Bus Services

TRIAL SERVICE BURNHAM – CHEDDAR 1905

Outside the George at Wedmore. Possibly a later service as the bus appears to have a radiator.

 

1930s onwards

Retired bus driver Mr Ron James remembers:

“Rules were very strict when I started work as a conductor in 1929 and with so many out of work there was no argument, you had to do what you were told. For instance, every Armistice day wherever we were, we had to pull off the road and observe two minutes silence. The driver had to stand beside his seat and the conductor ‘at his post’ at the back of the bus. I started [at Highbridge Depot] on 32/6d a week and for the conductor those buses were cold and very hard riding. Some days you had back ache for hours after all the jolting and shaking. I remember the speed limit painted on the side of the buses was 12 mph. The fare from Highbridge to Burnham was tuppence and from Burnham to Brean it was eight pence. Of course in those days there was hardly anything at Brean, except one small hutted shop, kept by a Mrs Lane. Our motto then was service and we had no bus stops but would pick up and put down passengers at any point.”

Early enclosed single deck bus.
Warm winter uniforms.

[Later] “As a senior man I got six shillings and five pence a day. However drivers were paid  ten shillings and four pence a day so I decided to apply for training as a driver. The pace was lovely then. There was hardly any traffic on the road, our speeds were low and you had the feeling you were doing a real service for local people. Of course we had our problems. The early buses were quite hard work to drive, what with crash gearboxes and heavy steering and I can tell you we had our share of snow trouble. On a winter morning with the early buses, it sometimes needed two men, the driver and conductor, to swing over the engine with a great starting handle. And you had to be careful, because if it kicked back and took you by surprise you could get a nasty blow. However when I started driving I had what was known as a Superbus with an impulse starter. We froze when the diesels came in because there was very little heat from the engine.”

Later single deck bus.

(from article by Ivor Punnett in the Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News in 1990)

Buses through the years at Sea View Road stop:

Early open topped double deck with Schweppes advertising and open stairs, early 20th century.
Later single deck bus, mid 20th century.

 

Double deck fully enclosed bu,. late 20th century.

Bus at Burnham Station 1950s