Back on 10th April 1964 the Beatles were in Arlington Road, Twickenham filming a traffic sequence for "A Hard Days Night" on board a red ex London Transport double decker bus which was owned at the time by Tim Lewis, a local Twickenham resident.

The 'Fab Four' were on the upper deck of the bus, which drove up and down the road a number of times. Later when filming was over, they prominently autographed the upper deck ceiling. Sadly, these traffic scenes were later edited out when the film was shortened by just 5 minutes. However, there still remains a faint possibility that these sequences still exist somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered. We of course, hope so.

What is undeniably sad is the fact that the Beatles autographs were lost forever - believe it or not they were painted over several years later when the roof interior was redecorated. If only we had realised the significance of them back then! We do however have firm evidence that they existed because they appear briefly in a 1964 British Movietone news clip of the bus departing from Arlington Road on its first holiday abroad - to the Rhine Valley.

As for the bus - well it was used throughout the 1960s by the Double Decker Club (DDC) which used it on numerous European holidays to the South of France, the Loire Valley, Basel and Geneva. That same bus with thousands of miles on the 'clock' is still in existence having been lovingly restored by David Thrower, its current owner.

It last appeared down south on 16th April 2016 when it was driven down from its current 'home' in the North West Museum of Road Transport at St Helens, Merseyside to the Albany Hotel in Richmond for the Double Decker Club's reunion. Here, it was reunited with 82 former DDC members and friends who last saw each other over 50 years ago when they travelled abroad in it. It was a wonderfully nostalgic occasion that will be fondly remembered by us for years to come.

Finally, and this is a real long shot – does anyone still have any old photos that show the Beatles on our ‘famous’ red London bus In Arlington Road back on that day in April 1964 - or indeed any with the bus in the background etc?

ALAN BISSELL Double Decker Club (DDC) Elmswood, Allt Goch, Flint, Flintshire CH6 5NF ddc.alan@yahoo.co.uk

Article supplied by Alan Bissell