Bedford HA
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Bedford HA
The Bedford HA was a car derived van introduced in 1963 by Bedford, based on the Vauxhall Viva (HA) family car. It was also known as the Bedford Beagle in estate form and Bedford Roma in small campervan form. The Beagle was an officially sanctioned conversion based on the 8 cwt van, carried out by Martin Walter of Folkestone, Kent. The Beagle received rear side windows and a fold-down rear seat; leaving of luggage space with the seat in use. __TOC__ History The Bedford HA was extremely popular with utility companies in the United Kingdom, particularly the Royal Mail, British Rail, electricity boards, the GPO (later British Telecom (BT)), and British Gas. Many other firms such as British European Airways and Meals on Wheels services had large fleets as well. It was the inspiration for Postman Pat's original van. It was originally available in 6 cwt and heavier duty 8 cwt models (payloads of ), with the chassis codes HAE and HAV respectively. Gross vehicle we ...
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Bedford Vehicles
Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a brand of vehicle manufactured by Vauxhall Motors, then a subsidiary of multinational corporation General Motors. Established in April 1931, Bedford Vehicles was set up to build commercial vehicles. The company was a leading international lorry brand, with substantial export sales of light, medium, and heavy lorries throughout the world. Bedford's core heavy trucks business was divested by General Motors (GM) as AWD Trucks in 1987, whilst the Bedford brand continued to be used on light commercial vehicles and car-derived vans based on Vauxhall/ Opel, Isuzu and Suzuki designs. The brand was retired in 1991. The van manufacturing plant of Bedford, now called GM Manufacturing Luton, is now owned and operated by Stellantis, following Vauxhall's acquisition by PSA Group in 2017. History Until 1925, General Motors assembled trucks in Britain from parts manufactured at its Canadian works. This enabled them to import veh ...
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Martin Walter Of Folkestone
Martin-Walter was a long established, 1773, firm of harness makers in Folkestone, Kent which switched to building bespoke bodies for motor cars when horse-drawn vehicles began to disappear. As well as bespoke bodies they built short runs for various motor manufacturers. In the Great depression of the 1930s they made very distinctive Wingham cabriolet bodies which were fitted to a range of chassis from large Vauxhall to Rolls-Royce. After the Second World War they built ambulance bodies and in particular conversions of Bedford vans, "a bedroom on wheels", and other Vauxhall products as well as Austin and Volkswagen Kombi vans. Martin Walter was distributor of Vauxhall and Bedford Vehicles for East Kent. A separate coachbuilding company was incorporated in 1969 and named Dormobile after its best-known postwar product,. Martin Walter's business was subsumed in Chatfields-Martin Walter motor group.Charringtons Contract Hire, ''Commercial Motor'', page 27, 13 August 1987 References ...
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Postman Pat
''Postman Pat'' is a British stop-motion animated television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendale (inspired by the real valley of Longsleddale near Kendal). ''Postman Pat'' first 13-episode series was screened on BBC One in 1981. John Cunliffe wrote the original treatment and scripts for the series, which was directed by animator Ivor Wood, who also worked on ''The Magic Roundabout'', ''The Wombles'', ''Paddington'', and ''The Herbs''. Following the success of the first series, four TV specials and a second series of 13 episodes were produced during the 1990s. In this series, Pat had a family shown on screen for the first time (though his wife had been mentioned in a number of episodes). A new version of the series was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films from 2003 to 2008 and expanded on many aspects of the original series. The show e ...
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Meals On Wheels
Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named "Meals on Wheels". Many of the housebound recipients are the elderly, and many of the volunteers are also elderly but able-bodied and able to drive automobiles. Research shows that home-delivered meal programmes significantly improve diet quality, reduce food insecurity and improve quality-of-life among the recipients. The programmes also reduce government expenditures by reducing the need of recipients to use hospitals, nursing homes or other expensive community-based services. History Meals on Wheels originated in the United Kingdom during the Blitz in the Second World War, when many people lost their homes and therefore the ability to cook their own food. The Women's Volunteer Service for Civil Defence (WVS, later WRVS) provided fo ...
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British European Airways
British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The airline was also the largest UK domestic operator, serving major British cities, including London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, as well as areas of the British Isles such as the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.''Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Highlands and Islands – Never on a Sunday)'', Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 46, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 BEA also operated a network of internal German routes between West Berlin and West Germany as part of the Cold War agreements regulating air travel within Germany.''Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Internal German Services – Berlin-bound)'', Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 51, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June ...
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British Gas
British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving around twelve million homes in the United Kingdom, British Gas is the biggest energy supplier in the country, and is considered one of the Big Six dominating the gas and electricity market in the United Kingdom. History 1812–1948 The Gas Light and Coke Company was the first public utility company in the world. It was founded by Frederick Albert Winsor and incorporated by Royal Charter on 30 April 1812 under the seal of King George III. It continued to thrive for the next 136 years, expanding into domestic services whilst absorbing many smaller companies including the Aldgate Gas Light and Coke Company (1819), the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company (1870), the Equitable Gas Light Company (1871), the Great Central Gas Consumer' ...
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British Telecom
BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of Landline, fixed-line, Internet access, broadband and Mobile telephony, mobile services in the UK, and also provides Pay television, subscription television and Information technology, IT services. BT's origins date back to the founding in 1846 of the Electric Telegraph Company, the world's first public telegraph company, which developed a nationwide communications network. BT Group as it came to be started in 1912, when the General Post Office, a government department, took over the system of the National Telephone Company becoming the monopoly telecoms supplier in the United Kingdom. The Post Office Act of 1969 led to the GPO becoming a public corporation. The ''British Telecom'' brand was introduced in 1980, and be ...
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General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. Similar General Post Offices were established across the British Empire. In 1969 the GPO was abolished and the assets transferred to The Post Office, changing it from a Department of State to a statutory corporation. In 1980, the telecommunications and postal sides were split prior to British Telecommunications' conversion into a totally separate publicly owned corporation the following year as a result of the British Telecommunications Act 1981. For the more recent history of the postal system in the United Kingdom, see the articles Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd. Originally, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific sender to a specific receiver, which was to be of great importance when new forms of co ...
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British Electricity Authority
The British Electricity Authority (BEA) was established as the central British electricity authority in 1948 under the nationalisation of Great Britain's electricity supply industry enacted by the Electricity Act 1947. The BEA was responsible for the generation, transmission and sale of electricity to area electricity boards, and the development and maintenance of an efficient, coordinated and economical system of electricity supply. History The authority took over the operations of over 600 small public supply power companies, municipal authority electricity departments and the Central Electricity Board to form the BEA, which comprised a central authority and 14 area boards. Its scope did not include control of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, which had been founded in 1943 and remained independent of the BEA. The appointment of chairmen and members of the BEA and the area boards were made in August 1947 and the BEA was formally established on 15 August 1947. The ...
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