Search results for ""Author David Christie""

Starting with a day trip (by air from Blackpool) in 1970, this book covers the rest of the decade with visits in 1971, 1972, 1976 and 1979. The island was a fascinating place for a transport enthusiast, with the traditional Douglas Corporation buses, horse tramway, Manx Electric Railway and the steam railway – not forgetting the Snaefell Railway and the lovely old Steam Packet Co. ships. These traditional ships were the main loss in later years, but changes had also occurred prior to David’s final visit, with the loss of the Douglas livery (all buses now being under a ‘National’ fleetname) and the rationalisation of Douglas railway station. With a range of interesting views and fascinating subject matter, Isle of Man Transport in the 1970s will appeal both to those who have visited the island and general transport enthusiasts.

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This volume starts with London Transport’s green Country bus routes, radiating eastwards from Rainham, Epping and Romford. The author lived in Romford at this time and a favourite ride was on the 370 Romford–Tilbury Ferry route end-to-end, which started just half a mile from his home at the London Road Green Line Garage forecourt. Southend-on-Sea and Colchester Corporation are the municipal companies featured, as well as independents such as Upminster & District and Osborne’s, as well as some contractors. Most of the images are of the traditional half-cab exposed-radiator buses that were then in their last days, being withdrawn from service in some cases just weeks after being photographed. Going against the trend, Southend Corporation unusually chose to ignore the all-conquering Atlantean rear-engine type (as far as it could) and operated a few of the last exposed-radiator Leyland PD3s built in 1968. With his wonderfully evocative photography capturing an interesting and unique scene, David Christie offers a nostalgic and fascinating snapshot of the area in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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In 1973 David Christie moved house from Essex to Scotland, but it wasn’t till 1974 that he discovered the joys of sailing on Calmac’s ships. An initial sail on King George V at Oban in her last season was a great introduction but mostly, over the next three years, I focussed on Queen Mary on the Clyde, now safely back in Glasgow at the Science Centre. Most of the Clyde piers are covered, with emphasis on Rothesay. Ferries also feature with old and new on the Rothesay and Dunoon runs and the smaller boats at Largs. The west coast features with Oban as the main terminal, then Mallaig, before a session on the pre-bridge Skye ferries. A single visit to Ullapool finishes this journey back to the seventies.

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From author David Christie’s home town in Essex, the Green Line route 721 (by RCL) was the usual way of getting to London – into Aldgate, one of his haunts as a young spotter in the ‘50s. From there a walk along to Bank, Aldwych, Trafalgar Square then Whitehall to Parliament Square, returning via the Embankment, invariably followed. This route was generally repeated when, in 1967, he started photographing LT buses. The author was able to capture the last of the RTLs in service, and on later trips to concentrate on the Routemasters. Also featured is the Vintage Route 100, using a 1930-built ST, which started in 1972. With a stunning array of superb photographs, this is a wonderfully evocative and nostalgic look back on an iconic period in London’s transport history.

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