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Empress of Hastings – The First 80 Years of a Family Run Coach Business
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Empress of Hastings – The First 80 Years of a Family Run Coach Business

Published in 2009 this was Steve’s first publication. Edited with historical accuracy by the late and much respected Transport Historian, David Padgham, its pages will take you through the first eighty years from 1929 of a Hastings based coach firm.

Its founder, Mr Harry Phillips was no ordinary coach proprietor. His story is written very much in the spirit of a social history. Harry was by trade a Musician and Piano Forte Tuner, a cricket enthusiast and he also kept bee’s!

Empress has seen many changes over the decades. The Great Depression started not long after Harry bought his first coach, a brand new Dennis 20 seat with saloon body and all over canvas hood. He managed to continue through the War years and enjoyed the boom times of the 1950’s and 1960’s tourist trade on the South Coast of Hastings.

With 73 pages, fully illustrated in both black and white and colour photographs, the rear of the book has images of every single vehicle owned and a full fleet list up until the books release.

£8.00 with free postage and packaging.

£8.00

My first book! I wanted to celebrate my own business, Empress Coaches, reaching its 80th anniversary in 2009. The company has been a huge part of my life, having worked for its previous owner Tony Patten and alongside the son of the company’s founder, Harry Phillips, so I very much had an emotional connection. I will forever be indebted to historians Bob Cook and David Padgham, who without their guidance and like-minded passion, attempting to write it would not have been possible. A further guiding arm from Graham How and Cliff Brooker made the dream of a book into print become reality and thanks to Graham ordering me not one, but ten ISBN numbers at the time. He must have known I would write again in the future! I hope to create a 100th anniversary title for all to enjoy in 2029!
Image: Steve and Harry Phillips, the former owner of Empress and son of the businesses founder in 1998.
Michael Gotla, the real life entrepreneur.

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