Charabanc
Encyclopedia
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (icon) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle
Horse-drawn vehicle
A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load...

 or early motor coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...

, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings
Day-tripper
A day-tripper is a person who visits a tourist destination or visitor attraction from his/her home and returns home on the same day.- Definition :In other words, this excursion does not involve a night away from home such as experienced on a holiday...

" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year. The name derives from the French char à bancs ("carriage with wooden benches"), the vehicle having originated in France in the early 19th century.

Although the vehicle has not been common on the roads since the 1920s, a few signs survive from the era; a notable example at Wookey Hole
Wookey Hole
Wookey Hole Caves is a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England.Wookey Hole cave was formed through erosion of the limestone hills by the River Axe...

 in Somerset warns that the road to the neighbouring village of Easton is unsuitable for charabancs.

History

Introduced in the 1840s as a French sporting vehicle, the char à bancs was popular at race meetings and for hunting or shooting parties. It could be pulled by a four-in-hand
Four-in-hand (carriage)
A four-in-hand is a carriage drawn by a team of four horses having the reins rigged in such a way that it can be driven by a single driver. The stagecoach and the tally-ho are usually four-in-hand coaches....

 team of horses or a pair in pole gear. It had two or more rows of crosswise bench seats, plus a slightly lower rear seat for a groom, and most also had a slatted trunk for luggage. Initially used by the wealthy, they were later enlarged with more seats for school or works excursions and tourist transport, as a cheaper version of the tourist coach. The first charabanc in Britain was presented to Queen Victoria by Louis Philippe of France and is preserved in the Royal Mews
Royal Mews
A Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace....

.

Before World War I, motor charabancs were used mainly for day trips, as they were not comfortable enough for longer journeys, and were largely replaced by motor buses in the 1920s.
The charabanc of the 1920s tended to last only a few years. It was normal at the time for the body to be built separately to the motor chassis, and a number were fitted in summer only, a second goods body would be fitted in its place in winter to keep the vehicle occupied.

Charabancs normally were open, with a large canvas folding hood stowed at the rear in case of rain, like a convertible motor car. If rain started, this had to be pulled into position, a very heavy task, and it was considered honourable for the male members of the touring party to assist in getting it into position. The side windows would be of mica (A layer of thin quartz-like stone).

The charabanc offered little or no protection to the passengers in the event of an overturning accident, along with a high centre of gravity when loaded (and particularly if overloaded), which combined with the popularity of excursions to tourist attractions at coastal villages, etc. approached down steep and winding roads led to a number of unfortunate fatal accidents which contributed to their early demise.

The word charabanc pronounced (Shar-a-bang) was still being used even into the 1950s and even into the very early 1960s. Factory day outings (Annual Works Trips) during these times were quite common for workers, especially for those from the northern weaving mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The 1950s were relatively hard times due to national recovery being slow after the second world war; rationing was still evident and annual holidays (i.e., wakes week
Wakes week
The wakes week is a holiday period in parts of England and Scotland.- History :Wakes were originally religious festivals that commemorated church dedications...

s) had not really become established for poorer workers such as weavers and spinners, so a days outing to the seaside was a rare treat and all that some of the workers with large families could afford. "Charabanc trips" were usually only for adults, again due to finance. Occasionally the mill owner would help to pay for these outings; however this was not always the case. The charabancs, or coaches, were pretty basic vehicles, noisy, uncomfortable and often poorly upholstered with low backed seats and used mainly for short journeys to the nearest resort town or the races. Some workingmens clubs also organized days out and these trips were often subsidized by the clubs themselves from membership subscriptions that had been paid throughout the year. A few pennies (pence) a week would be paid in to a club or mill trip organizer and marked down in a notebook. This would be paid out to the saver on the day of the trip for spending money on the day. This day out would often be the highlight of the year for some workers and the only chance to get away from the smog and grime of the busy mill towns. Later in the late 1960s and 1970s as the mills prospered and things improved financially, annual "Wakes Week" took over and a one week mass exodus from northern mill towns during the summer months took precedence over the charabanc trips, and a full weeks' holiday at a holiday camp or in a seaside boarding house for the full family became the norm, instead of a single day out.

Cultural references

The charabanc is mentioned in Ian Anderson
Ian Anderson (musician)
Ian Scott Anderson, MBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the leader and flautist of British rock band Jethro Tull.-Early life:...

's song, "Wond'ring Again" from the Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...

 compilation Living in the Past
Living in the Past (album)
Living in the Past is a double album quasi-compilation collection by Jethro Tull which contains album tracks, outtakes, the "Life Is A Long Song" EP, and all of their singles non-lp tracks except "Aeroplane", "Sunshine Day", "One For John Gee", "17" and the original United Kingdom version of...

: "Incestuous ancestry's charabanc ride,
spawning new millions, throws the world on its side. Supporting their far-flung illusion, the national curse, and those with no sandwiches please get off the bus." The Decemberists'
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...

 song "The Legionnaire's Lament" from the album Castaways and Cutouts invokes the French origin of this vehicle and its use for sight-seeing, as recalled wistfully by a soldier far from home: "On the old left bank/
my baby in a charabanc/ riding up the width and length/ of the Champs Elysees." It is also mentioned in the Stranglers song "Peaches": "Oh shit! There goes the charabanc. Looks like I'm gonna be stuck here the whole summer. Well what a bummer."

A charabanc is humorously mentioned in George Formby's song "Riding In The T.T. Races" depicting a motorcycle race in the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

, where George sings "Once my bike was hard to ride, but I didn't mind, Until I found they'd hitched a charabanc on behind."

The charabanc tour is also the (admittedly vague — see The Beatles Anthology, episode 6) premise of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' 1967 television film Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour (film)
Magical Mystery Tour is an hour-long British television film starring The Beatles that originally aired on BBC1 on 26 December 1967...

, in which a group of characters (Spotlight 'oddities', 'lovelies' and The Beatles themselves) toured Southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in a mix of music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 tunes/comedy, contemporary psychedelia, and musical set pieces by the Fab Four.

The charabanc is also notably mentioned in Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...

's short story "A Story", also known as "The Outing". In this piece the young Thomas unintentionally finds himself on the annual men's charabanc outing to Porthcawl. Within the story the charabanc is referred to as a 'chara' in colloquial Welsh English.

The book Magnolia Street, a 1932 novel by Louis Golding
Louis Golding
Louis Golding was a British writer, very famous in his time especially for his novels, though he is now largely neglected; he wrote also short stories, essays, fantasies, travel books and poetry....

, notes that the family went off on their holiday in their char-à-bancs.

One chapter in the book Cider with Rosie
Cider with Rosie
Cider with Rosie is a 1959 book by Laurie Lee . It is the first book of a trilogy that continues with As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment of War...

 (1959), by Laurie Lee
Laurie Lee
Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter, raised in the village of Slad, and went to Marling School, Gloucestershire. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie , As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and...

, focuses on the annual Slad
Slad
Slad is a village in Gloucestershire, England, located in the Slad Valley, about from the town of Stroud.Slad is famous for being the home of Laurie Lee, who based his book Cider with Rosie on his own life in the village....

 village outing. The villagers took a particularly bumpy ride in a convoy of charabancs to Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...

, which was young Laurie's first visit to the seaside.

The Charabanc Theatre Company was co-founded in 1983 by Belfast native and playwright Marie Jones
Marie Jones
Sarah Marie Jones is a Belfast-based actress and playwright. Born into a working class family, Jones was an actress for several years before turning her hand to writing.-Charabanc/DubbelJoint:...

 (b. 1955), who went on to write Stones in His Pockets
Stones in His Pockets
Stones in His Pockets is a two-hander written in 1996 by Marie Jones for the DubbleJoint Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland.-Plot summary:...

, an Ireland-based play with a two-man cast that ran successfully locally and in London, and reasonably successfully on Broadway.

A charabanc is mentioned in the lyrics of The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...

' song "Peaches" from their 1977 album Rattus Norvegicus
Rattus Norvegicus (album)
Rattus Norvegicus is the first studio album by The Stranglers, released on 17 April 1977. The album was originally to be entitled "Dead on Arrival" but was changed at the last minute...

.

A char-a-banc is mentioned in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women
Little Women
Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869...

 "Little Women" in the following conversation:
"How many young ladies are there?" asked her mother, beginning to look sober.
"Twelve or fourteen in the class, but I dare say they won't all come."
"Bless me, child, you will have to charter an omnibus to carry them about."
"Why, Mother, how can you think of such a thing? Not more than six or eight will probably come, so I shall hire a beach wagon and borrow Mr. Laurence's cherry-bounce." (Hannah's [the housekeeper] pronunciation of char-a-banc.)

A charabanc is mentioned at the end of the "Timmy Williams Coffee Time" sketch of Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...

.

External links

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