Bird's Eye View
Page 32
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IT is an interesting fact that certain bus companies seem 1 to attract particular attention from enthusiasts over and above that catered for nationally by such bodies as the Omnibus Society and the P.S.V. Circle. To some degree, this probably depends on their location and the existence of sufficient of those dedicated characters willing to organize clubs in the area. None the less, I think it is significant that, of the five companies which I know to have fan clubs, all take an obvious pride in the quality and condition of their rolling stock.
Among the most active is the Ribble Enthusiasts' Club, of which the president is Mr. George Brook, general manager of Ribble Motor Services Ltd. Recently about 50 members paid their annual visit to the company's headquarters at Frenchwood Avenue, Preston. "It is refreshing to find people of all ages so interested in the operation of buses and coaches. Their thirst for knowledge about road passenger transport activities knows no bounds, and we are very proud of our fan club", said Mr. Brook afterwards.
This sort of activity can have much value in establishing good relations not only with the enthusiasts but all the members of the public they meet, quite apart from the esprit de corps generated within the company's own staff. Why isn't it more common?
Table Tennis Too!
ONE little-known role played by Atkinson Vehicles Ltd. is as host to, of all things, table-tennis tournaments. Several county matches have been played at Walton-le-Dale and on a recent week-end the first quadrangular international tournament to be held in England was played there.
Atkinson managing director Mr. B. Francis Caunt personally conducted the players, from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, through the factory before the tournament began.
The Right Spirit
AMONG members of Southend's Jewish community who volunteered to work in Southend Hospitals at Christmas were Ald. Norman Harris and his wife, Mrs. Judy Harris, J.P. Norman Harris, let it be stressed, is a very busy man: among his many duties he is chairman of Southend's transport undertaking. When approached on the subject of his Christmas activities, he said, " My wife and I decided to spend the whole of Christmas Day at the hospital. We were quite prepared to do anything from emptying and washing bed-pans, dusting and cleaning the wards to helping with the catering arrangements ". Needless to say this generous offer was most gratefully accepted.
Division of Function
A BOLD step has been taken by Liverpool with that I-1 Corporation's new proposals for the most comprehensive urban motorway scheme so far prepared in any British city. Mr. Graeme Shankland's report to the City Council projects what may well be the urban pattern of the future. Perhaps the most important feature of this plan is that its implementation would give adequate facility for the use of public service and delivery vehicles in the city centre and
would allow passengers, together with pedestrians at large, a 1 4 to be dealt with on equal terms with those enjoyed by the private motorist.
Briefly, the system would include 3/ miles of elevated motorways that would enclose about one square mile of the city centre and connect up four multi-level intersections with the main road feeding the centre from outside the city. Provision is made for multi-storey and other parks to accommodate over 35,000 cars at points either adjoining or connecting directly with the motorways. In this way drivers would be dissuaded from entering the office and shop core where the free flow of service vehicles and buses is essential and where the concentration of pedestrians should be greatest.
Seat of Learning
SCHOOLBOYS in moments of stress frequently turn on " their alma mater, threatening, for instance, to burn it down. I'm not saying that Mr. George Wells, managing director of G. Wells and Sons Ltd., was ever moved to such
thoughts but in real life he has gone rather one better: the workshops and showrooms in Station Road, Strood, Kent, which he recently bought from another company, stand on the site of his old school. His new company's agency for Bedford, Ford and Ransome products, a venture in which he is joined by his twin sons Brian and Gayoe, should at least allow him to make capital out of his educational ground work more directly than most of us have a chance to do.