A visitor to one of the principal cities of the East or West Midlands during the 1970s would not have failed to notice that all the incumbent local bus operators were still running buses that still resembled types which could be seen throughout Britain between the two world wars – that is double-deck buses with the driver seated in his own cab area with an open space over the adjacent engine shroud. Whilst the vast majority of these also had an open entrance at the rear, there were some types that the passengers could board or alight through a doored entrance at the front.

With a wonderful selection of photographs that will delight enthusiasts of all ages, Mike Rhodes looks back on the twilight years of half-cab buses in the Midlands.