Protours (Isle of Man)
1950
Bedford OB
Duple C29F

These two great shots of two OBs were contributed by Michael who’s father is lucky enough to drive them for weddings. They are owned by Protours Douglas IOM who I know very little of but they do private hire so these nice little Bedfords could be kept quite busy. From another shot I have seen they did not have fleet numbers but were named instead 1949 was ‘Lady Meave’ and 1950 ‘Lady Roseen’. 1950 MN was originally owned by Bailey of Turvey, Bedfordshire and had the registration HTM 20 I wonder if 1949 was from the same operator. Michael also told me that 1950 MN appeared in ‘The Rotters Club’ film hence the route number and destination.

Photograph contributed by Michael Odell

Just as a matter of interest, the previous vehicle, 1949 MN, is now East Yorkshire 100, and is now registered SS 7376.

Keith Easton

07/03/11 – 20:54

No It Isn’t. It Is Still On The Isle Of Man because my dad was driving it just yesterday

Mikey

08/03/11 – 15:05

According to PSV Circle records, the OB with East Yorkshire carried the registration 1949 MN from 6/86 until 8/88, which is when it was acquired by EYMS from the Isle of Man.
It would appear that the registration 1949 MN has subsequently been reissued to another OB on the Isle of Man.

Bob Gell

09/03/11 – 18:25

Thanks for that one, Bob. The registration 1949 MN would, of course, stayed in the Isle of Man upon registration by East Yorkshire. It would be reasonable to assume that Protours would have re-used the mark, especially if the OB had come from the mainland.

Keith Easton

12/11/12 – 08:02

The current 1949 MN is I believe the one which was registered HTM 20 and came to the Isle of Man from Norman Boyes of Bradford who purchased it from Waby’s of Holme on Spalding Moor. It was delivered new to Bailey’s of Turvey. When I last saw it it was beginning to show signs of its original red and black colour scheme under its present coat of paint.

David Hudson

17/09/13 – 16:42

My dad drove for Norman Boyes in the 60s, I remember these coaches, he had two complete ones but no idea what and if they were the same model, also another stripped and being restored, I remember the roofs being pulled back and also at least one had indicators that were arrow shaped on the back, great days going with dad during the school hols when there was a spare seat or two.

Anon

25/12/15 – 10:37

Both OB’s 1949 MN (HTM 20) & 1950 MN (RHK 843) both left the IoM 9/15 & are currently in the ownership of Craig Porteous t/a Yorkshire Bus & Coach, Hull.
The registration number HTM 20 was sold off prior to it going to IoM & is currently on a Nissan car, the replacement number being BVH 319M. So looks as though this will have to have a new age related number. RHK 843 is still ‘live’ at DVLA so should be available to be re-instated. RHK was new to Went, Boxted, Suffolk.

John Wakefield

15/05/16 – 06:55

Out of interest, I learned to drive and took my bus test (and passed first time) on a very similar Bedford OB in 1969 with Highlander Coaches from Douglas. Can’t recall the registration!

David Cowell

15/05/16 – 11:16

I’m confused! I have slides (my own and bought ones) of vehicles marked as being in the fleet of TOURS (ISLE OF MAN). Two of those views (taken in 1998) are of 1950 MN, Lady Roseen. Another bought one is of a Bedford VAL in the fleet of CORKILL’S TOURS (ISLE OF MAN) and the views here are attributed to PROTOURS. Do we have mulitple operators with very similar names? All seem to be based in Douglas. I’d imagine that Michael would have a fairly good idea of which firm pays his father. Any suggestions, plese?

Pete Davies

16/05/16 – 06:41

I’ve just noticed that John Wakefield (25/12/15) fell in to a trap laid for those not familiar with the villages along the Essex / Suffolk border. RHK 843 was not new to "Went, Boxted, Suffolk" but to Went, Boxted, ESSEX", the two villages being some twenty miles apart.
RHK 843 has a particular meaning for me as it was the first PSV I ever drove – well technically it wasn’t a PSV as it was preserved in Eastern National livery at the time.
The next village to Boxted Suffolk is Stanstead which had its own bus related confusion circa 1970 when OK Motor Services of Bishops Auckland applied to run a service there. When they learnt of this, the local operator H.S.Theobald and Son wrote to OK saying that they would object strongly to the application but suggested that OK might instead like to run to Stansted, ESSEX where there was an airport!

Nigel Turner

19/05/16 – 06:10

Nigel
Many thanks for correcting me on the Boxted’s. Ironically it was only last Sunday when passing through Boxted SUFFOLK on board Felix of Long Melford OB(DBU889)that I made reference to Wents being there, only to be told they were at Boxted ESSEX. There must have been numerous times of confusion back in the day when Wents were trading. In fact the two Boxted’s are only 16 miles apart as the crow fly’s, to the North & South of Sudbury.

John Wakefield

19/05/16 – 06:12

This is ridiculous, Nigel. When I looked at Google maps to see where exactly these places are, the first name I spotted near Boxted Suffolk was Audley End, (all together now) not to be confused with Audley End in Essex!

Peter Williamson

19/05/16 – 14:43

And of course there is also Hadleigh, Essex and Hadleigh, Suffolk. In the old days before postcodes we had to tell everyone to use Hadleigh, Ipswich in our address but my grandmother never did and her letters always seemed to get to us via Southend.

Gary T

19/05/16 – 14:44

It’s been mentioned before on these pages about how many different St Ives places there are. Cornwall, Dorset and Huntingdonshire spring to mind and there may be others. My outlaws live in Tiverton, Devon, but there’s another in Cheshire . . .

Pete Davies

19/05/16 – 17:59

To answer Pete Davies question, Tours & Protours were basically the same company. Originally Tours, they became Protours when a South African firm of the same name headed by Fred Kinnear took them over. But in 2012 Kinnear pulled out & the firm passed back to its original owners Roy Lightfoot & John Guilford & reverted to Tours IoM Ltd. Corkhill’s were another IoM company who traded from Onchan. They ceased trading in the 1980’s I think. Corkill had an OB MMN 57 which later became YTF 162J on the mainland & is now in Holland last registered BE-02-31 operating with the Hotel Kasteel De Vanenburg, Putten.

John Wakefield

20/05/16 – 10:52

Ah, the confusion of the Hadleighs! When I worked in Hadleigh, Suffolk in the 1970s it was not uncommon for lorries to arrive at the industrial estate asking for the location of a company only to be told that they were 50 miles away from their destination in Hadleigh, Essex. However the worst confusion was related to me by a Hadleigh (Suffolk) haulier. He once sent a driver to pick up a load from Otley. Four hours later he got a call from a phone box in Otley, West Yorkshire with the driver saying he couldn’t find the address. Sadly, he should have gone to Otley, Suffolk which was thirty minutes from Hadleigh! His boss was not amused.

Nigel Turner

21/05/16 – 07:00

A friend of mine lives in rural Kent, and is ever being accosted by confused car drivers asking where they can find the airport. He has to tell them that their route lies back over the Thames to Stansted Airport, as no airlines operate from Stansted, Kent. Some years ago, a driver set off from Peterborough on a private hire to Leeds Castle. No prizes for guessing where he actually went. One clue – it wasn’t Kent.

Roger Cox

21/05/16 – 07:02

There is a story about a truck driver asking the people in the post office at Portsmouth nr Todmorden. "How do I get to the harbour from here?"

John Lomas

01/10/16 – 09:43

Corkills were a major constituent of Tours IoM which was an amalgamation of most of the Douglas operators in 1972. Tours was the trading name of the operation but most coaches carried corkills names until the mid 80s, the green livery was inherited from Corkills too. in the Mid 80s the business was reformed as Tours IoM ltd and changed to a blue based livery! Then it was sold to South African Protours, it has about 45 years ago been sold back to its management and trades as Tours IoM again.

Here is Bedford VAL70 EMN 111 ex TGX 878F which was a Corkills coach and passed to the Tours operation, Corkills fleet were characterised by having 111 reg nos a practice continued by Tours. EMN is seen descending the Sloc into Port Erin on a round the island tour. photo credit to the late Greg Corrin.

Vega Major showing tours fleetname on side panel with Corkills displayed in name glass

Russell Price

26/10/16 – 17:06

Both IoMan buses seen 25/10/16 in yard at Newport North Humberside awaiting sale?

Jim Fairbrass

27/10/16 – 08:13

Both OB’s 1949 MN (BVH 319A) & 1950 MN (RHK 843) are now both owned by Craig Porteous of Hull. As far as I am aware they are not for sale or at least they were not a month ago. Both are now back on UK mainland reg numbers, BVH 319A was HTM 20 originally but that number was sold off (now on a car) when the coach went to IoM.

John Wakefield

27/01/18 – 07:03

I saw both 1949 MN (BVH 319A) however as the plate was in the front N/S window the A was obscured
1950 MN (RHK 843)
Both buses were seen and photographed in a yard 23/09/2017 if any one would like the pictures please contact
Has anybody got Chassis numbers. Body numbers

Dick Grenfell

28/01/18 – 12:10

1949 MN (BVH 319A) Chassis No 123524 Body No 55656

1950 MN (RHK 843) Chassis No 142371 Body No 47572

John Wakefield

13/02/19 – 06:14

Think you have been misinformed about the va ls they went to ireland the 2 vegamajors AKA the twins in 1979 and the viceroy in 1981.

Mr Anon

 
Copyright M Standeven

Victoria Coaches (Isle of Man)
1949
Bedford OB
Duple C29F

My thanks to Les Ronan for the information regarding this very smart looking Bedford OB with its classic Duple body. Apparently this was the only vehicle owned by Victoria Coaches at the time this shot was taken. Victoria Coaches was owned by W E Kelly 39 Arbory Street Castletown Isle of Man who was probably the owner driver. It is hard to date this particular vehicle by its registration as LMN started May 1949 and ended March 1968. I have found out that IOM road services had a vehicle LMN 147 dated 1949 and another LMN 546 dated 1949 so was the Bedford above LMN 216 new 1949. If you know please leave a comment.

The coach was new in 1949 and it is it’s original registration. I drove it. The IOM buses were also acquired in 1949.

Dave Brown

02/10/13 – 15:30

This information is incorrect my Father the late Arthur Corkish owned Victoria Coaches on the Isle of Man operating from the War Memorial in Douglas where this photograph is taken. This is one of his coaches. He built the business up to 4 plus a taxi, minibus and a haulage Lorry. He operated in the 50’s until the early to mid 80’s when he sold his business to Harry Midgehall of Fairy Cottage Laxey. Mr Midgehall sold out to Tours (Isle of Man) Limited not long after.

Pamela (nee) Corkish

02/10/13 – 18:12

The coach was new as LMN 261 in July 1949 to E Bryan, Douglas, Trading as Tynwald Motors. It was fleet number 2. to T.W. Bryan, Douglas 6/53; to M. R. Fargher, Peel 2/60; to H.B. Clague, Douglas 5/63; to M.J. Corkish, Douglas 4/66; to Downward, Douglas 12/67; w/d 11/68; to contractor’s site office, Onchan 11/68; scrapped ?/??
W.E Kelly did not own this coach but had a similar Bedford OB registered
LMN 771.
More information can be found here: www.skylineaviation.co.uk/

David Hick

Tremains
1950
Bedford OB
Duple C27F

Here we have another photograph from the P Heywood collection it first appeared on the ‘Do you Know’ page but thanks to Spencer we have the following information.

“This bus was delivered new to Western National in 1950 and was number 1420 in there fleet. When delivered it would of been in their Cream with Green trim livery but in 1955 it was transferred to the Royal Blue fleet when it would of been repainted in their Cream with Navy Blue trim. Western National and Southern National operated bus services in the area of the former Southern and Great Western Railway companies, Royal Blue operated the express services for both Western and Southern National.”

The first Bedford OB appeared in the summer of 1939 but production only lasted two months before war broke out and production ceased, in that time Bedford had built seventy three chassis fifty two of which for the UK market. Production of the OB started again after the war the running gear was a six cylinder 3.519 litre petrol engine rated as 28hp with a normal four speed synchromesh gearbox giving 12 miles per gallon on average. In 1945 the cost for a complete twenty seven seat coach was £1314 10s and for a twenty nine seater £1325 10s. Production of the OB finally ceased in 1950 and in that time 12,766 had been built.

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Tremains operated from Zelah in Cornwall and a had small depot just off the main A30 to the south of the village. The livery was a dark red with cream and this bus (or one very much like it) was a regular on the school bus trips to Goonhavern, where I was a pupil in the early seventies. I’d be interested in a proper print or high res scan of this image.

Bob Blackman

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Its difficult to find enough complimentary terms for the OB and the OWB without sounding "over the top" but surely the model must be one of the most big hearted and commendable vehicles in PSV history. I have travelled extensively on both versions and have had the great joy of driving several coaches. I think that the "war medal" must go to the OWB which performed heroic feats of service reliability and economy, often of necessity very heavily overloaded on essential routes. In the West Yorkshire area the notable independent Samuel Ledgard had five OWBs at the small Yeadon Depot and these little heroes maintained two constantly intensely busy services throughout the later days of the Conflict and for many years afterwards. To the enthusiast the mechanical symphony of the little Bedfords was pure joy. After the glorious pure and powerful whining in the first three ratios a kind of almost unreal quiet purr would take care of full speed running in top gear. The occasional but harmless "misfire" would add a little variety to the concert. The suspension was also extremely successful and, combined with the quiet top speed, meant very comfortable journeys for coach passengers. I did confess to a tendency to being perhaps "over the top" and I must in closing mention one particular little hero of my happy acquaintance – during my RAF service at the Patrington radar station on Spurn Point I often travelled to shifts at the underground site in the only OWB allocated there – how I’d love another trip today in wonderful little 00AC52, normally driven by Sam, the only civilian driver at the Station, but occasionally mercilessly flogged but stoically without a whimper by some of the hopeful Formula One RAF drivers.

Chris Youhill

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Absolutely Chris. They were like little mice scurrying all over the countryside. Holidays were enhanced by day tours, half-day tours, mystery tours and evening tours. And what was the transport? Nine times out of ten an OB/Duple. One featured in the film "Titfield Thunderbolt" if I remember rightly. I recall them in Penzance, Ilfracombe, Mablethorpe, Dunoon, Keswick and the Isle of Man. Do you remember John Major’s nostalgic dream of warm beer and elderly spinsters riding to evensong on bicycles? Add in a Bedford OB and the picture of Britain in the early 50s is complete – and all is well with the world!

Stephen Ford

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I travelled regularly on the stage service of a small operator in Derbyshire who had a couple of OB’s and it occurred to me that these would have been the only petrol engined PSV’s that I ever travelled on. I believe that a small number were fitted with Perkins diesel engines but am I correct in assuming that most of them retained their petrol engines throughout their lives? Did Bedford offer a diesel version from new?

Chris Barker

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05/07/11 – 06:40

Tremains acquired LTA 759 from Western National in April 1963. The coach is in Truro, on the traditional independent terminus at The Green (nowadays part of the bus station) and would be operating one of Tremain’s bus services; I can’t quite make out the destination but it looks like it might be on the Crantock and Cubert service.

Michael Wadman

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05/07/11 – 08:50

Chris B – yes I’m quite sure that you’re right in that most OWBs/OBs were always petrol engined, and I’m pretty sure too that there was no diesel version offered by Bedford.
Michael – although I’ve personally never heard of Crantock or Cubert a magnifying glass confirms that your guess is correct and those are the places on the destination blind.

Chris Youhill

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06/07/11 – 07:18

Chris Y Crantock and Cubert are both near Newquay, the former now being better known as a surfing paradise! Crantock Bay is where you will need those "baggies", a mean surfboard and a 1955 VW Camper or "Splitty"! I remember it from it’s much quieter days in 1960 when it was just a beautiful beach!

Richard Leaman

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07/07/11 – 06:43

Many thanks Richard for that information on the Cornish delights – these days, in my advancing years, its about all I can manage to surf the Net. Also I’ve never actually been to Cornwall, only Devon, and really ought to do so.

Chris Youhill

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09/07/11 – 07:02

Although Bedford did not have a Bedford diesel engined version of the OB, some did have a Perkins Diesel engine fitted from new.

David Hick

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