- 318 Dennis 102 North Tce 1936
- 317 AEC 101 washing after delivery Hackney 23-4-36
These are the first two double deckers of the eleven purchased in the mid 1930s.
I imagine passengers would have regarded these as quite a luxury, considering their immediate predecessors were the ex SAR open top Garfords!.
These two had rather a smart looking body - 103-111 had what became the more 'traditional' double deck body, which lasted until c 1960.
The Dennis Lance remained an "odd one out" as far as double deckers are concerned, but it was used until at least 1949 (as we will discover when I get round to putting up Neil Mackintosh's reminiscences of the period!).
There were three more AECs, 103-105, three Daimlers, 106-108, and three Leylands 109-111. It almost seems as though they were trying out different manufacturers, perhaps for future orders. If this is the case, I guess the Daimlers won, as all 15 of the post war deckers were Daimlers, 112-126.
Cheers,
Trevor