One of my final efforts with my Kodak Bantam and 828 film, this is a view of my childhood home town of Grimsby on the cusp of fundamental change. This view from the multi-storey car park in Doughty Street can be replicated today - the late-1960s structure still stands, but one will not find a Class 08 shunting locomotive on pilot duty. The two Mark 1 coaches (one still in maroon livery) were about to be attached to a train - perhaps one that would head down the old East Lincolnshire line that can be seen curving away sharply at the right. That line closed just eight months later, in October 1970, one of the most regrettable of all the Beeching line closures. The train stands over one of the pair of low bridges over Doughty Road. Only single-decker buses could negotiate Doughty Road, but double-deckers have nevertheless come to grief at these bridges down the years, into the Stagecoach era. The industrial landscape beyond was familiar from my 1950s childhood: there is the municipal refuse depot, a contemporary Dennis refuse vehicle is in view. Beyond is one of a pair of gas holders: town gas was set to be replaced by natural gas from the North Sea, which spelt the end of that landmark. The tall chimney was either part of the Hewitts Brewery, which had already closed in 1968 after takeover by Allied Breweries, or else it belonged to the ertswhile Ticklers jam factory. A sawmill appears to be active in the foreground.

Tags:   grimsby grimsbytown doughtystreet shunter dieselshunter class08 gronk englishelectric gasworks britishrail eastlincolnshireline

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On the former Hull & Barnsley High-Level Line, English Electric Type 3 D6737 passes the former Hull Corporation Power Station at Sculcoates, a formidable structure that was built in 1913. Off-camera to the right was the landmark single cooling tower. Albert Draper's original locomotive scrapyard was located in its shadow, but by the time of the July 1970 capture had been relocated to Neptune Street near St. Andrew's Fish Dock. The 1970s would be a period of drastic change in Hull's fortunes. Sculcoates would lose its power station and nearby gasworks. D6737 at the time was a 53A Hull Dairycoates locomotive, but the shed duly closed just three months later, in September 1970. Happily D6737 is a survivor, subsequently becoming 37 037 and after withdrawal, it was acquired by the Devon Diesel Society, who restored it into original BR green and operate it on the South Devon Railway - as big a contrast in operating territory as could be imagined.

July 1970
Kodak Bantam camera
Kodak VP828 film.

Tags:   hull sculcoates sculcoatespowerstation hulldairycoates 53a englishelectric englishelectrictype3diesel d6737 37037 devondieselsociety southdevonrailway class37 growler hbr eastyorkshire eastriding

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A poor, blurry shot, but in-service Leyland Panther Cubs don't feature much on Flickr, and none of the postings of East Yorkshire's examples depict them in their original midnight blue and primrose livery. This view of 858 (NRH858F) crossing North Bridge dates from April 1970. A Mini is in hot pursuit, followed by a Guy Big J. The General Manager of EYMS during this period was Mr. C.R.H. Wreathall - I recall his name above the legal wording on the bus side panels. At the formation of National Bus Company in 1969, he was I believe the organisation's longest serving general manager, having been in the EYMS post since 1944. EYMS had been part of the British Electric Traction consortium, whose managers were allowed much more latitude in their fleet choices than their counterparts in the state-controlled Transport Holding Company group. Such leeway was to be lost in NBC control - but that was in the future when I pressed the shutter here. Certainly Mr. Wreathall's vehicle choices proved out of the ordinary, and he seemed to have an unerring eye for picking the bus industry's less successful offerings. The 50 AEC Bridgemasters and 30 Renowns were fine vehicles, but they failed to meet the AEC sales targets. Nor did EYMS' DP-bodied Leyland PSUR1 Panthers perform badly - though choosing them as a coach chassis (and a pair with MCW coachwork) seemed a tad eccentric. But why the Leyland PRSC1 Panther Cub? And two batches delivered in 1968 and 1969? They were raucous and rough, their 0.400 engines seeming to strain even on flat Holderness roads. Better than other Panther Cub operators, EYMS managed to squeeze up to 12 years' life out of its examples. Mr. Wreathall would have been long retired by the time the last made their way to the Barnsley scrapyards. (No, second-hand buyers weren't interested.)

April 1970
Boots Instamatic camera
Kodacolor print film.

Tags:   leyland panther_cub pscr1 hull eyms east_yorkshire_motor_services north_bridge east_yorkshire blunder-bus nrh858f

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Heading eastwards down George Street towards Easington in March 1970 is Connor & Graham's Leyland PD2/12/East Lancs of 1956 vintage, which had recently been acquired from Southdown and repainted from the latter's apple green and cream livery into something akin Brighton Hove & District red and cream. Its identity is not clear but is possibly RUF189, 190, 192 or 193. The Easington service of Connor & Graham was the only stage service into Hull run by an independent operator. C&G did not have access to the joint KHCT/EYMS bus station but terminated some distance away in Baker Street, adjacent to Hull Central Library. Connor & Graham enjoyed a long 70-years' life as an independent, being finally taken over by East Yorkshire Motor Services in January 1993.

Let's take a closer look at the architectural backdrop: at the far left behind the bus is the handsome facade of Carmichael's, the most upmarket of Hull's department stores. My mother rated it highly, specifically for the coffee served in its cafeteria, better than Hammond's she reckoned - Mama was a connoisseur of these things. The late actor Ian Carmichael (1920-2010) was a scion of the family. The store closed some years ago but the building survives, used latterly as a nightclub.

But the eye is surely drawn to the art nouveau exhuberance of the Criterion cinema, flanked by its lions. These alas are all that survive today, in a Hornsea park. The Criterion opened as the Majestic in 1915, being renamed in 1935. It had closed forever its doors to patrons just before I grabbed my pic. Demolition followed soon afterwards, and the site is today occupied by the blandest of office developments.

I was fortunate enough to see one film before the Criterion's demise, and this may or may not have changed my life. As an impressionable 17-year old eager to make his mark in life, I viewed "Blow-Up" (1966), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave and the exotic model, Verushka. The film depicts a shallow - and darker - side to the 1960s Swinging London scene. The David Hemmings fashion photographer character (allegedly inspired by David Bailey) is weary and increasingly less involved with the frenetic world around him, but his life is jolted after he may - or may not - have been witness to a murder, with La Redgrave as a true femme fatale - or maybe not. But what the heck! This was definitely going to be the life for me: I was just taking the most tentative juvenile steps in photography, armed with my Kodak Bantam, but my future was marked out in lights. Just like David Hemmings, before too long I too would be having women hurl their bodies at me. Er, yes, well...fast forward 45 years. What happened exactly? I carried on photographing buses and trains, even endeavoured to become a Photographer With A Social Conscience as I explored the by-ways of Hull. But very few Vanessa Redgraves and Verushkas so far...

Tags:   hull eastyorkshire eastriding georgestreet georgestreethull carmichaels carmichaels_hull leyland_pd2 eastlancs eastlancashirecoachbuilders easington connor&graham southdown southdownmotorservices ruf189 ruf190 blow-up ruf192 ruf193 criterion thecriterion criterion_hull cinema oldcinema leyland

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Heading westwards down Anlaby Road just after an April shower in 1970 is a Hull Corporation Roe-bodied Leyland Atlantean of the 1967 JRH-E batch on the 67 route to Gipsyville. I was not aware at the time I pressed the shutter, but the traffic turning right into Argyle Street is facing a hold-up, as the Vauxhall PA Cresta heading the queue appears to have broken down. Its driver appears most dismayed and the prospect of single-handedly pushing such a heavy car to one side is a daunting one. Help does seem at hand as the driver of the Ford Transit behind is getting out, hopefully to offer extra muscle-power.

The General Manager of KHCT at the time was Walter Haigh, who came from Sunderland Corporation Transport to take up the post in late 1965. He brought some Sunderland styling cues with him, notably one-piece windscreens and the low-mounted destination indicators, which freed the 'tween-decks front panel for extra revenue-raising advertising. As seen here, Hull Brewery Co. was quick to take advantage. Another KHCT novelty under Walter Haigh's watch was the provision of the ultimate destination on each route - previously, this showed only the main road traversed. In the trolleybus era on the 67 and immediately afterwards, the route would have displayed "Anlaby Road" only. However, Gipsyville was hardly a well-known destination either, so it is questionable whether any visitor unfamiliar with Hull would be any better informed.

Tags:   argylestreet eastyorkshire eastriding yorkshire hull khct leyland leylandatlantean pdr1 charleshroe roe roe_bodywork walter_haigh gipsyville anlabyroad vauxhallcresta

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