| BANSTEAD COACHES |
Another
of
the early 'post-Chambers Report' bus routes in the London Transport
area was that of Banstead Coaches
of Shrubland Road, Banstead. It ran east from Banstead by way of the
then busless village of Woodmansterne
to Chipstead Valley. Started in March 1959 it was to run for 27 years
until the deregulation
of bus services in October 1986. Another circular route ran west from
Coulsdon North Station to Clockhouse Farm Estate (The Mount) from June
1964 until March 1980, whilst a third route ran north from Coulsdon
North station to Woodcote from June 1964 to January 1967.
The Clockhouse Farm and Woodcote routes were interworked to start with.
Banstead Coaches are still very much
in business today, and still a family buisness since being founded in 1949.
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| FALCON
COACHES |
The
second route which started under the provisions of the Chambers Report, after West London
Coachways of Ashford was the first with their Bedfont to Fektham station route. This second operation was also in south-west London and not that far away from the first, starting in
January 1957, and running a circular service northwards from Hampton
station via Hanworth Road and Oak Avenue. Operated on a one bus basis
by Falcon
Coaches of 163 Broad Lane Hampton (proprietor Thomas Berry) it ceased
to
run in June 1963 for reason of losses
being sustained.
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| ELM PARK COACHES |
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Another 1960s ephemeral route in the London Transport area was operated by Elm Park Coaches between Romford station and Chadwell Heath station. Operation started on 15th June 1964 but although the route traversed mainly roads not served by London Transport buses there were picking up and setting down restrictions. Eastbound journeys were longer to avoid the westbound one way section of Crow Lane. Primarily a peak hours operation a limited Saturday service of four journeys was later added and ran for just three months from June 1965. After four years the service was withdrawn on 19th July 1968. |
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| CONTINENTAL PIONEER |
After the withdrawal of Londonn Transport 235 this was a short route running from Richmond station to Richmond Hill, known locally as 'The Hill Bus'. Started by Isleworth Coaches in January 1966 operation passed to Continental Pioneer in May 1968. Eight years later, from August 1976, the hill terminus was altered to an extended one-way loop via Queens Road and Marchmont Road as in the timetable below. After twelve years, in September 1980, the route was given up when London Transport diverted their route 71. |
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| BEN STANLEY |
In
January 1978 support for London
Transport route 264 from Kingston to Hersham via Walton was stopped as
part of a need for financial economies. This was a
single-deck OMO RF-operated working from Fulwell garage. The LT 264 was
replaced in part from Hersham Green to Walton on Thames by a new hourly
service (numbered 1) provided by Ben Stanley Ltd of Burwood Road,
Hersham. This was a return to bus operation for them after an absence
of forty-four years. Their route continued until July 1985 when
operations were transferred to Mole Valley Transport Services following
the retirement of the proprietors of Ben Stanley and the closure of
their garage business.
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| WALTON ON THAMES MOTOR COMPANY |
A
local service linking Walton to its railway station some one and a half
miles distant to the south. The route originated in the 1920s but
was somehow
overlooked in 1933 when London Transport took over most of the
private
operators routes in its area. Happiily it continued as an
independent operation for many years. The regular performer for many
years was a 29-seater Bedford OB coach with Duple Vista body, MPG750, a somewhat
surprising vehicle to be found on a bus route in the outer suburbs of
the capital! The predecessor vehicle had been another Bedford OB Duple Vista, 20-seater LPH482, bought new in 1947.
In 1970 the route passed to Walton Lodge Garage but after only a few months it went to Golden Miller (F G Wilder & Son) who numbered it 604 in their series of local routes in the area and later extended it from the station to Oatlands. Subsequently at Christmas 1974 it passed to Mole Valley Transport Services but they discontinued it after just six months in June 1975. Illustrated below are the 1936 timetable and a 1970 Golden Miller timetable to portray the frequency of this route of just 7 or 8 minutes duration. These operations are more fully described in the book 'Buses and Coaches in and around Walton-on-Thames and Weybridge, 1891-1986' by Laurie James, published by Pen & Sword in 2021. |
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| GOLDEN MILLER |
The business had its origins in the 1930s
when it is said
that Fred Varney set himself up with the
winnings from a bet made on a horse of that name. In 1955
Varney's
business was taken over by F G Wilder & Sons Ltd of Feltham,
retaining the
Golden Miller fleet name. Adding to the original 601 Bedfont service
and starting
on 1st February
1968 two new routes were introduced, also based on
Feltham station. The 602 went to Shepperton and the 603 to
Hanworth. Subsequent expansion saw the 604 in Walton-on-Thames and the
606 from Staines to Stanwell.
Golden Miller is more fully described in a chapter in the book 'The Independent Bus' by Keith Turns, published by David & Charles in 1974. |
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| REDBRIDGE & DISTRICT |
In the 1960s London
Transport recognised that there was a need for
marginal bus services within its operating area that it was unable to
provide economically. Super
Coaches, Upminster started various such services - at first principally
from
residential areas to shops and stations - with emphasis on County Park
Estate. Starting in August
1964 a longer service was introduced from Chadwell Heath to
Woodford Bridge. Numbered 19 and using the Redbridge
& District name it was the longest independently operated route
within the London Transport Central Area at the
time. From June to December 1965 alternate journeys were extended from
Woodford Bridge
to Claybury Broadway (as timetables below). In January 1966 base
frequency was reduced from half hourly
to hourly and the route was cut back to
Woodford
Bridge again. The route
was finally
withdrawn on 14th May of that same year.
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| WEST LONDON COACHWAYS |
The short route from Bedfont to Feltham station operated by West London Coachways of Ashford had a unique claim to be a part of London's transport history as it was the first privately operated route approved by London Transport since the second world war, being introduced after the Chambers Report into bus operations in London was published. Starting in September 1955 and originally running seven days a week, Sunday operation was dropped in 1958. From 1st January 1962 operation passed to Tourist Coachways of Hounslow and subsequently this became route 601 of Golden Miller from 1967 when they took over the Tourist business. |
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| IMPERIAL BUS SERVICES (WINDSOR) |
A long established operator founded by the Moore family about 1920, with bus operations starting in 1922. In 1929 the first of their town routes commenced from Windsor to Clewer, followed in 1936 by Windsor to Maidenhead Road. From 1st June 1947 the routes were extended with the expansion of housing to Vale Estate and Dedworth (Foster Avenue junction with Wolf Lane) respectively. From January 1960 the route reached Martin Estate. Eventually, as the town expanded further west, the Clewer and Dedworth routes met at Ruddlesway. and were combined to form circular services operating in both directions in February 1971. The routes passed to the Bee Line in January 1987 after nearly sixty years operation on the death of the founder. A book by author Paul Lacey on the independent operators of the Windsor area was published in March 2023. |
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After
the takeover of the Imperial routes to Dedworth and Clewer by The Bee
Line in January 1987 operations were to continue in a similar manner on
alternate twenty minute frequencies for some years afterwards, as shown
by the extract from the October 1990 timetable below. |
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Please note this is a
site of historical record and does not contain current service
information