ted cogger

Buses in Hastings supplied by Ted Cogger

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supplied by Ted Cogger

Allan Mitchell… Great pictures!!

Monica Bane… Just love these wonderful photos!

Peter Ellingworth… The top photo would have been taken before Sept-Oct 1957, as this is when the Maidstone & District logo (lower photo) replaced the Hastings Tramways one. Both trolleybuses are from the 1940 AEC batch, the lower photo taken, if I’m correct from previous research, during the final few days of operation last week in May 1959. The 1940 ‘ batch of trolleybuses were scrapped when the system closed, the newer 1947 ‘Sunbeam’ batch sold off for further use to Maidstone Corporation, Bradford, Walsall and Wolverhampton, being in use until almost 1970. Had the replacement Atlantean diesel buses not run into development and production issues, the original intention was to replace the Hastings trolleybuses in Dec ’58-Jan ’59, so thankfully they had a six month stay of execution. When M&D finally took complete control of the Hastings system in Oct 1957, Hastings Corporation having not exercised their option in 1955 of every ten years purchasing the undertaking, the writing was on the wall straight away as M&D made no secret in spite of much local opposition, that to them it was an operating anomaly in their bigger scheme of things, and had to go. As some others and myself have said on the SMART music section, the East Anglia Transport Museum at Lowestoft have superbly restored in full working order Bdy 809 to early ’50’s condition, and run it regulary on their circuit. This vehicle went straight from finish at Hastings to Maidstone Corporation where it ran until their system finished in 1967.

Terry Corder… If I remember correctly, the number 11 ran from the town centre to Clive Vale and probably a lot further but that’s where I got off. I remember a ticket cost 2d.

Stuart Moir… Most uncomfortable buses I rode as a kid

Peter Ellingworth… In their day compared to the motor buses the Hastings trolleybuses were smooth, quiet and clean- and comfortable. Very popular with the locals and visitors alike. They didn’t however, along with most buses of the time have closing rear doors, or if I’m right heating- but remember that in those days even the inside of house windows froze up…and with the privitations of WW2 not long before, unlike today, most folk thought of this as just a minor inconvenience…… Regarding the routes : at its completion from tramway conversion in 1928-9 Hastings had the longest system in the world. Originally there were twelve route nos, 1-12 inclusive, whittled down over the years and rationalised to four : nos. 2. 6, 8 and 11. Frequencies varied from every six minutes (6 &11) to twenty – fourty minutes ( routes 2, 8). Route 2 was a circular, Memorial-Memorial via Fismarket, Old London Rd., Ore, The Ridge, Sedlescombe Rd, Silverhill, & Bohemia Rd. : Route 6 Hollington Battle Rd. to Ore via Bohemia Rd, Memorial, Queens Rd.,The Langham, Mount Pleasant Rd , Priory Rd., & Old London Rd. Route 8: Park Cross Roads, Queens Rd., Memorial, Sea Front, Bathing Pool/West Marina, Bexhill Rd., De Larr Rd.( Bexhill) to the Metropole, with some journeys on to Cooden Beach. Route 11: Hollington -Ore as the no. 6 until London Rd., Sea Front, Memorial, High St. ( Old Town), Harold Rd./Clive Vale, then again as the 6 to Ore. Some journeys on both routes were extended to St Helens (Cemetery). If you lived as we did off Battle Rd, where the 6 & 11 shared the same route, it can be seen even on Sundays the headway was every few minutes.

Hastings miniature railway.

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photos © Ted Cogger

Stuart Moir… At the time when our council appreciated the value of using the space as a coach park for visitors particularly from the London area, so much trade was lost when the policy was changed to accommodate a rarely used art gallery and cafe’, I never see queues forming at the entrance, and the restaurant is the same .

Joe Knight… Maybe One day it will return and what’s left can be Restored

Marcus de Mowbray… That red loco is stunning

Peter Ellingworth… The clean external condition could well be the work of a friend, Derek Walsgrove and myself, who used to help out at the HMR during the school holidays cleaning snd servicing the locos. I would put the top colour photo of ‘Royal Scot’ as around 1962, the Bedford van seen in the background next to the sea blue Morris 1000 belonged to Jim Hughes, “JBH” who used to manage and run the line in conjunction with Ian Allan Ltd. The smart Beetle to the left belonged to a friend of JBH, a Mr. Critchley whose first name -Julian-? I can’t remember now, and who came over from Brighton to do a day’s driving. ‘Royal Scot’ was built in 1938 by the former model engineering company Bassett Lowke, I believe it is still in operation somewhere, the other two steamers were ‘Firefly’ a Great Western Railway type rebuilt by JBH , as was my favourite ‘Hampton Court’ rebuilt in 1958 by JBH as a GWR Saint class. This is still in operation at Stapleford Miniature Railway in Northants. ‘Firefly’ until recently operated at Keer’s Miniature Railway in Scotland which I believe is closing down. The lower photo I would say was taken early fifties.  Anybody remember how there used to be red London RT buses parked up in the Stade having bought sarf Londoners down for day trips?

 

 

Trolley bus outside White Rock Baths supplied by Ted Cogger

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Supplied by Ted Cogger

Ted Cogger… At the end of Robertson Street out side white rock baths Hastings

Martin Richter… all the way to Cooden!

Peter Houghton… Thank you for sharing this!

Allan Mitchell… Awesome‼️ Picture.

Anne Murray… What year was this?

Alan Esdaile… Not sure Anne, could be early sixties? Anyone know.

Paul Sleet… Strange isn’t it, that we had electric buses all those years ago, and we changed to diesel. Now we are going backwards.

Tim Harris… Points to those who know the song where the lyrics come from Their Mums and Dads smoke Capstan non filters Wallpaper lives cause they all die of cancer.

Pauline Sims… Great picture

David Wilkinson… Original Omnibus Company model 40102

David Wilkinson… There’s a Hastings trolley bus preserved at East Anglia Transport Museum in Lowestoft.

Carol Acott… Waited there for a bus a few times back in the day

Clare Bennett… I saw 👀 plenty of those in Hastings

Peter Ellingworth… Before October 1957, as that’s when the Maidstone & District logo on the lower side panels replaced the Hastings Tramways one. I think it is between 1950 and 1956 – if I remember correctly, the guy on the left of the two having just alighted from the bus and obviously off to the old White Rock swimming baths, ran a second hand book shop in the Old Town’s George St. – I remember seeing this picture enlarged displayed in the shop window, and talking to him about it some years ago. As an ex-Hastings resident, I would recommend a visit to the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Coville, Lowestoft, where they have superbly restored Hastings TB BDY 809 to full working order. To ride around on this after so many years felt surreal – I thought I had entered the gates of heaven – and this was the TB that was the last to run when the local ‘Great and Good’ were given a run round after lunch in Bexhill, the day after public services ceased at just after 11pm on Sunday 31st.May 1959.
It was one of five or so sold to Maidstone Corporation and continued to run on their system until that closed in 1967. Incidentally, the Hastings system was unique except for either Rotherham or Huddersfield I think in having 18″ instead the normal 24″ spacing between the positive and negative electric overhead running wires, apart from a short extension added in 1947 from The Vic pub at the top end of Battle Road to facilitate a turning circle ( where the ‘Observer’ office now is). Had Hastings Corporation exercised their right to purchase the system in 1955, I believe Hastings Tramways had plans to wire up the then new estate developments ( Bromsgrove, Hollington, and off Rye Road) and the old 76 circular route. Given that the last trolleybus system in the uk closed in 1972 ( Bradford, who also purchased some redundant Hastings TB’s), it would be interesting to consider how long the Hastings system would have lasted from its relatively early demise had the system been purchased.

Peter Ellingworth… Rambling on….. An excellent read on the Hastings trolleybuses is ‘Trams and Trolleybuses in Hastings, St. Leonards -on-Sea and Bexhill ‘ 1905-1959 by Robert J. Harley, and published by Adam Gordon (ISBN 978-1-910654-14-9) which has a wealth of detail and photos. Obtainable through the usual channels ( e-bay etc.), possibly Hastings Library has a copy. It sorted out why I had always wondered as mentioned above Hastings was pretty well unique in the narrower spacing between the positive and negative overhead electric running wires – simply because at its inception in 1928 from tramway conversion it was one of the, if not the, biggest UK systems at the time and utilised a lot of the former tramway equipment, this gauge being standard norm at the time. To convert over while the kit still was within its working life simply would not have made economic sense.
I remember Derek Waters, former depot manager at Silverhill, and the late David Padgam ex M&D employee and the go-to local transport guru, telling me that Hastings was also pretty unique in that they also made a lot of the overhead fittings in house.  It was a much liked and efficient system. By the way, those of you who remember the myriad of poles that carried the overhead wiring from tramway days, latterly used for lamp posts, had in true Victorian -Edwardian style a finial on the top of the posts- most were still in place until a few years ago- in fact I believe one still stands at the top if the High Street, will check out next time I’m down- well, being that sad, I have one of the finials in my conservatory which I bought for a quid scrap value from the Corporation yard when they had a blitz on removing them all some years ago, because of I believe a then EU ruling that all lamp posts had to be able to be collision impact absorbent which the old poles were not.