Motor Coaches And Charabancs

The coach – distinguished from the bus by its use for longer-haul and more comfortable trips – has a long and august history. Its origins lie in the charabanc, a long open-topped vehicle used to transport passengers on works outings and pleasure excursions. Over time, coaches came to be enclosed and fitted with more comfortable seating and higher-quality bodywork than the charabancs and the buses used on shorter routes. By the 1960s and 1970s on-board toilets began to be fitted, and despite a decline due to private car ownership, coach travel remains popular, with Wi-Fi, electric sockets and even video screens now built in. This colourful introduction explains the development of motor coach design and the main coach manufacturers, models and operators, offering a fascinating insight into the history of the nation's most popular vehicles.

In 1938: Modern Britain, Michael John Law demonstrates that our understanding of life in Britain just before the Second World War has been overshadowed by its dramatic political events. 1938 was the last year of normality, and Law shows through a series of case studies that in many ways life in that year was far more modern than might have been thought. By considering topics as diverse as the opening of a new type of pub, the launch of several new magazines, the emergence of push-button radios and large screen televisions sets, and the building of a huge office block, he reveals a Britain, both modern and intrigued by its own modernity, that was stopped in its tracks by war and the austerity that followed. For some, life in Britain was as consumerist, secular, Americanized and modern as it would become for many in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Presenting a fresh perspective on an important year in British social history, illuminated by six engaging case studies, this is a key study for students and scholars of 20th-century Britain.

A superbly illustrated history of the Leyland bus, one of the most important British buses of the twentieth century, with full production histories and technical specifications for all the major models. Also covers the evolution of the Leyland Bus company, and tells the full story behind the iconic Leyland badge. Including some previously unseen illustrations, the book gives a full company history - from beginnings as the Lancashire Steam Motor Company in 1886, to the acquisition by Volvo Buses in 1988. Technical details of all the main models are given including the Lion, Titan and Olympic ranges. Gearless buses and rear-engined double-deckers are covered as well as charabancs, trolleybuses, First World War military vehicles and overseas models. This will be an essential guide to these much-treasured vehicles and is beautifully illustrated with some never-before-seen pictures from the Leyland company's archives including 153 black & white photographs and 106 colour and b&w prints.

The illustrated history of this popular vehicle, which took workers on daytrips in the fifties before the advent of annual leave. A nostalgic subject with national interest.

Thisbook explores Wordsworth's extraordinaryinfluence on the tourist landscape of the Lake District throughout the age ofrailways, motorcars and the First World War. It explores how patterns of tourist behaviour andenvironmental awareness changed in the century of popular tourism, examininghow Wordsworth's vision shaped modern ideas of travel, landscape and culturalheritage.

“Reads like an extravagant time travel through Britain’s opulence era where train travel was just as stylish and fanciful as the elite class themselves.” —Manhattan with a Twist Martyn Pring has carried out considerable research tracing the evolution of British luxury train travel weaving railway, social and travel history threads around a number of Britain’s mainline routes traditionally associated with glamorous trains. Drawing on contemporary coverage, he chronicles the luxury products and services shaped by railway companies and hospitality businesses for Britain’s burgeoning upper and middle classes and wealthy overseas visitors, particularly Americans, who demanded more civilized and comfortable rail travel. By Edwardian times, a pleasure-palace industry emerged as entrepreneurs, hotel proprietors, local authorities and railway companies all collaborated developing upscale destinations, building civic amenities, creating sightseeing and leisure pursuits and in place-making initiatives to attract prosperous patrons. Luxury named trains delivered sophisticated and fashionable settings encouraging a golden age of civilized business and leisure travel. Harkening back to the inter-war years, modern luxury train operators now redefine and capture the allure and excitement of dining and train travel experiences. “Martyn’s extraordinarily beautiful book is more than a collection of classic railway posters—it describes a way of life that’s now lost in the mists of the twentieth century . . . As a piece of social history, this book is faultless, and a precious reminder of luxury and class distinction . . . [a] fabulous book. Exceptional.” —Books Monthly “A comprehensive account of luxury ‘hotel trains,’ dining trains and the presentations of heritage railways brings the story to its unexpected conclusion . . . this is a lively take on a neglected topic.” —BackTrack

Eric Simpson’s new book tells this story – the story of the growth of tourism in the Highlands and Islands.