Vintage Thing No.7 - the search for Podgy (our Thames Yeoman school bus)
The other day my sister mentioned our old school bus, a two tone blue coach (coaches being more luxurious than buses) run by Mitchell's of Perranporth. This was while I attended Goonhavern Country Primary school from 1969 to 1974. A torrent of fond memories followed and I took to wondering whatever happened to this old bus.
We called our bus Podgy and I'd seen similar coaches over the years. Everything pointed to Podgy being a Bedford SB Duple Super Vega, one of the most stylish coaches made during the fifties and early sixties.
I began to search the internet for information and was delighted to find loads of images on Flickr. Some pictures were historical while others showed present day survivors, beautifully restored in preservation. And there are still some mouldering round the pack of a depot deep in the countryside, even now.
If you check out the sites of traveller's buses there are several Bedford SBs and I even found a list of survivors on the net (how much enthusiastic work went into this?) but there was no sign of the snatches of registration number of Podgy's registration number that my sister and I could remember.
I quickly found that I wasn't alone in my appreciation of the Duple Super Vega although the slightly earlier "butterfly" grilled variety were even more highly regarded, possibly because Matchbox made a model of it.
I asked around various friends and neighbours, hoping somebody might have taken a snap of Podgy in its prime but photos were expensive back then and we were only kids and drew a blank there as well.
So I wrote into the West Briton, our local newspaper and a very nice lady named Glenys Kent responded with an e-mail to me, saying that she had nursed the coach company proprietor when he was in a nursing home in Perranporth.
I could recall Bobby Mitchell and his son driving our school buses. If Podgy or one of the other coaches weren't available, we would get a couple of taxis instead. Bear in mind that a Duple Super Vega seats 41 and you get an idea of how cramped conditions were for at least a dozen primary school children who rode in these taxis, which were typically Ford Zephyrs (although I do remember one was the first ever Cortina Mk3 that I ever saw). It wouldn't be allowed now but did it do us any harm?
Glenys is a local historian and had many reminiscences of her own about Bobby Mitchell. When he was quite elderly he still wore a CMT badge from his days with Cornwall Motor Transport but he told her it really stood for Cuddle Me Tight.
Bobby Mitchell was no speed demon and reckoned 30 mph was enough anywhere as Glenys explained.
"He was driving a bus up Canons Town Hill, out of Hayle, and a police car
overtook him and indicated for him to stop, which Bobby did. The police officer
then reprimanded him for driving too slowly, and told him he would have to
report to the police station when he got back to depot. Bobby protested and
blustered for a while, and then the police officer started to laugh. Apparently
when he was a school boy Bobby had tipped him off the bus (fairly near home!!)
for misbehaving and made him walk the rest. He recognised Bobby and the bus and
decided to get his own back! Bobby often related the tale."
Best of all, she said Bobby's career had been featured in Buses Illustrated, an Ian Allan magazine. The issue I needed was the one for January 1966.
The search was on!
In fairly short order, I got one off Ebay and found an article entitled Perranporth to Truro, which described not only Bobby Mitchell's activities but also the foundation of the earliest motor bus services in the area complete with a map. But it took the story up to 1929 and at the end of the article it said "To be continued".
No problem, I thought, I'll get the next month's edition. Imagine my chagrin when it turned out to have no mention of Bobby Mitchell at all, not even a sausage.
Meanwhile, I had found pictures of the other school bus. While Goonhavern schoolkids from the west came on a Mitchell's bus based in Perranporth, Tremain's of Zelah brought them in from the east. The Zelah bus was an even more distinctive Bedford OWB, with indicators in the shape of arrows either side of the number plate below the rear window.
The Zelah schoolbus is pictured here and through these pictures I discovered the WHOTT. This stands for the West Country Historic Omnibus & Transport Trust and whilst coming through their website for any mention of Podgy I saw that they had published a series about road motor services in Cornwall, entitled Travelling to Truro, part two of which was devoted to Perranporth and district.
I ordered a copy and explained my interest in Mitchell's services, whereupon Andy Richings at WHOTT said they had a duplicate of the very issue of Buses Illustrated that I needed and they enclosed it at no extra charge as an early Christmas present!
From the March 1966 issue of Buses Illustrated I discovered that I was mistaken as to Podgy's true identity. For sure, it looked like a Duple Super Vega but its chassis was no Bedford SB. No sir, its underpinnings weren't GM but Blue Oval. Podgy was a Thames 570E, which meant that the bodywork was officially a Duple Yeoman.
As soon as a I read this I remembered the Yeoman badging. It's funny how well your memory performs with a jolt sometimes.
I had remembered Podgy's regsitration number in part (848BOR) but only my sister could remember the name of his regular driver, Mr Harvey.
I managed to find a Thames Duple Yeoman on Flickr. Similar bodywork was also carried by Commer Avenger IVs with the famous two-stroke three cylinder TS3 diesel engine, in which case the bodywork was known as a Duple Corinthian.
Among the surviving examples of the butterfly-grilled Bedford SB Duple Vega is this fine example owned by King Harry Coaches in Cornwall.
It's still not Podgy, though.
Podgy was new to Creamline of Bordon in 1961 so maybe somebody in Hampshire remembers it.
From Travelling to Truro, I discovered that Mitchell's of Perranporth bought it in August 1964 and kept it until December 1976. It's a well-illustrated publication that tells the story of Mitchell's and Tremain's coach services from their inception to their demise. But there's still nothing of all important image that I'd hoped for - a decent smudge of old Podgy.
So this is me flying a kite on Engine Punk again.
Has anyone got a picture of 848BOR?
Better still - does Podgy survive today?
 |
| At first sight this could have been Podgy's twin. I was intrigued to see that this coach has a Cornish registration number although Podgy definitely different (photo: Wikimedia) |
We called our bus Podgy and I'd seen similar coaches over the years. Everything pointed to Podgy being a Bedford SB Duple Super Vega, one of the most stylish coaches made during the fifties and early sixties.
I began to search the internet for information and was delighted to find loads of images on Flickr. Some pictures were historical while others showed present day survivors, beautifully restored in preservation. And there are still some mouldering round the pack of a depot deep in the countryside, even now.
If you check out the sites of traveller's buses there are several Bedford SBs and I even found a list of survivors on the net (how much enthusiastic work went into this?) but there was no sign of the snatches of registration number of Podgy's registration number that my sister and I could remember.
I quickly found that I wasn't alone in my appreciation of the Duple Super Vega although the slightly earlier "butterfly" grilled variety were even more highly regarded, possibly because Matchbox made a model of it.
I asked around various friends and neighbours, hoping somebody might have taken a snap of Podgy in its prime but photos were expensive back then and we were only kids and drew a blank there as well.
So I wrote into the West Briton, our local newspaper and a very nice lady named Glenys Kent responded with an e-mail to me, saying that she had nursed the coach company proprietor when he was in a nursing home in Perranporth.
I could recall Bobby Mitchell and his son driving our school buses. If Podgy or one of the other coaches weren't available, we would get a couple of taxis instead. Bear in mind that a Duple Super Vega seats 41 and you get an idea of how cramped conditions were for at least a dozen primary school children who rode in these taxis, which were typically Ford Zephyrs (although I do remember one was the first ever Cortina Mk3 that I ever saw). It wouldn't be allowed now but did it do us any harm?
Glenys is a local historian and had many reminiscences of her own about Bobby Mitchell. When he was quite elderly he still wore a CMT badge from his days with Cornwall Motor Transport but he told her it really stood for Cuddle Me Tight.
Bobby Mitchell was no speed demon and reckoned 30 mph was enough anywhere as Glenys explained.
Best of all, she said Bobby's career had been featured in Buses Illustrated, an Ian Allan magazine. The issue I needed was the one for January 1966.
The search was on!
In fairly short order, I got one off Ebay and found an article entitled Perranporth to Truro, which described not only Bobby Mitchell's activities but also the foundation of the earliest motor bus services in the area complete with a map. But it took the story up to 1929 and at the end of the article it said "To be continued".
No problem, I thought, I'll get the next month's edition. Imagine my chagrin when it turned out to have no mention of Bobby Mitchell at all, not even a sausage.
Meanwhile, I had found pictures of the other school bus. While Goonhavern schoolkids from the west came on a Mitchell's bus based in Perranporth, Tremain's of Zelah brought them in from the east. The Zelah bus was an even more distinctive Bedford OWB, with indicators in the shape of arrows either side of the number plate below the rear window.
The Zelah schoolbus is pictured here and through these pictures I discovered the WHOTT. This stands for the West Country Historic Omnibus & Transport Trust and whilst coming through their website for any mention of Podgy I saw that they had published a series about road motor services in Cornwall, entitled Travelling to Truro, part two of which was devoted to Perranporth and district.
I ordered a copy and explained my interest in Mitchell's services, whereupon Andy Richings at WHOTT said they had a duplicate of the very issue of Buses Illustrated that I needed and they enclosed it at no extra charge as an early Christmas present!
From the March 1966 issue of Buses Illustrated I discovered that I was mistaken as to Podgy's true identity. For sure, it looked like a Duple Super Vega but its chassis was no Bedford SB. No sir, its underpinnings weren't GM but Blue Oval. Podgy was a Thames 570E, which meant that the bodywork was officially a Duple Yeoman.
As soon as a I read this I remembered the Yeoman badging. It's funny how well your memory performs with a jolt sometimes.
I had remembered Podgy's regsitration number in part (848BOR) but only my sister could remember the name of his regular driver, Mr Harvey.
I managed to find a Thames Duple Yeoman on Flickr. Similar bodywork was also carried by Commer Avenger IVs with the famous two-stroke three cylinder TS3 diesel engine, in which case the bodywork was known as a Duple Corinthian.
 |
| At first sight this could have been Podgy's twin and it's home time. I was intrigued to see that this coach has a Cornish registration number. (photo: Wikimedia) |
Among the surviving examples of the butterfly-grilled Bedford SB Duple Vega is this fine example owned by King Harry Coaches in Cornwall.
It's still not Podgy, though.
 |
The Buses Illustrated article by R C Sambourne for March 1966
gave some history and had what are now historic photos of the coaches
and their shed. The one on the left might be Podgy. The one on the right is the earlier butterfly grilled Duple Vega.
|
Podgy was new to Creamline of Bordon in 1961 so maybe somebody in Hampshire remembers it.
From Travelling to Truro, I discovered that Mitchell's of Perranporth bought it in August 1964 and kept it until December 1976. It's a well-illustrated publication that tells the story of Mitchell's and Tremain's coach services from their inception to their demise. But there's still nothing of all important image that I'd hoped for - a decent smudge of old Podgy.
So this is me flying a kite on Engine Punk again.
Has anyone got a picture of 848BOR?
Better still - does Podgy survive today?
Comments
Post a Comment