Visit to Ensign Bus 1st October 2006 (Paul Donald)
On 1st October 2006, (and under a potential stormy looking sky) a party of thirty-strong Wessex Transport Society members together travelled with Bill Santer (of Damory Coaches) to Purfleet in Essex. We were to visit TD895: a Bristol, 'Back Loader' double-deck bus built for Hants & Dorset Motor Services way back in 1949. Although we knew that restoration was not fully complete, we hoped that we might get a ride in it with Bill as he also works as a driver for Ensign during the Winter months.
Ensign Bus is very well known for its involvement in selling second-hand
buses (especially London types) across the world. However, recently they have started restoring older and unusual types of buses and then either hiring them out for weddings etc or selling them on for a good profit. There is nowadays a good market for this type of trade.
On arrival at the garage there was a good selection of vintage and present day vehicles to observe, and we also had an organised tour of the workshops where London AEC RT8 was being rebuilt almost from scratch. New cross members for the body-shell risers had only just been fitted and were made of ash.
Shortly, Bill took us out for a short trip on the smart friendly green Bristol for a short circular tour. We drove around the winding, hilly roads around the large, sparse, almost lonely industrial areas, which make up the East-End London suburbs of Avebury and Purfleet. Nearby, we observed a massive chimney of Ford Motor's Dagenham works, and the Channel Tunnel High-Speed rail link that is Britain's newest railway line. By modern standards the bus was quite slow, doing about 30mph and this unfortunately annoyed an elderly motorist on a roundabout. However I
felt privileged as passengers as some motorists looked on at our bus with some envy!
We enjoyed listening to the distinctive solid sound of the AEC engine in conjunction with the Bristol chassis and to Bill's manual crash-box gear changes on our route. However as we stopped at a typical London Transport bus stop lay-by for photos it was noticeable that some steam was escaping from the radiator water cap. As our party discussed whether to turn back, get assistance or carry on I suggested that I might get water in a watering can from a nearby house. I found an obliging house owner; he showed mild surprise seeing the bus whilst trying to have his quiet Sunday lunch! On return I found Bill phoning for assistance.
It thundered and absolutely poured down with rain whilst waiting for the mechanic to arrive and everyone took cover in the bus or the bus shelter. In the shelter I discussed with Bill the possibility of driving the vehicle for the next Wessex running day in 2007. However we concluded that it would probably take approximately three days: Saturday to bring it down; Sunday to show it off and run it in Poole and Monday to take it back again. Quite a difficult task and very expensive if it broke down.
The rain cleared a bit and shortly afterwards our man arrived. Checking that there were no serious water leaks, he gave us the go-ahead for us to continue our short tour whilst he followed behind. Another problem with the Bristol is that it needs an alternator although it has had £7000 spent on it already.
After the trip I spoke to W&D's Chris Harris who did not seem surprised about the K6's water problem. He explained that it used be quite common for crews to collect water for a top-up if the bus had not properly been seen to in the morning-not much change there then!
It is hoped one day that TD895 will visit this area again; these buses were a very common type in the 50's and 60's being popular with crews in the Bournemouth and Southampton areas-2006 Bournemouth & Southampton drivers to note!
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