the full story, part 6
Driving an old coach around is all very well – getting used
to sitting six feet in front of the wheels that you are steering, allowing for
the fact that 36’ of steel doesn’t bend when it goes round corners, avoiding
kerbs, taking care of the ‘swept path’ of the rear overhang – but it’s not the
same as carrying passengers. As the guy who sold it to me said; “anyone can
drive freight. It’s getting 53 people safely and comfortably from A to B
that’s the real skill”.
So I was determined somehow to drive my maximum payload – eight people – on a meaningful journey. Soon the opportunity arose and of course it involved the usual guinea pigs – the family.
The opportunity presented itself when the five grandchildren (from two families) and one each of their parents got together in Ipswich (where one of the families lives). From my home in Cambridge I would take my wife Rosie meaning that with the Ipswich contingent, there were the necessary eight. What could be more perfect?
Well, a temperature above freezing would have helped, given thst only one of three heaters worked, and very poorly at that. I discovered that by propping up one of the fascia flaps I could get warm-ish air in blowing over the radiator but at the same time, the absence of glass on the fire extinguisher cabinet meant freezing air was coming in through that. And the un-repaired throttle gaiter meant a reliable stream of equally cold air was forced up my trouser leg.
But, dear reader, what a moment of pride to have all five cousins for the first time ever travelling somewhere in a single, spacious vehicle. Those of you who have followed this story from the start will remember this was exactly my original intention; to give the wider family the option of all travelling together. It’s so much more fun and so much more social than separate cars.
The detail that everyone was wrapped up in coats and blankets was just a minor one (although Rosie I think has a slightly different perspective…) – and off we went to Aldeburgh for a day at the seaside in the sleet.
I may gloss over the loss of my second nearside mirror to one of those trees that leap out at the last minute, not least because I subsequently pulled up next to a service bus on which the mirror was held together with parcel tape and, according to the driver, had been in that state for a month. Suffice to say I think it will be my last breakage in that area – lesson learned.
We didn’t last long on the beach; footie on pebbles with a flat ball in sleet holds only a limited attention-span for six to nine-year-olds. I bought a ladder and gloves from a hardware store and did what I could with the mirror for the way back and within ten minutes was glad that the others had found a fish-and-chip restaurant and called me into the warm.
The journey home involved kids singing and sleeping in equal measure and although the final leg from Ipswich to Cambridge with just Rosie and I was something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed, I felt a huge sense of achievement. We had given the family an experience they had never even thought of.
But I knew there was more to be done to ensure my coach was fully in a fit and proper condition for the long term. Fortunately by now, other local enthusiasts and preservationists were coming into my sights (I knew absolutely nothing about this disparate ‘movement’ before; nor even that it existed) and one in particular, Charles White (owner of SVF 896G, Bristol RELH6G/ECW) gave me a contact who has turned out probably to be the saviour of my coach – even if this was the beginning of the realisation that whatever my intentions, I needed to take this whole business very seriously and accept the very high costs accordingly.
So by June 2013 my coach ‘Mary’ was in the yard with Mark Cockram (M R Cockram Ltd.) at Meldreth, Royston while Rosie and I went on a WARM holiday! Mark specialises primarily in the bits you can only get at when a vehicle is over a pit; chassis, engine, gearbox, steering, brakes, suspension, wheels, tyres, air systems, exhausts...and yes, folks, every one of those items needed attention, some of it quite profound.
Whilst it is true that being on holiday took away my frustrations at wanting to get this work done as soon as possible and get on the road, there was another side to it; both holidays and restoring coaches are expensive things and I don’t think I have ever spent as much money in one go as I did over the next two-and-a-bit weeks.
But I will close this chapter on a different tack. In amongst all the angst of getting what I now know to have been a scrap-yard case into some kind of half-decent condition, I had been studying for the PSV driving and professional competence exams and on 4th May 2013 I passed the practical test followed shortly by the CPC required for professional driving. Never mind my old wreck; I was now qualified to drive any bus or coach in the EU with as many passengers as it can take!
So I was determined somehow to drive my maximum payload – eight people – on a meaningful journey. Soon the opportunity arose and of course it involved the usual guinea pigs – the family.
The opportunity presented itself when the five grandchildren (from two families) and one each of their parents got together in Ipswich (where one of the families lives). From my home in Cambridge I would take my wife Rosie meaning that with the Ipswich contingent, there were the necessary eight. What could be more perfect?
Well, a temperature above freezing would have helped, given thst only one of three heaters worked, and very poorly at that. I discovered that by propping up one of the fascia flaps I could get warm-ish air in blowing over the radiator but at the same time, the absence of glass on the fire extinguisher cabinet meant freezing air was coming in through that. And the un-repaired throttle gaiter meant a reliable stream of equally cold air was forced up my trouser leg.
But, dear reader, what a moment of pride to have all five cousins for the first time ever travelling somewhere in a single, spacious vehicle. Those of you who have followed this story from the start will remember this was exactly my original intention; to give the wider family the option of all travelling together. It’s so much more fun and so much more social than separate cars.
The detail that everyone was wrapped up in coats and blankets was just a minor one (although Rosie I think has a slightly different perspective…) – and off we went to Aldeburgh for a day at the seaside in the sleet.
I may gloss over the loss of my second nearside mirror to one of those trees that leap out at the last minute, not least because I subsequently pulled up next to a service bus on which the mirror was held together with parcel tape and, according to the driver, had been in that state for a month. Suffice to say I think it will be my last breakage in that area – lesson learned.
We didn’t last long on the beach; footie on pebbles with a flat ball in sleet holds only a limited attention-span for six to nine-year-olds. I bought a ladder and gloves from a hardware store and did what I could with the mirror for the way back and within ten minutes was glad that the others had found a fish-and-chip restaurant and called me into the warm.
The journey home involved kids singing and sleeping in equal measure and although the final leg from Ipswich to Cambridge with just Rosie and I was something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed, I felt a huge sense of achievement. We had given the family an experience they had never even thought of.
But I knew there was more to be done to ensure my coach was fully in a fit and proper condition for the long term. Fortunately by now, other local enthusiasts and preservationists were coming into my sights (I knew absolutely nothing about this disparate ‘movement’ before; nor even that it existed) and one in particular, Charles White (owner of SVF 896G, Bristol RELH6G/ECW) gave me a contact who has turned out probably to be the saviour of my coach – even if this was the beginning of the realisation that whatever my intentions, I needed to take this whole business very seriously and accept the very high costs accordingly.
So by June 2013 my coach ‘Mary’ was in the yard with Mark Cockram (M R Cockram Ltd.) at Meldreth, Royston while Rosie and I went on a WARM holiday! Mark specialises primarily in the bits you can only get at when a vehicle is over a pit; chassis, engine, gearbox, steering, brakes, suspension, wheels, tyres, air systems, exhausts...and yes, folks, every one of those items needed attention, some of it quite profound.
Whilst it is true that being on holiday took away my frustrations at wanting to get this work done as soon as possible and get on the road, there was another side to it; both holidays and restoring coaches are expensive things and I don’t think I have ever spent as much money in one go as I did over the next two-and-a-bit weeks.
But I will close this chapter on a different tack. In amongst all the angst of getting what I now know to have been a scrap-yard case into some kind of half-decent condition, I had been studying for the PSV driving and professional competence exams and on 4th May 2013 I passed the practical test followed shortly by the CPC required for professional driving. Never mind my old wreck; I was now qualified to drive any bus or coach in the EU with as many passengers as it can take!