What was it like travelling in a horse drawn Omnibus?

Your ancestors rode on Omnibus’s just like this, but what was it like?
This is a massive antique on wheels and dates to around 1890 - a time before the health and safety regulations we know today!
It seats 18 people inside and 20 on top - I’ll show you around the Omnibus, including where the driver sat. You’ll see that you’d need to be pretty fit to jump on and off one of these things, especially as it was moving!
I’m filming at the Museum of Transport in Manchester for BBC Antiques Roadtrip - here’s the link to the museum…it’s well worth a visit motgm.uk
Cheers
David Harper
Get in touch with me here: www.david-harp...

[@mikesully110]

I like watching those AI restored film clips of the olden days (whenever film began I guess, 1800's?) and there was one of these horse teams, 2 or 4 I can't remember, pulling this MASSIVE bus, amazing how strong these animals are to be able to pull such a thing. 18 people! Honestly it looks just as comfortable as the buses we get in the UK these days. So glad I own my own horseless carriage!

[@alexmartynovich5685]

Entire KZbin doesn't have such a good explanation what omnibus is as you do. Very interesting btw.

[@DavidHarperAntiques]

That’s very kind, thank you

[@kkatmom]

Yes, I often think about how much more difficult life was for my ancestors. I imagine there are people today, who have never used public transportation. Thank you for the tour of the omnibus, it’s fascinating to see how life was compared to today.

[@sallyhinkley1177]

What fun, thank you

[@chrisjones5251]

My mum lives at Victor Harbor South Australia and there are similar vehicles taking passengers across to Granite Island…..a great thrill for the kids….

[@damonwilliams5033]

The Victor Harbour vehicles are horse drawn trams but just as picturesque as these horse buses.

[@ajinkyalad4100]

This gives me an idea of starting a food truck with sitting on top.... But dont know where in india i will be getting this built

[@OriginalNethead]

My Cornish ancestors were in the USA by the 1880s, probably how we survived! (coordination isn't a family trait) I did ride the caboose of an American freight as a kid. The Strasburg Railroad Museum ran a freight for about 5km on Saturday mornings, and a few folks could pay to ride the caboose. The stairs to the loft were inside but no wider than the omnibus steps. Fun when you're 13, not so much when you're older with dodgy knees.

[@helenabiesma5560]

same here - love the story-but I think more people who be using at home horse and cart and or more physical active

[@lolakauffmann]

Great to get an insider view! But I doubt the horses would have been galloping full speed on a crowded london street all the time - so you'd wait for a speed appropiate to your fitness level to jump off. Also, even today we have double decker buses & they sway & you have to clutch to the rail climbing up or down & it's really fun!! Boats also sway. The worst that happens is, you bump into other passengers & say, "oops, I'm so sorry, pardon, is that seat free?" Maybe it's not that people are less fit today and that's why we need modern cars & big, cushioned seats, but that sitting in modern cars & big cushioned seats all the time is making some people unfit? There are no seat belts on public transport (at least not where I live..) we mostly survive, and the modern bus drivers usually don't speed, drive under the influence, or take absurd risks. In school we sat on wooden seats, no upholstery, and nobody had a problem with that. In the outdoors or beer gardens people sit on plain wooden benches (basiacally a long, flat board) and nobody has a problem with that, either. Personally, I think we should bring the horse back into towns. There used to be brewery horses even in the 1990s. Horses are a cultural treasure, and if we want them to live a good, happy life, we would have to build the cities around them - more green spaces, slower driving speed, less curb clutter, more considerat cyclists.. The modern town is not fit for a human to live in, but there are no laws helping to bring back aesthetics - maybe a quota of town horses could help make city life better & more beautiful.. ;)

[@DavidHarperAntiques]

Great comments, thank you

[@sallyhinkley1177]

Can we have some music as the video is ending

[@sjt609]

LoL. No offense intended but I'm curious, why do we need music? I personally find it refreshing see a video without music.

[@cristianmiranda8637]

I can't imagine, if there was a woman in those Victorian dresses in front of you. Impossible to get off without stepping on her dress.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

I doubt that anyone would have been so stupid as to push or shove, and if you did get the odd idiot, that probably got you in serious trouble with the law, I imagine.