[Vwoolf] Pirate omnibuses

annemarie bantzinger ambantzinger at hotmail.com
Tue Sep 3 10:57:47 EDT 2013


Yes, good thinking! Love it,
AnneMarie
 
From: neverowv1 at southernct.edu
To: danelljones at bresnan.net; vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2013 14:56:22 +0000
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Pirate omnibuses






Thanks to both of you for a great conversation!



I know it's off topic, but I am inclined to speculate that J. K. Rowling's depiction of a pirate omnibus--the Knight Bus--in
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (both the book and the film)--was inspired by Elizabeth Dalloway's adventure, though I have no proof at all.



Vara





From: Danell Jones <danelljones at bresnan.net>

Date: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 10:01 AM

To: VWOOLF listserv <vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Pirate omnibuses






I LOVE this Stuart! 




I knew there were competing bus companies.  Weren't they painted different colors?  But I didn't know there were "pirates"! 




Thanks so much for sharing.  It helps us see just how daring Elizabeth is.



Danell








On 9/3/2013 7:54 AM, Stuart N. Clarke wrote:





Elizabeth Dalloway gets on an “irregular” ‘bus in Victoria St, nr the Army and Navy Stores:
 
“She took a seat on top. The impetuous creature—a pirate—started forward, sprang away; she had to hold the rail to steady herself, for a pirate it was, reckless, unscrupulous, bearing down ruthlessly, circumventing dangerously, boldly snatching a passenger,
 or ignoring a passenger, squeezing eel-like and arrogant in between, and then rushing insolently all sails spread up Whitehall.”
 
Then into Trafalgar Sq, along the Strand.  She gets off at Chancery Lane, just past the Royal Courts of Justice where the Strand becomes Fleet St.
 
The most famous bus route in London is the no. 11.  The savvy (and economical) tourist choses that bus rather than a tour bus, as the no. 11 goes past so many famous sights, inc. St Paul’s, on its way to Liverpool St Station.  The new London bus starts
 on that route on 21 Sept:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15493.aspx
 
“The very first ‘pirate’ bus to operate in central London began work on route 11 ... on 5 August 1922, and by the end of 1923 there were 70 such operators.”, Michael H. C. Baker, “London Transport in the 1920s” (Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, 2009),
 p. 8.
 
The no. 11 goes past the Army & Navy Stores.
 
The ref. to a pirate bus is yet one more post-war ref. in “Mrs. Dalloway”:
 
“Some young men, having acquired skills in a war which was described as the first truly mechanical one, bought a war-surplus bus or lorry ... and set up business.  A downpayment of £100 was all that was necessary; the Metropolitan Police had to approve
 the roadworthiness of the vehicle, but, that done, it could operate wherever its owner chose. ... At the beginning of 1920 the demand for buses far outstripped the number available, and there was plenty of scope for those who were prepared to take up the challenge.  
 Very few of these enterprises were long lived ...” (“London Transport in the 1920s”, pp. 7-8).
 
Stuart
 




 

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