Ian Gray sent in an old picture of a conductress who worked for the Hants and Dorset Motor Services at the depot in Poole and wonders if readers could furnish him with more information on the conductress or the history of the bus company about that time.
He has little information on the picture other than the conductress is a Mrs Coles and it was possibly taken in the late 1940s or 50s as that type of ticket machine was used then.
By the late 1920s and early 1930s the network of Hants and Dorset bus services was almost complete, operating buses in Bournemouth, Poole, Southampton and Lymington. Hants and Dorset replaced the trams operated by Poole Corporation in 1934.
As the picture was taken at the Poole depot he thinks the descendants of Mrs Coles might still live in the Bournemouth or Poole area and be able to provide more information of what it was like to be a conductress in a male dominated occupation. Women were employed on public transport during the wars, but were discouraged from continuing in peace time.
Contact Ian at ianwgray@talktalk.net or Echoes.
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