Time never drags for Mark! Canteens caught on camera... WE HAVE delved into the Go-Ahead London archives and found two photos of London Transport canteens from the 1940s and 1950s. To see how much has changed, we have included a recent photo of the canteen at Stockwell so you can compare and contrast!
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IF YOU go to watch Merton’s Mark Stevens indulging in his thrilling hobby, be careful not to blink or you’ll miss the action! Since he was aged 16, Service Centre Manager Mark has been an enthusiast of the high-octane sport of drag bike racing, which involves two riders competing against each other along a straight quarter-mile long track. It is said to be one of the fastest, and noisiest, motor sports. Mark recently achieved his personal best time of 8.8 seconds over the quarter-mile track at the Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire. He believes this is the fastest time achieved outside the USA on a Kawasaki 750 H2 two-stroke petrol engine. At the Go-Ahead London long service awards in November, Mark celebrated 40 years in the business. He started at Merton garage as an apprentice fitter and was one of the first batch of London Transport apprentices to train at the Acton Training Centre. Back then, he was well known at Merton for turning up for work on his original Kawasaki street bike, which he still owns, and his big red American Dodge Ram Pickup truck. Mark said: “My son Dean has also taken up drag racing in the 9.9 class. I’m thinking of letting him loose on my bike soon, which is even faster!” LEFT: Nunhead Lane garage canteen in 1944. The bus garage in South Peckham was operated between 1919 and 1954. When it closed, many of the routes were transferred to Peckham garage. BOTTOM LEFT: Old Kent Road garage canteen in 1951. The garage opened in 1906 and closed in 1958. Again, many routes were transferred to Peckham garage. BELOW: Stockwell garage canteen in 2016.