I start this blog thanking each and
everyone of you who very kindly posted a greeting for my birthday last
week. most unexpected along with a few other sites with members doing the same
also . I certainly had a very pleasant day meeting up with our opposition
representative in Government who has commissioned several pieces of work from
me. The following day the management from the Southwards Car Museum, largest in
NZ came a calling to talk about the next project planned for the Museum. This is
intended to be another large mural .
Well I was going to write about more
exploits on the buses but events took a turn on the 15th when news came through
of a friend of mine and many others who sadly passed on. Mr Ian Little owned and
operated the only known working Trolley Bus Museum in the Southern Hemisphere. A
collection built up over the years with his Museum based at Foxton, a small
township-originally an important port , 40 kilometres north of Otaki. Ian was a
true enthusiast whose kindness and dedication flowed over you when ever the
chance came to visit him. On one occasion my wife and I called in and he had two
managers from a bus company in Southern England visiting. As Ian also ran the
local radio station he wasted no time in recording an interview with them and
ourselves , so keen to promote the small township and pleased people showed that
interest. He took us all out on one of his Trolley buses an old British BUT
which had graced the streets of Wellington in the 1950and 60's and let each of
us drive it around, two of the party did not even have a licence but that did
not worry him. Foxton Council were most obliging to allow overhead wires to be
erected for a few kilometres so his collection of about 15 preserved buses could
get a regular spin.Ian also owned several preserved diesel buses and one London'
RT' which arrived in New Zealand some 40 years ago as a tourist attraction. His
son Wayne owns one of about four London' Routemasters' which have made it out
here and ironically runs that around the same streets the old Trolley buses
trundled , as a weekend event for visitors.
The funeral will be huge and truly a
one off for New Zealand .
Buses have been booked from
all around the lower North Island to attend and a cavalcade is planned either
before or after the service. Ian would not want people to be down with
grief, more happy and enjoy the heritage he has worked hard to save for this
country so families and enthusiast can enjoy a part of history which -with
thankfully the foresight of Wellington City to retain its trolley bus
system , has almost gone , but not quite.
I have attached an image of the
Wellington City Transport Montage painted in 2004 as a tribute to Ian
as some of Wellingtons fleet of the 50's , 60's and 70's were
saved by him.
The other images are all new works ,
the gentleman with the old car is on the top of the Rimutakas in the 1930's and
the old lorry is shown with the Tararura Mountains in the background circa
1930's also.
Both those are national commissions, plus with the latest LRU image
showing Accrington on a wet shopping day in the late 60's. (Now available from LANCASHIRE PRINTS area of this website
Thanks for your comments Doris and Phil.
Mr Ian Little went from the service to the cemetary in a style he would want. His coffin was placed inside his favourite trolley bus and driven with his family, followed by 14 other buses.
Regretably -although I advised one newspaper and a magazine about the service, the tv stations thought crime and sports were more a priority to report.
We won't see anything like that again and so much transport history he saved.
Ironically many of the buses took people each week to and back from their sports fixtures.
Lancashire Re-United offers for sale and exclusive to this website prints of original artwork of LANCASHIRE BUSES and other Transport modes by WALLACE TRICKETT who has VERY KINDLY given me the selling rights to these prints.
Simply click on LANCASHIRE PRINTS to purchase these stunning memories of Lancashire's municipal transport heritage the list of which just keeps growing and growing
Lancashire Folk 
