Saturday, October 29, 2011

Sepia Saturday 98 : A Charabanc To The Centenary


Over on Sepia Saturday we are travelling towards the grand celebrations that will mark Sepia Saturday 100 (12 November 2011). The suggested method of transportation this week is by bus, but my mother, Gladys Burnett, seems to have missed the bus and therefore she has climbed on my fathers' motorbike (yes, it is the same one I featured in my last Sepia Saturday post). Whilst she was a frequent passenger, my mother never was a driver : even when my parents had a tandem she was more the rear motive power rather than the forward navigator. If you followed the comments on my post last week, you will know that the bike was a 1946 Excelsior 125cc Model O and not the Talisman Twin I suggested.

Whilst my mother appears to have missed the bus, her father looks as though he caught it (at least I think that is her father, Albert Beanland, but I have no idea who he is sat next to). He and his mystery companion (it looks nothing like his wife, Kate Kellam) appear to be having a grand day out in a charabanc - the precursor to the modern day motor coach. With their fine leather trim and row after row of seats, such things were grand affairs, and I an surprised that nobody has thought of re-introducing them into this twenty-first century world that we inhabit. In the 1920s and early 1930s, they would be used to transport groups to the English seaside resorts and they would frequently stop at wayside pubs for refreshments. That is the way to travel - whether it is to bracing Blackpool, or the Sepia Saturday Centenary Celebrations.

29 comments:

  1. 'EAK 261'? That looks like an excuse to say 'EEK! to me, at least when you wear a dress to ride it!

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  2. I agree Alan. I wish there were still some charabancs around for such excursions. I always feel a little jealous when seeing photos such as the one of my grandparents in a very full charabanc on the Isle of Wight, but your grandparents had one all to themselves ... luxury, as they say.

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  3. Your mother may not have been a rider, but she looks very comfortable in the rider's position. Another treasure from the family album.

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  4. Always fun seeing these shots! And maybe I can get myself in gear to participate in SS before #100.

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  5. I always wondered what a charabanc looked like! I've read about them in all the British mysteries I read, but I'd never actually seen one before. I hope they had tops in case the weather turned inclement!

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  6. Alan, Your Mum Looks A Real Biker-Chick !
    Yea, Charabanc Trips Down The Calder Valley Would Be Definitely Something I Would Sign Up For!

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  7. I have a photo of my Mum in an almost identical dress when I was a young one, round about 1946.

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  8. Anonymous3:45 PM

    A biker chick mom! I love that photo.

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  9. Charabancs are something new to me. Maybe they had a different name here, but I haven't even seen a picture of a vehicle that looks like that.

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  10. That charabanc looks like an early version of the white limo that runs around our area for weddings. mind you it has a roof.

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  11. The charabanc immediately makes me think of that song "The day we went to Bangor", which doesn't even mention a charabanc.

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  12. Charabanc is a new word for me. I'm trying to think of how I can work it into a sentence today. I wish I could say, "let's get in that charabanc and head for the seaside"

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  13. For all you ignoramusses, it is pronounced "sharabang"
    and does have a roof that comes off. A better name for the lady would be "Biker-Mum"? My grandparents went to the seaside in one of those coaches too.....

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  14. 125 cc is an interesting size.
    They had some amazing cameras then as I like how this shot is a close up unless there has been some tweaking with modern technology.

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  15. I want a photo of my mom on an Ex. May I borrow your and doctor it up? -J

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  16. Your Mum looks perfectly comfortable up there Alan. As for the two in a charabanc; where they the first to arrive, or had everyone else departed?

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  17. Charabanc, omnibus, excelsior. A fun post for everyone's vocabulary improvement, my favorite part of the discoveries on your blog.

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  18. Kickstand firmly in place! Great photos as always.

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  19. Strange, you never seem to think that your parents were young and partook of such things as motorbikes and such....no doubt our children will think the same. Great post Alan!

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  20. And what a pair of slippers she seems to be wearing.

    Great picture - your other ones inspired me to look up our old family photos - all to follow in nablopomo this next month

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  21. Surely the charabanc has morphed into today's stretch limo?

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  22. I was thinking the same as Jenny. If charabancs were still around today, they would be rolling up to the school gates to collect all of those leavers and take them out on a little excursion!

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  23. Love that picture of your mom! I guess I didn't know what a charabanc was! See...I learn something every time I stop by! :)

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  24. Charabancs look delightful! The modern equivalent here are stretch Humvies, http://www.yclimo.com/. I bet they get worse mileage than the charabanc and they don't make routine trips to the beach!

    Love the pic of your Mum.

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  25. Now that is a way to travel! Your Mother was a beautiful woman:)

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  26. What an adventure she could have on the motor bike. It is so neat that she just got on and rode. It certainly saved her a lot of walking to get the distance.

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  27. She certainly wasn't dressed to ride that bike... no helmet!!!
    ;)~
    HUGZ

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  28. Wonderful shots! Off to where the road may take them...providing you put up the kickstand.

    Thanks for creating and hosting Sepia Saturday!

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