As on a number of times it has been seen for 2 X5 journeys to come along 5 minutes apart! Here Enviro 400mmc 6527 passes 6524 both on the X5!


On the penultimate day of X5 operation, VDL SB200/Wright 3032 passes Aylesbury Theatre on a late afternoon Hemel bound journey.

As a footnote

Red Eagle Enviro 200mmc working Service 500 to Hemel Hempstead also passing Aylesbury Theatre
about 5 minutes before the previous photo of 3032.

The introduction of the 500 was possibly a contributory factor in the demise of the X5. It will be interesting if any writer will do a concise history of the route or the area in the future and gain access to the factors and decisions that culminated to the current state of affairs.

The writer feels the situation come about due to whole variety of different reasons, certainly as with many services the Covid pandemic and the resultant social changes will have impacted. The changing nature of shopping and the perceived or actual decline of town centres may well have reduced passenger demand. Many of the places on the X5 route are highly affluent, and judging by the number of expensive cars seen going through these places, it seems that the drivers would be extremely difficult to tempt to use a bus!

The traffic calming measures adopted and the increased use of traffic signals, as well as the same for even seemingly minor road works all impact of time keeping reliability and increased journey times, again making bus use less appealing. The road between Aylesbury and Aston Clinton is the scene of extensive new housing developments, how this will translate to Bus services or usage and routes remains to be seen.   

 This has been a fascinating article so well done to Tony. Ed, 

 

Route 275 High Wycombe to Oxford change by Gavin Francis

Friday 29^th August saw the last day of Carousel operating the 275 route from High Wycombe to Oxford. They have operated it for the past 2 years taking the service over from Red Rose but on Monday 1^st September it past back to them.

The route only operates between Monday and Friday and only requires 1 bus but a wide variety of buses have been used on the route and a selection of them and locations is shown below. I am sure there are plenty more buses which I have not included.

In High Wycombe

 
Originally each journey was the full route but it was changed so that apart from the last journey
they only come from Oxford as far as Chinnor.YX70OLO was subsequently repainted into Carousel Country livery.

In Stokenchurch

It’s 1^st September 2023 and YY64GXK operates the first Oxford bound service

     
 
There are only 2 opportunities to get 275 pictures in Stokenchurch, 07.15 Oxford bound
and 18.30 High Wycombe bound. YW68OWJ is still in its First Bus livery. 

In Chinnor

   
   
The terminus in Chinnor is at Red Kite Road, a quiet road alongside the Chinnor to Princes Risborough Steam Railway.
YW68OWG is another bus still in First Bus livery. When Carousel took over many routes when Arriva pulled out of Wycombe
buses came from many sources including short term loan YY18THZ which came from Ensign Bus. 

In Oxford

 
Oxford is always a very busy city and YY64TXH is seen in St. Aldates and YW68OWG is seen in The High Street
in Wycombe Bus Company livery giving details the areas local bus routes.

Last one on 29th August

It’s the evening of August 29^th in Stokenchurch and YW68OWF just has a few more miles to run to complete the operation of Carousel on Route 275.

Many different buses have been used on the route but one thing that has remained constant is that Carousel driver Adam has apart from holidays worked the route every day for the past 2 years. I am sure he will be missed by his regular passengers and also myself. If he saw me taking a picture he would always pause so I got a good quality result and we had many talks at the terminus at Chinnor. Will be looking out for you in the future. 

An excellent record of Carousel with the 275. Ed. 

Keith Briant with his Midland Interlude

A catch up with Arriva Midlands around my area last week. 

I mentioned last week that there had been some changes to tendered services in Leicestershire and Warwickshire. One of these affected my local service, the 7 from Burbage-Hinckley-Nuneaton which was withdrawn. A partial replacement has been provided by Warwickshire County Council at the Nuneaton end. The sister route to the 7, the 7A which runs through the villages to the north of Nuneaton and west of Hinckley was retained and renumbered to 7. 

 

Here Optare Solo 2523 (YJ07 MJE) is seen departing Nuneaton bus station on service 7. The second photo was taken some time ago and shows former Crosville Wales 2501 (CX58 EUA). This bus is now withdrawn and had reused a fleet number previously carried by a similar bus. 

 

Following inter depot transfers there are now are 8 Wright StreetLite WFs based at Hinckley and the type are now widespread in the locality. Here 2316 (LM64 JOJ) is seen operating service 7 on the last day. Secondly, similar 2317 (LM64 JOU) is seen passing the massive Tesco Distribution Centre at Hinckley on the same route. This section of road no longer has a scheduled bus service. 

Along the left hand side of the Tesco base is a short section of overgrown and abandoned railway formation which was briefly part of the Ashby & Nuneaton Joint Railway. This was jointly owned by the London & North Western and Midland Railways. The stretch was a spur from the main line which would have enabled trains to reach Hinckley without having to go through Nuneaton station. This link spur was built in the 1870's for political reasons that are too lengthy to explain here! It was opened and then immediately disconnected when the company realised that although the act of parliament stipulated that it had to be built, there was nothing in the act that said it had to be operated, so it never saw a service train and was used to store wagons!

 

My replacement local bus is the Warwickshire contract mentioned above, the 64 from Nuneaton to Callendar Farm, a large housing development close to the Leciestershire border which hasn't had a service through the estate until now. Don't be fooled by the idyllic name of Callendar Farm as they've now built houses on it! 2317 (LM64 JOU) is seen on Tuesday 27th August,  the first day of the 64 and 2315 (LM64 JOH) is photographed on the previously unserved estate. 

From Saturday 30th August the 65 from Tamworth to Nuneaton is also extended to Callendar Farm via Nuneaton's George Eliot Hospital and the southern edge of the town. Photos will follow. This route is operated by Tamworth depot. Here Mercedes-Benz Citaro 3031 (BD12 DHJ) is seen at Nuneaton bus station on the 65. This is now a driver trainer (T012) allocated to Telford. 

Scania OmniLinks were previously regular buses used on the 65, but have all now been withdrawn. Here 3503 (YN08 HZP) is seen leaving Nuneaton bus station for Tamworth. 

 

VDL SB200s with Wright Pulsar bodywork can be found on both the 158 from Nuneaton to Leicester and the 65. Here 3758 (YJ61 FEH) is seen on the latter and 3796 (FL63 DWW) on the former. Within a couple of minutes 3758 will be heading westbound on the A5 Watling Street and passing over the former Ashby and Nuneaton Railway. This part is a footpath known as Weddington Walk and a few miles further north a section has been restored as the Battlefield Line. It was the original intention of the then Market Bosworth Light Railway to restore the line as far as the A5, but unfortunately this wasn't possible. 

Finally, a general view of Barwell (Hinckley) depot at 7.30am on Sunday. More of the usual vehicle types can be seen and a large black cat that wasn't wearing the required high viz! 

Next week I'll focus on the return of the Centrebus name to Hinckley after 12 years with a bit of recent Hinckley area nostalgia!

Andy Millwood with Buses in Midlands

Thought I'd send you a few interesting photos.


Photo 1  shows an Electroliner which I understand worked for Reading


photo 2 shows a Custom Denning Element 2 39001


Photo 3 shows driver trainer 4168


and finally 1760 at a local bus stop!!! 

Nice updates on the midland scene  Ed.

Grahame Wareham remembers COMS buses that have carried the fleet number 363. 

L363  NWL711 1949 AEC Regent III with NCB L30/26R lowbridge body. L363 was renumbered L137 in the new divided series in 1952.  L137 spent its life at most of the country depots to the west of the City and was withdrawn in January 1963. It was subsequently sold to Transport (Passenger Equipment) Ltd.,Macclesfield  (dealer) in March 1963. It was sold on to Homer & Jones, Quarry Bank in November 1963 and lasted with them until September 1965 when it was scrapped.

   

363  DFC363D 1966 AEC Renown 3B3RA with Park Royal H38/27F forward entrance low-height body. 363 spent its early life as a Oxford Cowley Road based bus used on City routes.363 was fitted with an experimental CAV DP4 injector pump from new. It had a distinctly more ‘clattery’ enigne note and it stayed with this bus until the engine was changed sometime during 1971 when it was also converted to OMO. It had been transferred to Witney by 1974 . 363 visited Bonn,Germany as part of Oxford Twin Town celebrations in 10/74, it received yellow masks and was headlamp fitted with GB plates on the rear, the latter which was retained until withdrawal which came about in December 1977. It was sold to Ensign Bus (dealer) in March 1978 and immediately despatched to E.Beckett (dealer), Carlton, Barnsley for scrap. 

     
     

363  M1OXF  2013 Volvo B5LH with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 low-height H45/27F body. It featured  Volvo parallel hybrid technology using battery power when available to move the bus up until the first gear change into second gear where the engine automatically starts and the bus proceeds as a normal diesel bus. 362 was originally delivered in red City livery and operated mostly on service 2. In 2018 it received a livery change for route 2 and pale blue became the route colour. In 2022 the route 2 buses were rebranded as route 3's and 362 plied this route until February 2024 when it was despatched to Stagecoach Manchester to run the franchised services on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester becoming 13187 in that fleet, It was reregistered OE62ZRV prior to departure and has since been repainted in the TFGM canary yellow.

     

As ever, fascinating. Ed.  

Kevin Fuller with pictures from Reading and Didcot

I had a trip out on 21st August, covering Reading, Wallingford and Didcot. As Wallingford was extensively covered by other correspondents last issue, I'll just send some from Reading and Didcot. 

   
Firstly, a couple of Carousel buses, and a First Airline coach, all in Reading.

      
     
A few of the multi coloured fleet in Reading.


More Reading Buses. I was lucky to see a brand new Zebra branded Alexander Dennis on driver training duties, which I include in this batch.


A few from Thames Travel - the Tri-axle decker was in Reading, the others at Didcot Parkway station.

     

A final few at Didcot, of Thames Travel vehicles.

Oxford Exiles in Salisbury by Keith Briant

Having been born and spending over half my life so far in the Salisbury area there was plenty of bus variety with some slightly less than standard Hants & Dorset vehicles; then the privatised Wilts & Dorset; market day services on Tuesdays and Saturdays and coaches carrying visiting tourists. Most of the companies that operated market day services were taken over by Wilts & Dorset in the 1990's, but a very small number remain. 

A number of contracted services in the Salisbury and Andover areas were won by Wheeler's Travel of North Baddesley (Hampshire) in the mid 2000's. They had to aquire a significant number of buses at short notice, some of which entered service in their former owners colours, but they were soon repainted into their bright orange fleet livery. Here former Thanes Travel Optare Solos P1 OXF (YG02 FVY) and L1 OXF (YG02 FVV) are seen on tendered Salisbury city services around 2014. Both were new to Reading Buses and passed to Thames Travel as 715 and 714 respectively. Surprisingly, Thames Travel sold them still carrying these prized registrations. Wheeler's are still trading and provide private hire, rail replacement and school transport, but no longer operate stage services. 

 

A long established Dorset operator was Adams Brothers of Sixpenny Handley, who traded as Victory Tours, a business which had lasted through several generations of the family. When the last family member retired in 2004 they sold the business and it was renamed before undergoing further changes of ownership and then ceased altogether. They had a fleet of immaculate modern coaches used on holidays, private hire and schools work and a small number of local stage services, including one twice a week from their home village to Salisbury. In complete contrast to their coaches, which at this time contained several of the rarer Duple 425 integral model supplied new, was this rather past its best looking Bristol VRT, one of the smaller number built to the extra low height of 13ft 5in. GUD 750N was new to City of Oxford Motor Services as their 438. I took this photo alongside another enthusiast and we both took a ride through the Dorset lanes. It was still quite sprightly despite being 14 years old at the time. It was never repainted and used on schools work and occasionally on this service. 

 

Finally, Salisbury was and still is a popular tourist destination, along with nearby Stonehenge. Heyfordian of Upper Heyford were regular visitors. 2110 UK was a Plaxton bodied Leyland Leopard PSU5/4R formerly registered KBW 118N seen in Salisbury some time in the early 1980's. It was new to the company. 

My cousin was the Russian spies postwoman. When the whole saga happened she said to me "I never knew he was a spy", to which her husband replied "if you did, he wouldn't have been a very good one would he?!"  

An interesting piece. Ed. 

Andrew Webb visited Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire

Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire is a picturesque small town nestling on the edge of the Cotswolds with many of the buildings constructed from locally sourced Bath stone.  The bridge across the River Avon dates from Norman times and is still the only crossing point for vehicles in the town.  Bus stops on the south side of the bridge provide access to the compact town centre and other local facilities. 

The main bus route through the town is the D1 run by First linking Bath with Winsley, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster on a broadly hourly daytime frequency.  This is supplemented by the D1X which offers an express service between Bath and Trowbridge via Sally in the Woods which does not serve Winsley.  It is on the express route that Enviro 400MMC 33492 is seen on 29 August.  The introduction of a Clean Air Zone in Bath requiring Euro 6 buses has seen First gather together a range of compliant vehicles from across the group leading to a varied selection of liveries.  This bus wears Bristol Unibus colours with the branding removed. 

Between 20 July and 31 August work on a railway bridge at Limpley Stoke meant the D1 followed the D1X route between Bradford on Avon and Bath.  In the evening and all day on Sundays and Bank Holiday Monday the D1 double ran to serve Winsley.  At other times Beeline ran W1 on a roughly hourly frequency using an Enviro 200MMC from Bradford on Avon to run a one way loop around Winsley.  On 29 July the bus pauses in Winsley roughly half way round the loop with the blind already reset. 

 

Other services in the town are infrequent council tenders providing socially necessary links to outlying villages.  Typical of these is service 96 operated by Frome Minibuses which traces a circular route starting from Trowbridge.  Monkton Farleigh has already been served as the bus leaves Bradford on Avon headed for Trowbridge via Westwood.

Andrew Simmonds with Buses at the Shrewsbury Steam Rally August 2025
2025 Shrewsbury Steam Rally Awards - Shrewsbury Steam Rally




       
     
   
 

I found this an interesting selection of vehicles I had not seen before. Ed.

New Wallingford bus route launch amid 'plague of roadworks'

A collaborative effort to improve public transport in Wallingford has proved a success as a new bus route to connect the town has launched despite "a plague of roadworks". 

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/25431297.success-wallingford-new-bus-route-connect-town/

An interesting development. Ed.

AS a resident of Tring for 55 years interested in public transport I thought you might like these two photos of Tring Garage to go with the X5 articles , one I took in London Country days and the other I obtained of the LT era.

Somewhere I have a couple of slides taken of the yard at the time the RTs were being replaced by MBS’s. I will try to track them down. I always remember getting on a MB at the main Tring stop. The driver could not engage gear to restart it so he got up and kicked the side panel hard and all was well.

Friday August 29th saw the last day of Carousel Buses operating service 275 from Oxford to Chinnor. This service is being taken over by Red Rose Travel.

Gavin Francis

The Boss campaign features a male and female version.
 The male version is seen on Arriva's LT813 arriving at Victoria on route 38.


The same location is the setting for Go Ahead's LT856
which features women on the offside as it heads for Deptford on route 453. 


Male models can be found on the nearside of the design as Transport UK's LT714
shows passing Waterloo whilst headed for Euston on route 68.

London advert update - 28/8/25

'Lift London' is a weightlifting event taking place at Drumsheds (a large nightclub in the former Ikea store in Enfield) on 30 and 31 August. 

VXE729 from RATP's sightseeing fleet promotes the event as it circles Trafalgar Square on 28 August.