Hampshire is the largest county in south-east England, despite losing the Isle of Wight and other areas during the 1974 boundary changes. Three important cities fall within its present boundaries: Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth. Winchester, once the capital of England and still the county town, was home to the famous green buses of King Alfred Motor Services until the business was sold to the National Bus Company subsidiary Hants & Dorset in 1973. Formerly a Tilling Group member, H...

Though British Rail had dispensed with steam locomotives by 1968, the greatest changes to the capital’s railways occurred afterwards. In the early years of the 1970s much of the network was run down and some parts not expected to survive. Non-corridor passenger stock, all painted in drab blue, dominated suburban services. Inter-city routes had loco-hauled stock in blue and grey. Many lines were still controlled by semaphore signals. Much needed investment came in the form of electrificatio...

Catchy Book Description (Short Version)"Cleo and the Magic of Rainbows" is a heartwarming tale about a little cloud with a big dream — to become a rainbow! Join Cleo on her colorful adventure as she learns that true magic comes from within. With gentle lessons about self-worth, kindness, and believing in yourself, this uplifting story will inspire children to chase their dreams, no matter how big or bright.Perfect for ages 4–8, this beautifully told story encourages imag...

The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are three separate European countries that have their own railway systems, with much integration between each other. They are united by all running regular passenger train services, mostly hourly or more frequent, within each country and beyond. Nederlandse Spoorwegen supplies the principal rail service within the Netherlands, supplemented by other operators such as Arriva and Syntus, who run a few local lines. All the passenger services within Belgi...

Southdown Motor Services, a subsidiary of the British Electric Traction Company, once dominated the county of Sussex, with a history dating back to 1915. The National Bus Company took over in 1969 and the company was split up in the 1980s, with the Brighton and much of the East Sussex areas becoming ‘Brighton & Hove’, bringing back memories of the former Tilling Group operator of a similar name. Brighton Corporation also ran buses in that town, as did neighbouring Eastbourne, both with fas...

From 1933 to the end of the 1960s, most of the bus services in Hertfordshire were in the hands of London Transport’s country services, with standardised green buses. These vehicles and routes were passed to the National Bus Company in 1969, with a new green London Country livery being adopted, though within five years it was replaced by NBC corporate colours. The 1970s and 1980s saw London Country’s fleet brought up to a modern standard. The Thatcher government’s policies brought about the...

By 1970, the boundaries of the county of Kent had been finalised, with parts, including Bexley, Bromley and Erith, being lost to Greater London. The capital’s red buses were still to be found in Dartford; otherwise the rest of west Kent was the territory of London Country Bus Services. The centre of the county, including the Medway towns and Maidstone, was where one could find Maidstone & District’s mainly Leyland fleet. Maidstone was also home to the last municipal operator in Kent, final...

The history of affordable public transport in the Yorkshire city of Leeds began in 1871, when horses began pulling trams around the city. Leeds Corporation purchased the network in 1893 and electrification followed soon afterwards. The system expanded, but finally ceased operations in 1959.Leeds was also an early pioneer of trolleybuses, with a route to Farnley Moor Top opening in 1911. Two further routes later opened, as feeders to the tram system, bringing Leeds City Tramways int...

Public transport began in Barnsley in 1902 with the opening of the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Co. Ltd, with a small Y-shaped network from Smithies to Worsborough Bridge and Worsborough Dale. Motorbus operations commenced in 1913, which soon expanded outwards, bringing about the first name change, with the word electric being dropped from the company’s title. 1928 saw the name changed again, with Yorkshire Traction being adopted, reflecting the growing business beyond the boundar...

John Law (21 April 1671 died 21 March 1729) was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade. He was appointed Controller General of Finances of France under King Louis XV. In 1716 Law established the Banque Générale in France, a private bank, but three-quarters of the capital consisted of government bills and government-accepted notes, effectively making it the first central ba...

John Law has been photographing Britain’s buses since the early 1970s. In this book, he takes us through the buses of Cambridgeshire, run by the National Bus Company, which had absorbed the services run in the area by Tilling & British Automobile Traction (who themselves had taken over Eastern Counties Omnibuses). In preparation for bus deregulation, National Bus Company’s Cambridgeshire operations were transferred to Cambus Ltd, which was sold and eventually absorbed into the Stagecoach G...

Essex has long been full of interest for followers of Britain’s bus industry. The western side of the county has always fallen under the influence of London, even to the extent that places like Romford, Upminster and Ilford were transferred into the newly created Greater London in 1974. The dominant operator in Essex was Eastern National, which started life in London under the auspices of Thomas Clarkson in 1909. The company later became part of the Tilling Group, followed by the British T...