A fantastic local organisation, the Ipswich Transport Museum has just launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £100,000 to help them restore the oldest surviving Eastern Counties bus. The vehicle in question is known affectionately as the “Tinkling Tillings” due to the distinctive noise it used to make when it was moving.
‘We think the body of this vehicle was made in 1921 or 1922, and is the oldest surviving part of an Eastern Counties bus in
Museum volunteer and project leader Owen Phillips
existence. We have already raised over £40,000 to enable the project to progress to the stage where we have a solid-tyred chassis which runs and drives. Funds raised so far will also also pay for some of the body restoration. We need to raise enough to finish the job, including rear tyres, glass, lights, seats, upholstery. railings, stairs, paintwork, signwriting and a myriad of other parts which will make it a complete vehicle’
‘The body of the bus was open topped and has an open-air staircase too. Ransomes built this particular body as part of batch for Eastern Counties Road Car Company at their works in Ipswich, which makes it very important to the Museum. It is another example of the many things Ransomes designed and built locally. The body survived as a storeshed on a farm in Witnesham, and we were able to acquire it a few years ago. There are still traces of red paint here and there’
Museum volunteer and project leader Owen Phillips
The body restoration work is expected to begin in late 2024 or early 2025. Once completed, the bus will be featured in the museum’s collection and used for demonstration rides at special events.
The volunteers who run the museum have completed ambitious restorations like this before so this is a project they can certainly bring to life. They have previously completed major restorations of an 1880 Starbuck horse tram and 1903 Ipswich Electric Tram, and are currently restoring a 1930 Ransomes trolleybus.
‘The Tilling Stevens Bus Project aims to recreate a typical Eastern Counties bus of the early 1920s. The chassis and running gear was built by Tilling Stevens of Maidstone. Unlike the electric trams in Ipswich, which drew current from overhead wires, these buses had to run outside
Museum volunteer and project leader Owen Phillips
the borough, so they used a petrol engine to drive a dynamo and electric motor. These ‘petrolelectric’ buses were in effect early hybrid vehicles – ahead of their time really. They established bus services across Suffolk and brought affordable mobility to many rural places for the first time
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