LONDON COUNTRY BUS SERVICES MISCELLANY

[@theoldfunker]

What an amazing network of buses we use to have before it was broken up tp the rubbish we have now. My routes were 411,410,409,406,403,420,414,405,420 and 453 now I need a car to meet friends in the same area

[@keithwelton]

The days when bus drivers and conductors were paid pence per hour not £ss per hour.

[@trevorchambers1812]

Wonderful footage! I did intend to shut the music off but it seemed to fit somehow! What a well-ordered world it seemed back then - red buses for Town, green ones for Districts. Swinging inn-signs, High Street banks and primary-coloured Cortinas - I would feel more at home in the unfamiliar streets of Seventies Guildford than I ever will in today's home town.

[@RUOKH]

I was born in and lived in Crockenhill (on the 477 Dartford-Orpington route) from 1954 until 1972 and was known by all the Conductors on the 477. When the final 477 Routemaster ran, London Country searched for me (I then lived in Sevenoaks) and asked if I would travel on the very last conductor operated LCBS bus, as the 'clippie' (Gertrude) wanted me to be with her for the final run, which was Dartford garage to Swanley garage. The bus was loaded with press and bus enthusiasts and it was a very emotional journey. Gertrude then presented me with her 'clippies' licence badge, which I still treasure. RIP dear Gertie.

[@stevedawson256]

Fantastic story , bet you were really proud. I was in the Dartford area years ago only the two buses used were the 450 (single decker) betsham to Dartford ,I got on at bean as a kid . And the 480 (double decker) was Dartford to Gravesend. And that was about it .

[@reynardbizzar5461]

An RF at Windsor, on a Green Line and wearing later style NBC logo!! Amazing !

[@RUOKH]

@@stevedawson256 I remember the 450 route, on a Saturday it ran from Dartford to Gravesend at 12-noon as a duplicate as loadings were so heavy. At Bean Crossroads is met the 452 (Sats only to West Kingsdown) and what a sight, three RF's at this rural isolated crossroads!

[@Mounhas]

I used to live in a small village in Kent, Cudham. I’d walk from there to Farnborough Kent & catch a bus to Shoreditch without changing buses, this was back in the 1960’s. Then there were the Green Rover & Red Rover tickets, happy days!

[@peteryoung4957]

I enjoyed this. My father drove for London Country and London Transport green buses from, Two Waters garage, Hemel Hempstead and the green buses for London Transport. Living in Hertfordshire, I recognise Uxbridge and Windsor . His favourite to drive was the 708 to East Grinstead.

[@kristinajendesen7111]

I learnt to drive on an RMC and an RMA at Chiswick back in 1985. Best training in the world and such a loss to London when it was closed. The skid pan was great fun, cadence braking first then a full skid which you had to steer out of after the instructor yanked on the handbrake and pulled sharply on the steering wheel. Also part of the LT PSV test back then.

[@clivechadburn6342]

Probably there at same time ? I remember the massive canteen / restaurant were we all sat waiting for an instructor ! Ended up as a night general hand at Thornton heath . Still have my old company travel pass I usedi t( you could then ) on London country & British rail. Was a London footmessanger on my days of !! Nice little earner ! Free travel all over London !!! Lovely memories 👍

[@kristinajendesen7111]

@@clivechadburn6342 The instructors. Ex military and right evil barstewards at times. They got the best out of you though. I went under a bridge one day during training & the instructor said, "how high was that bridge?" Sheepishly I replied, "I don't know." "HOW DO YOU KNOW THE F*****G THING WILL FIT THEN!" Oh yes, I didn't take anything for granted after that 😳 Still got my 'Dead man's badge' - N54155. We liked to have an old badge & number rather than a shiny new badge.

[@billywhippet]

I started at Chiswick in 1979 as an apprentice welder. Used to ask the instructor at the skid pan if we could sit on the bus, best seat was upstairs, back seat. Best fairground ride ever.

[@avidpix]

No idea how this appeared in my feed, but took me right back to the 1960’s and travelling as a kid on the 406, I never knew why the buses were green, until today. 😮

[@52robbo]

Wonderful pictures, thanks very much. As well as the lovely buses, it’s great to see all the old cars of the time - Maxi, original mini, Cortina’s and even an old Rover. By the time these views were all taken, however, the damage had already begun with the separation of the Country Buses from London Transport to the National Bus Company and its repainting of its LT fleet into the hideous light green we see in most of these shots. But this was almost at the end of the wonderful London Transport era where Central and Country areas were properly run with beautiful buses and a thoughtful route network right through, across and around the capital. This was also when the powers that be decided to do away with most of the Green Line network - another great loss to London and its suburbs. Happy times! And thanks for sharing.

[@BarryBeeson]

There is a short clip of an RCL leaving St Peters Hospital Chertsey on route 461. This route was never operated by Routemasters except for a short period of about a week in the late 70s when Addlestone Garage filled their vehicles (all single deck) with contaminated fuel rendering them off the road. Vehicles where borrowed from surrounding garages and the Routemasters were used on the 461 as their were no low bridges, unlike many of the other Addlestone routes. I was a driver at Addlestone from 1973 to 1991. Great fun.

[@tattyshoesshigure5731]

Some great footage here, very evocative! I much preferred the original ‘holly green’ London Transport country buses were painted, don’t know why they changed it when ‘London Country’ took over!

[@steveedmondson7526]

Love the dents inthe roofs! And great to see so much spirited driving, bus was king back then.

[@arthurtownsend8843]

Marvellous. Great to see the 'old' Crawley pre County Mall construction.

[@heliotrope6217]

Used to go to Crawley from Three Bridges in late1950s and early 1960s, on the Green Line Bus.

[@terryjacob8169]

426A from Ifield to Three Bridges, daily, 1960's when I worked at Target Motor Company.

[@ianmcclavin]

I remember in 1975 on a visit to Windsor it was green RMLs everywhere, just a couple of years later, only two left on the 407 route (Langley Village to Cipoenham, with most of the other routes having been converted to single deck Nationals. Another 10 years on, and the bus network was virtually unrecognisable.

[@someusername1]

Fantastic, I really enjoyed that. Thank you! Although I am old enough to remember the Green Line buses I unfortunately never had a reason to use one. Nevertheless, I recognised some areas I used to live in there. I am feeling strangely old now. Can't think why....

[@johncourtneidge]

Beautiful! Thank-you. I turned off the music.

[@MissStar-yp5gd]

These were a great way to travel for so many they only stopped at a few locations getting the destinations very fast we need them again. Regards

[@truemanofkent]

Took me back to the 1950's, when I travelled on a 725 from Sidcup to Croydon and then on a 701 (I think) to Guildford and returned on the same day for a family reunion. I would not like to try it today.

[@TransportGeekery]

Wonderful. I *just* caught the end of the green bus era growing up in London in the 1980s with buses like 310 to Hertford and 735 to Oxford Circus.

[@leedavis66]

The 735 was the northern end of the original 715, which was split in central London in 1976, (I think), to reduce the effect of congestion. The 715 was the first Green Line Route to be allocated Routemaster Coaches, which had platform doors. They ran the service 1962-1972.

[@TransportGeekery]

@ I was fortunate enough to recently ride a heritage RMC from Hertford to Guildford recreating route 715. I think it took about 6 hours!

[@leedavis66]

@@TransportGeekery scheduled time in the 1960s was approximately 3.5 hours. By the 1980s the truncated 715 was allowed about an hour and 40 minutes to run from Guildford to Oxford Circus, via Kingston instead of Tolworth. That was my era of using the service.

[@simonjones7727]

Almost forgotten now was the symphony orchestra on the top deck of all these services and their repertoire of neo -romantic piano concertos. Sometimes, when it got busy the soloist would break off from their performance of "Cornish Rhapsody" "Warsaw Concerto" or "Song for Olwen" to help the ticket collector and the orchestra would fill in with a little Delius or Albert Ketèlbey. I remember too that the concert piano could sometimes shift alarmingly on the steeper parts of the Finchley Road or at Dollis Hill roundabout. Those were the days!

[@davidm8930]

Albert Ketèlbey, not 'Arthur Ketelby'.😄

[@simonjones7727]

@@davidm8930 Thank you! Have corrected.Marvellous days, these travelling bus orchestras, though. Many fond memories.

[@RUOKH]

Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto (used for Brief Encounter) is very apt for this lovely cine compilation - thank you for sharing this video with us all.

[@bustersw1760]

Wow, what a memory jerker. I was a driver at Tring (TG) and Amersham (MA) garages, and the clips done around High Wycombe (Castlefield Estate, Micklefield Estate, The road up to The Morning Star, which I can`t remeber the name of now, Penn Pond and Uxbridge Station, terminus of the 305) brought so many memories of my time on LCBS and it`s successors. I haven`t been in that area now for so many years as I`m long retired. Shame there weren`t more clips from the areas covered by Tring and Amersham garages, as most seem to be down south.

[@stephenrandall3551]

I used to work out of the High Wycombe garage, first doing the “locals” and then onto Greenline, driving the 724 to Romford and the 711 to Reigate. Great days.

[@stephenrandall3551]

The road up to the Morning Star pub was Bowerdean Road, or Totteridge Road if you were coming from the station.

[@bustersw1760]

​@@stephenrandall3551 Hi. I was at TG until it closed in April 1977, which if I remember right, was about the same time that HE closed. I transferred to Amersham, so we took over the HE routes. I dd the 706 Green Line at Tring, and at MA I did the 790, which went from MA to Victoria via Wycombe. On the closure of HE, we took over the HE routes, like the 363, 365 and 326, as well as the 305, and kept our own routes like the 353, 335 and 326. The 790 became the 290 and went from Oxford to Victoria. MA closed a few years later so we went to the new "depot" at Cressex, which had a code but I can`t remember it now. From there we did all the old MA and HE routes. I didn`t like the HE routes, so left Cressex and went coach driving.

[@bustersw1760]

@@stephenrandall3551 Ah yes, that`s it, The Morning Star at Bowerdean Crossroads.

[@RaymondFunnell-bs1wl]

I like the video of the different buses including the modernised RFs

[@Dominic-mm6yf]

Wow takes me back,the 406 used to run from Reigate to Kingston I think.

[@PreNeanderthal]

It certainly did. When I started work at 15 at a bank in Epsom in 1960 I used to catch the 406 in Ashley Road to travel to where I lived with my parents in Tolworth. In those days they used to run a 406 express (with blue destination blinds) in rush hours which only stopped in Ewell and Stoneleigh and if I caught one of those I used to get a thrill of superiority when we used to overtake the ordinary service bus.

[@BigPaul62]

My Grandad was an Inspector on the London Country, based at High Wycombe. He passed away in the mid 50's unfortunately before I was around but I would have loved to have met him.

[@stephenrandall3551]

What was his name?

[@Phil-oj5nr]

Living in Guildford we had the 715 Green Line to Hertford. I only ever used it to central London, but over the years have travelled round London on the Routemasters right up to the end of their use, although I have lived overseas for 61 years. We made three trips back in recent years, and travelled on a Routemaster Hop-On-Hop-Off service in Edinburgh. I took a photo of the bus and the driver got me to get in the driving seat, a thrill for me as I have been driving buses over 560,000 km’s since 1991.

[@leedavis66]

You might be interested to know that the 715 was the first Green Line route to see Routemasters, (RMC sub-class) in 1962.

[@michaelwest6238]

Funny you say that my dad was conductor out of Addlestone bus garage on the greenline and used to go to stevenage I think long before the m25 now that's a journey

[@johnrafferty8087]

Great Video of a bygone time. Love the choice of music. Sound like it's from a silent film where someone's going to be a Cad and a Bounder

[@simonjones7727]

Yes, that's perfect, but things like "Warsaw Concerto" were actually from a mini genre of 1940s films that usually combined plot elements featuring (1) remote coastal settings (2) tragic concert pianists and (3) psychoanalysis. There were quite a few, things like "Spellbound". The combination with the buses here should not work at all but there is some magic alchemy about it and turns what might have been mildly diverting to a non specialist into something intense and surreal. To me anyway.

[@RobertSweet-nw4tm]

@@johnrafferty8087 some of the music is from the ballet The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky

[@mpc02eg]

Many thanks for this. It is greatly appreciated.😊

[@jamesavenell]

I was married during the 1970s & familiar with this sight in the Guildford area, there was a Country depot there. But further back during the 1940s/ 50s in the Woking area. Used to travel on the Q class single deckers, Woking station to Kingfield Green. Double deckers, Kingfield Green to Guildford via Clandon Cross Roads or to Ripley then transfer to a Red just up the road to Kingston. Loved it all, great sport. From the Green mentioned one could go via Sutton Green to Guildford on the Aldershot Traco that veered off via Loop Road & Westfield. Great excitement for me as I was a bus & train enthusiast from Reading, where it was all Corporation, Thames Valley & Kemps, later Chiltern Queens.

[@ians7980]

Very nice selection, John.

[@DavidSmith-648]

I remember the London Country bus 491 from Barnehurst Station up to Belvedere and Erith (in the Bexley borough). My uncle used to call it the Green Line bus.

[@Ben-xe8ps]

I lived in Crayford so remember the 491 plus the 486 467 and 480. I also remember when in the early 70's the 491 changed from double deck to single deck, part of it's route and part of the 486 route were swapped. Don't think it went to Erith though; I think it terminated in Upper Belvedere. 491 wasn't a Green Line service. The Green Line routes in that area were the 701 Gravesend to Ascot via Central London, 702 Gravesend to Sunningdale via Central London and 725 Gravesend to Windsor not via Central London.

[@robertnixon8625]

Looks like the Harlow footage was 1978 or later, as (long defunct) Advice Centre can be seen, which opened that year, also spotted an 'R' plate dustcart. I have no recollection of RM's doing the Town Service routes in Harlow in the late 70s - I thought they went straight from RT's to Atlantean's in late 1972

[@theenergyflowtribejamesbro1302]

What a wonderful treat, thank you. I would suggest the film footage to be around the mid-seventies onwards based upon the white NBC logo was superseded by the red/blue on white square NBC logo from around 1977 and that the Routemasters had all been sold to LT by 1980.

[@IndigoJo]

I grew up in Croydon and remember the green buses of the early 80s, Atlanteans mainly, gradually supplemented by Olympians, and Leyland Nationals (I don't miss them) and the Duple Dominants on the Green Lines, gradually replaced with Plaxton Paramounts and Leyland Tigers (I think). I saw a lot of red Routemasters as a child but I don't remember seeing any green ones.

[@malcolmwooden8639]

My dad drove London Country from Crawley to Amersham. I don't remember the route number but it was a long drive for him, before the days of the M25.

[@mikejames6105]

I think the dates are from the early seventies because the cars are the ones that were very common when I was at secondary school between 1968 and 1975. Both the buses and cars bring back childhood memories.

[@mattylamb9194]

mid seventies I would say. Some Mk2 Escorts on the clips and Mk 1 Escort was still current in early seventies

[@adrianbanks2089]

The Good old Days ! I Was With L.T From 1969 a R.T on The Skid Pan ! ( i Was at Sidcup Garage in Kent )😊

[@RogerNorman-q6x]

The terminus at the start was West Croydon before it was altered. I ran the alteration project must have been early 80’s. Remember the old tarmac was really heavily tracked where the buses ran but really well compacted. As a kid the 407, 408 and 725 ran past the end of the road my parents lived in as well as numerous Red buses.

[@Nimboid-20]

The 330 at 7mins is in Welwyn Garden City, by what was then Welwyn Department Stores, now John Lewis.

[@stevedoubleu99B]

As a boy, my fun trip was the 370 to Tilbury Ferry. I can't remember if I boarded at Romford or Hornchurch but it was great fun to do. I think it was an RT bus at the time.😊

[@johnbristow8099]

As an ex-native of High Wycombe I found the footage of the 363 near my ancestral home most interesting.

[@stephenrandall3551]

I used to drive the 363 in my time at London Country in High Wycombe.

[@aaronsmith9209]

Why did this have to be broken up and sold off?! This is long before my time but I have a map of the network in 1971 and it covered a huge area around London and the home counties and it made so much sense. The Greenline routes especially would be so useful today, only the 724 (Harlow-Heathrow) really survives in a meaningful way today. The whole region around London operates as one place socially and economically and transport needs to be treated this way again, the current fragmented buses are seriously holding us back and creating so much unnecessary traffic. I live in Cheshunt, so just outside of London and the buses today here are embarrassing and fragmented, even getting to somewhere like Chingford is a mission now as there is no direct bus from Waltham Abbey or Waltham Cross. Thankfully the trains are good but many journeys can't be reasonably served by them in the way London Country used to. It feels like there is a hard border around London today in terms of buses and that urgently needs to change. Buses need to be integrated again. I really enjoyed seeing the Green Routemasters in so many familiar places.

[@thecockerel86]

It had to be broken up and sold off because the people of this country voted for it, along with all the other national assets. We have done so repeatedly since 1979.

[@john07973]

Seconded

[@AndreiTupolev]

A must have been brand new S reg (1977/8) Ford Granada, in lovely metallic green,16:27!

[@AndreiTupolev]

And the other fascination of these old clips is all the other vehicles. You could spend all day pausing it from scene to scene and identifying all the other vehicles. Splendid AEC tanker seemingly anxious to get past the RMC @ 1:15. 😁

[@leedavis66]

4:23 Given LT's bias against reversing turns it seemed somewhat surreal to recreate the 363 turning movement at Penn on several occasions around 15 years ago with an RML.

[@stephenrandall3551]

They made a turning circle at Totteridge at the other end of the 363 so you didn’t have to reverse round the corner.

[@gordonsimpson729]

This is gold dust.👍

[@john07973]

Good stuff 👍 from age 11 I was 441 from Farnham Royal to Slough and then walk from the Station to SGS then at 16 to Windsor for East Berks College

[@Hol1984]

Is the thumbnail included in this footage? It looks like Epsom to me, but I can't find it. I did spot Epsom at 16:00, and Epsom Downs a bit later.

[@trolleybus654]

No - it's just a separate photo

[@TriflingCircle]

Lived in Erith. For a birthday present, probably third, 1942, I wanted a ride on green bus from Belvedere. Father took me and we caught trolley bus back home. 698 or 696. Probably cost my father 9d borh rides. Remember the ride. Felt no different to red bus.

[@AndreiTupolev]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that RMs, and even RTs, looked pretty good in NBC green.

[@RobertSweet-nw4tm]

What portentous music. One would think that the Martians had landed rather than the anachronism of these quaint old buses.

[@simonjones7727]

I love it! The combination of the Warsaw Concerto, on what sounds like a cassette tape that spent too long in the sun on the dashboard of an Austin Maxi, and these pictures of Outer London suburbs is completely sublime.

[@josephboulderstone-salthou3188]

Video is great,music awful

[@AnthonyAnthony-o4v]

Green Routmasters, brilliant. 😊

[@rogerkearns8094]

I remember! Wood Green to Southend and back. [Edit] But I seem to recall that the buses were brown.

[@HampsteadOwl]

Wood Green to Southend was an Eastern National route 251, not London Country or Green Line. Same NBC green livery though. If the buses were ever brown that was before my time..

[@rogerkearns8094]

@@HampsteadOwl That's right! The brown buses were replaced by the green bus route 251, I was trying to remember that number. The brown buses were running in the forties and fifties (and possibly earlier) and the grown-ups I knew called them Country Buses.

[@iankp5901]

City Coach Company buses were brown. Operated Southend to Wood Green

[@rogerkearns8094]

@@iankp5901 Yay! That's great to know, thank you.

[@RichardDavey-q5c]

Interesting but amazing how Grays routes get very little coverage.

[@davidluck4608]

The RMC London Country version of the Routemaster had an incredible Eleven Litre engine which I learnt to drive on at Chiswick Works Central Driving School in 1980❤️❤️❤️

[@john07973]

🇬🇧💪

[@delboyoelmundo4718]

Remember the 715 to Hertford used to get on it in Palmer Green and go to stay with gran and grandad in Hertford q luxurious inside

[@billking2896]

Loved the Rover P4 at about 6:40

[@London1064]

Great video

[@mrdemocracy7106]

A time sadly missed in this country Look at the state of the country now😢

[@stephenmontague4089]

I caught the 406 or 714 to school.

[@raythomas4812]

lovely

[@ScottHindle-qv6mq]

What was the year?

[@SajidHussain-lj5mr]

Wery nise buss

[@jacksugden8190]

The writing was very written on the wall with break up between London Buses and the incoming London Country Bus Services Ltd, RMC AND RCL Green Liners demoted to bus duties, shortage destination blinds, buses became shabby, Brentwood was so much nicer in the 1960’s with both Central and Country buses, lots of Eastern National ECW Lodekka’s, even they to came to OMO in the 1970’s, with closed of Brentwood bus garage in North Road in 1995 😢.

[@carlwalker1843]

I enjoyed watching the London Country Bus Services video but l wasn't keen on the music.

[@the-801]

Half a Grays VR 18:40 !

[@bigmick562]

Not a foreign vehicle to be seen...

[@AndreiTupolev]

I saw quite a number of Japanese vehicles, and Renaults, VWs, quite a few Saabs .. a very cute Daf 44 at one point

[@rogerking7258]

And the award for most inappropriate backing music on an interesting video goes to.............................................

[@trainandbusfan5706]

The video was great.However it was spoiled by the awful music.

[@RobertSweet-nw4tm]

Or perhaps they are sugar-plum fairies

[@MahatmaLevolence]

London before it was made an Islamic caliphate. Refreshing.

[@MannyAntipov]

since when did that happen?

[@paulcarter4429]

@MannyAntipov Exactly. Where do these people come from ?

[@RobertSweet-nw4tm]

These green buses have been blessed by Mohammed (peace be upon him)

[@RobertSweet-nw4tm]

Does anyone remember the East Ender’s favourite - the 400 to Southend-on-Sea?

[@MahatmaLevolence]

@@paulcarter4429 England.

[@essexandy189]

We used to have a green double decker come through Dagenham i think it then changed to single decker or we had both i can’t exactly remember

[@quaverboy63]

The days when you could get on a bus and feel safe. I wonder why that changed? 🤔

[@davedavis4269]

Back in the days when the name Khan didn’t exist 😢

[@RaymondFunnell-bs1wl]

I like the video of the different buses including the modernised RFs