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I have very fond memories of the Hastings trolleys from 1956 - 1959. I remember particularly a journey one evening in 1957 from the town centre clock tower on route 8 (?) to the Old Town, by St Clements Church. It was during a torrential downpour, and the conductor stopped the bus especially for us to get off between stops. It seems amazing these days to think that there was 2 way traffic in the old town High Street.
I am nearing completion of the long-proposed (research for material has taken quite a time!) video on Maidstone's Trolleybuses (with some tramway photos in it, too) prior to editing and production with a nationally-known video company - the Council and the Kent Messenger have given me their support with the project - and I am looking for some video footage of 34's trip back to Hastings and subsequent restoration. Please let me know if you can help and if so let me have a contact name and address I can write to formally rather than via the Internet. All material used will be returned, and acknowledged in the video,and a complimentray copy of the video will be sent too. The video should appear in 2003, and for my part I'm not accepting any payment for my contribution to the project; when the video is published special-price copies can be supplied for Preservation Group sales if you're interested. Many thanks. Doug Barrow 1/12/02.
Keep up the good work they should never have been phased out we might have a cleaner world.
Excellent work. Does anyone know of a supplier of the old golf ball type bulbs used in old buses etc? They are 12V 12W with BC fitting.
good luck to the restoration of the Hastings trolleybus.i have been a trolleybus enthusiast since i was 5...(47 years !! ) best wishes from david
I have looked up your site because I am a bit interested in Trolleybuses. Does anyone know if there are buses for sale (does not be old ones, but operative)
greetings. I enjoyed a good visit. Kenn
Ion, Please contact me about 57,we are keen to possitively identify her,so much i need to know and so little info is around.Tony Peart is sure it is a Mexboro, but I am not of that opinion. Help!!
Hi, My lifi is trolleybuses! I an dlad to see you. Good bye friends
I am going over the web
Hi Ion, have dis-counted the Mexboro' theory as they were red. Would appreciate a colour match for 57 to get the rear panels into livery for next year. Any history or info would be gratefully recieved. The Sun did us proud, seven papers followed it up. Take care, Brian.
Brings back happy memories of the trolleybuses in my home town of Auckland, New Zealand when I was a boy. Unhappily the last routes were abandoned back in 1980.
Hi there, I enjoyed your website, as I am an avid trolleybus enthusiast. Your restored Sunbeam looks quite beautiful. I wish we had trolleybuses here in New York City. Keep up the good work!
Ser�a interesante que cuando puedan habiliten sus p�ginas en espa�ol. Muchas gracias.
Hi, I live in Wellington, the only city in the Southern Hemisphere with trolleybuses. It's a pity that you can't persuade the local Council to reinstall the overheads so that you don't have to run on diesel and so you can have trolleys again! Rgds, Warwick
I enjoy your site. I've always associated Felix Cunuder with Cardiff - did he work at Hastings earlier in his career?
I leke very Trolleybus in the world.
Sauver et faire rouler lestrolleybus, bravo. Aquand cette mentalit� en France? Vi=oulez vous des photos de trolleybus de Marseille ?
Keep up the good work
I really like your website. Good luck in your efforts! Peggy (Czech Republic, Pilsen)
Lived in Hughenden Place. The Langham Terminus of Route 6 in the trolleybus system. Father was a conductor at Silverhill on trolleys in 1956. I well remember them changing from Hastings Tramways Co. to Maidstone and District. I witnessed the demise of the system. Rode many times on Happy Harold when it was a trolley bus and can remember seeing the new Leyland Atlanteans take over from the trolleys. Keep up the good work. Its a good site.
Hope to meet you at the rally. Unfortunately missed "happy Harold" at the Bexhill 100. Just got the Corgi model and a book on the Hastings system.
I had the pleasure of meeting Felix Cunuder in Cardiff where his electric minivan was a familiar sight.He was ,if not a genius ,a most ingenious and practical man .>
hi i am the daughter of janet weston who sent you the photos of my grandad. i am writing to send you my e-mail address as mum said you had lost it. i have seen the newspaper clipping, seems strange he is in the paper after all those years
Enjoyed the site.
Hi Ion, just checking on you. Many un-answered question s on 57 as yet am still undecided on its history or no. Could be ex Mexboro'
hola
i think my mum janet weston sent you some photos of my grandad william campbell i just wondered whether they were going to be put on your web page
I am looking for a source for a thermostat for a Commer TS3 diesel motor. If you can supply one, or know of someone else who might be able to help me, I would love to hear from you.
Regards Sam Stevenson
Are you the same Ion Castro who visited Turner House on our Open Day!! if so Hello
Further to my other message, does anybody out ther have a copy of the small brochure produced by M&D for the last day of the trolleybuses in hastings I know it well as I personally printed it at Budd & Gillatt north st st leonards, I would love to get hold of a copy. If any body remembers me, please contact me by e.mail
Now living in spain your website brought back many happy memories, I was a young boy in the era of the single decker guy/ransomes trolley and knew intimately all the BDY aec and sunbeam double deckers. It has brought many happy memories
Excellent site. Must visit some day.
good site memories of no11 route chrict church st leonards to memorial section
good site memories of no11
well done
Hi, Please send me details of how to join your group.I am already a member of Hastings Trams and I believe they may be with your group now but we rarely get any newsletters so I am a bit lost as to what is actually going on !
Keep up the good work. See you at the rally next year
Keep up the good work. See you at the rally next year
Would you have any objection to my using the picture of Hastings 45 in a forthcoming issue of TM? There has been no report in TM of progress on its restoration for three years so this picture would be of considerable interest to TMC members. Any news on the restoration of your other vehicles would be most welcome and, of course, I shall be interested to hear any developments concerning the recently discovered Hastings BTX vehicle.
Nice Site
I'm interested
I enjoyed the page very much, and shared it with my nephew, Christopher Commer.
Greetings, I trust that your work on the trolleybuses continues with much satisfaction.It always gave me much pleasure when restoring 237,to think that eventually I would be able to place her poles up on the overhead,and hear the compressor burst into life,perhaps one day one of yours will visit the Black Country Museum,so keep up the good work.
I have happy memories of the Maidstone system and can also recall seeing trolleybuses in Hastings shortly before closure. Keep up the good work - 34 in particular looks splendid in green!
Just looking up the information on your site as today I discovered that my father-in-law, Albert"Paddy" Graham, was a conductor on the trolleys in Hastings for three years after the War.
Hello for Arlington VA USA
This site is great!Congratulation!!!
Researching my sons primary school project.
Well done .keep up the good work. T291 hasn't seen a lot done this year, hope to rectify in 2001/02 Have a man who wants to build trailer. contact me by e-mail!!!
P.S. Can you tell me the most obvious bodywork differences between Nos.1-20 and Nos.21-45?
Best wishes on your project
I would appreciate contact from you to myself Josie Lawson (Editor) Ebb & Flow magazine, PO Box 117, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex. TN38 9ZJ, UK. giving me an article no longer than 100 words of the above non-profit magazine for a history section. Thanks
great to see the old machines being preserved.
I am from Salzburg/Austria. We have a trolleybus system since 1940. The Story of the English Trolleybus Systems are very interesting. Unfortunately today there are no trolleybuses in service in UK.
Very interesting. So glad these fine old vehicles are being lovingly restored. An ex brit.
Well, those pictures of the 2001 rally are good, but can I point out that I am not the only one who is not pushing Happy Harold with a flat battery - a member of the Sherwood gang isn't doing it either!!!
I look forward to see more pictures of the 2001 Oval Rally, especially of me (and my partner)! And also our attempts to restart the Happy Harold as a result of flat battery! I will write to you for the Group shortly my opinion of the Rally (that is my so called "Annual Report").
I Have lived in NZ for 38 yrs,hometown: Bournemouth-yes in my young days trolleys to the max! We have one system in NZ-Wellington, plus a Trolleybus Museum at Foxton about 55 mins drive N of Wellington. All NZ trolleybuses since WWII were single-deckers. There were in total five systems at one time. If you are interested in photos or further details, please E-mail me.
Hello there, I am looking for a bus to take my bride and I from Rye Foreign to Brede on 23 June. We met on a routemaster No 8 and i thought it appropriate to leave the wedding reception on something similar (or more charming as is the case with your vehicles). I would, of course, expect to be charged for the pleasure. Do you have a vehicle that could take on this job or any suggestions where I could find one? I am getting a wee bit desperate.
Many thanks. Andrew (Ingle). .
Thank you for a good day at the rally. Wonderfull to see and have a ride on HAPPY HAROLD.
Great site. Could someone please tell me on what road The Oval is on in Hastings?
good site
I'm very interested in it and the website is very good, it's just what I want and look for.
hello there.
Delighted to hear the story of Happy Harold. The last I heard was that he had been involved in a fire in the 1960's and that he had subsequently disappeared! Congratulations on all your good work. Is somebody ever going to string up a set of twin wires (with 18 inch separation of course)? Best wishes, Michael Baron, Gloucestershire England.
Hello
You may know that I market a series of scale drawings of trolleybuses including Harry Harold, a Ransomes single deck and 11-20 series. I wonder if you can help with a drawing of No 34 so a friend can buold a 1/12th!!! scale model of it. Maybe you can help. Thankyou. Terry
Interested because my father used to drive the trolley
buses single decker and the double deckers
that turned at the top of Hollington.
Nice site - found it via the Ipswich Transport Museum site
Great work. Good luck
Nice to see that Happy Harold is well looked after. My Mothers stepfather Hurbert (Skip) Baxter drove it once! Found it not to his liking.
Credits noted, Jack will be pleased, although not well again.
Thanks, Jack is not well again, & will be pleased.
a good informative site
I have changed the URL of my Hastings bus site to //members.tripod.co.uk/papworth/index.html
Thanks
My father was born and raised at 12 Bohemia Road, St Leonards and the trolley ran by the front his home in 18 and 1900's
My father was born and raised at 12 Bohemia Road, St Leonards and the trolley ran by the front his home
very very good site
very very good site
A really good site
Re my last... for dingle read Single!
Has anyone succeeded in modelling English trollebuses in OO/HO size. Brawa make models in "N" and "HO", but they are all single decker European types. (//www.brawa.de/english/index.htm) I am local, 01424 431306.
Regards,
Brian
Site looks great. Your site is now linked to:
Site looks great. Your site is now linked to:
Nice site, yet to sort out my own. Would be nice also for your to credit our friend Jack Turley for his photos!
Wonderful vehicles! Why don't they bring them back to Hastings? A great pollution-free and quiet public transport system destroyed and replaced with stinking diesel buses, too large for the roads and running mostly empty. Bring back the Trolley-Buses and give this town a worthwhile public transport system. Alex.
keep up the good work
Congratulations on the work you are doing and on the web site. I hired 3A many years ago for a tour from London Victoria to Maidstone and back for the LCGB. We also had a tour of the Maidstone system. All went well until coming back up the A20 in the evening there was a thunderstorm! Years of summer work at Hastings had opened up her joints and it was almost as wet on the lower deck where most of the tour participants were sheltering as it was on the upper deck! Unfortunately, in the rain and darkness, the driver took the wrong turning at Wrotham Heath on to the A25 instead of the A20. Have you ever tried a 99 point turn without power steering in the middle of a storm? It was a fun day though! Was it the furthest that Happy Harold had travelled from Maidstone? I'm afraid that, although I only live at Gravesend, my preservation duties turned to railways many years ago so I can only watch developments through the Net. Regards John Fuller
i came to Bexhill every summer from 1950 to 1959 and stayed in Egerton Road. OK i was aged 0 to 9 but clearly remembere the trolleybus out to Cooden and back as wellas the sound in the wires. Somehow it seems a shame to have lost the technology and moved to diesel. (Although the smell of the new Atlanteans was nice at first.)
Greetings from afar, Member No.50 checking in. Can someone let me know when the subs are due? Loved the early photo's, did anyone get hold of the extensive collection that Deryk Walters has? Best Wishes from Perth Down Under, Ray Kinsella ex resident 1945 to 1967 John Kinsella my Father was a Conductor on the T/b until he went off to Tunbridge Wells in 1955. He served the M&D for 45 years. f5
I have recently come back to the are after an absence of 50+ years. Its greatand this site is great too, very interesting and full of memories for me. Thank you
Living as a kid on a London T/bus route (601/667) I remember my joy riding Hastings singledeckers!!
Living as a kid on a London T/bus route (601/667) I remember my joy riding Hastings singledeckers!!
Excellent presentation. Most interesting. Missed Hastings trolleys by about a year but still a few bracket arms and hangers to get me interested!
A really nice site, if only we could have trolleybuses back!
Hello Ian. Thanks for putting the pic of EKL on the page! And thanks too for a great event � needless to say I'll be back next year. Got home about 9.30....
I thought you might like to know I have a small news item about your rally on www.hastings.uk.net"latest news" hope you have good weather and a great rally. All the Best Victoria
It's so good to see these vehicles being restored. Good luck and thank you for your dedication!
good luck, hope to see you soon in the railway shed.
Member of "amsterdam" team
ex Hollington now living in Cambs
I couold you email me some more details regarding t.b's. Also could you send me info on how to look after my trolley bus memrobilia.
Many thanks,
Jon
A good website. If you keep me posted on your news then I can input it to the British Trolleybus Society magazine 'Trolleybus'
J.Keavy, Westport, Massachusetts, USA I enjoyed looking at the photos of your recent rallies of buses and trackless trolleys. I like the preservation work you people do and the fact that so many tracklesses are operable and moved about the country for shows. I wish we had the same thing over here. The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunk, Maine, USA has a very diversified manufacturer selection of trackless trolleys, but alas, none are running. Keep up the good work. JFK
Well done for preserving Hastings trolleybuses. As a long time Croydon resident I well remember the era of 'silent' travel. Trolley's are best! I am sure a wired route from Hastings to Bexhill would be a winner. Get the Tourist board on your side. Hope to attend your rally. Good luck.
Great site. You however need to change the link to the Routemaster Owners & Operators Association. They have a new URL
Very interesting....
See you in May www.classicomnibus.co.uk
As an ex-pat of Hastings and one who (just) remembers the last days of the "trollies", it does my heart good to see what you are doing. When funds permit, I will do what I can. Regards to Ian Butler who I used to work with and who is still a personal friend. He has been keeping me abreast of your activities and his wife gave me your address. I will return !!
One of these years We plan to see your vehicles. Here in Minnesota we are working on two Flxible Clippers, a 45 and a 48 that we own.
Ion some good picies on here now. Also can you send a rallie form to Mr T Wickens. 100 Courtfield Av. Lordswood, Chatham, Kent. ME5 8QE. Ta! Mick. Ps. see you Thurday.
iF YOU REQUIRE ANY FURTHER CATERING AT THIS OR FUTURE YEARS EVENTS, WE WILL PAY 20% OF OUR TAKINGS AS RENT FEE. wE ARE FULLY INSURED AND VERY PROFESSIONAL, GIVE US A TRY, 01424 721663
thankyou for looking after the trolley buses!
A very interesting site, but can we have our fish `n chip supper soon please!!!!!!!
Haven't checked your site yet - however, you may wish to visit www.southbus.co.uk for details of M&D's Hastings & District offshoot.
Keep up the good work! "Trolleybus", magazine of the BTS would be happy to publicise your May event.
Dear Sir, My mother worked as a clippy for the East Kent Bus company during the war years. Do any of your members have a bus from this era that they can offer small journeys in for a fee. I'm sure that my mother who lives in Deal would be delighted to go on a journey with some of her colleagues from those days. Yours faithfully, A.M.Franks 01342-870005 P.S Could anyone supply pictures of these buses. If possibl before her birthday party on the 16th Jan 2K. Thank you
will aim for rally 2000 in my 1933 austin 7
will aim for rally 2000 in my 1933 austin 7
Haven't been here lately, haven't you been busy! Putting up a link on mine, //www.trolleybus.co.uk OK?
I think my site is worth a virtual wire wipe.
Go to //www.xngc.freeserve.co.uk
You really need to have a link to my site: //www.xngc.freeserve.co.uk if you have a general interest in trolleybuses
DCB
Excellent site.
Memories of the No. 2 making its silent and majestic way along the Ridge to Baldslow. Not urban transport (as we call it now), but a timetabled trolleybus service!
interesting site. I would be looking for a plan view of a TB for a painting in O scale. Any help available?
My site at //www.xngc.freeserve.co.uk deals with trolleybuses in the Croydon Area
Keep up the good work. Have a look at website cinlos.freeserve.co.uk/bcmtg.htm
good site, I restored wfn 513, which is an AEC reliance!
Found the site via Sandtoft. I still remember being taken on a 630 in London and also seeing trolleys in Brighton.
Pity theer appears to be no hope of a return.
Good luck on the preservation stakes.
Just one thing would it not be an idea for a resort that is seeking regeneration (ie Hastings) to wire up and run some preserved trolleys for tourists.
Look how popular Blackpool's trams are
Very interesting!-I would like to attend next years rally with my car, a 1955 Standard 10 which spent most of its life in the Bexhill/Hastings area. I worked at the Depot that you use in the early 1980s.
In Croydon they're bringing back the Trams when will they ever learn? Tolleybuses are better!
Enjoyed Hastings trolleys when on holiday in Hastings in the late '50s, and was glad to see them again in my home town of Bradford for a new lease of life after the closure of the Hastings system. Nice website - enjoyed the visit!
Well done for preserving one of Britain's most curious forms of public transport, i.e. the all conquering trolleybus!
When are you going to produce a definitive history of Hastings trolleybuses ? My Trolleybooks volume on Bournemouth will be out in August (please buy one or more) David Bowler Switzerland
I have a TS3 Commer engine that needs an overhaul. Would you know anyone who supplies spare parts?
This is the best Trolleybus Interest group site I have found on the NET yet. Well done.
I spent many happy holidays in Maidstone and on the South East Coast in the late fifties and early sixties. You bring back a lot of memories. Perhaps you'd like to visit my web site; //www.zen.co.uk/home/page/artinmotion, or find it through the link to the web ring.
Regards
Jonathan Clay
looks really good from up here (Codsall, Wolverhampton).lots of memories from my BX,SV,&H spotting days. just rediscovered buses all over again-sad but true! great to see the Bexhill boat bus still survives; I went to Portsmouth regatta in it about 1962,sunk in the first race of the day and spent the rest of the day spotting-sadder but true!!
Sorry I missed this year's rally.
Nice to find you!
Congratulations on your early display of pictures from Sunday. Thanks for an enjoyable day! We also have a few pictures of the event at //www.btinternet.com/~wealdsman/ Regards.
Interesting page - would like to visit rally at weekend - but WHERE and WHAT TIME??!!
I am a member of a tram restorers group, but I do admire all that you have managed to do. Best wishes for the future.
Good site and I enjoyed the 1998 rally very much. Thank for the hard work involved in both!
I got here at long last, and I`m impressed.
Hi guys
Keep up the good work
From Sunbeam F4A land
I put "Trolley Bus" as a keyword into the search engine "Mamma" and your site was the first one to come up. All the more surprising since I live in Hastings! Do you know Stan Simpson G4ITM? He used to be on the buses. I would dearly love to model trolley buses in "00" gauge (4mm scale) with power from the wires and steering via the trolley arms. Not much support for it though. I lived in Portsmouth as a kid and was always fascinated by the trolley buses.
Sigh...
Best wishes
Brian
Interesting to see that I am not alone in being a bit daft about trolleybuses. We don't have any here in Australia. We do have a healthy tram system in Melbourne though.
The Hastings Bus Pages have moved to Freeserve from cable and Wireless and are now on spapworth.freeserve.co.uk
if you would like to change your link.
Regards John
VERY much enjoyed the pics. Cannot help but wonder if there are any trolley buses still running in scheduled service anywhere in the U.K. Have lived (or am living) in both Canadian cities that still run electric trolley buses (out of 9 or so that once did). Keep up the good work.
keep up the good work hasta luego
Right ..I've looked its great
*#:-)
Bru
Great site!
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