Editorial

Issue nr 360
Wednesday. August 13th, 2025

Past Issues : https://www.oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk/

From the Editor

A bumper issue with much for readers to enjoy, including more detailed pictures of the new Thames Travel River Rapids.

Well over 250 photographs provided by my contributors

In this issue

Oxford Bus Group expands services for Oxford United home games

The Provincial Society bus rally at Gosport by David Gray

The Arriva X5 history by Tony Bungay - Part 3.

London Update Tuesday 29^th July 2025 from Gavin Francis

COMS buses that have been numbered 360 by Grahame Wareham

Jack Cooper's photo-shoot with the new River Rapid 80987

London Update 2nd August 2025 by GF and NEC

Visitor to Stokenchurch by Gavin Francis

Keith Briant with a Welsh Interlude

Readers Write with Matt Cooper

Fleet News & Developments

London with Andrew Webb

Jack Cooper was in Yorkshire

Oxford Bus Group expands services for Oxford United home games

Oxford Bus Group will lay on extra services to and from local villages to Kassam Stadium for Oxford United home matches this season.

Oxford Bus Company, Thames Travel and Pulhams will operate seven dedicated services for English Football League matches and selected cup games.

The OX2, OX3, OX5 and OX7 will return from last season, while the OX1 from Wantage and the OX4 from Chinnor have been added. The OX8 route has been extended and will now start at Chinnor.

The Group confirms that the journeys will be covered by the government’s national £3 single fare cap.
Oxford Bus Group will lay on extra services to and from local villages to Kassam Stadium for Oxford United home matches this season.

Oxford Bus Company, Thames Travel and Pulhams will operate seven dedicated services for English Football League matches and selected cup games.

The OX2, OX3, OX5 and OX7 will return from last season, while the OX1 from Wantage and the OX4 from Chinnor have been added. The OX8 route has been extended and will now start at Chinnor.

The Group confirms that the journeys will be covered by the government’s national £3 single fare cap.

Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Group, says: “We’re really pleased to expand our Football Special services for a second consecutive year ahead of the start of the new season on Saturday.

“It represents not only a boost in attendances for the football club following its promotion to the Championship, but also an increase in demand from fans opting to travel to games using sustainable methods of transport.

“The Football Special services are an important community asset and help supporters to attend matches and support their local club safely, while helping reduce congestion and carbon emissions.

“It’s an exciting time for Oxford United fans, with the start of a second season in the Championship on the horizon and prospect of a multi-functional new stadium which we are wholly supportive of.

“It’s great that our Football Special services will be back on the road this weekend and we wish everyone Oxford United all the best for the season ahead.”

The Provincial Society bus rally at Gosport by David Gray

It did need a bit of patience for some of the bus line-ups. One favourite was the tower wagon with the tower raised in the second photo.
There were a number of buses in service, operating a shuttle service to Fareham Railway Station and also regular trips to Gosport bus station.

The Arriva X5 history by Tony Bungay - Part 3.

Following on from the previous section and still in Berkhamsted, but now in the middle of the Town

VDL SB200/Wright 3032 stands near the old Town Hall,
another vehicle at Hemel originating from Arriva in the North West.

Interestingly the vehicle still wears Arriva's original livery and looking in very presentable condition to. The writer wonders whether Hemel is the only place where it is possible to see the whole history of Arriva in it's main colour schemes. As original Bus, later Bus and Current Bus liveries can all be seen there as well as Max and earlier Sapphire Brands without actual Brands as well as the last Sapphire scheme, some still fully branded. I am sure some readers will beg to differ n that!

Enviro 400mmc 6524 crosses the busy traffic light controlled junction as it heads towards it's stop
near The Old Town Hall in Berkhamsted, on a Hemel bound X5 a week before Arriva gave up the route.
Being a Saturday this route was now an hourly frequency. Before the new A41 was built this was the main road and therefore
was very busy. Despite the now newish A41, the amount of traffic has increased considerably, so on busy days tailbacks at this junction occur,
and also traffic light controlled road works and vehicles doing deliveries can severely affect time keeping reliability.

After Northchurch the countryside opens up more. The West Coast Main Line and the Grand Union Canal diverge away from what is now the old A41.

With the hill line of Ashridge in the distance Enviro 400 5462 heads for Aylesbury, it's garage when new 10days before Arriva withdrew from the X5.
The West Coast Main Line may be glimpsed, but unfortunately no train come along to illustrate the location!

Almost near the summit of it's climb and not far from Tring, is Volvo B7RLE?Wright 3887 Aylesbury bound, on a dull late April 2025 day

Again former Arriva North West VDL SB200/Wright 3759 originally 2681 puts in an appearance on the X5,
this time on the downward slope to the previous photo of 3887 heading for Hemel Hempstead.
The ancient long distance footpath known as the Ridgeway from Avebury in Wiltshire
to fairly near here Ivinghoe Beacon, crosses the road not far up from the rear of the Bus.

VDL SB200/Wright 2949 making another appearance on the X5. It has just stopped to set down at the stop in Tring town centre.

The stop was known for many years as Tring The Rose and Crown, as the Hotel of that name stood and indeed still stands very nearby. The big difference being that the Hotel has in the past 10 years of so become private apartments. A large building boasting what appeared to be a Tudor frontage was actually built in the early 20th century. The writer seems to recall the actual Bus Stop was actually located a bit nearer to the hotel before the change.

Anybody who has ever watched the film The Shillingbury Blowers starring Trevor Howard, Jack Douglas and Diane Keen amongst others, may recall a scene near the end of the film, where in a desperate bid to get to the Brass Band Finals, 2 of the characters hitch a lift in an MG (I think). Only for it to break down, the point of this narrative is the actual scene was filmed about here and as an added bonus they were passed by a London Country series B Leyland National. as the film was made in 1979 the vehicle would have been fairly new. Unfortunately it was not possible to see if the bus was operating the 301, as about that time they frequently worked the Green Line 708 to!

3759 yet again! must have been a popular choice for drivers when I was taking the photos that week!
Loading again in Tring but opposite side of the road to 2949,
behind the Bus Shelter is the 15th Century Church of St Peter and St Paul

Part 4 follows in the next issue. Ed.

London Update Tuesday 29^th July 2025 from Gavin Francis

Today’s trip to London started in Dartford and looking back at my records I had not been there since 1974 so a bit of catching up to do.

I was hoping to see many of the new Irizar Trams on the Fastrack services but surprised to find that there were only a few out and there were still many Citaros, E200s and MMCs which started the service forming a large part of the run out.

Citaros MEC 8 and 12 operating Rte B to Gravesend.

Irizars were represented by Ie 39, Ie 41 and Ie 42 operating Rte A

SE 47 was operating Fastrack A and SEN 65 Fast Track B

Another reason for going to Dartford was to get pictures of Rte 96 which Stagecoach lose to Arriva early in 2026.

Stagecoach E400s 12341 and 19841 operating Rte 96

Smaller operators in the area were represented by Go-Coach Solo YJ62FUG on Rte 429 and 1^st Bus Stop E200 CN13EHD which was passing through.

Arriva still maintain a presence in the area both with red buses and their own national livery.
Arriva 4335 on Rte 480 and Arriva 4092 on the 477. It’s nice to see these long standing route numbers are still being used
as they go back to London Transport days as shown by RT 4740 and RML 2343 in the 1970s.

Then it was back on the train a few stops to Sidcup Station.

The buses in this area are a contrast of some of the oldest buses in London along with the latest Stagecoach electrics.

Representing the older generation were Go-Ahead E241 on Rte 269, WVL 455 on Rte 51,
Arriva T323 on Rte 229, T321 on Rte 302 and Metrobus 158 on Rte 233.

At the opposite end of the age scale, Stagecoach have nearly completed the conversion of the SL3 to electric buses.
In the correct livery was 80412, 80405, 80413, 80407 plus 80419 in red livery and on its last days on the route LT 129.

Back on the train again a few more stops to Lewisham. This is a very busy area for buses and many of them pass the Railway Station.

With the opening of The Limehouse Link Rte 129 was extended through it to Gallions Reach and new EBD class buses introduced represented by EBD 83 and 82.

Rte 321 is another route with a BYD allocation but they were being assisted today by E252 and E 253.

Rte 21 has been LT allocated for a long time but it was another route needing assistance from another class this time EH 268.

Catford Garage normally puts out MMCs on the 47 but gradually electric buses are being introduced.
MMC 13081 represents the MMC class and 82055 the new electrics.

Next was a trip on the DLR to Crossharbour Station. This is the terminus for several routes which are now all operated by Stagecoach.

The D6 has a mixed allocation of single and double decker buses. 36578 is an E200, 11020 an MMC and 19850 an E400.

Rte D8 has been restocked with Volvo BZLs as represented by 86212, 86182, 86183 and 86197

Other routes operated by Stagecoach at Crossharbour are Rte 135 (13123)and (13145), and 277 (12415).

And that concluded the day, time to board the train back home.

An excellent and detailed article. Ed.

COMS buses that have been numbered 360 by Grahame Wareham

L360 NFC311 1949 AEC Regent III 9612A with NCB L27/26R Low-bridge body. In 1952 L360 was renumbered L145 and continued in service until March 1963 when it was withdrawn and sold to TPE (dealer), Macclesfield. Later in August 1963 it had passed to Wallace, Nottingham as a driver training bus lasting until 1967.

360 DFC360D 1966 AEC Renown 3B3RA with Park Royal H37/28F forward entrance low-height body. These buses were very similar to the previous 1965 batch but had and a small additional coolant header tank under the bonnet to assist the now fully pressurised cooling system introduced by AEC on all later AV590 engines. In 1971 360 was converted to OMO and allocated to Wantage and then Witney garage from 1974. In December 1978 360 was converted into a permanent driver training bus receiving yellow livery to denote its new role. It had covered these duties occasionally some time before its conversion. In 1985 360 was withdrawn along with the other AEC training bus 340 as by now these were unsuitable as they didn't represent what was the normal type of bus drivers were actually using in service. I purchased 360 along with 340 for preservation and for a time 360 was on display at the Oxford Bus Museum as a chassis only exhibit.

360 J1OXF 2013 VolvoB5LH with Wright Gemini 2 low-height H45/27F body. These were parallel hybrid diesel electric vehicles using battery power to initially move the vehicle from rest to engage the diesel engine through a normal servo assisted manual transmission. When new 360 was used mainly on 2 and 5 routes in the City but from March 2021 360 was repainted into a light blue allover base colour and rebranded as a City 2, along with 361-363, 365 & 366.

On 22/12/2023 360 was reregistered.OE62ZRP prior to eventual cascade to Go North West; however the franchising arrangement was altered and 360 became TFGM/Stagecoach 13183 on transfer ]

Another fascinating page of Oxford history. Ed

Jack Cooper's photo-shoot with the new River Rapid 80987

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A most useful and interesting selection of the new livery. Ed.

London Update 2nd August 2025 by GF and NEC

Earlier in the year I wrote a London Update dated 1^st March 2025 and commented on how poor I thought the appearance of the Arriva buses on the SL5 route.

I am pleased to report that new BYD electric double deckers are now on the route and Nigel Eadon-Clarke was out on Saturday 2^nd August to record the new arrivals.

ED 67, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78 are seen along the line of route.

Arriva could not quite manage a full run out of electrics as ENX 12 was still in service.

I've gone even further west this week and managed to grab a few photos during a recent stay in Pwllheli, with a few trips out in a week that alternated with sun and rain. The town has a population of only around 4000 inhabitants of which some 80% speak Welsh. The area has a wealth of what those of us of a certain generation would call 'traditional independents', but with Transport for Wales franchising not far off, a lot of the local bus operator characteristics could soon be lost forever. The town has a good network of services that link local communities, but some understandably have low frequencies.

Caelloi Motors are one of the main local operators, running the trunk service 3 from Porthmadog to Pwllheli. This passes the large Haven Holidays site where we stayed and in years past was Pwllheli Butlins. In it's heyday it provided a large volume of bus traffic and until the 1990's Caelloi still operated 4 double deckers on holiday traffic, 3 former Manchester PTE Daimler Fleetlines and an ex Southdown Bristol VRT were amongst those used. The site unusually has the Cambrian Coast railway line running in a cutting through the middle of it, with a bridge joining the 2 parts of the site.

These photos illustrate Caelloi's entire bus fleet, which is regularly updated. Their newest is YP73 BPZ, a Scania K280CB with rarer Higer Fencer bodywork.

Caelloi's origins go back to 1851 when founder Tom's Huws had to give up his farm job after an accident. A sympathetic local farmer gave him a donkey (some sources say a horse) and he was given a set of wheels and enough wood to make a cart. This enabled him to start work as the village carrier. The business has remained in the family ever since and claims to be Britain's oldest established bus and coach operator.

Similar BV22 HCA is a similar bus, seen with Criccieth Castle in the background.

Caelloi's name is said to be the name of the original family farm. The bulk of their work consists of UK and continental holidays and day trips for which a fleet of modern coaches is owned. One such vehicle is YN14 EDF, a Scania K360EB4 with Irizar coachwork formerly with Harry Shaw of Coventry.

Berwyn Coaches, based in Trefor, operate 3 local routes. Their T18 CBC, is an Optare Solo SR, formerly registered YJ15 ASU and new to Garelochhead Coaches. Most of their buses carry CBC registrations and a further example is T12 CBC.

The more well known operator in enthusiast circles is Clynnog and Trefor Motor Co Ltd. The spelling Trevor was used originally. The company was founded on 1st April 1912 and was unusual amongst local operators for being founded as a limited company. The original shareholders were a local 'gentleman', a labourer, 3 farmers, 2 sett makers (stone workers), a joiner and for good measure, a local church minister!

The company now only has one bus service, route 12 which links Pwllheli with Trefor and Caernarfon.

Two Optare MetroCitys are owned, one of which is YJ15 AAO, which was new to Airport Parking, Copthorne.

The third bus owned is BV23 NTC, a Volvo B8RLE/MCV Evora. A large coach fleet is also operated.

I visited Pwllheli's only bookshop and found a very interesting book on the history of the company, as to be expected for the area, it was written entirely in Welsh. The friendly shop owner helpfully pointed out that the illustrations were in English though!

Finally, another local operator is Nefn Coaches who run 3 services from Pwllheli using Optare Solos. MX07 JPF was one of the oldest buses seen. Newnto Vale of Cheetham, it has served with a variety of operators since.

For those looking for more information on this interesting area, Independent Buses in North Wales, written by Neville Mercer and published by Venture Publications as Super Prestige Number 27 was published in 2012. It's a fascinating read and I used it for some of the above information. The book is currently available as a free PDF download on the MDS Books website with a number of other titles through this link: https://www.mdsbooks.co.uk/downloads

I hope that you and your family are well. I've just been away with mine to Chalaborough in Devon, between Paignton and Plymouth. Burgh Island sits 300yards across from the mainland and is accessible on foot (or car) when the tide is out. When the tide is in the Burgh Island Hotel's sea tractor begins operation! Departures are hourly from either side and the timetable is fluid (pun intended!) with the times of high tide. Luckily last week it fell during early morning and early evening allowing the chance of a trip and some refreshment and the 13th century 'Pilchard Inn'. The contraption is the third generation and dates from 1969, the first was built in the 1930s, it's designer receiving a case of champagne in exchange for the design!

The second I took today (Tuesday 29th July) whilst visiting Northampton. St. James Depot was the home to Northampton Corporation Transport with trams initially housed before the motor bus fleet. Through subsequent ownership First ran from the site until they left the town in 2013. Since then it remained vacant, although Church's shoes (who operate from the building next door) bought the bus depot with hopes of expanding their operations to both sites. This never came to be and the depot was sold back to the council. Houses are planned although some of the structure which fronts St. James Road will be kept. Sad that a museum was not approved as in other towns and cities but money talks and the constant need for housing seemingly more important. Anyway, I grabbed a few shots of the rapid demolition work. The main part of the depot which dated from the 1930s was remarkably free of clutter, pillars etc which was a great piece of engineering. Very few things for vehicles to potentially hit! It also made for a bright and airy space as can be seen around the digger at work separating the materials which had just been pulled down.

The Stagecoach training bus made a stop while I was there. This was referred to by Northampton Transport as 'garage out' so it could be entitled garage out for good. The EMR lorry was departing from the space where buses once set off for a day's work with a 'ro-ro' container full of rubble. Perhaps a nice tribute would be to name the new street 'Daimler Close' or 'Corporation Crescent'?!

I have a few photos to sort out this week and a few 'article ideas' to compile for you so I will say farewell for now and I ll be in touch again very soon.