Malcolm Batten

Nowadays, with concerns about air quality in our town centres, many new cars, vans and buses are hybrid or fully electric. However, over a century ago zero-emission public transport dominated our towns and cities in the form of electric trams and trolleybuses. Yet, in the post-war era these fell out of favour and were replaced by diesel buses. Now trams have made a comeback in some cities, although trolleybuses no longer operate in Britain. Many examples of trams and trolleybuses have survived into preservation. There are even a handful of specialist museum sites where wiring has been installed so that these vehicles can once again operate, while many examples can be found on static display in other museum collections. Malcolm Batten presents a fascinating selection of the vehicles preserved and locations where trams and trolleybuses can be found at work or on display.

The London Borough of Newham was created in 1965 by the merger of the County Borough Councils of East Ham and West Ham. At first, industry was concentrated on the banks of the river Lea (or Lee). The coming of the railways coupled with the rise of new technologies in the Victorian era, and legislation prohibiting many of the smellier and noisier industries from operating within London led to the rapid growth of industry and population within Newham from the 1840s onwards. The area grew rich from industry, with famous names such as Tate & Lyle and Trebor Sweets, railway engineering at Stratford and the docks. Marshland south of Plaistow and East Ham was drained to create the docks and the industrial areas of Canning Town and Silvertown, the latter named after a local entrepreneur. Much of this industry fell into decline from the late twentieth century. When the docks closed in 1981 and relocated to Tilbury, the London Docklands Development Corporation was set up to regenerate the Docklands area with London City Airport and a new University of East London campus taking their place, and retail became the major employer in the area.Newham at Work explores the working life of this borough in London and its people and the industries that have characterised it through the years. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Newham.

While there are thousands of preserved commercial vehicles, there can be few that evoke such public excitement as fire-fighting vehicles. The sight of a vintage fire engine parading around the ring at a rally event can be a stirring one, with the crew (often fire-fighters themselves) in period uniforms with brass helmets gleaming and the bell clanging as the vehicle proceeds. Sometimes the crew may demonstrate a turntable ladder being extended to its full height or the hose reels being deployed, although modern Health & Safety rules mean that is unlikely that a demonstration of extinguishing a fire can take place.Fire brigades were established in the nineteenth century, just as mechanised road transport was beginning. Thus, their history can be told through the fire-fighting vehicles that have survived into preservation. This book tells this story. In Britain, these vehicles would all have been British built until recently. However, European and American practices are also featured through vehicles that have visited our shores or have been preserved here.

While bus services in Britain have generally been in decline since the heady days of the early 1950s, there has been one area of bus operation that has seen significant growth. There has been a boom in overseas tourists to Britain’s historic towns and cities with the advent of cheaper long-haul flights and budget European airlines, along with the Channel Tunnel.Bus companies started to offer tours of these towns and cities, often using open-top buses. This idea was not new. London Transport had an existing Round London Sightseeing Tour which had been started in 1951 for the Festival of Britain. In 1972 open-top buses were hired in as an experiment, this proving successful and services were expanded rapidly.In Scotland, Edinburgh Corporation Transport had a long tradition of sightseeing tours. Elsewhere, sightseeing tours took off in such locations as Bath, York, Oxford and Cambridge. As tourists came all year round it became viable to operate separate vehicles and even invest in new buses. New developments included Hop-on-Hop-off tours and tours with taped commentaries in a variety of languages. New specialist companies began to emerge. Guide Friday started up in a small way at Stratford-upon-Avon and spread nationwide. They were replaced by the City Sightseeing brand started by Ensignbus which operates internationally.Malcolm Batten offers a fascinating photographic tour of the sightseeing buses of Britain.

Traffic congestion has become a major problem in many of England’s towns and cities. Historic locations in particular have road layouts that predate the internal combustion engine and are not suited to the volume of traffic from residents, delivery trucks and tourists. Parking space is at a premium and competing for land with offices, shops and housing use. An added consideration in recent years has been air quality.Many places have introduced Park & Ride schemes with out-of-town car parks served by frequent bus links to the centre. These are usually sponsored by the local authority and the vehicles used on the services will frequently have a dedicated livery to promote the service.This book takes a look at some of the Park & Ride buses that have worked in selected English towns and cities since the 1970s.

When double-deck motorbuses were first introduced they were all open-top, like the horse buses that preceded them. Roofs were not permitted until the 1920s, but once they were the vagaries of the British climate dictated that they would normally be fitted. However, when the sun did shine, what could be nicer than a trip along the seafront with the sea air in your nostrils and ruffling your hair? Therefore, many seaside towns introduced seasonal open-top services. Many of these towns had their own municipally-owned bus fleets. Elsewhere, the liveries of company fleets such as Southdown, Devon General and Crosville could be found. As the services were seasonal it did not justify buying new vehicles for such work. Instead, older buses nearing the end of their life would be converted. An alternative option from the 1960s was to buy new vehicles fitted with a detachable roof, meaning that the buses could be utilised all year round, with the roof off during the summer and back on at other times. Ordinarily, one would have needed to visit the resorts to photograph these buses, but once a year most of them came together for the annual Epsom Derby horse race in June. The buses would be hired out to bring corporate guests to the racecourse and would then be lined up to act as grandstand viewpoints around the circuit.This book features seaside open-top buses in operation around England and Wales, starting at Southend-on-Sea and then working clockwise around the coast. Views at the Epsom Derby and some of the vehicles that have entered preservation are also featured.