Hop on the Lodekka for trip down memory lane

When the first double decked buses began to take to Britain's streets, the overall height of the vehicles versus the problem of low bridges confronted the manufacturers.

One solution was to have a lower ceiling on the upper deck, while still leaving enough room for seated passengers. But although this managed to reduce the height by about a foot or two, the bench-type seating arrangements upstairs and encroachment into the lower deck proved unsuitable.

Designers at Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company works toiled for many years to overcome the height issue by looking at altering the vehicle chassis and, in 1949, the first of two prototype vehicles was constructed and the first seeds of what became known as the Bristol Lodekka were sown.

The rear axle was of a drop centre design, allowing a much lower floor in the lower deck and a conventional layout on the upper deck and an overall bus height of about 13ft 6in.

So the Lodekka was born and went into production in 1954. It went on to become a staple of the British bus scene with companies across the UK snapping them up.

One man who remembers the birth of the Lodekka with fondness is Bristol-born author and bus enthusiast Martin Curtis, whose father, Don, worked on the very first prototype Lodekka, LHY 949, at Bristol's Motor Constructional Works (MCW) where vehicle chassis were built.

Now Mr Curtis, who began working for Bristol Omnibus Company in 1972, has written a detailed account of the Lodekka, which begins with his memories of seeing the first Lodekkas in service in his home city, and covers the design, development, production and history of the vehicle.

An ardent "bus spotter" as a youngster, Mr Curtis, who now lives in Saltford, near Bath, has remained in the business his entire working life and is now managing director of the Bath Bus Company, which runs the city's sightseeing buses.

While the chassis of the Lodekka was built in Bristol, Mr Curtis recalls how the chassis were all driven to Lowestoft in East Anglia where the bodywork was fitted.

Mr Curtis, 53, said: "Like all Brislington residents of the period, I was familiar with the sight of Lodekka in chassis form running around on test.

"Lots of people will remember seeing them driven through the streets. The Lodekka was one of the most revolutionary double decker designs ever seen."

Bristol Lodekka is Mr Curtis's sixth book on Bristol-made buses and is the first time the vehicle has been covered in such depth. Packed with hundreds of illustrations showing all types of Lodekkas, it includes chapters on prototypes and trials, pre-production models, and how the Lodekka fared after falling out of favour in the UK bus market following the introduction of one-man-operated buses.

He said: "Bristol really did lead the way when it came to lowering the whole height of the bus. Other manufacturers tried and failed to follow.

"The next three or four years will see new legislation that will mean all buses have to have low floors for easier access yet here in Bristol, 60 years ago, they were pioneering the low floor vehicle."

Other vehicles, including the Bristol VR, began to come on the market in the mid-Sixties and the writing was on the wall for Lodekka before the end of the decade.

But an unexpected turn of events saw the Lodekka immortalised in British popular culture in the Seventies comedy series, On The Buses, which was based on a fictitious bus company and saw several Lodekkas used in the show.

After their retirement from service, many Lodekkas survived by being converted into open-top vehicles for seaside or city tour work.

Bristol Lodekka, by Martin S Curtis, is published by Ian Allan, priced £16.99.