The former toll house has long been an obstacle to the traffic passing the historic Spaniard’s Inn in Hampstead, and London Transport was one of the organisations that lobbied for its removal during the 1960s. The famously well-heeled and feisty residents of Hampstead mounted a successful resistance, and that toll house remains in place today, a de facto traffic-calming device. The 210 bus route is the only service that must negotiate the bottleneck, and nearly five decades ago, AEC Swift SMS549 (EGN549J) was captured squeezing its way past. For many years a single-deck route, double-deckers work the 210 today.
SMS549 spent just seven years in London Transport service, spending most of that time allocated to Highgate Garage (HT). It was sold to Ulsterbus in 1978, bolstering the much-depleted Belfast Citybus fleet during the height of the Troubles.
February 1974
Zorki 4 camera
Agfa CT18 film.
Tags: London transport 210 bus route aec swift London nw3 the Spaniards inn hampstead hearh hampstead egn549j sms549
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Deep in rural Essex, Blake Hall was far and away the least used station in the London Underground network. The station was built by the Great Eastern Railway in 1865 when it opened its branch line to Ongar. The contrast between this rural outpost and bustling stations like Oxford Circus some 25 miles away could not be more marked. The line between Epping and Ongar only became part of the London Underground network in 1957, being absorbed as an autonomous section of the Central Line operated by 4-coach shuttle trains. A typical train of 1962 Tube stock is seen departing from the single platform: as per Edward Thomas’ elegy to Adlestrop, no-one left and no-one came.
Passenger service at Blake Hall ceased in 1981, some 13 years before the Ongar branch was finally closed. The station house survives in private ownership.
February 1974
Zorki 4 camera
Agfa CT18 film.
Tags: Epping-Ongar Ongar branch tube train 1962 tube stock London underground London transport central line Essex branch line Blake hall station
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The avenue of trees leads to the New River, which is spanned by a footbridge that leads into the churchyard. The flint church tower with stair turret dates from c.1460.
March 1974
Zorki 4 camera
Agfa CT18 film.
Tags: broxbourne hertfordshire english parish church st augustine broxbourne
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To the chagrin of many citizens, Glasgow Corporation Transport bid farewell in September 1962 to the trams (“caurs”) that were a major part of the city’s folklore. Among the buses ordered to replace them was a batch of Leyland Atlanteans that pioneered this eye-catching style of Alexander bodywork. LA8 (SGD586) belonged to that original batch. It is seen here in George Square carrying the bright colours of the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive, which assumed responsibility for the city’s municipal bus operations one year previously.
December 1974
Zorki 4 camera
Agfa CT18 film.
Tags: greater Glasgow pte Glasgow corporation transport Leyland pdr1 Leyland atlantean George square glasgow la8 sgd586
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Oast houses, no longer used for drying hops but instead converted for residential use, are a feature of the Kent landscape. This scene however, complete with an old yeoman’s cottage, is just over the border into East Sussex. The Rother Valley village of Ewhurst Green is very representative of the classic South of England scene.
March 1974
Zorki 4 camera
Agfa CT18 film.
Tags: Ewhurst green Rother valley yeoman cottage east sussex oast houses
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