| The
Hants & Dorset bus company had its origins
in Bournemouth and by the nineteen twenties
had spread through Hampshire and Dorset, covering
Bournemouth, Poole, the New Forest, Hythe,
Southampton, Romsey, Eastleigh, Winchester
and Fareham. The Tilling group and the Southern
Railway became major shareholders. With railway
nationalisation in 1947, The British Transport
Commission became a shareholder. Shortly afterwards
Tillings sold their bus interests to BTC and
Hants & Dorset became a state owned company.
In 1969 the setting up of the National Bus
Company brought all the nationalised bus services
into one big group. |
 |
| The
main bus operator in Winchester was the King
Alfred Omnibus Company, owned by the Chisnell
family. The company ran all the city routes,
to Harestock, Highcliffe, Morn Hill, Oliver's
Battery, Stanmore, Weeke, Winnall, and some
outside the town, to Basingstoke, Broughton,
Crawley, Fisher's Pond, Owselbury, Sparsholt,
Sutton Scotney, Whitchurch. Some of the out
of town routes were withdrawn, including the
1 and 2 routes to Fisher's Pond, or combined
in the case of the 8 (Broughton) and 9 (Crawley).
King Alfred buses ran from the 9th of October
1922 to the 28th of April 1973 when the routes
and buses passed to Hants & Dorset. |
|
| Other
out of town services were operated by: |
| Aldershot
& District: 14 Aldershot. |
| Hants
& Dorset: 47 Southampton, 48 Southampton,
66 Salisbury, 67 Petersfield, 68/68A/68B Andover,
69 Fareham. |
| Wilts
& Dorset: 66 Salisbury, 68/68A/68B Andover,
111 Basingstoke. |
| Buddens
Coaches, Greyfriars Coaches, Hursley Coaches. |
|
|
|
|
| There
are a good number of preserved vehicles from
each of the main companies, which can be seen
at events throughout the year. These include
enough King Alfred vehicles to operate a complete
network of routes on running days in Winchester. |
|
|
See Friends of King Alfred Buses on page 67
for a link to their website.
|
|
