PETER Sykes of Swanage said the charabanc day trip market was burgeoning during the Edwardian era of Martin Huse's postcard of Bournemouth Pleasure Gardens and the Square printed on January 16.

Some of the charabancs pictured might be from Shamrock and Rambler with day trips going to the New Forest and further afield.

It is also likely that there will be Royal Blue charabancs as they were one of the biggest excursion organisers in Bournemouth around this time.

Peter found a record of Royal Blue being chartered by Jones & Seward ( Builders) of Alumhurst Road in Westbourne to run a staff excursion to Bristol in the Summer of 1920.

Another player in the day trip market was the Maple Leaf Carriage based in Holdenhurst Road. They had a fleet including 18 seater Lancias and 28 seaters from Thorneycroft based on their J type 40hp chassis dating from 1913.

Another successful company was White Heather Tours based in nearby Exeter Road. Elliott Bros purchased those charabanc operations and incorporated them into them into their Royal Blue 'family' in 1923.

Charlie's Cars off Poole Hill had a growing fleet mainly consisting of Albion charabancs. Their main departure point was in Somerville Road, rather than the Square. They were absorbed into Shamrock and Rambler in 1963.

Early charabancs had doors just on the pavement side with a step ladder fixed to the offside running board and the driver permitted passengers to clamber down from their lofty positions. Low floor vehicles were not readily considered or mechanically possible then.

The early motor charabancs were also open to the elements like their horse-drawn predecessors. Generally, they had a large canvas folding hood stowed at the rear for when it rained, much like modern convertible cars.