If only there would be another one along in a minute...

Illustration from 'Good old M&D' by David L Molyneux

All things vintage and the '˜good old days' are widely sought after and revered in these modern times and anyone who hungers after a bygone era will love David L Molyneux's illustrated book which celebrates the early years of bus operation.

Born and bred in Hastings, David has expertly put together a book that’s jam packed with colourful paintings of past transport in Hastings and the surrounding area. The full colour, 72 page A4 size book ‘Good old M&D’ illustrates Horse buses, through to trams, trolleybuses and the introduction of the revolutionary Leyland Atlanteans, by Maidstone and District Motor Services, from 1878 to the 1950s.

Born and raised in St Leonards-on-Sea, David subsequently attended Hastings School of Art, Saint Martin’s School of Art in London, and London School of Printing. He went on to work as a graphic designer and illustrator in London.

David says he’d had a fascination for buses from an early age and his father, Tommy worked as a conductor for M&D until his death from Tuberculosis in 1941. “My Christmas stocking, from my earliest recollection, always included a Dinky Toys model bus” he said.

“My brother built me a bus garage to house them all in, with my fathers old M&D hat badge over the entrance.

“I used to stand by the garden gate with my cat, watching all the buses and coaches pass; local and ones down from London at weekends. Most of my school friends’ fathers worked for M&D as well.”

“My father was also involved in charity fund raising for local hospitals, as seen in illustration 43; Hastings’ Carnival 1934.