OVER the last few years when I have given talks with our carriage collection on a few occasions I was asked if knew anything about Penny's bus.
It had meant nothing to me, abut naturally made me curious. I subsequently made a few phone calls, but enquiries were all fruitless, so there it rested. On Sunday September 28 we went to Dingles Steam Village for an MG Club social fun day, which was a delightful day out, displaying many wonderful fairground rides and steam traction engines. One of our club members drew my attention to a horsedrawn bus in a shed away from the general display. It looked interesting and had a small notice with a phone number saying it was for sale.
On phoning the following day I discovered to my surprise and delight that the vehicle was Penny's bus. Its history is as fascinating as Backwell's bus, which we have owned since 1996. These two buses were built at Lumburn, Tavistock, by Budge and Co, Penny's bus in 1893, Backwell's bus in 1896. Penny's bus was stored in an open shed until restoration in 1969. Backwell's bus was stored in a carriage shed until 1946. In both cases they are the only ones from the family operators remaining.
These two vehicles came into Tavistock on a regular basis. Because Backwell's bus was based in Tavistock it had the advantage, but on Friday in particular, which was market day, it was bound to meet up with Penny's bus coming in from Luckett and Callington. The history of both these vehicles is colourful to say the least, and we can easily write a full page on each.
The real point is that by sheer luck they have now been reunited after all these years, as both were going to be auctioned and could have left us forever.
Gerald Williamson
Owner of Harford Collection