Books

Irish Buses in the mid 1960s

Publication Information
ISBN: 9781904242888 
RRP: £8.99 
Format: Softback, 64 pages, 204mm x 240mm; 2007 
Photos/Illustrations: 60 b/w photographs 
Subject: Buses 
Publisher: Colourpoint Books 
Author: Richard Newman
Irish Buses in the mid 1960s by Richard Newman

In mid 1960s English bus enthusiast Richard Newman made a number of visits to Ireland both north and south and captured the then prevailing bus scene on film. Richard delves into his archive to present a selection of vehicles from CIE, the Lough Swilly, Belfast Corporation, the UTA and Ulsterbus, as well as a variety of independent coach operators in Eire.


Review by ABM

IRISH BUSES IN THE MID 1960’s is a series of photographs taken during 1965 and 1967 by the author who was visiting Ireland on a bus spotting holiday. The photographs cover vehicles on several bus routes in Belfast, the North Coast and Dublin, as well as those owned by a few independent operators. The author didn’t just take photographs but also travelled on the bus routes.

The black and white photographs are extremely clear and the book is well laid out with descriptions of each vehicle. Of more interest to me as a bus novice is the description of locations and background information on the vehicles, such as bodywork and how they entered service with the bus companies. The author also points out any peculiarities, such as incorrect signage and colours. The mid-1960s seems to have been a time of change and experimentation as Belfast replaced its trolleybus system with buses which were either sourced from other UK fleets or were rebodied by local companies.

The mid-1960s seems to have been a time of change and experimentation as Belfast replaced its trolleybus system with buses which were either sourced from other UK fleets or were rebodied by local companies. Those familiar with old photos of trams in Belfast may be surprised, as I was, that they were replaced by trolleybuses as an intermediate step before buses.

The strength of this book is that it is a contemporary account of buses in daily use rather than collection of vintage bus photos. This helps to place the buses in an everyday context and shows the author’s love and interest in public transport.

This is not just an excellent introduction to buses for someone new to the subject, but is also of interest to local historians. It doesn’t try to show every vehicle in a particular year or location but provides a nice snapshot of some of the trolleybuses and buses in service on a particular day.

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