"Collision at Top Cross"

Sir,

Of all the sections of MOTOR SPORT I enjoy the V-E-V the most, and the March issue is no exception. Of particular interest was the photograph on page 266 and the description of this photograph on page 289.

My particular interest is not in the Model-T Ford but in the Bristol ‘bus, which can beams in the background of the photograph. Its registration was almost certainly HT 4587, it being a Bristol 4-ton chassis with Bristol body put into service by the Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company in January 1922. This would coincide more nearly with the registration of the Model-T, whereas the MT registration dates from 1929 — my records of Bristol chassis production show that no vehicles were produced in 1928 or 1929 which were registered in Middlesex. I think it more likely that this photograph was taken in the mid-twenties, and is certainly the oldest of the accident photographs taken at Ledbury Cross. If the Bristol ‘bus had pneumatic tyres then it would have been photographed in the later ‘twenties, but if it had solids, or discs, then it would have been photographed in the early days of its career.

Pateley Bridge, Yorks
Michael H. Heard