1.
Lowestoft
–
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly settlement of the United Kingdom and it is 110 miles north-east of London,38 miles north-east of Ipswich and 22 miles south-east of Norwich. It is situated on the edge of The Broads system and is the settlement within the district of Waveney with a population of 71,010 in 2011. Some of the earliest evidence of settlement in Britain has been found in Lowestoft and it is a port town which developed due to the fishing industry, and a traditional seaside resort. It has wide, sandy beaches, two piers and a number of other tourist attractions and this role has since declined and the town has begun to develop as a centre of the renewable energy industry within the East of England. Following the discovery of flint tools in the cliffs at Pakefield in south Lowestoft in 2005 and this establishes Lowestoft as one of the earliest known sites for human habitation in Britain. The area was settled during the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages and during the Roman and Saxon periods, the settlements name is derived from the Viking personal name Hlothver and toft, a Viking word for homestead. The towns name has been spelled variously, Lothnwistoft, Lestoffe, Laistoe, at the Domesday survey the village was known as Lothuwistoft and was relatively small with a population of around 16 households comprising, in 1086, three families, ten smallholders and three slaves. The manor formed part of the kings holding within the Hundred of Lothingland and was worth about four geld in tax income, roger Bigod was the tenant in chief of the village. The village of Akethorpe may have been located close to Lowestoft, in the Middle Ages Lowestoft became an increasingly important fishing town. The industry grew quickly and the town grew to challenge its neighbour Great Yarmouth, the trade, particularly fishing for herring, continued to act as the towns main identity until the 20th century. In June 1665 the Battle of Lowestoft, the first battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the battle resulted in a significant victory for the English fleet over the Dutch. The factory, built on the site of a pottery or brick kiln, was later used as a brewery. Most of its buildings were demolished in 1955. In the 19th century, the arrival of Sir Samuel Morton Peto brought about a change in Lowestofts fortunes, Railway contractor Peto was contracted by the Lowestoft Railway & Harbour Company to build a railway line between Lowestoft and Reedham. This stimulated the development of the fishing industry and the Port of Lowestoft in general. The development of the port boosted trade with the continent, during World War I, Lowestoft was bombarded by the German Navy on 24 April 1916 in conjunction with the Easter Rising. In World War II, the town was targeted for bombing by the Luftwaffe due to its engineering industry
2.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
3.
British Leyland
–
It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later BL, in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which constituted 40 percent of the UK car market, despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, British Leyland had a troubled history. In 1986 it was renamed as the Rover Group, later to become MG Rover Group, MG and the Austin, Morris and Wolseley marques became part of Chinas SAIC, with whom MG Rover attempted to merge prior to administration. Certain other related businesses, such as Unipart, continue to operate independently. At the time, LMC was a manufacturer, while BMH was perilously close to collapse. The Government was hopeful LMCs expertise would revive the ailing BMH, the new corporation was arranged into seven divisions under its new chairman, Sir Donald Stokes. After the merger, Lord Stokes was horrified to find that BMH had no plans to replace the elderly designs in its portfolio. Also, BMHs design efforts immediately prior to the merger had focused on niche market models such as the Austin Maxi and the Austin 3 litre. BMH had produced several cars, such as the Mini. While these cars had been advanced at the time of their introduction, the Mini was not highly profitable, immediately, Lord Stokes instigated plans to design and introduce new models quickly. The first result of this programme was the Morris Marina in early 1971. It used parts from various BL models with new bodywork to produce BLs mass-market competitor and it was one of the strongest-selling cars in Britain during the 1970s, although by the end of production in 1980 it was widely regarded as a dismal product that had damaged the companys reputation. The Austin Allegro, launched in 1973, earned a similarly unwanted reputation over its 10-year production life, the company became an infamous monument to the industrial turmoil that plagued Britain in the 1970s. Industrial action instigated by militant shop stewards frequently brought BLs manufacturing capability to its knees, the upshot was that both Ford and Vauxhall ultimately overtook BL to become Britains two best selling marques, a title they hold to the present day. At its peak, BLMC owned almost 40 manufacturing plants across the country, even before the merger BMH had included theoretically competing marques that were in fact selling substantially similar badge engineered cars. The British Motor Corporation had never properly integrated either the dealer networks or the facilities of Austin. The upshot was that plants were producing badge engineered models of otherwise identical cars so that each network would have a product to sell. Rover competed with Jaguar at the end of the market
4.
Bristol RE
–
The Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-decker bus or single-decker coach chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-decker buses, initially, the RE was only supplied to subsidiaries of the nationalised Transport Holding Company, by which Bristol was wholly owned. From 1972, sales to the National Bus Company, which had taken over the operations of both THC and BET) began to dry up, due to the introduction of the Leyland National. From 1976 the RE remained in only for the Northern Irish state-owned bus companies Ulsterbus and Citybus. In Great Britain, the RE was most commonly fitted with bodywork by ECW, some coaches were fitted with Duple Commander, Plaxton Panorama Elite or Alexander M Type bodywork. In Northern Ireland, the RE was bodied by Alexander, with the X Type bodywork and it was used by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in their Brislington Experimental Shop for a few years. It was fitted and ran with a version of the contemporary Bristol BVW engine. Later the Gardner engine was refitted, the completed and sold to West Yorkshire as their fleet number CRG1 OWT241E. The most popular model was the RELL, with 2,839 constructed, the two least successful models were the REMH, with 105 sold to just three customers, and the RESH with 11 built for four customers. A sixth model, designated REML, was advertised from 1968 and this would have had the 20-foot wheelbase of the REMH but a low frame suitable for a bus body. The biggest customers were, Bristol Omnibus Company, Crosville Motor Services, Ulsterbus/Citybus, United Automobile Services, Bus Monographs,5 - Bristol RE. Website about RELH coaches Website about one RELH
5.
Leyland Atlantean
–
The Leyland Atlantean is a double-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland Motors between 1958 and 1986. In the years immediately following World War II, bus operators in the United Kingdom faced a downturn in the numbers of passengers carried, a few experimental rear-engined buses had been produced before the war but none successfully made it beyond the prototype stage. The need to minimise the intrusion of the engine into passenger carrying space was a priority, however, such designs raised the height of the floor of the vehicle, forcing additional steps at the entrance. On double decker buses, these problems were amplified, causing either an increase in the height of the vehicle or an inadequate interior height. In 1952, Leyland began experimenting with ideas for a rear-engined double-decker bus, a prototype was built, with a body by Saunders-Roe, to the maximum permitted width of 7 feet 6 inches. It was fitted with a version of the Leyland 0.350 engine. The chassis was a frame of steel and light alloy with deep stressed side-members. An automatic clutch and self change gearbox were also fitted, the vehicle was designated the PDR1. In 1956, a prototype was constructed, this time with a Metro-Cammell body and. It had a clutch, Pneumocyclic gearbox and angle drive. This vehicle was 13 feet 2.75 inches in height, with a 16-foot-2. 875-inch wheelbase, Leyland christened this prototype the Lowloader. Though two prototypes were tested, the same problem of a front-engined bus remained, they had rear entrances with the space alongside the driver being wasted. An amendment to the Construction and Use Regulations in 1956 saw the length for double-deckers increased to 30 feet. This was initially to allow the driver to supervise boarding whilst the conductor collected fares, Leyland took advantage of the new regulation to launch the first prototype Atlantean at the 1956 Commercial Motor Show at Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Though it featured the front entrance design that would redefine the bus industry, the main problem was the high level of engine noise inside the lower saloon, as the engine was still inside the body, with the compartment being used for bench seating. The Atlantean had a light and strong fabricated frame, light alloy floor plates were rivetted directly to the framework, fulfilling the dual purpose of reinforcing the frame and providing a foundation for the saloon floor. The platform-type sub-frame concept from the Lowloader was retained for the prototype, a drop-centre rear axle allowed the flat floor, only one step up from ground level, to continue for the full length of the bus. The prototype was demonstrated around the country to various operators and it also had an unregistered sister vehicle, which was used as a testbed
6.
City Sightseeing
–
City Sightseeing is a Worlds largest excursion sightseeing bus tour operator. It provides tour bus services in more than a hundred cities around the world, the tours are operated by red open top double-decker buses. The tourist attraction buses travel near major landmarks, while a prerecorded or live commentary in multiple languages is supplied through headphones, tourists may leave and board the company buses within their tickets time limit at bus stops on a circular route. In large cities buses go on more than one route, on some routes buses leave the city for suburban sights. In some cities buses operate even at night, in some cities some variants of the ride include travelling by boat. The United Kingdom, Italy and Spain are the countries with the largest number of cities with City Sightseeing service, tickets are issued for either one or two day rides, and are purchased at tourist attractions or online. Tickets and discount offers are transferable between the worldwide tours, in some cities, rides by City Sightseeing are included in the citys guest card. A free map of the route for each city is offered as guide, in 2011, nearly 13 million tourists took City Sightseeing tours. In 2015, US officials raised safety concerns about City Sightseeing tours after certain irregularities were discovered, the City Sightseeing name was first used in 1972 after Peter Newman used it for his City Coach Lines company, which ran tours of London four times a day. In 1998, Ensignbus revived the name and developed the red livery in the Spanish city of Seville, with the sale of the London Pride Sightseeing, Peter Newman stated his intention to introduce a global brand of sightseeing buses. It also set up operations in Sydney, Australia, not as a franchise, in March 2000, the franchise model was initiated, with tours starting in Glasgow, Scotland. Startup operations employed a British manager until local staff were trained, during this year, operations expanded in the UK in York, Edinburgh, and Bath. Edinburghs Lothian Buses introduced the first purpose built open top low floor buses, in December of that year, the online booking system was introduced. In 2001, operations expanded further in the UK, Spain, Australia and into Copenhagen, in 2002, operations in Alberta, Canada opened but have since closed. Ensignbus acquired City Sightseeings biggest rival, Guide Friday, which had a base in Stratford-upon-Avon and operated tours across the UK, operations were either re-branded as City Sightseeing, or absorbed into existing operators where Guide Friday had been a direct competitor. The acquisition brought City Sightseeings operations up to nearly 70 cities worldwide with nearly 250 vehicles, in 2003, operations started in Italy. During this year, City Sightseeing introduced the first purpose-built sightseeing bus and it was an Ayats Bravo City bodied Volvo B7Ls. They featured equipment specifically designed for tours and were Low floor and these appeared first in Spain and then in the UK
7.
Bristol Lodekka
–
The Bristol Lodekka was a half-cab low-height step-free double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England. A full flat floor was developed on the last LDL, then used on the LDS, Bristol Commercial Vehicles, Eastern Coach Works and some of their employees obtained a number of patents relating to the design. Bristol manufactured over 5,200 Lodekkas from 1949 to 1968, with all examples bodied by Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, they have a traditional half-cab design and a lower floor level allowing a low overall height. The earlier LD-series and the later FL and FS had a rear platform, most were powered by 5 or 6-cylinder Gardner engines, with fewer having a Bristol or Leyland power unit. An engineering option was designed to reduce the loss due to engine radiator fan operation. After experiments by Wing-Commander T. R. Cave-Browne-Cave, Professor of Engineering at Southampton University, the CBC system involved two small engine radiators being placed above the drivers cab roof level at the front outer corners of the double deck to give maximum aerodynamic air flow. The engine coolant water was pumped around these instead of the traditional radiator, in cold weather, all or a portion of the air passing through these radiators, was diverted by flaps, the left into the upper saloon and the right to the lower deck. In hot weather, the flaps could be changed by push-pull levers in the cab roof to divert all the hot air to the outside of the vehicle. The movement of the vehicle was adequate to cool the engine without the need for a fan or radiator at the position in front of the engine. The traditional radiator grille at the front of the vehicle was not required, varivane wax capsule operated shutters were fitted in front of the upper radiators to keep the coolant at optimum temperature. There were some disadvantages to the scheme and eventually customers stopped specifying it, the first prototype vehicle was operated by Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company Ltd Ltd who designed and made the chassis at its MCW which at that time was still an integral part of the company. There is a story that the first vehicle originally had two separate propshafts, one to each rear wheel with the differential at the front of the vehicle. This was soon changed to incorporate the differential into the gear train - a concept still used today by several international bus manufacturers. This was displayed at the Festival of Britain in 1951, whilst no Lodekkas were bought by any London based companies, they often worked into the capital on services operated by Thames Valley and Eastern National. With the arrival of more modern OMO or one person operated buses, such as the Leyland Atlantean and Bristol VRT, the exchange took place at the Carlisle depot of Ribble Motor Services. The Bristol Lodekka was also manufactured by Dennis under licence, and was sold as the Dennis Loline and this arrangement was necessary because the Bristol company was prohibited by law from selling its products at the time to anyone other than similar government owned undertakings. The design, though, was attractive to other operators, so this arrangement allowed them to vehicles to the same design. Sometimes the Bristol Lodekka can be offered as an open-top bus, in the early 1990s, Surrey based Leisurelink used a former Southern Vectis example on a weekend-only tourist service, linking Gatwick Zoo, Gatwick Airport and the Bluebell Railway
8.
First Norfolk & Suffolk
–
First Norfolk & Suffolk is a bus operator providing services in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup and it has seven depots which are part of five operating areas spread out across East Anglia. The five operating areas are Norwich, Ipswich, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, in July 1931 the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company was formed. It was a combination of the four existing bus companies in East Anglia, upon completion the major shareholders were United Automobile Services, Tilling & British Automobile Traction, London & North Eastern Railway and London Midland & Scottish Railway. Also included was the Eastern Coach Works in Lowestoft, by the end of the 1930s the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company purchased another 50 operators. In September 1942 Tilling & British Automobile Traction was placed in administration, in November 1948 it was nationalised and placed under the control of the British Transport Commission and in January 1969 became part of the National Bus Company. In preparation for bus deregulation, in September 1984 the companys operations in Cambridgeshire were transferred to a separate company, the companys coaching operations were also transferred to Ambassador Travel, Great Yarmouth. In February 1987 the company was privatised in a management buyout, in July 1994 it was sold to the GRT Group who in June 1995 merged with Badgerline to form FirstBus. In September 1996 the Great Yarmounth Transport business was purchased, in April 2011 the Kings Lynn based services were sold to Norfolk Green. First operates out of five main depots, each division provides services to the area around its depot. First Norwich operates services within the city centre of Norwich and to towns, on 23 September 2012, First Norwich relaunched its bus network with new colour branding for its routes. First Great Yarmouth operates services within the towns of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston as well as dedicated routes to Norwich and Lowestoft. The Great Yarmouth services operate out of the old Blue Bus depot on Caister Road which still retains its original frontage and is a building which dates back to the mid 1900s. The fleet consists of Dennis Trident double deck buses with Plaxton President bodies, other deckers include Wright Eclipse Geminis, both on Volvos B7TL chassis and the newer B9TL version. Single deckers in the fleet, like Norwich, are Volvo B7L Wright Eclipses and Wright StreetLites, First Lowestoft operates services within the town of Lowestoft as well as dedicated routes to Great Yarmouth, Beccles and Norwich. The Lowestoft services operate out of Britains most easterly bus depot, situated on Gordon Road, the double deck fleet consists of Volvo B7TLs with Alexander ALX400 bodies and Volvo B9TLs with Wright Eclipse-Gemini bodywork. The single deck fleet is made up of Dennis Dart SLF Alexander Pointer 2s, First Ipswich operates within and around the town of Ipswich to a radius of about 30 miles. The Ipswich services operate out of one depot situated on Star Lane and their double deck fleet only consists of Volvo B7TL Alexander ALX400 due to the height of their garage
9.
Bristol Commercial Vehicles
–
Bristol Commercial Vehicles was a vehicle manufacturer located in Bristol, England. Most production was of buses but trucks and railbus chassis were also built, the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company started to build buses for its own use in 1908 and soon started building vehicles for other companies. In 1955 this part of the business was separated out as Bristol Commercial Vehicles Limited and it closed in 1983 when production was moved to its then parent company Leyland. The first trams of the Bristol Tramways Company ran in 1875, in 1908 the company decided to build bus chassis for its own use, the first one entering service on 12 May. The Motor Department was initially based at the depot in Brislington, on the road that led east from Bristol to Bath. The Car Building Works there had been responsible for erecting electric trams and had gone on to build vehicles for the company. The first motor bodies built there had been three charabanc bodies constructed in 1907 for the Thornycroft buses delivered the previous year, during 1907 the bus fleet was transferred to the tram depot at Filton to the north west of the city. In 1908 the company built its first six buses, the chassis were erected by the Motor Department and three bodies each at Brislington and the companys carriage works in Leek Lane, north Bristol. In 1910 the company decided to build aeroplanes, forming the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, the best place for this work was the sheds occupied by the Motor Department at Filton, so motor repairs and construction returned to Brislington. The tram depot proved too small for the volume of work and so a new 4 acres site, to be known as the Motor Constructional Works, was purchased nearby in Kensington Hill, Brisington. In May 1914 it supplied its first bus to another operator, the Middlesbrough order was followed by a number of trucks for the Royal Navy Air Service. The Great Western Railway bought a controlling interest in the company in 1929. This brought Bristol Tramways and its activities into the Tilling Group. It was a decision by the Tilling Group to adopt the diesel engine as the standard power unit. Other companies in the group turned to Bristol to provide their chassis. Many Bristol chassis were taken to Eastern Coach Works at Lowestoft, another member of the Tilling Group, the un-bodied chassis were moved between the two towns by delivery drivers wearing substantial weatherproof suits. Bristol Commercial Vehicles was created in 1943 as a subsidiary of Bristol Tramways, the Transport Act saw the nationalisation of the Tilling Group into the British Transport Commission in 1948. BCV and ECW soon found themselves restricted to selling products to other BTC operators, nationalisation also brought the task of supervision of the Ministry of Supplys motor repair works at Kingswood
10.
Leyland Motors
–
Leyland Motors Limited was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries, buses and trolleybuses. It gave its name to the British Leyland Motor Corporation formed when it merged with British Motor Holdings, British Leyland later changed its name to simply BL, then in 1986 to Rover Group. Leyland Motors has a history dating from 1896, when the Sumner and Spurrier families founded the Lancashire Steam Motor Company in the town of Leyland in North West England. Their first products included steam lawn mowers, the companys first vehicle was a 1. 5-ton-capacity steam powered van. This was followed by a number of steam wagons using a vertical fire-tube boiler. By 1905 they had begun to build petrol-engined wagons. The Lancashire Steam Motor Company was renamed Leyland Motors in 1907 when they took over Coulthards of Preston and they also built a second factory in the neighbouring town of Chorley which still remains today as the headquarters of the LEX leasing and parts company. In 1920, Leyland Motors produced the Leyland 8 luxury touring car, parry-Thomas was later killed in an attempt on the land speed record when the car overturned. Rumours that a chain drive broke were found to be incorrect when the car was disinterred late in the 20th century as the chains were intact, at the other extreme, they also produced the Trojan Utility Car in the Kingston upon Thames factory at Ham from 1922 to 1928. Three generations of Spurriers controlled Leyland Motors from its foundation until the retirement of Sir Henry Spurrier in 1964, Sir Henry inherited control of Leyland Motors from his father in 1942, and successfully guided its growth during the postwar years. Whilst the Spurrier family were in control the company enjoyed excellent labour relations—reputedly never losing a days production through industrial action, during the war, Leyland Motors along with most vehicle manufacturers was involved in war production. Leyland built the Cromwell tank at its works from 1943 as well as medium/large trucks such as the Leyland Hippo, after the war, Leyland Motors continued military manufacture with the Centurion tank. In 1946, AEC and Leyland Motors worked to form the British United Traction Ltd, in 1955, through an equity agreement, manufacture of commercial vehicles under licence from Leyland Motors commenced in Madras, India at the new Ashok factory. The products were branded as Ashok Leyland, donald Stokes, previously Sales Director, was appointed managing director of Leyland Motors Limited in September 1962 originally a Leyland student apprentice he had grown up with the company. In 1968 Leyland Motor Corporation Limited merged with British Motor Holdings to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation, BMH brought with it into the new organisation more famous British goods vehicle and bus and coach marques, including Daimler, Guy, BMC, Austin and Morris. The Leyland diesel engines were used in Finnish Sisu and Vanaja lorries and buses in 1960s, the BLMC group was difficult to manage because of the many companies under its control, often making similar products. This, and other reasons, led to difficulties and in December 1974 British Leyland had to receive a guarantee from the British government. This division was split into Leyland Bus and Leyland Trucks in 1981, Leyland Trucks depended on British sales as well as export markets, mainly commonwealth and ex-commonwealth markets
11.
National Bus Company (UK)
–
The National Bus Company was a nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run itself, but was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies. Following the Labour Party victory at the 1966 general election, Barbara Castle was appointed Minister for Transport, Castle immediately ordered a review of public transport, with a view to formulating a new transport policy. Among the issues to be tackled were the ownership and operation of bus services, the state owned a considerable proportion of scheduled bus operators outside the major cities, having obtained the Tilling Group companies in 1948 as a byproduct of nationalising the railways. The Tilling Group was subsequently placed under the ownership of the nationalised Transport Holding Company, London Transport was also nationalised in 1948 and others voluntarily aquiesced, such as Red & White in 1950. When the Labour Party suddenly lost power to the Conservatives in 1951, however, in November 1967 British Electric Traction unexpectedly offered to sell its bus operations to the government. BET, who had been the major private bus operating group. The deal meant that the state or municipal bus operators now operated some 90% of scheduled bus services in England, instead of forming the regional authorities, the government published a white paper proposing the merger of the THC and BET organisations into a single National Bus Company. The recommendations of the paper formed part of the Transport Act 1968. The 1968 Act also reorganised the already nationalised bus operation in Scotland, the National Bus Company was formed on 1 January 1969. Buses were operated by locally managed subsidiary companies, with their own fleetnames and liveries, in the early years of the company, there was some rationalisation, generally leading to the amalgamation of operators into larger units and the transfer of areas between them. One was the merging of Aldershot & District with Thames Valley on 1 January 1972, another example was the transfer of the land-locked Trowbridge operations from Western National to Bristol Omnibus in 1970. Following the appointment of Fred Wood as chairman in 1972, NBC introduced corporate images, henceforward its coaches were branded as National Travel and painted in unrelieved white, with the NBC logo and the NATIONAL name in alternate red & blue letters. The services were rebranded as National Express soon afterwards, the addition of blue and white stripes appeared in 1978. The coaches were managed by a few areas and included travel agent booking offices based at major bus stations, a hub and spoke system operated with the main hub at Cheltenham. Around the same time the company launched a number of UK holiday services under the banner National Holidays. This brand and its travel agent booking offices existed until the mid-1990s when the coach holiday division closed, although NBC operated throughout England and Wales, it was not a monopoly. The NBC inherited from the Transport Holding Company 75% shareholdings in chassis manufacturer Bristol Commercial Vehicles, in 1969 NBC formed a joint venture with British Leyland, by means of which British Leyland became a 50% owner of the NBCs manufacturing companies
12.
Bristol LH
–
The Bristol LH was a single-decker bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in Bristol, England. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 in a variety of sizes and body types, including some as goods vehicles, the LH designation stood for Lightweight chassis, Horizontal engine. It replaced the Bristol SU and was succeeded by the Leyland National B Series for operators in need of a small or lightweight bus, the Bristol RE was in production at the same time for those in need of larger or more robust vehicles. The standard Bristol LH model was 30 feet long and it was also available as the 26 feet LHS and the 36 feet LHL. The width of the chassis was 7.5 feet but bodies as wide as 8.17 feet the then maximum width, the bus was available with a choice of six-cylinder diesel engines, either the Leyland O.400 or the Perkins H6.354. The 5.8 litre H6.354 produced 101 bhp, the usual gearbox was a Turner-Clark synchromesh five-speed model with overdrive top gear. The front and rear axles were sourced from British Leylands Bathgate factory, some buses were fitted with a SCG semi-automatic transmission and power steering. The engine was positioned in the centre of the chassis but its high position meant that several steps were needed in the entrance. This was arranged in the overhang ahead of the front wheels allowing one-man operation with the taking the fares. A small number of LHs, for Lancashire United Transport, Hants & Dorset, the radiator was positioned at the front of the chassis. The suspension was by leaf springs, although BCV had offered pneumatic suspension on heavier buses since 1962. Bodies were fitted by different manufacturers, who adapted them to the needs of different operators, bodies could be fitted out as buses, coaches or dual purpose buses which could be used for coach services when traffic demanded. Bus bodies usually came from the Eastern Coach Works, which was owned by the same Transport Holding Company and this was a government-owned company but Leyland had acquired a 25% share in 1965. Plaxton bodies were preferred for coaches, other manufacturers of bodies for the LH were Walter Alexander, Duple, East Lancashire, Marshall, Northern Counties, Weymann and Willowbrook. The only Weymann body was fitted to the first LHS6L built to the orders of Western Welsh, WWOC numbered their LHS1 and registered it MBO1F. It later passed to Thornes of Selby and is currently preserved, the LHS was produced as both buses and coaches with 26 to 35 seats. The LHL had up to 53 seats as a coach or 55 as a bus, between 1975 and 1982 Vanplan built eight with delivery van bodies. Altogether nearly 2,000 LHs were built,1,505 LH,174 LHL and 308 LHS, the following lists only include vehicles ordered by the company named, however many took additional vehicles second-hand from other operators
