Wigan Album

By heck Barrie, This vehicle is a " Bus and a half ". I would like to learn some of its detail. Was it a Leyland, or perhaps an AEC ?. I imagine, because of
its capacity, it probably was based at Carlisle when it went in to service.

Cheers, Ray.

Ray, the book "Massey Bros Coachbuilders" by Phil Thomas published in 2011 has a comprehensive list of all the vehicles that were built at Pemberton. Father joined Massey Bros. in April 1926 on the shop floor and left in 1936/37 for Santus Motor Bodies. According to the book, Cumberland had many vehicles built at Pemberton, both single & double decks. Some were on Daimler chassis and others Leyland Lion but this one is on a Guy chassis.
I have only in the past month taken ownership of the family albums after Father died in 1984 as my sister was loaned the boxes in '85 and then forgot them. The writing in red on the photo is fathers and it looks like Easter but could be "late" 1927. In the book, there is a photo of the same bus, same location and listed as bus no.74 & a low decker. I'm still unearthing loose photo's of buses & coaches built by the 3 companies he worked for in Wigan during the period 1926-55. I guess this photo was taken outside one of the buildings in Pemberton.

I can just imagine those albums on the Antiques Road Show. I bet there would be loads of interest in them Barrie, but of course you wouldn’t want to part with them.

Barrie, Thank you so much for all the information regarding Masseys.
I will contact the Transport bookshop in Glossop, where I acquired
many books over the years, and see if they have a copy of the book
by Phil Thomas. Best regards, Ray.

Ray, I would agree that this bus was destined to go into service in Carlisle. At the time Cumberland and Westmorland were separate counties (Now Cumbria) and were both, and still are, largely rural, Carlisle being the only location with a population justifying the need for a bus with this passenger capacity.

Whitehaven, with its pits, might also have needed to move large numbers of workers about....
A bit of Googling reveals the purchase of a Guy FCX by Cumberland as a one-off in 1927 - registered as RM 4364. It was withdrawn in 1933 and ended its life as a static caravan at Allonby on the coast.

Phil Thoms' book on Massey Brothers is online as a pdf:
https://www.mdsbooks.co.uk/pub/media/Massey_Brothers.pdf

Having read Father's diary for 1927 working at Massey Bros. I have come to the conclusion, given the build period, that he was not assigned to this particular Cumberland Bus as he was involved in the Leyland Lions for them & Karriers for Salford Corp. Interesting to note that this particular Guy bodied bus is a Lo-decker or Massey Lowbridge body as it was termed. Aside of this, if any one knows if there is a publication about Santus Motor Bodies Co. I would be grateful as Father moved from Massey Bros. to them in 1936 staying until 1945.