The original Wilts & Dorset bus company first came
into being in February 1915 operating just one bus in the Salisbury area. The company grew as services developed and
smaller operators were taken over. In
1948 Wilts & Dorset was nationalised as part of the Tilling group. From 1st January 1969 Wilts &
Dorset became part of the National Bus Company.
Under the auspices of the NBC the Wilts & Dorset fleet name
disappeared in 1972 as the company was merged with Hants & Dorset. Following the 1980 Transport Act, the NBC was
split up and the name Wilts & Dorset returned to the sides of the buses in
1983. Following deregulation in 1986 a
new privately owned Wilts & Dorset re-emerged in 1987. The next milestone was in August 2003 when the
company joined the Go-Ahead Group and along with Southern Vectis, Bluestar,
Marchwood, Damory and Tourist became Go South Coast. In Salisbury the buses are now branded ‘Salisbury
Reds’ and in the rest of the network the name ‘more’ is the brand
name.
The
year 2015 marks the centenary
of the formation of the Company and it was decided by the Company that
it
should be marked in style! An event was
planned for Sunday 14th June 2015 to take place on the Market Square
in Salisbury. A large number of preserved
buses and coaches were invited to operate a number of services that
would have
operated over the past 100 years. As you
would expect, the independent transport videos cameras were on
hand to record the day’s events for posterity and for you to
enjoy! We start the day bright and early at the
Market Square as the display buses get into their positions, these
buses being
representatives of the current Go South Coast fleets. Then it is
action all the way! Our filming locations are all around
Salisbury
city centre for most of the day including Blue Boar Row, Castle Street,
Silver
Street, New Canal, Minster Street, Winchester Street and Mill Stream
Approach. All the visiting buses are
filmed, along with the normal Sunday operations of the current
Salisbury
Reds fleet. This includes the two
Scania double deckers in heritage liveries, one being the 1930s red and
grey
livery, the other in Tilling red and cream and both are seen in service
on the
r1 route. In the late afternoon a photo
shoot was arranged featuring the five oldest Wilts & Dorset buses
attending
on the day. This was done at the coach
station and included a Bristol L, Bristol KSW, Bristol LD and two
Bristol
REs. Our final scenes of the day are
back on Blue Boar Row and the Market Square as the display buses make
for
home. We would like to thank Andrew
Sherrington and the “H&DW&D” group for their help in the making
this
programme, and for organising such an enjoyable event.