Roll over image to zoom in
The British Transport Commission Group: Former Thomas Tilling Companies in the 1960s
£11.70£23.80 (-51%)
This fascinating and informative book looks at the Tilling Group of bus companies during the 1960s. These operated approximately half of the inter-urban and rural bus services in England and Wales, and were nationalised by Clement Attlee’s Labour Government in 1948 under the control of the British Transport Commission. Ownership passed to the Transport Holding Company Ltd in 1963, though the fleets remained under Tilling Group control. During the period covered by this book, the operators within the group had very standardised fleets, with the vast majority of their buses and coaches having Bristol chassis and Eastern Coachworks (ECW) bodywork. This was a result of these manufacturers also having been nationalised and controlled by the BTC and THC. However, some Tilling Group operators still had earlier vehicles with, for instance, AEC or Leyland chassis, which were acquired prior to the requirement for them to buy only Bristol products, whilst some also had coaches with Bedford or Ford Thames chassis built in the 1950s and 1960s. Unlike the BET fleets throughout England and Wales, most Tilling fleets also had highly standardised liveries, either of red with cream relief, or green with cream relief for their stage carriage buses, or the reverse of this for their coaches. There were some exceptions, though. The most obvious ones were Midland General and Notts & Derby, whose livery was an attractive dark blue and cream; as well as the Royal Blue coaches of Southern and Western National and the maroon and cream coaches of Thames Valley subsidiary South Midland. All Tilling Group companies became part of the National Bus Company in early 1969, and before long their traditional liveries became just a memory when the NBC imposed standard red or green liveries. Throughout most of the 1960s, Jim Blake travelled to these operators and photographed their vehicles, and spent many summer Saturdays at London’s Victoria Coach Station, where their service buses as well as express coaches could be seen. He was fortunate to capture much of this changing transport scene on film, and presents some of these photographs in this volume. Many have never been published before.
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Pen & Sword Transport (18 Jun. 2018) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 156 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1473857228 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1473857223 |
| Dimensions | 21.59 x 2.54 x 28.58 cm |
by Amazon Customer
The author of this book has produced a number of books over the years, mainly of the bus scene in London past and present. The photographs in this book are all taken by the author in the 1960’s in Black and White, and were taken on trips he made to many of the what were state owned bus companies that operated before the formation of the National Bus Company at the end of that decade. Photographs have been reproduced to a fair to good standard, this reflects the quality of the camera used and the lighting conditions at the time, not many cameras then had built in light meters! One photo being taken in appalling weather in Bristol. As said in the title this book shows what buses were like in a different age, a scene that would radically change within ten years of many of these photos. The author has covered a wide range of operators and locations, though probably as a result of being on trips, many photos are taken at operators depots and bus stations, an additional point of interest being how many of these places still exist and are still being used for the same purpose. Despite being compelled to operate standard vehicle purchased inhouse, the author has not only shown the variety of standard Bristol/ECW types but also included some other makes that were being used, generally through take overs or being taken over, Midland General AEC Regal, Red and White Guy Arab, former Silver Star minibus being good examples. Also in the book he has managed to include it what was in essence shape of things to come in shape of Bristol VRT!
by John Howden
An excellent album
by Adam Kelleher
Superb! Excellent photos. Highly recommended.