Autobus - Inghilterra: libri illustrati - compagnie di autobus (1)

Merseyside Transport: The 1950s-1970s

Merseyside can claim, with some justification, to have provided the transport enthusiast with a greater variety of transport modes than anywhere else in Britain.
By the 1950s, with many long-standing scenes about to disappear, photographers began faithfully to record what they saw in colour. It is these images, including road, rail, sea and other modes of transport, that illustrate this nostalgic pictorial portrait of key aspects of the richly varied scene.

Taking the reader on a journey from Liverpool and its suburbs to Birkenhead and Wallasey, with one small detour to include views of the remarkable Runcorn Transporter Bridge, this book gives a full-colour view of the historic transport that was part of the Merseyside townscape from the 1950s to the 1970s.

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British Buses and Trolleybuses 1950s-1970s (10) - Midland Independents

The photographs in this volume were taken between 1951 and 1978. Covering all the major independent bus operators in the area, most of the pictures show the buses in pre-National Bus Company and Passenger Transport Executive liveries. They also provide nostalgic views of street scenes, shops and road vehicles.

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British Independent Bus Companies - Since the 1970s

In the 1970s the main UK bus groups were the National Bus Company, the Scottish Bus Group, the Passenger Transport Executives and various council owned concerns. Today we have Stagecoach, First and Arriva, plus several smaller groups, with just a handful of councils still owning bus operations.
Throughout these major changes to the bus industry, there have been hundreds of smaller independent bus companies running stage carriage services on the roads of the United Kingdom.

In this book we look at these, from the small operators with just one or two buses, to the larger fleets, such as Lancashire United.
Many independent companies have, since the 1970s, been swallowed up by larger groups one or two have ceased trading. However, many are still thriving and other operators have taken the place of those that we've lost. Deregulation in 1986 brought a host of new bus operators, competing for business with the companies that had run their services for many years. Inevitably, there were some casualties, but today the independent bus sector is alive and well.
This purpose of this book is to illustrate the great variety of independent buses that has graced Britain's roads, from the early 1970s to the present day.

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Crosville: A National Bus Company

During the 1970s, the state-owned National Bus Company played a pivotal role in England and Wales, with Crosville Motor Services standing out as one of its largest constituent bus companies among thirty-six.
Beyond the initial semblance to other former BET companies within the NBC, Crosville distinguished itself with a vast operating area, spanning from the hills above Macclesfield to Biddulph in Staffordshire, rural Shropshire at Oswestry, Liverpool's city streets, and extending across North and mid-Wales to West Wales towns like New Quay, Newcastle Emlyn, and Lampeter.

Headquartered in Chester, Crosville's operations were marked by diversity, encompassing rural market routes, open-top holiday services, and intense inter-urban services, including those on innovative busways - a rarity at the time.
Authored by Michael Hitchen, this illustrated book reflects on a time characterized by variety and intrigue, featuring a wealth of captivating and previously unpublished photographs that offer a glimpse into Crosville's rich history.

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Hants & Dorset: A National Bus Company

Formerly under the National Bus Company, Hants & Dorset Motor Service operated across a vast and varied region, spanning from North Hampshire's remote chalk uplands to Salisbury Plain, rural East Dorset, and the coastal resorts of Swanage, Poole, and Bournemouth.
Their distinctive Poppy Red buses became a familiar presence on central southern England's roads during the 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1972, the National Bus Company underwent a corporate image change, merging the Hants & Dorset and Wilts & Dorset fleets. This consolidation established a unified identity, preserving the Hants & Dorset name and incorporating the red livery from Wilts & Dorset.
Renowned as one of the most intriguing NBC fleets, it featured vehicles in their original liveries, diverse non-standard coaches, connections with Gosport & Fareham (Provincial), and contributions from the former King Alfred Motor Services of Winchester. A significant organizational shift occurred in 1983, leading to the company's division into four operating units - Hampshire Bus, Wilts & Dorset, Provincial, and Shamrock and Rambler, marking a pivotal moment in its NBC history.
Here is a nostalgic look back on this popular bus company.

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Isle of Wight Buses

The Isle of Wight is one of England's smallest counties and is situated off the Hampshire coast in southern England. The main bus operator is Southern Vectis, which was a National Bus Company throughout the 1970s into the mid-1980s and is now owned by the GoAhead group as part of their Go-Southcoast company.

The orange-coloured coaches of Fountain Coaches of Cowes, a subsidiary of Southern Vectis, offered the famous `Round the Island Tour', as did their parent company into the early 1990s.
Southern Vectis have operated route 42 between Yarmouth and The Needles Battery for many years using open-top buses climbing the steep, narrow, winding road to The Needles, with breathtaking views!

Seaview Services operated a bus service between Sea View and Ryde for many years, as well as offering coach tours around the island. Other well-known coach operators have included Moss Motors of Sandown and their subsidiary Paul's Coaches of Ryde, as well as, of course, West Wight Motors of Freshwater.

All these firms operated tours to such places on the island as Alum Bay, Blackgang Chine, Ventnor, and Yarmouth. Utilising his wonderful collection of photographs, Andrew Mead offers a fascinating pictorial history of buses on the Isle of Wight.

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National Bus Company 1972-1986

NUOVO

Between 1972 and 1986, bus services in England and Wales were operated by the National Bus Company (NBC), formed to unite around thirty-six regional operators under one brand and uniform livery. It became the largest bus company in the world during this period.

Although buses shared a standard colour scheme, the individual companies often kept their own identity, especially in local operations. Most towns still had their own bus station and garage. Fleet changes, company mergers, and adjustments to service areas drew the attention of transport enthusiasts.

In this illustrated book, Mike Hitchen reflects on a time when regional diversity in public transport was still visible despite central control. He covers the wide variety of vehicles in use and the distinct character of services across the country - from Cornwall to Kent and from Hampshire to Northumberland. The book recalls a time when red, green, and sometimes blue buses played a vital role in everyday life.

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The National Bus Company - The Middle Years

The National Bus Company was the creation of the 1968 Transport Act, which merged the bus operations of the Tilling Group and the British Electric Traction Company.
In 1970 it was enlarged to include the former country area of London Transport, and the new state-owned company thus provided most of the bus services in England and Wales outside major cities and large towns. Deregulation and privatisation in 1986 led to its dissolution.

This book gives a portrait of the company in its mature years and covers an interesting period when the industry was in steep decline. It was a time of virtually full employment and driver-only operation was rapidly being introduced to alleviate a shortage of staff and to reduce costs.
A corporate identity had been established and, although measures had been put in place to standardise the fleet, the company's subsidiaries still operated an interesting variety of older vehicles serving out their final years.

The author, who worked for an NBC subsidiary from shortly after the company's inception until after its demise, presents here a selection from his personal collection of photographs.

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West Yorkshire Independents Since Deregulation

Following the deregulation of bus services in 1986, West Yorkshire became flooded by small independent operators, some of whom survived while others were swallowed up by larger companies. Only a small handful remain today.

The wide variety of liveries and vehicle types will bring memories flooding back, and the wealth of previously unpublished photographs give this book a wide appeal.

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