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Where was your first holiday?

Hello,
The mystery tours were normally ’planned’ for example a run to Symonds Yat would be ran in conjunction with another coach firm (Andy’s Smiths, etc) and the local pubs and restaurants in the destination would be advised so they could prepare for the influx of visitors and give the coach a prime parking spot and delivering 40 odd customers to a local pub.
Another ‘perk’ of my job was I would get to go on some of the trips to assist the driver , I would run the unofficial raffle on the coach , assist the passengers getting on and off, and most importantly taking the hat around on the return journey . Which lead to a very lucrative Sunday afternoon
Mum dad and I went on one to Symonds Yat. Which was nice. But the giant dated restaurant was packed where we waited an age to be served tepid sausage and mash, then it went on to a Cheltenham café, with waitresses who didn't want to be there, then threw the coffee at us, then Malvern at some stage which stage I forget, to a nice pub at British Camp and we met someone mum couldn't stand. Had to laugh.
 
Mum dad and I went on one to Symonds Yat. Which was nice. But the giant dated restaurant was packed where we waited an age to be served tepid sausage and mash, then it went on to a Cheltenham café, with waitresses who didn't want to be there, then threw the coffee at us, then Malvern at some stage which stage I forget, to a nice pub at British Camp and we met someone mum couldn't stand. Had to laugh.
Hi ,
you reminded them of the route to SY it was Coventry rd, up Kings Rd, onto Stratford Rd to the Maypole, towards Redditch / Tewksbury, etc.
Tewksbury was the stop on the way back, I remember we lost a couple of passengers the driver did not give them a minute passed the allocated time to be back on board; I winder what happened to them ?
 
Hello,
The mystery tours were normally ’planned’ for example a run to Symonds Yat would be ran in conjunction with another coach firm (Andy’s Smiths, etc) and the local pubs and restaurants in the destination would be advised so they could prepare for the influx of visitors and give the coach a prime parking spot and delivering 40 odd customers to a local pub.
Another ‘perk’ of my job was I would get to go on some of the trips to assist the driver , I would run the unofficial raffle on the coach , assist the passengers getting on and off, and most importantly taking the hat around on the return journey . Which lead to a very lucrative Sunday affternoon
Great memories again . The Coach firms Names jogged the grey matter. Went on a mystery tour once we all had a guess at where we were going at a pound a go in the kitty and the coach driver won fifty quid. Remember Fights Coaches.
 
Wonderful that pictures such as the one which Pete has just shared with us have survived and are now available to all of us. But such a shame that at the same time the who, where, when and why have been lost over time.

I suppose I would guess at around 1920. That would make the birth date some of the ladies as early as the 1860s. And so to them this day out would have represented a real feeling of the modern age. And what a thrill, compared with household drudgery which would have normally taken up all of their waking hours.

To try and imagine what it felt like to be sitting in a vehicle like that, and travelling a significant distance, you probably have to forget visions of the Aston Expressway and the M6. And think of trundling along narrow roads at a speed of perhaps 25 mph beyond which the vibration and noise and jolting and feeling of insecurity would have made the whole experience a horror rather than a joy. At least not too many windows without safety glass to worry about but, then again, nothing much to protect you when it started to rain or got cold which it surely will, at some stage during the day. But at least they're all wearing their best hats.

Let's hope they had a lovely day out.

Chris
 
Wonderful that pictures such as the one which Pete has just shared with us have survived and are now available to all of us. But such a shame that at the same time the who, where, when and why have been lost over time.

I suppose I would guess at around 1920. That would make the birth date some of the ladies as early as the 1860s. And so to them this day out would have represented a real feeling of the modern age. And what a thrill, compared with household drudgery which would have normally taken up all of their waking hours.

To try and imagine what it felt like to be sitting in a vehicle like that, and travelling a significant distance, you probably have to forget visions of the Aston Expressway and the M6. And think of trundling along narrow roads at a speed of perhaps 25 mph beyond which the vibration and noise and jolting and feeling of insecurity would have made the whole experience a horror rather than a joy. At least not too many windows without safety glass to worry about but, then again, nothing much to protect you when it started to rain or got cold which it surely will, at some stage during the day. But at least they're all wearing their best hats.

Let's hope they had a lovely day out.

Chris
thanks Chris
 
Great memories again . The Coach firms Names jogged the grey matter. Went on a mystery tour once we all had a guess at where we were going at a pound a go in the kitty and the coach driver won fifty quid. Remember Fights Coaches.
Flights always had the more expensive coaches and always kept immaculate. We were parked up in the coach park in Rhyl next to the Flights Villa coach which was being used on a day excursion, those lucky passengers must have thought themselves very lucky to be sitting with a table complete with table lamp rather than jammed into a 52 seater Bedford VAL.
 
On my coach/bus trip to Rhyll (post#148 ) we passed the Melbourne Cafe on the Chester Road but it was too near to stop at. These folk from London in four coaches stopped there for refreshments. One of the coaches has Llandudno on a sign so they still had a long way to go.
Melbourne_Cafe Chester_Rd.jpg
 
On my coach/bus trip to Rhyll (post#148 ) we passed the Melbourne Cafe on the Chester Road but it was too near to stop at. These folk from London in four coaches stopped there for refreshments. One of the coaches has Llandudno on a sign so they still had a long way to go.
View attachment 173052
The Motorway Services of their day. That was just up the road from us, there is a car showroom there now and The Old Irish Harp pub is on the other side of the Chester Road (I suspect a few passengers may have headed over there). Lovely picture.
 
On my coach/bus trip to Rhyll (post#148 ) we passed the Melbourne Cafe on the Chester Road but it was too near to stop at. These folk from London in four coaches stopped there for refreshments. One of the coaches has Llandudno on a sign so they still had a long way to go.
View attachment 173052
There was a "Halfway House" on the route to Rhyll, doe sanyone rememebr it or where it was?
 
Could be this one 'Halfway House' is a common name for a roadside facility, but in this case the name is given to the village of Halfway House, thought to be named after the pub. It is half way between Shrewsbury and Welshpool,
Address:
Halfway House
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY5 9DU
 
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I do know the Halfway House at Shrewsbury/Welshpool, thanks. The one I was thinking about was on the way to Rhyll, it had a very large car park for coaches etc.
 
I wonder if you're thinking of that big transport cafe at Prees Heath, (Shropshire) ? Called "Halfway House", it's at the junction of the A41 and the A49. (I think it's still there). The A41 runs from Brum to Chester, where you pick up the A548, which used to be the coast road.
 
We are doing a bit of a Mystery Trip ourselves aren't we? ;) It isn't the one next to the the Seven Stars Inn on the A548, or at Connah's Quay (photo 2) or at Holywell (3) by any chance?
1663170212703.png 1663170512498.png 1663170664933.png
 
I wonder if you're thinking of that big transport cafe at Prees Heath, (Shropshire) ? Called "Halfway House", it's at the junction of the A41 and the A49. (I think it's still there). The A41 runs from Brum to Chester, where you pick up the A548, which used to be the coast road.
I think you have it spot on. The coach would take the A5 to Weston-under-Lizard and turn right onto Chester Road. It then joined the A41 to Halfway House. I see on Google there is The Raven Café too. Thanks.
 
The Motorway Services of their day. That was just up the road from us, there is a car showroom there now and The Old Irish Harp pub is on the other side of the Chester Road (I suspect a few passengers may have headed over there). Lovely picture.
Is The Old Irish Harp still there?
 
My gran went round the Horseshoe Pass she always went on about it. I don't know if it was in a chara as she called them, or horse drawn, or could they be the same thing? But They had to get out and push.
Remembering my childhood holidays I always went as brown as a berry, to quote my Nan. And I don't now. I am lucky to get a pale tinge. Why is that I wonder?
 
I went up Horseshoe Pass a few times , and you could hear the engine and the gear changes to keep the momentum of the coach (both up and down the pass) but some stunning views could be had from a coach
 
Mention of the Irish Harp reminded me an old picture of the pub which popped up in one of the forum's biggest mystery tours ...:)
5_IrishHarp.JPG
 
On my coach/bus trip to Rhyll (post#148 ) we passed the Melbourne Cafe on the Chester Road but it was too near to stop at. These folk from London in four coaches stopped there for refreshments. One of the coaches has Llandudno on a sign so they still had a long way to go.
View attachment 173052


Thanks, oldMohawk, that's a wonderful image. London to Llandudno in the early thirties - what a trek. I'll repeat it here.

Melbourne_Cafe Chester_Rd.jpg

Everyone well dressed, men in suits, ladies in summer dresses and hats, stretching legs and no doubt enjoying the fresh air and the quiet, now that everything has been switched off. You can almost feel and smell the heat of the engine and hear the clicking and ticking as everything starts to cool down on that summer's day and they walk past the vehicle and into the cafe - for a nice cuppa or a sandwich and no doubt a welcome visit to the loo. About halfway there on their long journey.

I wonder who the two Streetly locals were, witnessing the scene. A regular thing, no doubt. this temporary invasion. I remember the cafe so well during the war years - but then always apparently deserted and I was never sure whether it was actually operating, although I must have had the odd ice-cream from there - a penny or, if you were feeling extravagant, a penny-halfpenny (0.4p or 0.6p). Situated - as it still is in a different guise - on the Hardwick Arms crossroads.

OldMohawk, on his trip to Rhyl, must have passed our house on the Chester Road, as did so many other coaches in the prewar and postwar years. (My parents had moved into their brand-new semi at about the same time as this photograph was taken). Day trips like works outings and longer journeys too. I recall them, from about 1946 onwards, coaches from Harpers and Happy Days and the Midland Red and no doubt many others. Just occasionally, late on a summer's evening, one of these would pull up outside our house as it headed back to the City. A number of blokes would pile out and irrigate our front hedge with a stream of filtered Ansells's mild. Perhaps the Melbourne had already closed for the day. Not something Dad took with complete equanimity although I'm sure he was well enough acquainted with the pressures exerted by a pint or three on the male body.

Only a short time before those immediately postwar days, the coach traffic had been even heavier, especially early in the morning or late afternoon/evening. But at that time these weren't holidays for people, the coaches were transporting men and women from Brownhills and Cannock and Walsall Wood, in their working clothes, to and from the Birmingham factories, summer and winter, morning and evening, day in, day out, year in, year out. No stopping at the Melbourne for them.

(Sorry, a bit off-topic. But these photos do prompt memories....)

Chris
 
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