Buses in Dorset 2017-2021
The county of Dorset on England’s south coast is
blessed with superb scenery both inland and coastal. The independent transport videos cameras
have been out recording both the contemporary and preserved bus and coach scene
for you to enjoy. Filmed over a period
from 2017 to 2021 we have recorded the contemporary buses mostly along the
coast in the western part of the county in Weymouth, Bridport and Lyme
Regis. The ‘preserved’ filming covers
two events that took place in 2021, namely the ‘Buses to the Bill’ event and
the ‘Dorchester Running Day’. Starting
with the contemporary scene we begin filming in Weymouth in 2017 and 2020 where
the main bus operator is First Wessex
with other buses running in from Dorset’s other main bus operator Go South Coast with their ‘Damory’ and ‘more’ branded buses. The
locations filmed in Weymouth are The Esplanade, Commercial Road and New Road on
Portland. Here you will see a number of
the Firstbus liveries as they change
from the more formal corporate scheme to brighter, more colourful liveries with
a local identity. You will also see some
vehicles transferred in from First Solent
at Southampton adding a further splash of colour. Some of the buses filmed have now left the
fleet and have passed into history! The
2021 contemporary scene is filmed in Weymouth, Abbotsbury Hill – a most scenic
road between Weymouth and Bridport, Bridport town and bus station and in the
pretty seaside town of Lyme Regis. First Wessex is the main operator with
their ‘Jurassic Coaster’ liveried buses in closed top and open-top form and the
latest First Wessex livery of two
tone green and yellow adding colour to the bus scene.
The second part of our programme looks at two
‘preserved’ bus events. The first is
‘Buses to the Bill’, where a selection of preserved buses and coaches ran from
Salisbury to Portland Bill via Blandford, Dorchester and Weymouth. Our cameras filmed the buses at Blandford,
Lodmoor Coach Park in Weymouth and at Portland Bill. Some of the fleets represented were Bournemouth Corporation, Damory, Hants &
Dorset, Wilts & Dorset, Southern National, Burrows Coaches, Red & White
and more! The second ‘preserved’ event
is the ‘Dorchester Running Day’. Centred
at the Top o’ Town coach and car park in the town our cameras capture the buses
running through Dorchester and take rides on former London Transport Leyland Titan RTL1163 (LYF 104), former Silver Star of Porton Down Leyland
Atlantean, 42 (1013 MW) and former Yellow
Buses – Bournemouth Volvo Citybus, 208 (E208 GCG). We travel to nearby Poundbury and back to the
rally site. Again a good selection of
bus companies represented. We hope you
enjoy this visit to Dorset and see the great variety of buses and coaches this
lovely county has to offer
