OUT & ABOUT THIS SUMMER.

Paul Nicholls has informed us that his TZ Reg. No. JNN 463 K has been displayed at a number of rallies this Summer. The TBN Pakamatic owned by Keighley Bus Museum has also been seen at several events this year including the Bronte Gathering at Cullingworth.

The 1972 TN Pakamativ is owned by the Keighley Bus Museum and is in the livery of the Keighley Council Reg. No. FBU 227 K

Keighley Bus MuseumTrust NEWS

The Summer 2023 issue of the News magazine from the Keighley Bus Museum carried a letter that I had submitted, along with three photos showing the replica Tramocar at the Amberley Museum and the airport transfer bus.

Dear Editor,

When I received my copy of KBMT News Spring 2023 edition I was absolutely delighted to see the cover photo was of the 1972 Shelvoke & Drewry TBN Pakamatic Reg. N. FBU 227 K which is part of the Museum’s collection. I was an apprentice at S & D in the 1950’s and for the past twenty years I have been running the SD Enthusiasts’ Club.

Shelvoke & Drewry were a fairly small manufacturing company but their products were highly respected. Founded in 1922 by Harry Shelvoke & James Drewry in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, to produce a very unusual light lorry. Instead of a steering wheel the lorry was controlled by a handle termed a ‘tiller’ and the clutch pedal was replaced by a second tiller. It was said that anyone could learn to drive the lorry in just 30 minutes. The lorry attracted many customers as a refuse collection vehicle as the small diameter wheels allowed a low loading height. Some 50 chassis were purchased with bus bodies mostly for sea front duties, a replica is exhibited at the Amberley Museum in West Sussex.

After the Second World War S&D produced more conventional vehicles and the Pakamatic was launched in 1960. For twenty-two years the company also produced heavy duty fork lift trucks (1952 – 1974). From 1974 they produced a range of special purpose vehicles of which one was an airport transfer bus which sadly didn’t generate any further orders. The company encountered difficulties in the 1980’s and finally closed in 1991. Further details about the company may be found at www.shelvoke-drewry.co.uk

RVO 157 1954 ‘W’ type now a flat bed lorry owned by Martin Milmoe from Nottingham originally a Gully Emptier.

Stephen Harrison posted this photo on Facebook of ‘W’ type Reg. No. RVO 157 at Newark Showground earlier this year, with a vintage tractor onboard.