Friday 31 July 2009

PFF: A Post Bus, Lancashire, England


Postmarked Preston, Lancs., and dated 22 August 1974.
Lancashire's first post bus in Broughton-in-Furness square where the town's charter is publicly proclaimed every August 1 by the Lord of the Manor.  By the obelisk an stocks are "fishstones" from which anyone can sell their wares (no one does!).  The post bus travels through the beautiful Duddon Valley in Lakeland with mail and passengers.  The buses are being introduced by the Post Office in some remote areas where there is no public transport.

My father wrote this card and sent it to himself.  1974 was the year that Broughton-in-Furness, along with the whole Furness peninsula, moved administrative region from Lancashire to Cumbria, see an earlier postcard from Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria.

The post bus service no longer runs, and the same fate happened to the Redhill service (which also produced a postcard) earlier this year

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday.
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12 comments:

  1. I remember your earlier posts. I think post buses were a good idea. After all, if you are going to the towns with mail anyway, why not take people? I wonder why the idea failed?

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  2. Too costly to run perhaps? The Post Office l has been cutting costs all over the place in recent years. It won't be that public transport has improved. It hasn't.

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  3. I remember in my youth the regular bus service collecting and delivering the mail to remote Post Offices. The same bus service actually used to deliver day old chicks in a cardboard box to my Mother once a year, the driver would stop the bus outside our house and he'd get off and personally carry them in, and even stop for a chat. You could see all the passengers looking out the windows waiting for him. Eventually he would get back behind the wheel. He just stopped short of accepting a cup of tea.
    I love your card, my neighbour used to have a van like that one.
    Happy PFF.

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  4. Hello and Happy PFF! You do a great job in posting a postcard a day - I know I couldn't.

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  5. Howdy Sheila
    Happy PFF to you.
    What a great idea I am sorry it stopped running.
    Wish we had something like that in our area .
    Loved the postcard.
    My thanks to your Dad for having the foresight to mail this to himself and to you for sharing it with us on PFF
    Have a fabulous rest of the weekend.
    Happy Trails.

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  6. OH!!! How cool is this. Great card and thanks for sharing.
    debby

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  7. Great card....
    It is a shame that the post bus no longer runs.
    Seams like a rather good and practical service. The postman will be traveling the rout to deliver the mail anyway. Why not hitch a ride with him? :-)

    Have a beautiful weekend

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  8. Great postcard! And thanks for leaving a comment!

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  9. ou've brought such a wonderful piece of history alive by posting this Sheila! I'm enthralled!

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  10. Now this one brings back memories-showing my age again! We had something similar in my local rural community back then.

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  11. I love it----a postcard a day!!!!! I am struggling for every Friday and you post one everyday!!!!! This is such a great way to learn about different places...all over the world!

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  12. Thanks Shelia, I always like learning how people manage their everyday tasks in other countries. Too bad the mail bus doesn't run any longer. It is sad when things change sometimes.

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Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

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