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COUNTRYBUS
A
historic
and nostalgic look at country buses
including Dorset, Normandie
and the Faroe Islands
as well as Somerset, Hampshire, Wiltshire
and Lincolnshire too
Welcome
aboard!
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When
you have worked in the bus industry for most of your life it gets in
your blood in a way that is sometimes hard to explain.
There are many sites on the internet about buses but the interest for
me has always been in the history, routes, timetables and service
planning rather than the vehicles themselves.
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That
is
not to say
that the 'hardware', the buses and coaches, are devoid of interest,
but rather that I tend to look to the uses to which they are being put,
and how well they (and their drivers and conductors) are being
employed, utilised and scheduled.
Over
the years, I have worked for several of the Dorset operators in the
list below, and although I have always preferred the country bus to its
urban counterpart, I have not let the name of this web site
preclude me from including some town services with which I have been
acquainted. Also included are some of the other interesting
British and European operations that I have come across in my travels
and researches over the years.
Many children of my generation dreamed of becoming an engine driver
when they grew up, but as a child my thoughts turned instead towards
running my own
bus company. That ambition was realised in part as I was
fortunate enough that my transport career in buses and coaches over the years led me to become manager for
a time in the 1980s of two of my 'favourite' operations
(Rossmore and
Stanbridge).
Before all is forgotten, why not click on a link or two below and take a
pleasant ride with me down and along the winding lanes of nostalgic
memory?
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There
was a time, a simpler time, a quieter time, when the village bus played
a significant role in the life of our villages and countryside, taking
people to town and market. A time before the proliferation of the
private car, a time when farming and agriculture were still major
employers, a time before the appearance of even single channel
television, when an evening trip to the cinema was still a favoured
entertainment. The village bus was part of this country way of life,
part of the community, and most often a small business with but a few
vehicles and based in one of the villages served.
Bordering
Wiltshire to the north, so it was in and around Cranborne Chase in the
eastern part of the county of Dorset, in an area of rolling downs and
gentle valleys and pleasing villages. And this was good agricultural
land too, on which many of the people of the area earned their
livelihood over the years. Although in some ways the countryside seemed
timeless and unchanging the needs of the villagers evolved through a
historical succession of transport, starting with the carrier and his
horse and progressing to the motor bus in both its traditional and more
modern forms.
Thus
the setting of the stories told in these pages which, within the limits
of the frailties of memory and the few surviving written records, will
attempt to record the efforts of those who served these villages over
the years.
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SOME
OF THE COUNTRY BUSES OF YESTERDAY'S DORSET
Bere Regis
& District Motor Services
-
the ubiquitous
brown buses on Dorset's roads
List
of operators acquired by Bere Regis & District over the years
Route
development of Bere Regis & District bus services
from 1949 to 1979
1949
timetable booklet
of Bere Regis & District Motor Services
Pictures of Bere Regis vehicles
- the
brown buses and coaches remembered
Mid
Dorset Coaches
- the buses
run by the three brothers
House from Hilton
A Pearce & Co.
- the buses of
Cattistock and Maiden Newton
Passenger
with Pearce - reminiscences of some rural rides
in 1972
F
Legg & Sons - the Evershot Bus Service
J
Crabb and A Lovell - the buses of Sydling St Nicholas
Ernie
and Geoff Toomer - the buses that served Witchampton and
Crichel
Stanbridge
& Crichel - the later story of buses
around Witchampton and Crichel
Saturday
Driver - a Saturday
in the 1970s on the Crichel - Wimborne route
Victory Tours
- the Adams family and the buses of Sixpenny Handley
Wimborne
and Cranborne - other independent bus
operators in the east of the county
Dorset Queen
- the buses that were run by Percy Webb and his
family
Herrison Hospital -
the daily bus that ran
unlicenced for 42 years
Interbus
- around Thomas
Hardy's Casterbridge and out across the Dorset heaths
Dorchester
- a bit of serious history about the development of country bus routes
Dorchester
1932 - a list of routes of the Dorchester and
District Carriers Association
Past
timetables - a selection of
independent operator's timetables from bygone days
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MORE
(BUT NEWER) COUNTRY BUSES OF YESTERYEAR'S DORSET |
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Blandford Bus Company
- a new start in the deregulated
1980s, John Cumming's buses
Weaverbus
- the tale of Rory's buses
and the Dorset Linkrider services
Oakfield
Travel - based in
Blandford Forum - like Topsy, they
just grew and grew and grew
Shaftesbury
& District - operating around
where Dorset meets Somerset and Wiltshire
Verwood Transport - blue buses
around Verwood over the years
Ray Cuff -
thirty years service to the people of North Dorset recalled
by Michael Wadman
Ray Cuff
- an illustrated
fleet list by Paul Welling
Powells's Coaches - a post deregulation operator on the borders of Dorset and Somerset
Deregulation - some timetable examples from bus deregulation in 1986
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Take a look
at our other
website
covering an interesting selection
of operations past and present!
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DELAINE
BUS MUSEUM
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The six members of the Delaine Heritage Fleet
form the centrepiece of
the Museum.
The museum in Bourne (Lincolnshire) is open on the
second Saturday of each month from March to October
Heritage Bus Running Day 26th April 2025
Twilight Heritage Mini Running Day
25th October 2025
enquiries@delaineheritagetrust.org |
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DEREGULATION OF BUSES IN GREAT BRITAIN (TRANSPORT ACT 1985)
Often in these pages we make
reference to 'deregulation of buses'. From 1931 until 1986
buses operated under a permissive system of road service licencing
administered by
area Traffic Commissioners around Great Britain. Such licences for
individual services protected the established operator from competition
along their
routes.
This changed from 26 October 1986 (under legislation from the Transport Act
of 1985 brought in by government) when bus routes
were opened to competition from any other operator. Bus services now needed
to be simply notified under a new system called 'route registration'
rather than seeking permission through licencing. In many parts of the
country such competitive routes were soon introduced, some short-lived
and some longer lasting. Over the years since things have in many cases
settled down with little remaining on the street competition these days
- but still vigorously pursued in some of our towns and cities.
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Another
well researched and closely illustrated book of reminiscence from the
pen of Philip Wallis. Not just buses but trolleybuses too as the
county of Hampshire at the time encompassed both Bournemouth and
Portsmouth, who had established their systems in the 1930s. Arranged in
geographical sections around the county the well chosen text and
illustrations include all types of operation, major companies, muncipal
operators and independents large and small. Many a pleasant hour can be
spent leafing through this book to recall the vehicles and their
activities in the time and place described in the title.
'Hampshire Buses in the 1960s and Early 1970s' is recently published by Amberley (ISBN 978 1 3981 1251 3) and can be purchased online and from the usual transport bookshops.
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If
you
would like to write or have further information about
the operators
featured please e-mail countrybusATicloudDOTcom
Please note: this is a site of
historical
record
and does not
contain current
service information
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Grateful thanks for help and encouragement over the years from
Roger Grimley, Henry Frier, Derek Persson, Mervyn House,Geoff Toomer,
John Pitfield, Michael Wadman, David Grimmett,
Simon Brown, Dave Crowter, Allan Frost, Jon Stagg, Chris Warn,James Prince,
ParisLJM, Eric Steil, Martial Leroux, Jean-Louis Wahart, Clive D'eath,
John Carman, Malcolm Chase, Richard Burton, David Gillard,
Maurice Norman, PA Menant, Sylvain Gardie, Andrew Waller, Colin Miller,
Valerie Woodcraft, Michael Marshall, Peter Archer, LVVS
Cédric Auvrouin,Luc Hochscheid, John Cummings, Margaret Beards, Barrie Edwards, John
Brogden, Laurie James, Andrew Tucker,Richard Ward,
Trevor Kenward, Geoff Currie, Clare Staines, Nick Webster, Peter Gould,
Colin Hallett, Mike Watts, Gordon Sharp, Keith Turns,Steve Oxbrow,
Keith Newton, Gerard Delpeuch, Gabriel Samson, Peter Brown, Peter
Messer, John Law, Mark Self, Andrew Wood, Paul Welling, Ken Jubb,
Mike Burt,Barry Thirlwall, Jason Hartley, Kenneth Marvin, Jeff Grayer,
Mike Lanham, Ken Cameron, Malcolm Knight, Bus Archive, Tony Ethridge,
Philip Wallis, James Bunting, Patrick Collins, 'Busing', Nick Phillips,
GG, Jean-Paul Machuré, Jean Pierre Choubrac, Paul Lacey,Maurice Combes,
Richard Jacquemin, Bruno Cassin, ASPTV, J.Tschill,Thomas Salazar, Peter Osborn,
Norman Hudson, Brian Hague, Malcolm Thompson, John Veerkamp
David Quayle,Peter Townley,John Sinclair, Gerard Destrais,
Malc McDonald,
Neil Evans,Wendy Sewell,David Odlin,Anthony Delaine-Smith,
Renno Hokwerda, Mikkjal Helmsdal, Vøgg Guttesen,Jens Tummas Naess, Poul
Laust
Christiansen, Finnur Johansen, Sólvør
Henriksen,Libor Hindica.
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MORE COUNTRYBUS REMINISCENCES - three Bournemouth coach operators of yesteryear |
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THE
COUNTRYBUS
WEBSITE - TWENTY FOUR YEARS ON THE INTERNET
RESEARCHING
AND RECORDING THE HISTORY OF RURAL TRANSPORT
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My longstanding friend and colleague Roger Grimley has published many
books recording the history of bus and coach operators in the West
Country, from Cornwall and Devon to Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.
Although there are unlikely to be new titles in the future some of his
books can be still be obtained from the website of WHOTT (West Country Historic Omnibus & Transport Trust). |
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JULY 2017 - THE MONTH THAT THE VILLAGES OF RURAL DORSET
LOST MOST OF THEIR BUSES THROUGH COUNCIL FUNDING CUTS |
All
copyrights and trade marks freely and gratefully
acknowledged. Information compiled with thanks from
a miscellany
of
sources across the years, including many of my own recollections and experiences and those of colleagues past and present.
Any errors are mine alone. Further
information is welcomed on the operators, routes and
services featured on the web site,
or other similarly interesting bus
operations in the areas described!
Peter Roberts, Countrybus, 1st December 2024.
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