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June 2017 People keep asking when The Bus Up the Dale will be published, and we still aren’t sure—but it’s getting closer all the time. Originally conceived as a brief history of the fondly-remembered Swaledale firm, Percival Brothers (Coaches), Ltd, since it somehow became a Grand Universal History of Every Bus in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Ever, it’s taken longer than we thought. A lot longer, actually. Meanwhile, we’re delighted to announce that Keith Kitching’s long-awaited book on Scott’s Greys, and other Darlington operators, was published at the end of April—congratulations, Keith! The book contains over 270 photographs, and also many words (at no extra charge). To order a copy, contact scottsgreys@tiscali.co.uk. Latest from Reuben:– Just like Keith Kitching’s Scott’s Greys project—referred to above—this book too has been embarrassingly delayed by ill health and other problems with which I needn’t bore you here. The years 2015 and 2016 were unproductive, for reasons beyond my control. However, progress has been resumed this year. I’ve given up trying to say when the book will actually be finished: it depends partly upon my health, and partly on what Mr Macmillan referred to as “events, dear boy, events!” By the way—to help with the final draft of Chapter I, please can someone perchance remind me: (1) when Richmond Post Office moved from Queens Road to Finkle Street? and (2) when the Royal Mail started running its own post buses in Wensleydale (they’re shown in United’s 1992 timetable, and not in the 1982 one, so presumably the answer must be some time between 1982 and 1992, or perhaps actually 1992)? Please use the “Contact Us” link on the right! The draft of The Bus Up the Dale currently stands at 52,000 words—taking the story from Albert Morton’s pioneering post-bus service between Richmond and Keld in 1905 to the formation by Percival’s of a Limited Company in 1937, and introducing some cherished 1940s anecdotes. People with no interest in buses have said it’s very readable and absorbing so far—and they (poor souls) have been slogging through the text without the benefit of the hundreds of accompanying photographs and other illustrations which have accumulated. The book is intended to continue to 1971—when Percival’s finished—and beyond. We’ve been wonderfully fortunate in enjoying the assistance of locals with long memories, and present-day relations of the characters who ran the buses. Thanks to these people, when The Bus Up the Dale finally appears in print, it will be much much more than a collection of bus photographs and old timetables. We were also extremely grateful to the Swaledale Museum for their support earlier in this project. We were encouraged to put some articles together for Vintage Roadscene magazine by the late David Hayward, whose personal assistance with The Bus Up the Dale was considerable and very much appreciated. Thanks to David, several pieces on Swaledale family firms were published in 2010 and 2011—listed here for those who may wish to look them up. For various reasons (chiefly, we’ve forgotten how to upload photographs...), we’re keeping the material on this site to a modest minimum for the time being. We want the information to be accurate and fair (some previous Swaledale local history efforts have caused a lot of bad feeling in this regard), while with photographs—of which we have been lucky to find quite a few—there does arise the issue of respecting and protecting people’s Copyright. Some Copyright-holders are pretty laid back, but some are not, and they do have their reasons. The archive of photographs, advertisements, billheads and suchlike now amounts to over 4,000 images, and as soon as we can remember how to upload them (thanks in advance to Chris Curry of Healaugh who has kindly offered to give us a refresher course in web site management) we’ll be adding selected examples of those which we’re confident of being able to put on the internet without upsetting anybody. The book was to have included a chapter on the Percivals’ shop at Gunnerside. As research progressed, it became inescapably apparent that the grocery, cartage and agricultural side of Lodge Percival’s business encompassed more than enough local history to fill a book on its own. James Percival suggested this second book could be marketed as a companion volume to the first, and called “The Shop Up the Dale”; however, the working title is currently Swaledale Life in the 1930s. It is intended that both of these publications will appeal to anyone with an interest in Swaledale, but transport buffs may wish to bear in mind that there’ll be less about buses in the latter volume. |
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