"Waiting for the Bus" is the theme of this week's Sepia Saturday prompt photograph (see the end of this post).Cue for a hunt through my collection for images of buses.

Not a
very good photograph, but the man on the left in the peak cap is my
great uncle Bob Danson, a postman in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, standing by
the horse-ddrawn bus, ready to take passengers into nearby Blackpool. I don't know if I
would feel all that safe on the top of this vehicle.
I feel a bit the same about this next photograph of a charabanc.
I know
next to nothing about this photograph. It was in the collection of my
Great Aunt Jennie of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, and judging by the
style of dress e.g. cloche hats it must have been taken in the 1920's.
There was no inscription on the reverse, but the photographer/publisher
was identified as Arthur Hadley, Photographer, Ramsey, Isle of Man.
This could be a clue, as one of Jennie's many brothers. Albert, worked on the Isle of Man ferry between Fleetwood, Lancashire and the Isle of Man.
I like it as a happy holiday
photograph, though again I wonder how safe I would find the vehicle
with so many people on it. I could imagine someone might need to get
out and push, if going up hills!
1936 and Ercildoune Church Choir are clearly looking forward to their trip to the Trossachs (gateway to the Highlands) and a sail on Loch Katrine In the
days before paid holidays, such an event would perhaps be the only
outing ordinary people would enjoy.

1947 and people are gathering for a Bus Trip to Carlisle in England.
The annual Spittal Trip was a big event in Border towns, organized often by the churches to give children the opportunity to enjoy a day on the popular Spittal Beach, south of Berwick upon Tweed. Here the fleet of buses await their passengers.
In 1965-66 I was lucky enough to spend a year working in New England - at Radcliffe
College Library, Cambridge across the Charles River from Boston. It
was a wonderful experience, and at the end of my time there, I was able to travel across
the USA on a Greyhound bus ticket ($99 for 99 days travel). Below, all et for the gfirst eg of the jounrey, and overnight journey to Niagara.
The New
England region remained my favourite. A return visit some 30 years
later reinforced my love for the city of Boston, the coast and
countryside, the history and the architecture.
 |
A
|
A snapshot
of some happy holiday memories in ore recent times.
Horse drawn charabanc waiting to drive passengers around Krakow in Poland.
A bus in Berchtesgarten, in Bavaria, waiting to take passengers up the mountain road to the retreat of the Eagle's Nest - a wonderful part of Germany.
Buses in Edinburgh. Photo courtesy of Pixabay
I could not finish without featuring the iconic London bus
To
end on a cheery note - what about this "road train" which transported
visitors from a car park to the town centre in Mondsee, near Salzburg, Austria - a fun way to get around!

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Excellent photos right on the theme!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures of bus journeys through the ages. Really enjoyed the journey
ReplyDeleteSo many great buses. I like riding double decker buses and would like to ride an open air bus like the one at the top.
ReplyDeleteSusan
(for some reason Google won't let me sign in)
Thanks for your comments, Susan, which appeared on my post no problem, so i’m sorry I know nothing about the Google issue.
DeleteNeat photos - all. But about the 2nd one with the fully loaded charabanc & someone maybe needing to get out and push uphill - it reminded me when I was commuting to work in San Francisco. Most 'rush hour' buses were old 1940s or so things. There was a steep entrance to the bus terminal in the city. Those old, fully loaded buses purred right up that incline. It was the newer automatic transmission buses that sometimes couldn't make the climb even after a couple of tries. Then we passengers would have to get off the bus and walk up to the top of the hill and reboard the bus at that point. In that regard, we preferred those old buses with the horsehair seats - especially if it was raining!
ReplyDeleteThanks fir sharing that experience , Gail - not what you would want to do!
ReplyDeleteThe Berchtesgaden bus stirs up some memories for me, back in 1990 I went on a tourist trip by bus to Germany and Austria and one stop was Berchtesgaden. We didn't go up to the Eagle's Nest (just looked up at it) but we went down deep below ground into the salt mines in B.
ReplyDeleteI never rode many buses until I lived in London and then I got hooked. The best way to see the city is aboard a double decker in the front seat of the top deck. Sad that they have retired most of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos and quite the selection. My first bus rides were to first grade on a yellow school bus -- and as a city resident, I still love riding on our bus system (masks and all). I love the first two photos. In the second one, the charabanc looks similar to the first only an engine has replaced the horse!
ReplyDeleteSuch a great variety of vintage bus pictures. Fun to see.
ReplyDelete