THE

INDEPENDENT

BUS

SOA
SHROPSHIRE

READING
MAINLINE

BIRCH
BROS

SAFEGUARD
GUILDFORD

PROVINCIAL
KING
ALFRED

REDBRIDGE
& DISTRICT

GASH
NEWARK

BLAND
COTTESMORE

COUNTRYBUS



IMPERIAL

The Moore family business in Windsor  -  the brown bus




Please note - this is a site of historical record and does not contain current service information




This long established operator was aptly named for its town services in the Windsor area. Founded by Arthur Moore (1872 - 1945) in 1920 the business would grow from taxis to buses, furniture removals and horseboxes.. Their first bus came in 1922. In 1929 the first of their traditional route westwards was started from Windsor town centre to Clewer Green, subsequently to be extended to Dedworth. For a short while from 1932 they ran alongside others between Windsor and Slough (but this passed to the newly formed London Passenger Transport Board in 1933). Their second route west  followed in 1936 from Windsor to Maidenhead Road. With a brown and cream livery they were kmown as 'the brown bus' by local people using their often very busy routes. A limited company was formed in 1946. The Imperial garage was in Firs Avenue, off Clewer Hill Road, just off the Dedworth route.  From 1st June 1947 the two routes were extended with the expansion of housing to Dedworth (Foster Avenue junction with Wolf Lane) and Vale Estate respectively.

The August 1950 timetable leaflet below lists the two routes from Dedworth to Windsor as Wolf Lane to Thames Street (unchanged from 1947 above) and Dedworth Manor and Vale Estate to Windsor Castle via Clewer Village and Oxford Road. At that time the Vale Road via Clewer Village route was diverted into Hanover Way to terminate at Tudor Way. These evolved into two routes running from Windsor to Dedworth via Clewer Three Elms (service 1) and Windsor to Dedworth Manor Estate via Clewer Village (service 2).  From January 1960 the latter was extended to Martin Estate (Galleys Road). From the timetables below the frequency on each of the two routes was half-hourly in 1950. In the 1960s the route via Clewer Village had increased to a twenty minute frequency, whilst the service from Foster Avenue still remained half-hourly.

Imperial Bedford VPT17

Moore's Imperial Bedford VPT17
© The Royal Windsor Website and Forum



Interestingly
the Imperial base was almost adjacent to the terminus of another one route only local independent operator. This was Borough Bus (Frowen & Hill Ltd), started in 1922, whose red buses ran half hourly from Windsor to Clewer Green, Hatch Lane since 1928. They reversed opposite the Imperial garage, but there was no known co-operation between the two operators. The route taken by Borough from Windsor town centre was by way of St Leonards Road and Winkfield Road. Borough Bus sold their only route to Thames Valley in 1955.


imperial bell punch ticket
Eventually, as the town expanded yet further to the west, the two routes were to meet at Ruddlesway. From February 1971 they were combined to form circular services operating in both directions ('A' clockwise and 'B' anti-clockwise). There was at the time some route variation at the outer end in the Martin Estate with alternate services running as A1 and B1 via Longmead with A2 and B2 services running the slightly longer route via Aston Mead. Evenings and Sunday all journeys were operated via the A2 and B2 routes. From 1972 ticket issue was discontinued and exact fare fareboxes, constructed by the company itself, were used on the buses.


In 1981 the Imperial fleet of seventeen was comprised of seven coaches and ten buses. The 1982 timetable shows both of the circular routes (now simply A and B and all journeys via Aston Mead) having a twenty minute service. Until the introduction of the circular services the two routes had separate in-town termini. Traffic congestion in the town centre caused the terminus to be moved to Peascod Street rather than Thames Street in busy times. In the timetables below note the absence of any Sunday morning services, whether in 1950, the 1960s and even in 1982 (which seems quite unusual for the 1980s).

back of bell punch imperial ticket

The brown and cream Imperial vehicles continued to operate until 24th January 1987 when the bus routes passed to Alder Valley North (running as 'The Bee Line'). This followed the death of the founder's son Alf Moore and a decision by the family not to continue the business. It was also just a few months after the introduction of deregulation of bus services, removing the protection of route enjoyed previously by the incumbent operator - perhaps this may have had a bearing too. Although their bus routes had stopped it was not quite the end of the business as a small amount of school work continued until the end of the spring term.

imperial TIM ticket



1960s times and fares - still two separate services rather than one circular route.

imperial1

imperial2




August 1950 timetable leaflet
© The Royal Windsor Website and Forum
cover of 1950 timetable leaflet 1950 timetable service 1
1950 timetable service 2 back cover 1950 timetable extra services

1982 times and fares for the circular services A and B                

imperial 1982 fares

1982 Imperial timetable
Imperial 1982 Sunday timetable
map of Imperial routes mid 1980s



Imperial Bedford in Windsor
Moore's Imperial (Brown Bus) of Windsor.   603KMT Bedford SB Duple in High Street, Windsor, August 1965.    
       Photo by
Mega Anorak



letterhead



Further timetable examples can be found here

A long established discussion of reminiscences of the Imperial 'brown bus' can be found on The Royal Windsor Website and Forum
The use of information and illustrations from that site is acknowledged with thanks.  Thanks also to Paul Lacey for further information.



    A KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLOURS

In terms of independent operators in the Windsor area as well as Imperial's 'Brown Bus' and the red buses of Borough Bus there were also the Blue Bus (Cole of Slough) and the White Bus (Jeatt of Winkfield).  The latter continues to operate their route between Windsor and Ascot / Sunninghill, as they have done continuously since 1930, with some journeys running along the private roads of Windsor Great Park. From 1935 until 1962 the route had travelled further south to reach Bagshot.
1950 route variation notice


An interesting twist of history has a current White Bus off-peak hourly shoppers West Windsor circular service W1 operating into what was once Imperial territory in Clewer Green and Dedworth.

Blue Bus had a Windsor – Maidenhead service via Eton Wick, Dorney and Taplow which was sold to Thames Valley in June 1966. The Windsor to Taplow part of the route originated in 1923 and was extended to reach Maidenhead in 1955. These were some of a number of private operators that co-existed 'filling the gaps' in the interface between London Transport and Thames Valley in the Windsor area.
1947 timetable
Borough Bus tickets         Borough Bus tickets

Advert for Windsor book

For those with a particular interest in the vehicles operated this well
ilustrated book contains fleet lists for Imperial, Borough Bus and Blue Bus.



THE

INDEPENDENT

BUS

SOA
SHROPSHIRE

READING
MAINLINE

BIRCH
BROS

SAFEGUARD
GUILDFORD

LONDON:
98B and 235

ABOUT THIS
WEBSITE

REDBRIDGE
& DISTRICT

GASH
NEWARK

BLAND
COTTESMORE

COUNTRYBUS