL, THE WORD 'SERVICE' ACTUALLY HAD A SERIOUS MEANING WITHIN THE BUS INDUSTRY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colchester 1964

 

 

Bury 1964

 

 

Horsham c 1967

 

 

Kielder Water - 1983

 

PLEASE BROWSE ON - THE INDIVIDUAL PAGES THAT MAKE UP THE WEBSITE ARE DETAILED IN THE NAVIGATION BAR AT THE TOP LEFT OF THIS  INTRODUCTORY  PAGE. JUST CLICK ON THE PAGES YOU WANT TO VIEW, BUT MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE - THERE'S SOMETHING NOW GETTING VERY CLOSE TO ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED (YES, 1300!) PHOTOS FOR YOU TO SEE OVER THE WHOLE SITE.

   IT'S NOWHERE NEAR COMPLETE AT THE MOMENT AS I'M CONSTANTLY ADDING NEW PHOTOS AND THERE ARE ALSO SOME ADDITIONAL PAGES IN THE PIPELINE. IT'S FAR FROM PERFECT IN OTHER WAYS AND DOUBTLESS THERE'LL BE ERRORS & OMMISSIONS TO RECTIFY, THANKS INDEED TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY POINTED A COUPLE OUT TO ME OR HAVE WILLINGLY GIVEN THE BENEFIT OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO ADD TO OR UPDATE THE DETAILS I HAVE INCLUDED. PLEASE BEAR WITH ME THEN WHILE I TRY TO GET IT RIGHT. THERE'S A GUESTBOOK FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS WHICH WILL BE MOST WELCOME FROM GENUINE ENTHUSIASTS..............

 

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

  

 

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