Old Biggin Hill Programmes

[Jeff]

Untitled by Eelmoor Farnborough, on Flickr

Untitled by Eelmoor Farnborough, on Flickr

Untitled by Eelmoor Farnborough, on Flickr

Untitled by Eelmoor Farnborough, on Flickr

[graham]

Blasts from the past there Jeff

[rh226]

Remember going to the first (?) one in 1963.

Caught the 216 bus from Ashford into Kingston and then (by Green Rover) the 406 down to Reigate (missing the Express departure).  There was a crowd of spotters waiting there at the bus stop for the 410 (operated by RLHs in those days) and someone had a transistor radio.  It was playing "From Me to You" by the Beatles.

Of course, the "will we make it or won't we" chug up Westerham Hill was heightened by some "plonker" wanting to get on at the stop halfway up the hill!!

[keefyboy]

I remember the RLH's Bob. Back in the 60's as a mere youngster - if it moved, I spotted it - trains including London Underground, buses, coaches and so on. Anything I guess as long as I could record it in one of Ian Allen's books - my parents hardly ever saw me as I was out most weekends using Red Rovers or Twin Rovers to do all the London bus garages and tube stations, railway sheds etc. I got hooked on aircraft after a trip to Heathrow in 67 and after that all other forms of transport fell by the wayside. For me it was a 285 bus from Clapham Common all the way to Heathrow central on the old road that took us through the middle of the maintenance area.

I cant remember how we used to get to Biggin Hill - probably a train to Bromley South out of Victoria and a green bus from there. Our first visits to Biggin would be late 68 or early 69. We used to be able to wander the ramps and hangars freely and I remember seeing NX611 parked up on the ramp along with a Sabre. My first Air Fair was May 69 - Jeff's 2nd photo and that was followed by the BoB display in September. I know I've a lot of Biggin programmes from that era stashed away somewhere in the loft. Ah nostalgia!

PS: One of these days I must call into Brooklands which has buses and aircraft.

[rh226]

I gave up buses when Isleworth and Fulwell garages converted from trolleybuses to Routemasters in May 1962 as the last stage (#XIV?) of the conversion. I had only just started on aircraft then with my first spotting trip to Heathrow on 1st June.

As far as the buses were concerned, living in South Ruislip at the time, I had covered in entirety about 2/3rds of the red bus system by the time I was 11, including all the garages in that area.  They had only just introduced the "Golden Rover" by then.  Roughly from outer NE down to outer SSE London was the area that saw little travel owing to the distance from home.

The only garage that I had trouble with was West Ham, where they just did not appreciate young spotters.  Funnily enough, I never had any trouble with the trolleybus scrapyard at Colindale where you would have thought that youngsters would not be appreciated for safety reasons.  God, was everything jammed in there.  I could only just (at that age) squeeze between the rows to get the numbers, registration plates (if present) being not sufficient to identify as they were mostly not in the Ian Allen book.  Never did manage to get to either Aldenham or Chiswick works to see the loads of (very) early morning "pre-war RT" (RT1-RT151) movements.

I think the dingiest garage I ever went to was Athol Street, Poplar (code C - an RT garage).  The lighting was so poor (even in daylight) that you almost needed a torch.  They closed it in 1962, so you probably would not have known it.

Probably the most unusual bus I ever saw (at GM - Gillingham Street garage) was RTL3 which was the one with the staircase exiting on the driver's side (was an export demonstrator).  Also, the SA class of trolleybuses which had an "apartheid partition" in the downstairs seating (they were originally destined for South Africa but were not delivered owing to WW2).

RTL3 after sale www.flickr.com/photos/23875695@N06/6231995365.

[graham]

I recall going on train spotting trips all over the country - in those days your parents didn't worry anywhere like they do today about your safety. I went to Leeds aged 12 to see my great aunt. Reading to Paddington, across to Kings Cross then up to Leeds, a huge adventure for a 12 year old. A week's spotting "ooop north" which was superb. Also took trips to the likes of Sheffield, south Wales, Derby, Nottingham and loads of others. I remember countless trips to London ( many with keithh on here) when we'd buy a Red Rover pass for the tube and think nothing of walking around all the sheds and engineering works with notebook in hand. We were rarely questioned and I don't recall ever been chucked out of anywhere.

One of the best trips was to Dai Woodham's scrapyard at Barry; at the time of my visit with a couple of mates, there were about 300 steam locos there in various stages of delapidation.

[Jeff]

Never really got into train or bus spotting, taken a few photos of buses in the past, no idea why though ! Lol

[keefyboy]

I vaguely remember seeing trolleybuses when I was a kid at Clapham Junction - only because of the sparks that used to fly when they were going through the very long Falcpn Road railway underpass. I'm sure you will be aware of this site Bob but in case others would like to have a look - check out the link below. Scroll down the opening page and you will be in trolleybus heaven - especially Colindale and your local garages. I've spent days on this site over the years:

www.mikesbuspages.com/londontransport.htm

Graham - I too had a free hand to travel anywhere I wanted as a 10 year old in the 60's - Old Oak Common and Stratford were our favourite depots but with the imminent demise of steam 66/68 we spent much or our time at depots and stations across Yorkshire and Lancashire - most of these were days trips with early start/late finish - never a problem with the folks as long as we were with others and home by midnight. Happy days.

Anyhow to get back on topic - I've found my old programmes for the 1969 and 1970 Biggin Hill BoBs. Sadly my scanner has developed a fault which I'll sort next week. To give you a flavour, here is the afternoon flying programme for the BoB display at Biggin on 20 September 1969:-

1334 4 Hunters Demo
1342 Scout
1345 Falcons
1355 Hurricane
1403 Harrier
1413 meteor
1419 Sea Vixen
1425 Belfast
1433 Varsities Formation Flypast
1435 Canberra
1442 Skylarks Aerobatics
1452 Gladiator
1458 Phantom
1502 Dominies Formation Flypast
1507 Beagle Pups and Bolkow
1513 Victor
1519 VC10
1526 Dominies again!
1528 Poachers
1537 Britannia
1543 Phantoms Formation Flypast
1545 Super sabres Formation Flypast
1549 Jet provost
1558 Hercules
1604 Gannet
1609 RF84Fs Formation Flypast
1610 Harrier Formation Flypast
1615 Wessex
1618 Vulcan
1623 Buccaneer
1628 Blue Eagles
1640 Lanc/Spit/Hurr
1645 Phantoms Formation Flypast
1647 Hunter
1657 Red Arrows

Cheers for now

[graham]

Keith, my parents moved to Reading when I was ten in 1966 and there were trolley buses running then.

[jargon]

For Keefyboy and rh226 and anyone else ever into buses I'm guessing you would have found this site but if you haven't www.countrybus.org/

Went to a London Transport Acton Depot Open Day again earlier this year and really enjoyed it and can thoroughly recommend it
www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/museum-depot/open-weekends

I never went to an Air Fair but did make the BOB days at least once possibly twice in the second half of the seventies, it would have been on a special London Country service from Guildford.


John

[Jeff]

Living on the outskirts of
London green buses were quite rare except the 727 and I think 703 both green line. 727 LGW LHR LTN and 703 Windsor to London. However on the odd shopping trip to Staines it always seemed odd seeing Green London country route-masters