Tuesday 1 December 2009

Where's That Then? No 2

Another of Mr.Gullers' fabulous photographs. One assumes bus queues were a rarity in his native Sweden. But what a host of fascinating detail, not the least of which is the bus side advertising Timothy Whites & Taylors- never mentioned in our household because my father worked loyally for Boots the Chemists. And the cars. I can only recognise about half of them, but very glad to see an Armstrong Siddeley in there and a Standard Eight that could be the one my brother drove and was the first car in our family. Which is all very well, but where are they all parked?

27 comments:

Peter Ashley said...

I'm going to be out for the rest of the day, so I'll let you all be judge and jury on this one. Then I'll see what you've got up to tonight.

Philip Wilkinson said...

This looks to me like Battle, with the gatehouse to the abbey prominent in the background. Out of shot just behind the bus queue is a lovely tile-hung (I think) building called Battle Memorial Halls which has an upper balcony. Perhaps this was where the photographer stood.

And this is all very well, but can anyone else identify any of the other cars?

Peter Ashley said...

Actually I forgot I could access my blog from other computers (the wonders of technoland). So well done Philip, spot on.

Gawain said...

Looks like the well-travelled and perspicaceous Mr W is going to run away with this series of posers.

Ron Combo said...

Love the queue, not a word being spoken. Just waiting, waiting, waiting. Very Unmitigated English.

Sleepy Pedant said...

Overslept again! Is this a series of places beginning with 'Ba...'?

Still, a lovely picture. Hats, overcoats, and a rather severe parting on the gentleman looking over his shoulder at the camera...

...but what ever happened to the orderly bus queue? It seems to be sauve qui peut these days.

Peter Ashley said...

Yes, there's so much I want to know about this picture. Who are these people, where are they going, what's that woman got in her lunch box, what's that bloke in the trilby just said to the girl about the photographer?

expat said...

What would the bus be? Maidstone and District, Southdown, East Kent maybe?

Peter Ashley said...

It's difficult to tell, but from what we can see of the bus logo my guess is Maidstone & District, but it must be on a school trip or something, their area being some way off. This is Southdown country I believe, but it's not them.

Majorwheels said...

Peter, fantastic picture! - although the name would suggest otherwise, Maidstone & District were the main bus company in Hastings, with three depots at one time, and indeed a depot in Battle until the 1960s. Looks like a wartime utility bodied Guy or Bristol. The far right car looks like a Riley RM, and to the left of the Standard 8, a Vauxhall.

expat said...

Did Hastings Corporation run its own buses maybe?

Majorwheels said...

Hastings didn't have their own corporation buses, but they did have the most wonderful trolleybus system, which didn't reach as far as Battle, but went from Ore to Bexhill and around Hastings. This was a seperate company until taken over by Maidstone @ District in 1935, but run as a subsidiary until they sadly scapped the trolleys in 1959. Yes, I know it is rather sad that I know this!!

Martin H. said...

Right, here's my fourpen'th on the cars:

From the right - Triumph Vitesse, about 1938, with the distinctive dipped bumper; Austin 8, could be just pre-war, more likely post; Standard Flying 8, post war version; Austin 12 or 14, c.1937, Armstrong Siddeley Lancaster, 1945-52; it's hard to be sure of the next vehicle but I suspect it's an MG 11/2 or 2 litre saloon; an early Standard Vanguard (the most modern car here!); and something large from the early thirties.
The large limousine in the foreground has eluded me (Humber?) and I bow to Majorwheels on the bus, as I'm not really up to speed on public transport.

This would suggest about 1949 for the photograph, would that be right?

Anonymous said...

Love that every one is So Well Dressed. The more so if, as has been suggested, this is '49 and austerity, if not clothes rationing, was the order of the day. Compare and contrast with what our fellow citizens wear today, given all the choice and money now to hand, relatively speaking.

Majorwheels said...

Well done Martin H on the cars! - distracted by the bus somewhat, that's my excuse. Now, hold tight please - the bus is not at the bus stop, which is just out of shot on the right, and with no crew or passengers on board, so my theory is that the crew are having a quick cuppa, before trundling back to Bexhill on route 34, which turned around here. Do you think the large limousine is a wedding car, or some VIP, as some of the crowd are looking in that direction?

Philip Wilkinson said...

Terrific stuff on the cars - I'm being educated.

I too approve of the standards of dress. Good to see so many chaps hatted, too.

Peter Ashley said...

Thankyou so much for all that info. And all from just one photograph. I only hope I can find something as absorbing for next week.

Anonymous said...

The entrancing beauty of food packages is that one often stares at them while consuming them. I think that adds a special extra something to package design.

I read that Andy Warhol's Brillo box was designed by a very well known package designer... so I guess good design will stand the test of time.

Jon Dudley said...

Battle. Lovely place. Wish the car park was still stuffed with those cars. I went there in 1966 for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Contemporary Guinness advertising campaign replete with beautifully executed spoof Bayeux tapestry read, 'Battle of Hastings 1066. Bottle of Guinness 1966'. Not a million miles from the rather nice Shepherd Neame 'Bottle of Britain' work.

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