E J Baker
1935
Bedford WLB
Duple C20R

This Bedford WLB was bought new in May 1935 by T. E. Garner of Ealing London W5. It was taken by the Ministry of Supply during WW2 and seemingly given a military registration. When the MoS disposed of it in February 1943 it was re-registered JTA 608 and sold to E. Saunders of Winkleigh, Devon. The subsequent history is a little obscure, but the vehicle came into the ownership of preservationists Messrs Burt and Mitchell by 1964 before passing to E. J. Baker of Bordon, Hants, in April 1966. Baker apparently sold it on to Taylor of Tintinhull, Somerset, in October 1966, who restored the original registration by May 1967. However, the picture above, taken on an HCVC Brighton Rally, shows the vehicle still in Baker’s livery with its CMG 30 registration. Was the vehicle sold by Baker after re-registration, or did Taylor not repaint it? It is thought that this coach then languished in a barn for about 25 years before Colin Rowland of Rambler Coaches, St Leonards, East Sussex purchased it in November 2008 and restored/repainted it in green livery. I am indebted to the expert contributions of John Wakefield on the internet for much of these history details, and I will be pleased if John wishes to rectify any errors in my text.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Roger Cox

16/11/20 – 06:06

I photographed this gem in the Weymouth rally on 1 July 1979, when it carried both the CMG mark and red/cream livery.

Pete Davies

19/11/20 – 06:41

A list of Bedford production during the 1930s may be found here:- www.psvcircle.org.uk

Roger Cox

25/11/20 – 07:56

Is the CMG a recognized. War dept/MoS or w.h.y registration? Looks civvy to me.

Victor Brumby

26/11/20 – 06:23

Now in preservation with Colin Rowland (ex Rambler Coaches) Hastings.

John Wakefield

28/11/20 – 07:02

CMG 30 was its original civil registration. It would have have been allocated a military registration. When disposed of by the military presumably its original documentation was missing so it was given a new registration by its new owner. At some stage a subsequent owner must have traced its original identity and had the registration changed back to the one originally carried.

David Hick

Colwyn Bay UDC

Colwyn Bay UDC
1960
Bedford J2LZ2
Spurling B21F

The small Colwyn Bay fleet comprised (I think) of 5 Bedfords of this general design running for a couple of miles or so along the seafront between Old Colwyn and Rhos on Sea.
No 5 is pictured at Colwyn Bay pier, a small part of which remains today but derelict and unusable. The photo was taken in September 1967, I think Colwyn Bay continued to run services including the Promenade into the 70s. No bus service runs along the seafront there nowadays although the Arriva 12 does make a brief appearance at Rhos on Sea harbour before disappearing inland again.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Ian Wild

14/06/20 – 08:02

Colwyn Bay was – until Local government disorganisation in 1974 – a "Municipal Borough" like Colchester, Darwen, Morecambe & Heysham, Scarborough, not just an "Urban District" like West Bridgford or many of the local operators in South Wales.

Pete Davies

15/06/20 – 07:29

I may be wrong, but I think they had Hawson bodies.

Keith Nixon

15/06/20 – 07:30

Operations ended in September 1986.

Paul Turner

16/06/20 – 07:01

According to BLotW, the bodies on these five Bedfords (three 1954 OLAZ, two 1960 J2LZ2) were by Spurling.

Graham Woods

17/06/20 – 07:13

Despite what BLOTW and other published sources have quoted over the years, the three 1954 vehicles were actually A3LZ and not OLAZ chassis. This is acknowledged now apparently by the PSV Circle. The OLAZ was of the earlier generation of Bedfords introduced in 1939, which included the K, M and O models with the traditional front end, the most familiar to us probably being the OB. The bodies on both the A3LZ and J2LZ2 Colwyn Bay vehicles were Spurling ‘Spermomet’ types. Spurling’s works was fairly close to the Vauxhall headquarters and they produced a large number of vans and quite a few ambulances of a similar to the buses.

John Stringer

17/06/20 – 07:14

Photo taken at the Colwyn Bay Pier terminus. The North Wales Main Line railway runs above the embankment at the left, still quadruple track in 1967. Hidden from view the bus is the old miniature railway that used to run beneath, usually worked by a 4-6-2 locomotive named “Prince Charles”. Pier and miniature railway are both gone now.

Mark Evans

18/06/20 – 06:49

If the radiator grill/cab shape is to be believed, these vehicles were generically TJ models, of which the sub-classes, according to weight/engine size, were J0 to J6.They available from 1958 to 1975. I had an uncle who owned one.

Chris Hebbron

22/06/20 – 06:46

John, the OLAZ was based on the OL lorry chassis with 157 inch wheelbase it did not include the K & M models.
The OLAZ chassis had the diff in the centre of axle as opposed to the longer OB chassis (174 inch wheelbase) which had the offset diff to enable a lower floor. The OLAZ was boded by Duple (MacBraynes had some)with a shorter Vista body, and also the ‘Sportsman’ with exposed wood aka Morris Minor Traveller, it was not a success and I think only one, maybe two were built.

John Wakefield

11/07/20 – 06:21

Colwyn Bay Corporation operated a second route, from the Pier to the Welsh Mountain Zoo, which was in the hills above the town. In the mid sixties, no 2 worked the Zoo service and 4 and 5 worked the Promenade. 1 was the spare vehicle. I never saw 3, but a friend saw it in use as an ice cream van(!) in Eiras Park.

Don McKeown

Porters (Dummer)
1949
Bedford OB
Duple C29F

HOD 75 was new to Western National in 1949. It has a Duple C29F body on the Bedford OB chassis, and the first view shows it in the Southsea rally on 8 June 1980. In this view it is in the livery of Porters of Dummer, near Basingstoke.

This second view, taken in The Broadway, Winchester, and shows it in the markings of Mervyn’s Coaches of Innersdown, also near Basingstoke. It is about to pass NXL 847,  AEC Regal from Eastern Belle. The date is 1st January 2009 and it’s another King Alfred running day.

Photograph and Copy contributed by Pete Davies

03/04/17 – 08:43

In case anyone is (a) not familiar with the area and (b) interested, Dummer is the home village of Sarah Ferguson, Price Andrew’s "ex".

Pete Davies

04/04/17 – 07:05

Is this the same OB that turns up in all those wartime dramas pretending to be ten years older than it is?

Ronnie Hoye

04/04/17 – 08:45

Not ten years Ronnie. It was in Foyles War from 1941/42, and I think Miss Marple – So only seven years ish.

Pat Jennings

20/05/18 – 06:08

I’m pretty certain that was the exact same coach that used to take us to school there was two that took us and Porters rotated them sometimes we had the vintage one in the photo and other times we had their ultra modern brand new one.

Paul

14/11/20 – 08:01

It appears in "Woman in Black Angel of Death", supposedly in 1941 – eight years before it was built!

Ed

16/11/20 – 06:09

Not as bad as the Routemaster that turned up in Foyles War.
For a moment I thought I was watching Dr Who, and the Tardis had changed its disguise.

Ronnie Hoye

17/11/20 – 06:20

I understand that the series of Foyle’s War was filmed in Dublin, and the Routemaster was all that was available there.

Peter Williamson