Buses Galore At Brooklands Museum

Published on: 23 May, 2018
Updated on: 23 May, 2018

By Bob McShee

I can remember when living in London in the 1950s, waiting for a bus and having to wait for a long time, then when one came along they would all come in together.

Buses on parade at Brooklands Museum.

Brooklands Museum at Weybridge held the London Bus Museum’s fourth spring gathering in April when many buses arrived together, these mainly being former London buses and some from local bus companies.

One route that used to serve Guildford was the Greenline route 715 which started at Hertford bus station then came through London to Victoria bus station before continuing on to Ripley, Burpham and then terminating in Guildford, a journey of 70 miles.

Greenline bus on route 715.

Can you imagine how long that bus would take today? In 1968 it took two hours and the fare for the whole journey was 10 shillings (50p).  The bus on display in the paddock at Brooklands was RT 2083 one of 4,825 built by London Transport for use in central London and its country bus routes.

The front display panel of the bus shows that it was a 715 relief bus to Guildford which would be an extra bus to the timetable, probably running to cater for extra passengers.

Routemaster No.1.

The class RT bus was first built in 1939, then ceased production during the war, during which time many old buses were kept running until new buses were built from 1946.

There were many types of buses used in London until the new Routemaster bus came into service in 1959 and they survived until being replaced by ‘Bendy’ buses and ‘Boris’ buses in the 2st-century.  On display at Brooklands were the first RT and the first and 1,000th Routemaster buses.

Safeguard single-decker on display.

Also in the paddock outside the Club House was a locally built Dennis Loline which was supplied to Aldershot & District in 1962. Another local bus on display was a preserved Safeguard single decker.

London Transport had a bus garage in Mary Road in Guildford, which is now used by Arriva. Aldershot & District had a garage at the junction of Woodbridge Road and Ladymead (now a Magnet kitchen showroom).

The next bus event at Brorklands Museum, titled On the Buses, is on June 24 and will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary since the last Routemaster was built and will feature bus rides which will include a horse-drawn bus.

Share This Post