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Charabanc Outing

B

Brasscaster

master brummie
Charabancs were named after a French phrase meaning ‘carriage with benches’.
I think this photo which includes my grandfather was taken in about 1924.
I wonder where they were off to? It looks most uncomfortable for a long ride. I hope it didn't rain on them.
I wonder whether this family day out was a works outing or maybe organised by the pub regulars.
Likely to be on a bank holiday?
Are there any transport buffs out there who could identify or date the vehicle?
It was taken outside a pub in Great Hampton Street. Any ideas which pub?

Charabanc_outside_Gothic.jpg
 
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Thank you Paulyx. Just looked at a recent picture of the building and I'm sure you are right - the pub was the Gothic. Well done!
 
Here's the Gothic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/carrie132/5316995250/ Has to be the one.

I hope that someone can identify the vehicle. Thirty-two people entrusting their lives to that thing! It looks as though it has pneumatic (and smaller) tyres on the front and solid at the rear. Doesn't look quite right to me but I wonder if it was typical.

Chris
 
hi brasscaster what an absolutely brilliant family pic you have their and yes i would say there can be no doubt that its taken outside the gothic....

thanks for sharing it with us...:)

lyn
 
The 'chara' is almost certainly on a Thornycroft A1 type chassis, similar to this restored petrol tanker. This would date from the early to mid 1920s, and the mixture of solid and pneumatic tyres was not uncommon.
The body is not original to the chassis (note the marking of a filled-in wheelarch above and slightly forward of the rear wheel), and the pneumatic front / solid rear tyre mix was often used for lorries carrying heavy loads, where the solids would carry the weight but the pneumatics made life a bit more comfortable for the driver, and the front wheels were less likely to skid on wet cobbled roads. I'd guess this chassis started life as a lorry. (Again, not unusual for small operators to use second hand chassis and adapt earlier bodies to fit.)
A shame the guy standing enjoying a smoke is obstructing the view of the coach's owner's name and address, painted on the panel under the driver's door.
 
Thanks everyone for your help with the name of the pub. And Lloyd, you noticed far more detail in the photo than I had spotted. Your knowledge in this area is truly amazing. I know so much more about this photo now than when I got up this morning. Thanks again.
Sue, I'm afraid we will never know where they were going. Just another one of those things I should have asked when the family were still alive.
Brasscaster
 
L.V.L. (Light Vehicles Limited) were built in Powlett Street, Wolverhampton - there was only one model, as 25 to 30 cwt. chassis.
The company was owned by Edward Genna (c.1880, Tettenhall - 1943, Wolverhampton) and was only in production between 1923 and 1926.
The registration is not clear to me, it could be KX (Buckinghamshire, 1928-33); NX (Warwickshire, 1921-5); KY (Bradford, 1931-3); or NY (Glamorgan, 1921-6).
NX is the most likely - see below.

The Daimler (probably a Y type model) carries a Warwickshire registration from c1918-9, and may be a rebuild of a former WW1 army lorry. Many lorries were 'demobbed' from the military after the war, and soon found homes as lorries, buses and charas with former soldiers who started their own businesses with them.

Sorry no idea of the area or pub, does the slight downhill of the road give anyone a clue? Somewhere in or very close to Warwickshire?
 
smashing info as usual Lloyd....sorry doug have not got a clue as to the pub in your pic but it does not look inner city...

lyn
 
Brasscaster said:
Charabancs were named after a French phrase meaning ‘carriage with benches’.
I think this photo which includes my grandfather was taken in about 1924.
I wonder where they were off to? It looks most uncomfortable for a long ride. I hope it didn't rain on them.
I wonder whether this family day out was a works outing or maybe organised by the pub regulars.
Likely to be on a bank holiday?
Are there any transport buffs out there who could identify or date the vehicle?
It was taken outside a pub in Great Hampton Street. Any ideas which pub?
Click to expand...

Fantastic photo Brasscaster. Mind you the driver looks a little young:D
 
Surely all the historians in this Forum aren't going to fail to identify the vehicle operator in Brasscaster's picture? It's shown clearly enough on the rear. You've got 4 letters. How many MORE clues do you want??!!

Chris
 
great pic isnt it froth....and to think the gothic has been painted pink...well it was last time i looked.:redface:.
 
Astoness said:
great pic isnt it froth....and to think the gothic has been painted pink...well it was last time i looked.:redface:.
Click to expand...

You never know Lyn the Gothic may be put back to it's former glory one day. Some idiot painted the Brown Lion up the road pink, that's been put back to it's normal state now:thumbsup:
Sorry I went of topic:rolleyes:
 
Frothblower said:
You never know Lyn the Gothic may be put back to it's former glory one day. Some idiot painted the Brown Lion up the road pink, that's been put back to it's normal state now:thumbsup:
Sorry I went of topic:rolleyes:
Click to expand...


its not that off topic froth and anyhow its easy to do when one gets passionate about our history...ive had some great times in the gothic over the years..a fine building thats deserves to be treated better and i do hope you are right about it being restored to its former glory...

lyn
 
Astoness said:
its not that off topic froth and anyhow its easy to do when one gets passionate about our history...ive had some great times in the gothic over the years..a fine building thats deserves to be treated better and i do hope you are right about it being restored to its former glory...

lyn
Click to expand...

I haven't heard anything about it being restored Lyn. Just wishful thinking
2.gif
 
Great pictures Keegs. Imagine the excitement for all those families who rarely stepped foot outside Birmingham. Hope those vehicles had good suspension though! Viv.
 
Hi bramwell, if you mean the picture at the beginning of the thread, it is because it was lost when the site was hacked last year and Brasscaster hasnt replaced it as yet.
 
Mike I have taken the liberty of placing a copy of the photo on the original post.
 
#27, Looks a bit overloaded maybe. Interesting combination of pneumatic tyres on the front and cast spoke wheels and solid tyres on the back.
 
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