B.E.T. Group Bus Fleets: The Final Years
By Jim Blake
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About this ebook
Jim Blake
Jim Blake was born at the end of 1947, and he soon developed a passionate interest in railways, buses and trolleybuses. In 1965, he bought a colour cine-camera, with which he captured what is now very rare footage of long-lost buses, trolleybuses and steam locomotives. These transport photographs have been published in various books and magazines. Jim also started the North London Transport Society and, in conjunction with the group, he has compiled and published a number of books on the subject since 1977, featuring many of the 100,000 or so transport photographs he has taken over the years.
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Book preview
B.E.T. Group Bus Fleets - Jim Blake
Published in 2017 by
Pen & Sword Transport
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © James Blake, 2017
ISBN 9 781 47385 726 1
The right of James Blake to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
Typeset by Matthew Wharmby
Printed and bound
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CONTENTS
About the Author
Introduction
A Brief Look at the Individual Operators
Pictures
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born at the end of 1947, just five days before the ‘Big Four’ railway companies, and many bus companies – including London Transport – were nationalised by Clement Attlee’s Labour government.
Like most young lads born in the early post-war years, I soon developed a passionate interest in railways, the myriad steam engines still running on Britain’s railways in those days in particular. However, because my home in Canonbury Avenue, Islington, was just a few minutes’ walk from North London’s last two tram routes, the 33 in Essex Road and the 35 in Holloway Road and Upper Street, my parents often took me on these for outings to the South Bank, particularly to the Festival of Britain which was held there in the last summer they ran, in 1951. Moreover, my father worked at the GPO’s West Central District Office in Holborn and often travelled to and from work on the 35 tram. As a result, I knew many of the tram crews, who would let me stand by the driver at the front of the trams as they travelled through the Kingsway Tram Subway. This was an unforgettable experience for a four-year-old! In addition, my home was in the heart of North London’s trolleybus system, with route 611 actually passing my home, and one of the busiest and most complicated trolleybus junctions in the world – Holloway, Nag’s Head – a short ride away along Holloway Road. Here, the trolleybuses’ overhead almost blotted out the sky! Thus from a very early age, I developed an interest in buses and trolleybuses which was equal to that of my interest in railways, and I have retained both until the present day.
I was educated at my local Highbury County Grammar School, and later at Kingsway College, by coincidence a stone’s throw from the old tram subway. I was first bought a camera for my 14th birthday at the end of 1961, which was immediately put to good use photographing the last London trolleybuses in North West London on their very snowy last day a week later. Three years later, I started work as an administrator for the old London County Council at County Hall, by coincidence adjacent to the former Festival of Britain site. I travelled to and from work on bus routes 171 or 172, which had replaced the 33 and 35 trams mentioned above.
By now, my interest in buses and trolleybuses had expanded to include those of other operators, and I travelled throughout England and Wales between 1961 and 1968 in pursuit of them, being able to afford to travel further afield after starting work. I also bought a colour cine-camera in 1965, with which I was able to capture what is now very rare footage of long-lost buses, trolleybuses and steam locomotives. Where the latter are concerned, I was one of the initial purchasers of the unique British Railways ‘Pacific’ locomotive 71000 Duke of Gloucester, which was the last ever passenger express engine built for use in Britain before the end of mainline steam construction in 1960. Other preservationists laughed at our group which had purchased what, in effect, was a cannibalised hulk from Barry scrapyard at the end of 1973, but they laughed on the other side of their faces when, after extensive and innovative rebuilding, it steamed again in 1986. It has since become one of the best-known and loved preserved British locomotives, often returning to the main lines.
Although I spent thirty-five years in local government administration, with the LCC’s successor, the Greater London Council, then Haringey Council and finally literally back on my old