A VINTAGE transport enthusaist has shown his talent for art in depicting an important moment in local history.

When a bus was first introduced to take passengers around Liskeard in June 1920, it was a moment of great excitement for local people, says John Watts.

The 14-seater T Model Ford was purchased by Edwin Beech and became part of his wider car repair, garaging and stabling business which was based at Webb’s Hotel and next door. Those wishing to catch the bus would have paid threpence to travel from The Parade down to the railway station, or sixpence if alighting at Addington or in Castle Street.

John says he decided to paint a depiction of the Beech omnibus, as well as a horse-drawn bus which would also have been in use to and from Webb’s Hotel at the time, while he was at home shielding during the lockdown.

Having made his career in the bus and coach industry, latterly in management, John says his love for transport began much earlier than that.

’I was an avid bus and train spotter as a kid,’ he says.

’My first job was as a schedules clerk and timetable compiler with Maidstone & District in Kent, and my career just blossomed from there.’

John’s impression of the overladen horse-drawn bus was gleaned from a photo he discovered of a similar vehicle in North Devon, while his omnibus painting is based on a picture which appeared in The Cornish Times.

’Around 2012 you published a handsome photograph of Mr Beech’s Ford ’T’ station bus when it was new,’ he said.

’Having recently learned that it sported a green livery, I have had a shot at reproducing a colourful image of how it might have looked all those years ago.’

Here, John tells us what he knows of Edwin Beech and the bus, information taken from Roger Grimley’s book on early public transport around Liskeard titled "The Liskerret Bus". He says copies of this publication are available from Liskeard Bookshop.

’Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, Edwin Beech had arrived in Liskeard at the end of the 19th century to join the business of William George, a saddler and ironmonger. After marrying William’s daughter, Lavinia, Edwin later started his own business in Fore Street dealing in bicycles, gramophones and pianos.  Then in 1912 he built a garage on the parade next to Webb’s Hotel where he set up a popular motor sales and repair business, trading as "Parade Garage".  By 1923 it had been renamed "Central Garage" and on this site today there now stands a shop called "Cheery Buys".

During 1920 Mr Beech had taken over the whole of Webb’s Hotel stables and yard.

The sober denizens of Liskeard were exhilarated in June 1920 to witness the introduction of his new, motorized, station omnibus.’

John has self-published three books about road passenger trasport through time. The first, ’Herb Vincent of Thorncombe, Dorset’ was inspired when he and his brother purchased a little blue 20-seater Bedford in 1995.

’I traced the bus back to its first owner in Dorset.  Unfortunately Mr Vincent had died but his widow Dorothy loaned us so many photographs and documents that I decided to write a small book about their 56 year long business,’ said John.

’My second book ’Ramblings from my Old Armchair’ is a complete history of a West London coach firm which specialised in UK tours for overseas visitors, its two biggest clients being Thomas Cook and American Express.  When tourism took a nose dive in the spring of 1986 due to the Libyan bombing campaign in London, Armchair diversified into commuter travel and then won contracts to operate Transport for London bus routes.  I had been lucky enough to be Armchair’s traffic manager and then general manager over a six year period.

’The third book ’Who is this Mr Wilberjim?’ started out as a magazine article by my brother but after tracking down the subject’s son in Kent it snowballed into another book.  It embraces a brief history of road passenger transport in the Medway Towns (we were born in Chatham, Kent) plus a history of BP’s Kent Oil Refinery which, when being built, was served by the subject’s buses.’

John says that anyone interested in a copy of his books can email him at [email protected], unfortunately, though, the first title is out of stock.