David Gibbons unearthed the postcard to his grandmother from a cousin and it was posted in Corsham on May 21st 1905. In that year, 1905, Bath Electric Tramways purchased 6 Milnes Daimler 32 seater double deck buses and these were used on various routes including the journey from Bath to Corsham via Box, as it says on the destination board on the side of the bus.
Postcard dated May 21st 1905
It’s interesting that this first photo was taken in front of the ‘Pack Horse’ inn, now the ‘Flemish Weaver’, while the other photo was taken showing more of the Town Hall, but it is the same vehicle and it’s probable that the photos were taken on the same day. The photo with the tram was taken at the junction of the Bradford on Avon/Bathford road where it meets the A4 on the outskirts of Batheaston, with the railway viaduct in the background. It’s bus FB 05 in the photo, a very popular bus for photographers, and it’s suggested the photo was taken circa 1910, I would suggest about 5 years earlier in fact. Passengers on the bus were transferred to the tram for the final part of their journey into the city centre. The same would happen in reverse for the return journey to Box and Corsham.
Bibliography
Buses and Trams of Bath by Steve Chislett. Millstream Books 1986
Bath Tramways by Peter Davey and Paul Welland. Middleton Press 1996