Belthorn Bus Fire 1975

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  Hello in 1975 I was a child living at Four Winds bungalow just higher up from where the new National bus caught fire. On that day in the evening I was playing in the front garden when the bus driver ran up shouting “ please call 999 as his bus was smoking”. I ran in and told my dad and he phoned. I remember the bus fire getting worse while sirens from fire engines could be herd coming ( it’s 3+ miles to Belthorn all uphill. By the time the Fire engines were there the bus was well alight. The tenders soon ran out of water and the Firemen had then to deal with very low water pressure at that time due to a weak pump supplying it. They eventually had to leave the bus to burn out to almost the cab with tyres exploding etc. One vivid memory was a young lady who lived in a cottage in Tower View crying as it had scorched her house opposite. Well into the night workers tried to remove the bus and clear the road . Was it 1975 ? As I am sure it was earlier as I was about 14 though maybe not . Regards Mick

  By Mick Bolton (04/04/2021)