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 plus £2.00 postage and packaging.