A session at the gym or a spell in a Lodekka cab?

Working as a conductor on the platform of a rear-loading heritage bus can leave you aching and tired at the end of the day. Bracing yourself against a pole or a seat as the bus makes its lurching, bouncing progress uses up a surprising amount of energy. Especially when you add in several trips up and down the stairs while taking fares and attending to passengers.

But did you know that driving one of these historic gems can be even more strenuous for the guy at the noisy end? It can, believe me. Especially if your bus has soft tyres. Take my advice, don’t take one out unless it has fully inflated tyres! I will explain a little later.

Yesterday I was helping Crosville Motor Services staff to promote their private hire vehicles at a wedding fair near Congresbury, Bristol. The day-long event, at the Cadbury House Hotel at Frost Hill, was similar to the one I attended last October at Clifton College, Bristol. Businesses which provide all manner of products and services for weddings present their wares at these shows, which are open to anyone involved in planning a wedding. There’s everything from wedding gowns to videographers. Including vintage bus hire, of course.

We took two vehicles from the Crosville fleet, a single deck Bristol L5G from the original Crosville company in north Wales and a double deck Bristol FS6G (Lodekka) originally from Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight. I was invited to drive the latter vehicle to and from the wedding fair venue, a distance of about 9 miles each way. The Lodekka is one of several similar vehicles available for hire in 2012, most of which are more than 50 years old. This one is very smart and, together with the immaculate Bristol L, makes a fine mobile advertisement for the company.

I was advised before I climbed into the cab that the front tyres were a little soft but that wouldn’t be a problem unless I was going slowly. I soon discovered what a difference under-inflated tyres can make to the effort required to take a corner. The first turn I had to make was right after leaving the garage as I headed for the main road. I’m no stranger to Lodekkas, as regular readers will know, but all of a sudden I felt myself running out of road as I tried to make a left turn. The steering on these buses is normally quite heavy at slow speed (there’s no power steering) but this was unusually heavy. Do you remember the weedy little guy who used to advertise the Mr Muscle cleaning products on TV? I felt just like him!

Another trade fair with heritage buses

This weekend I am due to attend another wedding fair, this time representing Crosville Motor Services at the Cadbury House Hotel. It’s a sumptous country hotel near Weston-super-mare owned by the Hilton group and the wedding fair is organised by the South West Wedding Guild.

As there is a large parking area available for exhibitors, we are planning to take three buses. Each one represents a different decade of bus history. Assuming all are fit to run, we will take KFM767 (ex-Crosville, 1950), YDL318 (ex-Southern Vectis, 1962) and LEU263P (ex-Bristol Omnibus, 1975). I’ve put my name down to travel with the Southern Vectis Lodekka and, if I play my cards right, I might even get to drive it too!

It promises to be a very busy day and I’m hoping that our new promotional slideshow will draw potential customers to our stand.

Farewell 2011, welcome 2012

So another year ends. Where does the time go to? It seems an appropriate time to reflect on 2011, a relatively dry year for me in terms of bus activity.

With just one wedding duty for Quantock Motor Services and only four ‘Exmoor Explorer’ duties in the shortened summer season, this has been a year of few opportunities to see any action in my favourite pastime. You will have read of the probable demise of the Service 400 route around Exmoor in some of my earlier posts. I still don’t know what will happen next year with QMS, if anything.

I didn’t even get involved with the Exeter Nocturnal Running Event this year. I conducted on an ex-City of Exeter Guy Arab IV for the 2010 event, which was held on a bitterly cold November evening. This year’s event seems to have been successful again so maybe I’ll offer my services for 2012. Dan Shears, are you listening?!

I almost got as far as taking my PCV test but backed out on the day before the test due to a change of location (Plymouth). I’m planning to enrol on a course in Exeter in February.

Wilts & Dorset photo archive, part 2

Here are some more images from my collection of historic Wilts & Dorset photographs.

This is a 1946 Bristol K5G, of which there were many in the Wilts & Dorset fleet in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Note the early design of ventilator on the side windows. Eastern Coach Works was soon to change this to the more familiar all-aluminium design as seen below. Also caught in the shot is the rear end of a Vauxhall Wyvern (or Velox), one of those sit-up-and-beg cars from the 1950s that resembled the American design style of the time. My grandfather had one.

Shown here is a 1947 Bristol K5G, seen either when brand new or fresh from a re-paint.

At the other end of its life, I photographed Bristol KSW6G in the yard at Salisbury’s Castle Street depot in 1973, shortly before withdrawal. I suspect it was having battery troubles, hence the starting handle being inserted through the radiator. However, I wouldn’t fancy being the chap with the job of swinging the heavy Gardner lump with a handle! I remember seeing these old Bristol Ks on country services, en-route to such far-flung places as Hindon. As seen above, they were also put out on Private Hire runs. I clearly recall being taken to Sunday School on one of these, which was hired by the Elim Pentecostal church in Salisbury town centre. I enjoyed the lengthy ride all round the city, gathering up children from the suburbs.

Wedding Fair with a Crosville Bristol L5G

Last weekend was unusual for several reasons. Firstly, I spent a day in uniform but didn’t do any conducting or driving. Secondly, I wrote off a car in an accident but more of that later. I was invited to help promote the reborn Crosville Motor Services at a Wedding Fair in Bristol.

Accompanied by the proud owner of this fine vehicle and a member of his family, I travelled up to Clifton College, Bristol where the Wedding Fair was to take place. The weather was perfect and the autumn colours were vibrant as we made our stately progress along the A370 from Weston-super-Mare. It was almost a convoy of vintage buses that morning because another three Bristols had left the garage just ahead of us, a Bristol KSW6B, a Bristol LD6G and an ex-New Zealand Bristol RE. They were all heading for a rally in Brislington, their birthplace.

We had a small stand in the exhibition, which was organised by the South West Wedding Guild. The beautiful banquet hall, with its high vaulted ceiling, was the location for the Fair which provided a showcase for everything you could possibly need for a wedding. As long as you had plenty of the folding stuff, of course.