Well what a lovely surprise, bucked me up no end. The picture has so much information in it: I think the No.39 omnibus has Tottenham on its route board and I suppose a real 'bus enthusiast could narrow down the exact location by seeing where the No. 39 route coincided with the No. 29. As to date it must be twenties, given the solid tyres on the open top 'bus and the A.C. model. A bit of a coincidence that both foreground vehicles have two letter and four number registration marks, but again, to a number plate expert, this could also date the picture.
Now if the wee lad survived a somewhat hazardous approach to Road Safety I wonder where he was led by his aviation enthusiasm ? He looks to be no more than six or seven and the helmet and goggles could easily be the real thing from the Great War - did they come from his dad or an uncle who had served in the R.F.C., R.N.A.S. or R.A.F., maybe even an elder brother ? In any event he would have grown up to be in his late teens at about the time that Neville Chamberlain told the country that, "..... no such undertaking has been received and that, consequently, this country is at war......" Did the lad join the R.A.F. and find even more hazards ?
We could speculate endlessly - where is that A.C. now and is our young pilot related to the driver ? The picture does look a little posed.
Finally the obvious question, is there anything written on the back of the print ?
I am sure there is lots more there that I have missed and we all have time on our hands just now so could hear from the 'bus experts, A.C. model experts and the Registration Mark historians ?
Barrie
