Green (Brierley Hill)
1948
Leyland Tiger PS1/1
Burlingham C33F

Seen in the summer of 1961 on a rather run down estate beside Mitcham Common is PRE 900, a Leyland Tiger PS1/1 delivered in July 1948 to Green of Brierley Hill, near Dudley, West Midlands. The C33F body is by Burlingham. I do not know its subsequent history and I cannot see any evidence of legal ownership lettering on the nearside of the vehicle. No trading name is carried either, which suggests that by 1961 it had become a contractors machine. No doubt the registration PRE 900 is now a “cherished” number borne by an otherwise undistinguished motor car, the owner of which is completely oblivious to its decidedly more worthy ancestry. Some history of the Green coaching business may be found here:- www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/63
The following web page gives a broader view of past coach operation in the Black Country:- www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/

Photograph and Copy contributed by Roger Cox

09/04/17 – 18:00

Didn’t stay long with Green as it passed to Alexandra of Enfield in December 1948.

Keith Clark

10/04/17 – 06:44

Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to what the angled black oblong on the bulkhead and the item leading from it are?

Phil Blinkhorn

10/04/17 – 06:46

Very interesting photograph, although the vehicle is anonymous, it appears to retain a working destination blind, set to PRIVATE. Also, I believe this is the first half cab coach I’ve ever seen with a near side mirror in that position, attached to the front wing. I suppose that’s what you call a wing mirror in every sense of the description!

Chris Barker

10/04/17 – 09:36

Rear view mirror, Phil.

David Oldfield

10/04/17 – 09:37

Thank Chris, a mirror it is!

Phil Blinkhorn

10/04/17 – 09:37

This wing mirror subject has come up before in discussions about the Margo Regal 1. Nearside mirrors weren’t officially required in the early post war period when PRE 900 was built, and this style of half canopy left only the wing as the place to fix one. This mirror does look like a home made effort, but driving without one must have been decidedly nerve wracking.

Roger Cox

11/04/17 – 07:15

LGOC/London Transport, at least up to LT/ST’s had a metal stick with a small knob on the top affixed to the wing for an indication of parking near the kerb These buses and later ones had rear view mirrors on the bodywork on both sides at roughly driver level. These items can been seen on my photo of the Tilling ST here: www.old-bus-photos.co.uk/

Chris Hebbron

11/04/17 – 07:16

Others fitted nearside mirrors as shown here: www.flickr.com/photos/

Stephen Bloomfield

11/04/17 – 17:38

Nearside mirrors on canopied vehicles work well and give adequate but not great nearside visibility.
I have a number of non canopied single deckers and nearside mirror positioning is standard ie nearside front bulkhead but the angle of the mirror and size becomes really important in making them of any use.
I find myself when driving continually ducking and diving to get max visibility especially for vehicles/cyclists coming up the nearside. A move to convex or larger mirrors only partially solves the problem as this then gives rise to proximity issues.
I had never seen a mirror positioned like on PRE but it does make some sense other than aesthetics

Roger Burdett

12/04/17 – 07:26

I could never understand why London Transport, very advanced in its specifications for "own design" post war fleet, insisted on fitting a minuscule circular mirror for the driver’s nearside visibility. Only the RF class, as I recall, had decently sized rectangular mirrors on both sides of the vehicle. Even the private hire RFWs had the little circular things.

Roger Cox

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

Lodge (High Easter)
1956
Bedford SB
Duple C37F

MJB 481 was new to Chiltonia, of Chilton Foliat, in 1956. Chilton Foliat is near Hungerford and is mentioned in the television series ‘Band of Brothers’. It has a Duple body to the C37F layout although BLoW has it listed as C41F, we see it in the markings of Lodge, High Easter, near Chelmsford. It is at Duxford on 28 September 2003. Yes, it’s Showbus and it’s been raining!

Photograph and Copy contributed by Pete Davies

26/03/17 – 09:32

Lodges are getting quite a collection of vintage Bedfords.
WTL
BXM 568 Duple since 2/08 (under restoration)
OB’s
CFV 851 Duple Vista acquired 9/16 (under restoration)
LTA 752 Duple Vista open side 12/10
TMY 191 Duple Vista 11/06
FFS 867 Burlingham Seagull 2/17 (awaiting restoration)
SB’s
MJB 481 Duple Vega by -/89
EDD 685C Duple Bella Vega 2/14
VAM’s
DJL 126D Duple Bella Venture 2/14 (awaiting restoration)
HDL 126D Duple Bella Venture 8/15 (spares doner for DJL 126D) also
Chevrolet X
ES 8440 charabanc replica 4/15

John Wakefield

13/06/17 – 07:30

Re John Wakefield post Lodges coaches.
Bedford OB CFV851 is shown in a photo elsewhere taken by John showing Isle of Wight destinations. I believe this coach operated on the Island in the 1970s. Does anyone know who with and when

Andrew Mead

24/06/17 – 06:26

Andrew Mead asks if Lodges Bedford OB CFV 851 body has ever operated on the IoW
not according to the history I have on it. Although I don’t have a town for Couchman. After that it appeared to have spent time in Surrey, Gloucestershire & London before going to Fisher of Southend in 1976. It then spent 38 years in preservation with Doug Payne of Thundersley, Essex before going to Lodge in June 2016.
New to Wood t/a Seagull Coaches, Blackpool 3/48
?/?? Couchman, -?-
5/70 Chivers Coaches, Elstead
?/?? McCann, Forest Green
1/73 Taylor. London
1/74 Baker, -?- (dealer)
?/?? W.E. Preservations, -?-
-/76 Fisher, Southend
-/78 Doug Payne, Thundersley – kept at Castle Point Transport Museum
9/16 Lodge, High Easter 9/16

John Wakefield

14/02/20 – 06:42

Just to add to CFV 851’s history. Looks like it worked for Crouchman Garage on Maidstone Road, Lenham, Kent 1966-70 and prior to 1966 was with an operator on Station Approach in West Byfleet, Surrey for a few years after leaving Blackpool (possibly since 1957?). From 1/72 it operated for Tony McCann t/a McCann Coaches at Forest Green Garage, Dorking Surrey. Don’t know if anyone can further enlarge the info on Richard Haughey’s flickr photo!

Peter Hadfield

15/02/20 – 06:23

The only things I can add to the history of CFV 851 is that Wood withdrew it in February 1952, after which it passed to Howarth, West Byfleet (no dates recorded) and the Lenham operator was Couchman, rather than Crouchman, and it was acquired by him in October 1966.

John Kaye

16/02/20 – 06:07

Douglas Payne, the long time owner of CFV 851, published a booklet dated October 1989 containing a brief history and a number of early photos of S&J Wood Ltd, the coach’s original operator. Douglas had restored the coach to Wood’s Seagull Coaches livery, though whether it remained like that I do not know. In it, he records that he purchased the coach in May 1978 (recorded as -/78 above).

David Williamson

20/02/20 – 15:52

CFV 851 remained with Doug and in Seagull livery until he sold it the Andrew Lodge in 9/16 when it was painted in Lodge’s livery. For most of its life with Doug it was housed in the Castle Point Transport Museum on Canvey Island. In latter years it did not venture far, but now back into revenue earning service as part of Lodges heritage fleet. Numerous pics of it on Flickr.

John Wakefield