| On October 1 1969, 1085 (OHW 597F) was completing a fast motorway journey from Bristol to Cheltenham on the 530 service.
It had cleared Gloucester, and was heading into Cheltenham when the overheating engine caught fire at Arle Court, Cheltenham. The driver had time to evacuate the bus, and used a nearby phone to summons help. But by the time the fire brigade arrived at the scene the bus was already blazing heavily at the rear end. The intensity was so great that the cylinder heads on the engine melted. The site of the fire could not have been more sensitive. The Cold War was still on, and although James Bond was a favoured fictional hero, GCHQ - the telecommunications centre of the British intelligence service - was still a closely-guarded secret. And the fire occurred just outside the prefabricated buildings where much of the work was undertaken. Small wonder a policeman was on duty to frown at the photographer. The bus was consigned to the scrap heap. |
1085 (OHW 597F) 640x414 052.202_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 (OHW 597F) 640x425 052.209_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 (OHW 597F) attracts more than usual interest from the local youngsters 640x414 052.201_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 - almost unrecognisable 640x425 052.203_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 - and a Morris Minor panda car protects the bus stop 640x425 052.204_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 - looking down at heel 640x425 052.207_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 - Simon Brown, later chief engineer of Southdown, but at the time depot engineer at Gloucester, sprints round the wreck 640x425 052.206_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 - the scene 640x425 052.205_174.jpg 1969-10-01 00:00:00 |
1085 - with the recovery vehicle from Gloucester 640x376 052.208_174.jpg 1969-09-01 00:00:00 |
