BLANDFORD BUS COMPANY

John Cumming wanted to run a bus company -

                                     in 1989 he achieved that ambition

With the advent of bus deregulation after the 1985 Transport Act, John Cumming 
saw opportunities for new routes in the Blandford area of Dorset.   He started 
Blandford Bus Company with his mother Mary in April 1989.  Always a friendly 
and approachable operator, there was always a welcome for the enthusiast as John 
was always the enthusiast himself.

During the comparatively short life of this company, a miscellany of different routes
were tried by John and his mother.  Starting with one bus, bought with the assistance
of government grant scheme the Rural Transport Development Fund, Blandford 
Bus commenced operations on Monday 10 April 1989 (first timetable issue) over the
following innovative routes:

321	Blandford - Poole (Monday to Friday commuter service linking to London train)

322	Milborne St Andrew - Blandford (school and works journeys Monday to Friday)

323	Stourpaine - Tarrant Gunville - Salisbury (market service Tuesday)

324	Turnworth - Winterborne Kingston - Wimborne (market service Friday)

325	Milborne St Andrew - Blandford - Poole (shopping service Saturday, 2 journeys)

326	Iwerne Minster - Tarrant Valley - Wimborne - Poole (shopping service Saturday)

All the services above were interworked and could be operated by one bus.

Changes were to come quickly, however, based on the experience of the first few weeks running. 
The second issue of the timetable was dated 10 July 1989 and the changes to the routes were as follows, with the commuter
run to Poole station (for which there had been high hopes) discontinued: 

321	Withdrawn after Friday 7 July (lack of patronage)
322	Increased frequency including additional Tuesday and Friday shoppers journeys to Blandford,
                also 1704 journey extended from Milborne St Andrew to Bere Regis (original 322 withdrawn after 6 October 1989)
323	Unchanged: Stourpaine - Salisbury (market service Tuesday) 
324	Extended from Wimborne to Poole (now Turnworth - Wimborne - Poole, market service Friday) 
325	Increased to 4 journeys: Milborne St Andrew - Poole (shopping service Saturday). Withdrawn after 7 October 1989
326	Unchanged: Iwerne Minster - Poole (Saturday). Withdrawn after 7 October 1989
327	New service: Bryanston - Blandford (market service Thursday, 6 journeys) (only ran on 13 and 20 July 1989 in practice)
328	New service: Blandford - Wimborne - Ringwood (market service Wednesday) 

The services above required the operation of a second bus on certain days. 
It was nearly twelve months before the third timetable appeared on April 1 1990.   
With a year's operating experience now gained, the following adjustments were made,
resulting in a much reduced (and perhaps more realistic) level of operation:

322	Withdrawn (level of service offered probably over generous)
323	Extended back to start at Milton Abbas and double run to Chettle introduced (Milton Abbas - Salisbury, Tuesday)
324	Extended back to start at Milton Abbas (now Milton Abbas - Wimborne - Poole, Friday)
325	Reintroduced but reduced to 1 journey and extended to Bournemouth (Milborne St Andrew - Bournemouth, Saturday)
326	Withdrawn
327	Withdrawn
328	Diverted via Corfe Mullen School; now Wednesdays in summer only (Blandford - Ringwood)
113	(from 19 April - formerly Bere Regis & District)  Bere Regis - Milton Abbas - Blandford (market service Thursday)

So timetable three permitted operation with just one bus again and was a far less demanding operation.  

KDL204W comes down the hill in Milton Abbas in 1991 with John Cumming driving.
This Bristol LHS was with the company from 1990 until 1994 and then passed to Brown
of Motcombe (Shaftesbury & District), who in turn sold it in 1997 to Cudlipp of Stur-
minster Newton, Dorset.  New in 1981 to Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight.

(photo courtesy Dorset County Council, passenger transport group)

An amendment leaflet to timetable number six was issued in Spring 1992:
311	Turnworth - Winterborne Whitchurch - Blandford (school journey Monday to Friday, ex-Oakfield)
314	Withdrawn (Wareham - Ridge, Thursday)
314	New service: Blandford - Tower Park (leisure journey Friday)
323	Curtailed to start at Blandford (after loss of school contract at Milton Abbas)

Timetable number seven was issued on 1 November 1992 (this was to be the last timetable book issued).  The routes were now:

111	Same with extra Saturday journeys (Blandford - Milton Abbas - Hilton - Dorchester)
312	Unchanged (Mappowder - Blandford, Thursday)
313	Unchanged (Blandford - Wareham, Tuesday)
314	Withdrawn (as amendment leaflet above)
322	Unchanged (Bere Regis - Blandford, Thursday)
323	Unchanged (Blandford - Salisbury, Tuesday)
324	Unchanged (except starts Milton Abbas not Melcombe Bingham on schooldays)
325	Unchanged (Blandford - Ringwood (market service Wednesday in summer only) 

Two of the fleet laying over in Blandford, including GCL349N, a 49 seater Bristol RE,
in the Blandford fleet from October 1992 until February 1994.  Later with Ray Cuff of
Piddlehinton from 1996 till 2003.  ECW bodied. It was new to Eastern Counties in 1974,
and is now in preservation in its original white Eastern Counties white livery. Parked
alongside is Ford Transit / Dormobile minibus C501BFB, ex-Bristol Omnibus
(which was affectionately called Hovis).

The last route developments were to sow the seeds of the downfall of the company.  From  1 February 1993 a new hourly
service 138 was introduced between Shaftesbury, Blandford and Poole (hourly from Blandford, two journeys starting back at
Shaftesbury).  This incurred the displeasure of the local majority operator Wilts & Dorset who - although they only operated
a limited direct service of three journeys a day between Blandford and Poole on the X13  -  saw this as a major incursion
into "their patch".  

		Their response was to introduce a new route X38 from 1 March to duplicate Blandford Bus route 138, also hourly, and running five minutes in front at greatly reduced fares. As a further retaliatory measure Wilts & Dorset introduced route 11 to duplicate the 'best' shopping journeys of Blandford Bus route 111 to Dorchester, and also a Thursday route 22 to duplicate the 322 from Bere Regis. A small company like Blandford Bus did not have the economic resource to withstand a competitive attack of this nature and after two months John Cumming had to withdraw the Poole service and retract to his core network of rural services.
The LHS waiting in Serpentine Road, Poole              (photo Andy Wood)

This was the beginning of the end and finally the routes (but not the vehicles) of the Blandford Bus Company passed to Damory 
Coaches of Blandford in January 1994.  By then Damory were themselves a Wilts & Dorset subsidiary and had also taken over the 
Oakfield and Stanbridge and Crichel businesses as well a few months previously. 

Seddon Pennine 45 seater CSG787S. This had been new to Scottish Omnibuses in March 1978

Blandford Bus had operated an interesting fleet mix in its five years of existence, ranging from Leyland Leopard and Seddon 
Pennine coaches to Bristol LHS and RE buses.  There was also a Toyota/Caetano 19-seater and even a Leyland National.  
But best and long remembered will be that blue and white LHS which was affectionately signwritten as the Dorset Puddle Jumper.
Of the original routes introduced at the start of operations in April 1989 only the 323 Salisbury Tuesday market service and 324 
Wimborne Friday market service operated throughout until the demise of Blandford Bus five years later.  John continues to work
in transport in the Dorset area.