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Edinburgh Corporation Buses 1960s |
Edinburgh Corporation Transport - Parcels Service
© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Adrian H Dodsley, Oakerthorpe, Derbyshire, who supplied this photo to me.
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Question |
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Where and When? I believe that this photograph may have been taken around the 1960s - but where was this Parcels Office? The bus in this photo is a Leyland PSUC1/3 (Duple bodybuilder). It is one of a batch of 100 similar vehicles bought in 1959-60. This one was bought in 1960. The last of these vehicles was withdrawn from service in 1978. If you can tell me more about where or when this photo might have been taken, please e-mail me. Thank you. - Peter Stubbs: August 22, 2007 |
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Answer 1. Douglas Beath Burnie, Tasmania, Australia |
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Thank you to Douglas Beath who replied: Shrubhill "From roof shape and fenestration, this photo was obviously taken outside the museum seen in the photograph of Edinburgh tram No 35 probably in James Street, Shrubhill. The ECT Parcel Service would only have occupied a small part (if at all) of the big building. They did have a shop front in Leith Walk beside the tram depot gate." Douglas Beath, Burnie, Tasmania, August 23, 2007 |
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Answer 2. Donald Grant Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland |
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Thank you to Donald Grant who replied: The Location "There's no doubt that the location is Shrubhill, and judging from the driver's white topped cap and dust coat it is summertime. The lack of destination on the front blind, allied to the drivers uniform, suggests that the bus was being used for private hire at the time the photo was taken." The Bus "The bus is a Leyland Tiger Cub and, as you caption it, PSUC1/3. However the body is not by Duple but is in fact by Weymann as were all the ECT Tiger Cubs with this type of body.
It can be a little confusing as this
particular style of body (or at Source: 'Edinburgh's Transport, The Corporation Years' (D.L.G. Hunter). This is pretty much the "bible" for Edinburgh Corporation Transport information After withdrawal in Edinburgh in 1966 some of these vehicles were sold to Ulster Transport Authority and served there for a number of years. That was the entire 1959 batch SWS 1 - 50 save for numbers 9 and 22 which were withdrawn in 1963. Donald Grant, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland: February 19, 2008 |
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Answer 3. Jim Paton Australia |
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Thank you to Jim Paton who replied: Parcel Depot "The Parcel depot sure was outside the gate to the Shrubhill depot. I was a 'Parcel Boy' from 1957 until I started my Apprenticeship as a Fitter and Tuner with the 'Corpo' in 1958. I was with the Corpo until we left for Australia in 1968." Jim Paton, Australia: November 5, 2009. |
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Answer 4. John Dickson (Parcel Boy 6) Silverknowes, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to John Dickson who replied Parcel Depot "I think the photo of the parcel service was in East London Street at the side of the Central Garage, You can still see the cobbles on the road today. The Parcel Dept was moved into the workshops at Shrubhill until the new building enclosing the Paintshop, Printing and Museum was ready." John Dickson, Silverknowes, Edinburgh: August 29, 2010 |
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Answer 5. Ian Bremner Fairmilehead, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Ian Bremner who replied, agreeing that this photo would not have been taken at Shrubhill: Ian wrote: Parcel Depot "John Dickson (4 above) sure got it right. This photo would have been taken on the north side of East London Street, between Cochrane Terrace and the big house opposite the bottom of Gayfield Square. I know 'cause I played there when I was a laddie! The building was latterly replaced by a Telephone Exchange. Sorry, I don't have any date for that." Ian Bremner, Fairmilehead, Edinburgh: October 5, 2010 |
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Ian added: Fairmilehead "I now live close to the old termini of the No 11 tram at Fairmilehead and the No 28 tram at the Braids." Annandale Street "I lived in Bellevue Road from 1942 until 1954 when I was a laddie. I know the Annandale Street Bus Depot entrance on Green Street well. We used to watch the buses queuing up to be refilled with fuel there every evening - fond memories!" Ian Bremner, Fairmilehead, Edinburgh: October 6, 2010 |
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Answer 6. John Dickson (Parcel Boy 6) Silverknowes, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to John Dickson for writing again and enclosing a press cutting with a photo and caption: "A new Parcels Office has been constructed on the East London Street frontage of Central Garage. It is equipped with roller conveyor for speedier processing of parcels." |
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John wrote: "This photo was in ECT Report on Income and Expenditure, 1961, proving that the Parcel Office was in East London Street." John Dickson, Silverknowes, Edinburgh: August 29, 2010 |
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Answer 7. George Selvester (Bus Driver) Cromarty, Black Isle, Highland, Scotland |
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Thank you to George Selvester who wrote: |
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John wrote: "I was driving those buses in the late-1960s. I'm sure the that the Parcel Force Office was halfway down Leith Walk (at Shrub Place) just before the lights at Pilrig Street." George Selvester, Cromarty, Black Isle, Highland, Scotland: February 21, 2013 |
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Answer 8. Fraser Parkinson Pilrig, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Fraser Parkinson who wrote: |
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East London Street "As has been previously stated, the location of the parcel office was East London Street. It was located on the site of where the Waverley Telephone Exchange is today, at 12 East London Street. The roof seen in the distance on the top left portion of the photo is that of the end tenement on Cochran Terrace. Telephone Exchange Perhaps of interest on the exchange building, constructed on the site, is the tiled panel over the main entrance which was made by Malkin-Johnson Tiles The actual tiles can be attributed to the designer Ken Clark MBE. one of London's most versatile craft potters at the time known for collaboration with architects on bespoke designed panels. Date of the Photo To help date the photograph, the exchange was built in 1964 (with the later addition of a third floor in the 1970s). In short, the photograph is pre the exchange building which dates it to before 1964. Fraser Parkinson, Pilrig, Edinburgh: August 14, 2013 |
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1960-64 Answer 1 above tells us that the bus in this photo was new in 1960. So the photo must date from the period 1960-64, possibly near the start of this period if the photographer wished to have a new vehicle in his photo. Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: August 14, 2013 |
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