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2019 was the Centenary
of the first Reading Corporation motor bus service which was
heralded by a civic run on Friday 5th December 1919 and
commenced public operation on 6th December 1919. The
service ran from Tilehurst (Plough Inn) to Caversham Heights
(Harrogate Road/Albert
Road) via Caversham Bridge.
This
was a significant milestone and TV&GWOT Supporters
pooled their expertise and collections to produce a book
which charts the evolution of the Reading routes and buses
to be seen about town in each of the subsequent decades from
the 1920s to the present day.
On
Friday 6 December 2019 Reading Buses, with TV&GWOT and BTS
support, celebrated in style with a civic run using the
oldest preserved Reading bus (47) and a modern day vehicle.
Reading Buses even had a celebratory cake prepared.
On Sunday 8 December
the centenary was be marked by
five
Reading buses from different eras
re-tracing the original route via a control point in St
Mary's Butts:
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BTS’s 1935 AEC Regent No. 47, the
oldest metal framed double deck bus in preservation
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TV&GWOT’s 1976 Jumbo VR No. 38 |
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1979 Metrobus No. 162 |
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1964 Reading Mainline Routemaster No.
25 (later renumbered 425 by Reading Transport) |
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1992 DAF Optare Spectra No. 701
making a surprise appearance having been newly
restored. |
The planned schedule was maintained with good
passenger loadings throughout the day. Some passengers even
managed to sample all the vehicles and both Caversham and
Tilehurst sections of the route.
TV&GWOT’s commemorative book, “100 Years of Reading Motorbuses”
was launched at the event to great acclaim. Produced
with the help of TV&GWOT’s Reading based Supporters
it
charts the development of the Reading
routes and fleet decade by decade from December 1919 to the
present day.
The book is B5 format
(between A4 and A5), 84 pages, soft bound and includes 160
illustrations, over 100 in colour.
Priced at £11.95 it can be
purchased exclusively here with the
addition of £2.50 post & packing.
To order by post for £14.45 including
p&p either:
- Send cheque payable to ‘TV&GWOT’ to
Ledger Farm, Forest Green Road, Fifield, Maidenhead SL6 2NR;
or
- Pay by Paypal (including any postal /
delivery instructions in the notes)
Information about previous Thames Valley and Reading events
can be found here.
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