Bus Museum - Hants & Dorset / Wilts & Dorset - Holidays - 1960
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2 to 15 day
holiday tours
      2-DAY TOURS
TOUR No. 12   Exmoor
TOUR No. 13   Wye Valley and Stratford-on-Avon
      3-DAY TOURS
TOUR No. 1   North Devon
TOUR No. 2   South Devon
TOUR No. 16   Lincolnshire Tulip Fields
TOUR No. 10   Blackpool Illuminations
      4-DAY TOURS
TOUR No. 9   Isle of Thanet and Canterbury
      5-DAY TOUR
TOUR No. 6   Norfolk Broads and East Coast
      6-DAY TOURS
TOUR No. 3   Devon and Cornwall
TOUR No. 5   Blackpool and English Lakes
TOUR No. 11   Harrogate and Yorkshire Dales
      7-DAY TOUR
TOUR No. 4   Wye Valley and North Wales
      8-DAY TOURS
TOUR No. 14   Scotland - The Lakes - Wales
TOUR No. 18   Scottish Highlands and John o' Groats
TOUR No. 19   Loch Maree and Western Highlands
      9-DAY TOUR
TOUR No. 17   Southern Eire
TOUR No. 15   Western Highlands and Isle of Skye
TOUR No. 20   Western Eire
      12-DAY TOUR
TOUR No. 7   Scotland and The Lakes
      15-DAY TOUR
TOUR No. 8   Scottish Highlands and John o' Groats
FARES

These are fully inclusive and include Reserved Coach Seat, good hotel accommodation with dinner, bedroom and breakfast, early morning tea, newspaper (when available), luncheons and teas en route and gratuities to hotel staff.

The holidays that linger longer

EACH YEAR we are able to announce an increasing number of patrons of our carefree holiday sevice, and in our 1959 season nearly 4,000 passengers were carried. From the many letters of praise it is established beyond doubt that these inclusive tours are one of the most popular and enjoyable ways of holiday making. Rest and relaxation are combined with the pleasure of sightseeing and of having every detail planned in advance by an expert staff who each year put all thir efforts into improving the standard of the previous year.

For 1960 we offer improvements in some of the old favourites and new tours have been planned, one to the Western Highlands including Loch Maree, and an additional tour to Eire covering the Western region as an alternative to the tour of Southern Eire which will remain in the programme having proved so popular in 1959.

The springtime tour of the Lincolnshire tulip fields, and to Skye, the island of romantic legend, again were in great demand and are being repeated.

We advise our patrons to make their reservations as early as possible, and for those who have not before travelled on one of the Company's touring holidays, the following notes may be of interest:

The charges for these tours are fully inclusive in every sense and provide not only reserved coach seat, hotel accommodation (including gratuities) with dinner, bedroom, breakfast, early morning tea and newspaper, but luncheons and teas on route (including gratuities) at selected restaurants and cafés, all of which have been inspected for satisfactory service.

A fleet of modern coaches, specially designed for long-distance cruising and constructed to the latest standard of luxury is used exclusively on these tours. For most tours coaches are fitted with armchair seats, each individually adjustable to three positions and spaced so as to give ample leg room. Adequate sun-shading and ventilation have received attention, when, in emergency or for any reason, these special coaches cannot be used the substitute coach is of the latest design as used on long distance day tours and with a very high standard of comfortable seating and interior finish. Rugs for each passenger and optional heating complete a standard of comfort unsurpassed in road travel.

The Couriers are drivers of long experience and specially selected for their courtesy and skill.

The itineraries include the best-known beauty spots, historical monuments, famous towns and places of interest.

Seat reservations may be made at any of the Company's Offices or appointed Booking Agencies, particulars of which are given at the end of this brochure.

All coach cruises will, as far as possible, be operated as advertised, but the Company reserves the right to cancel or alter any tour if conditions make such a course necessary, or there have been insufficient bookings.

Pricing information
Guineas (gns) to Pounds Conversion
1gn = £1.1s.0d (one pound and one shilling) or £1.05 in decimal currency.
gns   £ s d   £ p 2010
6   £6.6s   £6.30 £108
  £8.18s 6d   £8.92½ £153
9   £9.9s   £9.45 £162
  £9.19s 6d   £9.97½ £171
10   £10.10s   £10.50 £180
12½   £13.2s 6d   £13.12½ £225
17   £17.17s   £17.85 £306
19   £19.19s   £19.95 £342
19½   £20. 9s 6d   £20.47½ £351
22   £23.2s   £23.10 £396
27½   £28.17s 6d   £28.87½ £495
28½   £29.18s 6d   £29.92½ £513
29   £30.9s   £30.45 £522
30½   £32.0s 6d   £32.02½ £549
32   £33.12s   £33.60 £576
40½   £42.10s 6d   £42.52½ £729
51   £53.11s   £53.55 £919
Prices were often shown in guineas rather than pounds so that they appeared lower than they actually were (50gns is £52.50) although there were no guinea coins or bank-notes. This table shows the tour prices in pre 1971 pounds, shillings and pence with the post 1971 decimal (£p) equivalent.
2010 values are an approximate guide to the amount these prices would be today using the retail price index. In relation to average earnings, the 2010 price would be about double that shown.
The coach driver would have been earning about £10 per week. Hants & Dorset holidays were aimed at relatively well off people.
Source: measuringworth.com
The inclusion of prices in US dollars is probably an attempt to appeal to passengers from cruise liners. The exchange rate must have been reasonably stable (at $2.82 to the pound) for the company to feel confident enough to publish dollar prices in 1959 for tours in 1960.
 
North Devon
Tour No. 1 9½ gns. ($28) 3 Days

This tour is centred on the beautiful North Devon coast. On the second day you visit Clovelly in the morning, and are left with the afternoon free to explore Ilfracombe.

Wild Exmoor country, the setting of Blackmore's Lorna Doone, forms the background for the return journey.

DEPARTURE DATES

Saturdays, 18th June, 23rd July and 24th September

South Devon
Tour No. 2 9½ gns. ($28) 3 Days

EXETER, the county town of Devonshire is chosen as the centre for this tour of South Devon. This well-known cathedral town is sufficient attraction in itself but the tour is enhanced by a drive through Devonshire to Polperro, an old fishing village on the South Cornish coast, perhaps the best loved by artists of all West-country subjects.

DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays, 4th and 25th June, 9th July, 13th and 27th August
Devon and Cornwall
Tour No. 3 19 gns. ($56.25) 6 Days

Within six days it is almost impossible to see the whole of these two lovely counties, but this tour takes you through the length and breadth of Devon and Cornwall and shows you most of the best known places of interest. The Dilkhusa Grand Hotel, Ilfracombe, and the King Arthur's Castle Hotel, Tintagel, are the centres from which you tour the countryside. Famous place names such as Land's End, Tintagel, Clovelly and Lynton are the best surety of the value of this tour.

DEPARTURE DATES
Every Monday from 16th May until 10th October
Wye Valley and North Wales
Tour No. 4 22 gns. ($65) 7 Days

This tour ranges from the broad meadows of England to the misty mountains of Wales. The first two nights are spent at Cheltenham, an ideal centre for the Wye Valley which is reached on the second day. The next two nights are at Llanberis, with a whole day tour of Snowdonia and Caernarvon, giving those who wish to an opportunity of ascending Snowdon by mountain railway. The return journey from Llanberis is through country so well described in George Borrow's Wild Wales to the famous view point 'Devil's Bridge'; then on to spend the fifth night at Llandrindod Wells before returning to Cheltenham for the last night of the tour.

DEPARTURE DATES
Every Sunday 15th May until 25th September
Blackpool and English Lakes
Tour No. 5 19½ gns. ($57.75) 6 Days

The attraction of this tour lies particularly in the contrast between the gaiety of Blackpool and the lonely grandeur of the Lake District. Grange-over-Sands is chosen as the centre for the Lake District and a whole day tour gives you an opportunity of seeing Keswick, Ambleside and Windermere, where, if you wish you may take a steamer trip on the Lake.

In the Autumn this tour is a most pleasant way of combining a week's holiday with the viewing of the Blackpool Illuminations.

DEPARTURE DATES
Every Monday from 30th May until 10th October
Norfolk Broads and East Coast
Tour No. 6 17 gns. ($50.25) 5 Days

A first night's stay at the Angel Hotel, Bury St. Edmunds, is a fitting introduction to this tour through the Eastern counties historic countryside. From Bury St. Edmunds the true East Anglian scene gradually unfolds and culminates in the wide waters of the Norfolk Broads. You then travel on up the East Coast, taking in Sandringham and King's Lynn on the way to Woodhall Spa, where two nights are spent before you return home through Aylesbury and Reading.

DEPARTURE DATES
Mondays 13th and 27th June, 11th and 25th July, 8th and 22st August
Scotland and The Lakes
Tour No. 7 40½ gns. ($119.75) 12 Days

Through England by way of the Yorkshire Moors, over the border, and into Scotland, this tour takes in the beauties of the Trossachs with the gateway to the Highlands through Pitlochry, and also gives an opportunity for you to see Scotland's two largest cities - Edinburgh and Glasgow. One of the finest Scottish Hydros has been chosen for the first three nights in Scotland. Among other interesting places visited are Gretna Green, Stirling, the Trossachs, the Forth Bridge and Perth.

The return journey southwards takes you through the Lake District.
DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays 11th June, 23rd July, and 13th August
Scottish Highlands and John o' Groats
Tour No. 8 51 gns. ($150.75) 15 Days

This tour has been designed for those wishing to see the extreme northern Highlands of Scotland, and to do this in a leisurely fashion.

Stirling, Oban, Pitlochry, Fort Augustus, Fort William, Inverness and John o' Groats are a few of the places visited.

Travelling south through Glencoe, the return journey includes Loch Lomond, Keswick, the Lake District, Lancaster and Cheltenham, the fashionable inland Spa.

DEPARTURE DATE
Saturday 2nd July
Isle of Thanet and Canterbury
Tour No. 9 12½ gns. ($37) 4 Days

This tour is designed to explore the far south-eastern tip of England, which has an unusual character and historical association. Three nights are spent at the Chaucer Hotel, Canterbury. On the second day the tourist is left with the whole day free to explore the ancient cathedral city, and on the third day there is a grand coastal tour of Thanet and the Cinque Ports, which takes in Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Deal, Dover and Hastings and gives a comprehensive survey of this area.

DEPARTURE DATES
Mondays - 6th, 13th, 27th June : 4th, 25th July : 8th, 15th, 29th August : 12th and 26th September.
Blackpool Illuminations
Tour No. 10 9 gns. ($26.75) 3 Days

The Autumn Illuminations at Blackpool are such an outstanding annual attraction that many like to make a special visit for this alone. This weekend tour has been designed to take you there, and give you a complete day and two nights in which to view Blackpool and the illuminations.

DEPARTURE DATES
Fridays: Ex. Bournemouth 9th and 30th September. Ex. Southampton 16th September and 7th October.

For the convenience of patrons who do not wish to take lunch and tea at the hotel in Blackpool on the Saturday a special fare of 8½ gns. will apply. Patrons are requested to state their requirements at the time of booking.

Harrogate and Yorkshire Dales
Tour No. 11 19 gns. ($56.25) 6 Days

This tour reveals the true character and beauty of England's largest county - Villages and market towns, famous Spas and resorts, trout-streams and mighty falls, gentle valleys, bare windswept moors and high passes - all these suggest the variety of scene the Yorkshire Dales offer. The fair town of Harrogate is the centre for this tour and excursions are made to York Minster, Fountains Abbey, Ripon Cathedral, Bolton Abbey and many other places.

The journeys up and back are each completed in one day, leaving four days for leisurely touring of this beautiful district.

DEPARTURE DATES
Mondays 6th and 20th June, 4th and 18th July, 1st, 15th and 29th August and 12th September.
Exmoor
Tour No. 12 6 gns. ($17.75) 2 Days

This is a pleasant week-end tour to renowned beauty spots on the north coast of Devon. The places visited are beyond reach of the normal day tour and make a perfect background for a week-end holiday.

DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays 18th June, 13th August
Wye Valley and Stratford-on-Avon
Tour No. 13 6 gns. ($17.75) 2 Days

What could be better than a pleasant week-end tour to the beautiful Wye Valley for those wanting a short break from their usual surroundings?

This tour takes in the Wye Valley and touches many places of outstanding interest and beauty such as Oxford, Stratford-on-Avon, Ross-on-Wye, Wells and Cheddar Gorge.

DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays 11th June, 6th August
Scotland - The Lakes - Wales
Tour No. 14 27½ gns. ($81.25) 8 Days

This tour has been introduced for those wishing to see as much as is comfortably possible of Scotland and The Lakes in one week's holiday. The tour is packed with interest and planned to include many well-known beauty spots and places of unusual interest.

After a night's stay in Ilkley three nights are spent in Peebles. Next you stay in the Lake District at Keswick; then at Grange-over-Sands. Travelling southwards from Grange-over-Sands you cross the Welsh border and continue to Llandrindod Wells for the last night of the tour.

DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays: 28th May, 4th, 18th, 25th June, 9th, 16th, 30th July, 6th, 20th, 27th August, 3rd, 10th and 17th September
Western Highlands and Isle of Skye
Tour No. 15 30½ gns. ($90.25) 9 Days

This tour has as its main objective the Western Highlands and the Isle of Skye.

Edinburgh is visited on the second day, after which you drive through the wild passes of the Western Highlands, Glencoe to Fort Augustus. You reach Skye on the fifth day which is spent exploring this misty isle of romantic legend, with its wonderful mountain scenery, before returning to the mainland. Travelling south from Inverness, the return journey includes Loch Ness, Pitlochry, Perth, Bridge of Allan and the Lake District.

DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays 4th and 18th June : 2nd, 16th and 30th Jul : 13th and 27th August : 10th and 17th September
Lincolnshire Tulip Fields
Tour No. 16 10 gns. ($29.50) 3 Days

This tour, centred on Woodhall Spa, takes in the Fen Country. On the second day you visit the Tulip Fields and enjoy the unsurpassed beauty of the blooms at their best.

DEPARTURE DATES
Mondays 25th April : 2nd and 9th May
Southern Eire
Tour No. 17 32 gns. ($94.50) 9 Days

This tour is more than a holiday - it is an adventure. The route followed is ever changing, always interesting. Over the Cotswolds, through Wales to Fishguard and over the sea to Rosslare. In Ireland, the coach goes coastwise to Dublin then crosses to Killarney and fabulous Glengarriff by way of the "Ring of Kerry".

Valencia Island, Blarney Castle and Cork are a few of the placrs visited before the return journey to England.

DEPARTURE DATES
Every Wednesday from 1st June until 7th September
Western Eire
Tour No. 20 32 gns. ($94.50) 9 Days

This tour is through Ireland's sea-torn Westland, from Lough Swilly to the Shannon mouth - through Donegal, rugged brooding land of mountain, lake and river - wild Connemara, whose granite lakelands still echo to the sound of the native Gaelic tongue - the towering cliffs of Clare reaching round to Galway Bay and returning through Tipperary's Golden Vale and the verdant pastureland of the south.

DEPARTURE DATES
Every Tuesday from 14th June until 6th September
Scottish Highlands and John o' Groats
Tour No. 18 28½ gns. ($84.25) 8 Days

This tour is intended for those with limited time who wish to see the full extent of the Scottish Highlands and visit the northernmost tip of our island. Stirling, Fort Augustus, John o' Groats and Glencoe Pass are but a few of the places visited. The details of the itinerary given below with its romantic place names are sufficient guarantee of eight days packed with enthralling interest.

DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays 11th June, 9th July, 6th and 20th August, 3rd September
Loch Maree and Western Highlands
Tour No. 19 29 gns. ($85.75) 8 Days

Many towns and cities steeped in Scottish history are visited on this tour, but perhaps the greatest attraction is the natural beauty of the countryside viewed.

By way of the Yorkshire Moors and Peebles, this tour proceeds through Stirling and on by loch-side, mountain pass and highways overlooked by heather-covered slopes. The road is through Fort William, at the western end of the Caledonian Canal, Loch Ness, Inverness, Loch Maree, Gairloch and Inverewe Gardens.

Glencoe, Tyndrum and Harrogate are visited on the return journey South.

DEPARTURE DATES
Saturdays 28th May, 25th June, 23rd July
 
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