OUR long-running story about Featherstone’s buses is about to take an unexpected turn which will end up taking it to the dogs.

You may remember from Memories 221 that one of Featherstone’s buses – a 1936 Leyland TS7 – was pictured in a field near Hamsterley in the 1960s where it was gently rotting away while being used as a hen house. When it travelled the route from Bishop Auckland to Hamsterley, it seated 32 people; when in the field, it is not recorded how many hens it could handle.

“Your picture brought back great memories for my dad, Stan Swainston, who passed his PSV test on this bus in about 1948 before he started driving for OK buses,” emails Marion Taylor. Stan is now 92 and living in Bishop Auckland.

It also brought back memories for Reginald Featherstone, who, at 86, is the youngest of eight children of the founder, Hugh.

Hugh was born in 1884, worked as a labourer in the Etherley and Hamsterley areas and then in the Shildon shops, before taking up buses. Because of his date of birth, he never had a driving licence (introduced in 1903) nor passed a driving test (compulsory for all new drivers after 1934) even though he ran a bus company.

The buses often had the word “Prospect” painted on them, and they were garaged at Toft Hill. The staple of the business was the run between Bishop and Hamsterley, although during the Second World War, it was contracted to take miners to work in whichever pit required their services.

In the early 1960s, the company and its routes were sold to OK and Reginald turned from driving to farming. With his wife, Veronica, he bought at auction the abandoned greyhound stadium at Coundon Gate, to the east of Bishop Auckland.

The stadium was built in about 1933 on the site of Coundon’s oldest pit, Jaw Blades – so called because miners walked to work through an arch made from a whale’s jawbones.

Greyhound racing came to an abrupt end in July 1960 when the stadium was raided by the police. Undercover officers had been enjoying illegal after-hours drinks and watching unlicensed gambling taking place. The licensee, Liddle Towers, was fined £100 for illegal drinking and "the running of housey-housey".

The stadium fell into receivership, and when the Featherstones bought it, it was clear the previous resident had fled rather quickly: there were clothes scattered on the floor, a half-eaten meal on the table and a set of false teeth in a jar.

It has come up in the world since then, although in one of the out-buildings, you can still see where the bets were placed.

BLOB With thanks to Terry Featherstone.

BRUCE BARNES in Bradford has a photo of his great-uncle, Donald Howe, working as a mechanic in 1909 with the Cleveland Car Company in Grange Road, Darlington.

In its mock half-timbered home, the CCC was probably the first garage in the district. As well as selling and servicing cars, it operated Darlington’s first motor taxis in 1907 and owned the town’s first charabancs – 18-seater open-sided vehicles which ran "weather and circumstances permitting". Those circumstances included having at least 14 paying passengers on-board before it moved.

Donald was clearly involved in maintaining the charabancs. The photo is on the front of a postcard which he sent to his future wife, Gladys, on September 17, 1909. On the rear he wrote: “This is just a card hoping you are well. I’m too busy to write but will do in a few days. Working every night till 11 o’clock. We have had about 12 cars to repair. This is our charabang. It takes parties out.”

The CCC was an extremely traditional garage – as recently as the 1960s, it refused to accept new vehicles delivered on a car-transporter because it said the movement of the transporter's floor, to which the car was tied, caused the engine to leak oil in later life.

In November 1971, the CCC moved out to Blands Corner at Blackwell, and its half-timbered home was demolished in September 1974.

MEMORIES 221 told of the NSU Quickly, a German-made 1960s moped which was available from many garages in our area.

An anonymous female reader, and indeed rider, left a message: “NSU also made a scooter, and I bought one in 1960. It was much more elegant than the Lambretta.

“It had a rocker pedal on the right hand side of the foot-board for changing gear and on the left-hand side they had a brake, which made it easier for women rather than changing gear on the handlebars.”

Peter Tarn has sent details about the demise of NSU, which was based in Neckarsulm, West Germany. It released a two-seater sports car, the Spider, in 1964 which was powered by a Wankel engine – a revolutionary engine designed by Felix Wankel.

It was enough of a success to encourage NSU to produce the Ro80, “a futuristic four-door saloon”. The Wankel engine was now going great guns and was popular all over the world, from Daimler-Benz to Mazda.

“The Ro80 gained the prestigious Car of the Year award soon after launch in 1967,” says Peter. “This was the high point of NSU's fortunes. Things then started to wrong. The engine depended on rotor tips made from high-tech materials for combustion sealing. These started to fail, and NSU had to provide replacement engines under warranty. It took about four years to solve the problem, and Ro80s manufactured from 1971 onwards were as reliable as any other car on the market.

“However, the damage had been done, and NSU had to be rescued by the VW Group. VW arranged for the NSU brand to be merged with Audi, and the Neckarsulm production line was expanded with Audi products. It remains one of Audi's main production centres today.”

A FINAL motoring note. Many thanks to everyone who has been in touch with either Memories or Sherwoods garage in Darlington following last week’s article – more in the near future. The exhibition of vintage Vauxhalls in the refurbished showroom in Chesnut Street runs until the end of the month, and everyone is welcome to have a look.

Last week, we mentioned that in the 1950s Sherwoods were agents for the Triumph Cyclemaster – a 25cc engine that could be attached to a Triumph pedal bike to create a “cyclemotor”.

“My pal David had good cause to remember his Cyclemaster,” writes Bill Bartle from Barnard Castle. “He had the distinction of being caught speeding on it! Needless to say it was down a very steep, very long, hill.

“His other Cyclemaster adventure occurred when the throttle cable, normally attached to a lever on the handlebars, broke. To get him home, he tied the cable to his foot, controlling it by moving his leg.

“Not surprisingly he fell off.

“The bike, on it's side, with the wheel touching the ground, steadily chugged round in a circle. David had no choice but to follow, hopping along on one leg.

“He was only rescued when the petrol in the carburettor ran out.”