Memory Lane

A bus number held the key to identifying this months’ shot.

It took us a bit of head-scratching to identify this shot, but the bus gave us a clue. It’s a Midland Red service, number 392 running to Evesham via Chipping Campden. Midland Red was a bus company that not only ran services but manufactured its own buses under the splendid ‘Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company’ name, usually abbreviated to BMMO. From the excellent online resource at midlandred. net, we knew number 392 started from Moreton-in-marsh. After looking at various possible Cotswold towns on the route we pinned it to the High Street in Shipston-on-stour, looking north-west towards what remains a branch of Lloyds Bank to this day. Although the appealing Austin A55 pick-up is no longer parked outside.

The same, but different

The George Hotel remains, though the gaudy neon sign it wore in 1958 would shock current customers. The cars no longer park in the middle of the street, as here, but against the kerb on the far side, adjacent to Greenhill’s Stores (now a Co-op) and the enigmatic Kathleen (currently an estate agent). Our cute red bus appears to be a little short of passengers, though the driver is on board. The pale Ford coming past it is probably a Zephyr Zodiac, judging by the presence of fog lamps. The maroon car, facing the other way and just visible,

could be another Zephyr and then we have the furthest of the parked cars. It runs thus: Morris Minor, Ford Prefect, then something low and small – probably a Standard 8 or 10. After this is a Fordson E83W with panels of various colours and what looks like a ‘woodie’ body. Coming nearer is a Standard Vanguard Phase 2 and then a Ford Thames 400E van that seems to be carrying tractor parts. Right at the front, an Austin A30 pokes its nose in.