In this article David Wood talks about the good old PMT buses, does anyone know what the PMT stood for, of course you do “Potteries Motor Traction”.
PMT Bus in Tunstall's Tower Square
David’s story goes,
Who among you can remember the clock opposite the Travellers Rest which was used by the PMT to monitor the buses running times. The conductor had to get off the bus, place his card in the clock, press the handle and get back on again.
Can you imagine the speed that the conductor had to move if they were running late. He had to jump off while the bus was still moving and then run along the pavement to get back on because the driver had started off without him to try and make up a few seconds of lost time.
1949 Leyland Motors PMT Double Decker Bus
In the bad winters in the early mornings, the ladies used to get on the bus with hot water bottles because the old double deckers had no back doors on and they didn’t have heaters anyway.
Once, when the PMT were on strike, the pottery owners hired Jeffrey’s lorries to transport the workers to the potbanks. I don’t think that there is an elegant way to climb onto the back of a 5 ton truck, but the ladies did the best they could.
Until next time, you can read more of David’s stories by clicking onto the local memories tab at the top of the page.
Leave a Reply