Reliance Motor Services: The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company
Between the two world wars and in the years that followed, several generations relied on country buses. In the days when few could afford a car, the bus was the medium to move between homes in often remote villages and the places where they increasingly went to school, worked and enjoyed their leisure hours.

This is the story of one such chain of villages across the Berkshire Downs — and the family-owned business that grew up around satisfying their needs.

George Hedges came back from World War I to become a horse-drawn carrier, but with ambitions to motorize his business. With his family taking the wheel in the 50s and beyond, Reliance extended its reach nationwide and even internationally.

The small village where it all started, Brightwalton, woke in the mornings to the cough of diesel engines from both Reliance buses and a relative’s lorries. When both businesses departed, the village lost many of its jobs, its two pubs and very nearly its school.

This book is not just for bus lovers but for anyone who looks back with fondness on the era before the motor car choked free movement and changed life.
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Reliance Motor Services: The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company
Between the two world wars and in the years that followed, several generations relied on country buses. In the days when few could afford a car, the bus was the medium to move between homes in often remote villages and the places where they increasingly went to school, worked and enjoyed their leisure hours.

This is the story of one such chain of villages across the Berkshire Downs — and the family-owned business that grew up around satisfying their needs.

George Hedges came back from World War I to become a horse-drawn carrier, but with ambitions to motorize his business. With his family taking the wheel in the 50s and beyond, Reliance extended its reach nationwide and even internationally.

The small village where it all started, Brightwalton, woke in the mornings to the cough of diesel engines from both Reliance buses and a relative’s lorries. When both businesses departed, the village lost many of its jobs, its two pubs and very nearly its school.

This book is not just for bus lovers but for anyone who looks back with fondness on the era before the motor car choked free movement and changed life.
49.95 In Stock
Reliance Motor Services: The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company

Reliance Motor Services: The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company

Reliance Motor Services: The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company

Reliance Motor Services: The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company

Hardcover

$49.95 
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Overview

Between the two world wars and in the years that followed, several generations relied on country buses. In the days when few could afford a car, the bus was the medium to move between homes in often remote villages and the places where they increasingly went to school, worked and enjoyed their leisure hours.

This is the story of one such chain of villages across the Berkshire Downs — and the family-owned business that grew up around satisfying their needs.

George Hedges came back from World War I to become a horse-drawn carrier, but with ambitions to motorize his business. With his family taking the wheel in the 50s and beyond, Reliance extended its reach nationwide and even internationally.

The small village where it all started, Brightwalton, woke in the mornings to the cough of diesel engines from both Reliance buses and a relative’s lorries. When both businesses departed, the village lost many of its jobs, its two pubs and very nearly its school.

This book is not just for bus lovers but for anyone who looks back with fondness on the era before the motor car choked free movement and changed life.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781526760340
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 07/08/2020
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David Wilder was born and raised in Chaddleworth, his roots in the Downland villages of West Berkshire stretching back over many generations. He and Barrie Hedges travelled to school together by bus for seven years, quickly establishing an enduring friendship. Fascinated by buses, coaches and their operation from a toddler, David fulfilled a dream by completing professional training in bus and coach management in the North West and Wales, subsequently occupying senior positions with various operators, latterly Newbury & District. Happily married and living with wife Jane back in West Berkshire, David is proud of his three children, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
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