The Hants & Dorset bus company first came into
being in March 1916 and was known as Bournemouth & District Motor
Services. It wasn’t until July 1920 that
the name was changed to Hants & Dorset Motor Services Limited as the
services had expanded from beyond the Bournemouth area. In 1942 the company became part of the
Tilling group. In 1948 following the
nationalisation of the railways and the sale of the Tilling companies to the
British Transport Commission, Hants & Dorset was now state owned. Twenty years later, following the 1968
Transport Act, the National Bus Company (NBC) was formed on 1st
January 1969 of which Hants & Dorset became a part. Also on that date Wilts & Dorset, based
in nearby Salisbury, became ‘Hants & Dorset trading as Wilts & Dorset’. Up to this date the Hants & Dorset buses
ran in Tilling green livery with their Wilts & Dorset cousins in Tilling
red.
In 1972 it was decided that the
Wilts & Dorset name would be removed and all buses would carry the Hants
& Dorset fleet name, but run in corporate red livery using NBC Poppy Red
paint.
In 1983 NBC policy dictated that Hants & Dorset be
broken up into smaller units. From April
1983 the fleet names Wilts & Dorset, Hampshire Bus, Provincial and Shamrock
& Rambler would be used with the Hants & Dorset name becoming redundant. The current operator in the former ‘Hants
& Dorset’ territory is the Go-Ahead Group (Go South Coast). The Group bought Wilts & Dorset in 2003,
with Southern Vectis and Solent Blue Line following in 2005. The buses now run under the brand names of ‘more’
(Bournemouth and Poole), Bluestar (Southampton) and Salisbury
Reds (Salisbury).
The year 2016
marks the centenary of the formation of the original Company. It was decided by Go South Coast that an
event should take place to mark this historic milestone which duly took place
on Sunday 10th July at Poole Quay in Poole which is now the headquarters
of ‘more’. A number of preserved
buses and a current member from the Go-Ahead London fleet in the shape of New
Routemaster LT60 in ‘London General’ livery were invited to either be on
display along the Quay or to operate four special services. There was route 1 to Bournemouth, a long
established Hants & Dorset service, route 32 to Sandbanks Ferry, route 94,
a railway station shuttle bus and route X100 from the Quay to Lytchett
School. Buses were also parked at
Seldown Coach Park on layover, which is adjacent to Poole bus station. Our filming began very early on the
Quay. Unfortunately the weather was
appalling! Strong winds and driving rain
made filming very difficult! However our
cameras managed to record the arrivals and departures. Filming also took place at Seldown Coach
Park, and on the concourse at the bus station.
Here we filmed the current operations of ‘morebus’ intermingled
with the preserved and visiting vehicles making fascinating video for you to enjoy!
Our cameras also took four rides. Firstly on board Bristol VRT, 3325 (JJT 437N)
superbly restored in Wilts & Dorset deregulation livery. This VR was new to Hants & Dorset in
1975. Our second ride is on 563 (SDL
258) a former Southern Vectis Bristol LD, identical to the type used by Hants
& Dorset in the 1950s and 1960s. Our
third is on Hants & Dorset 1557 (LLJ 443F) a 1967 semi-automatic Bristol
FLF. And finally we travel on a 1950
former Bournemouth Corporation Leyland PD2/3, 247 (KEL 133) travelling from the
bus station to the Quay ending a most enjoyable day. Finally as a bonus on this programme we were
privileged to join in on a photo shoot with ‘Bus & Coach Preservation’ magazine
of the newly restored and reliveried Hants & Dorset semi-automatic Bristol
Lodekka FLF6B, 1254 (KRU 224F). We took
it through its paces on a ride around the Dorset lanes and into Ringwood
savouring the unusual sounds of this very unique vehicle. Enjoy!