It's funny how words go out of existence with the generations.
For those who are young enough NOT to remember a Charabanc (yay , me included) , here is a photo of a Charabanc outing from the Red Lion, which was situated on Manchester Road.
"Charabancs were a kind of early convertible bus, with a top covering which could be used in inclement weather".
"The address of the Red Lion was originally Rochfort Street , which is now Clark Way crossing the motorway. It started life around 1857 as a beerhouse and got a full licence in the 1930's.
The landlord in 1910 was George Webb who ran many charabanc outings.
The Red Lion was almost demolished for the new Hyde by-pass , but was reprieved, closing for a long period to reopen as the Hyde-away. This closed in 1981 after a few years but again the pub reopened, with its original name of the Red Lion.
Sadly ,it has now shut for good".
Thanks to Paul Taylor for the information.
The charabanc was usually (but not always) open-topped, but the defining feature was that the seats were benches running the full width of the vehicle (the name being derived from the French for 'carriage with benches'). Note the individual doors for each bank of seats on the vehicle in the photo - there was no aisle to walk down in the centre nor on either side,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that info, Dave!
ReplyDeleteI can't recall ever having seen one, even in a museum ;)