Old views of GTC 473

The two views below were taken in Hesket Newmarket, Cumberland in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

The bike's front number plate can be seen in the upper photo, confirming the identity of the machine. 

Interestingly the bike features legshields and the sidecar's original windscreen has been replaced by a more effective front 

screen and set of side screens. The houses still exist on the main street of this village near Penrith. The scene is virtually 

unchanged.

In July 2014, I spoke to a lady who had lived in the village for many years. The gentleman in the pictures is a Mr Phillipson, who owned the outfit at the time and lived in the house on the right in the upper photo. The outfit was his main transport. It took him and his wife all over, including trips to the seaside at Silloth. The grey house on the left was a farmhouse in those days. The small door, behind Mr. Phillipson in the upper photo, gave access to a dairy, where villagers bought their milk.

The BSA factory records show that GTC 473 was despatched from Armoury Road, Birmingham on 5th June 1946 to

R. Parr and Sons, Lincolnshire. This seemed odd as the registration number is from Lancashire. A search of old telephone 

directories eventually showed that Lincs. was a misprint and should have been Lancs. 

The prefix GTC was issued between May and July 1946 by the County Council of Lancaster. The vehicle registration confirms that

the motorcycle was registered on 12th June 1946.

According to the 1946 telephone directory covering Manchester, R. Parr and Sons was located in Tyldesley, near Manchester.

Castle Street seems to have been re-developed since the 1940s and the view below, taken from Google Street View, shows

that most of the older buildings, other than one or two pubs, have disappeared. The Union Arms (on the right)

is at 83 Castle Street so Parr's was next door, on the far side.

Wigan Archives hold an early photo of the vanished shop, which I bought from their online shop.

Until the print arrives, a shot from the Internet can be seen below.

Similarly 125 Market Street, Atherton, has also been re-developed and today's view, also

from Google Street View is shown below. Bargain Booze occupies the plots of nos. 125 and 127.