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THAMES VALLEY 100 - 02 August 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TV&GWOT mounted a major event to celebrate 100 years since the commencement of bus services in the Thames Valley by British Automobile Traction, the forerunner of The Thames Valley Traction Co, a BAT subsidiary. The first service (No. 1) ran Maidenhead – Reading – Streatley and commenced on 31 July 1915. The service was inaugurated using five 1913 Brush bodied Leyland S3.30.T type single decks transferred from BAT subsidiary Barnsley & District and operating under the ‘British’ fleetname. Remarkably one of the vehicles which started this service 100 years ago, registered HE12, still exists and has been restored to original Barnsley & District livery by ace restorer and Leyland expert, Mike Sutcliffe MBE who brought HE12 to the centenary event. HE12 has since been acquired by the National Tramway Museum at Crich.
The TV100 event started with a cavalcade of preserved Thames Valley buses which left Bridge Avenue, Maidenhead at 9.10am, the time of the first departure from Maidenhead 100 years. This included 1913 Leyland S3.30, HE12 which provided the climax of the cavalcade arriving in Reading to great cheers after its 13 mile journey along the A4. The cavalcade travelled along the Bath Road (A4) and through Twyford to Reading where the older vehicles went on display in the pedestrianised forecourt on the south side of Reading Station.
© Ricky Sutcliffe
Free vintage bus services operated throughout the day from the South West Interchange at Reading Station which is on the site of the terminus used by Thames Valley buses and adjacent to the site of the former Reading Bus Station (which had recently been demolished for commercial redevelopment). Services operated over the original Route 1, Maidenhead – Reading – Streatley. Vehicles in service included:
Details of the accompanying event programme with articles about the route origins and history can be found here. (c) Shaunbd1010 |
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(C) Copyright The Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust Company Registered in England No. 5035702. Registered Charity No. 1125980 |