| This binder contains 255 pages of
detailed instructions to tours drivers.
It covers every detail for each day:
|
 |
| Time to prepare the coach |
| Time for passengers' breakfast |
| Departure time, where and when to
stop along the route |
| Road numbers and number of miles on
each road |
| Arrival time for the overnight stay |
| Where to refuel and clean the coach |
| Time free |
| Hours worked and hours to be paid. |
|
| Each tour is on a different colour
paper from those on either side. Instructions
are typed in the spaces provided. |
|
| 30 tours from 2 to 40 are complete,
tour 1 has pages missing. |
|
| The binder and its pages are well
worn but still mostly legible. |
|
| There are 31 tours - click a number
to view: |
|
| Tour
1 |
Welsh Highlands, 4 days. |
| Tour
2 |
Welsh Highlands & Lake District,
6 days. |
| Tour
3 |
Devon & Cornwall, 6 days. |
| Tour
4 |
Wye Valley & North Wales,
7 days. |
| Tour
5 |
Derbyshire Dales & Lake
District, 6 days. |
| Tour
6 |
Norfolk Broads & East Coast,
5 days. |
| Tour
7 |
Scotland & Deeside, 9 days. |
| Tour
8 |
Scottish Highlands & John
O'Groats, 15 days. |
| Tour
9 |
Thanet & Canterbury, 4 days. |
| Tour
10 |
Blackpool Illuminations from
Southampton, 3 days. |
| Tour
10 |
Blackpool Illuminations from
Bournemouth, 3 days. |
| Tour
11 |
Harrogate & Yorkshire Dales,
6 days. |
| Tour
12 |
Ilfracombe and Newquay, 7 days. |
| Tour
13 |
Llandudno, 7 days. |
| Tour
14 |
Scotland and the Lakes, 8 days. |
| Tour
15 |
Scotland & Western Highlands,
9 days. |
| Tour
16 |
Lincolnshire Tulip Fields, 3
days. |
| Tour
17 |
Southern Ireland, 9 days. |
| Tour
18 |
Scottish Highlands & John
O'Groats, 8 days. |
| Tour
19 |
Loch Maree & Western Highlands,
8 days. |
| Tour
23 |
Edinburgh & the Trossachs,
7 days. |
| Tour
24 |
Paris, 4 days. |
| Tour
24A |
Paris, 4 days. |
| Tour
25 |
Brittany, 7 days. |
| Tour
26 |
Holland, 9 days. |
| Tour
27 |
Rhine Valley, 10 days. |
| Tour
29 |
San Sebastian, 11 days. |
| Tour
30 |
Austria, 12 days. |
| Tour
34 |
Loire Valley, 6 days. |
| Tour
39 |
Switzerland, 11 days. |
| Tour
40 |
Italian Lakes, 12 days. |
|
|
| The originals are typed (with a typewriter)
on photo-copied forms. As a result,
scans reduced to a convenient size are
hard to read. The example on the left
is one of the clearest pages. As a result,
I have transcribed these pages in a
roughly similar layout to the originals.
Where necessary, I have added notes
(in green)
to the pages. |
| |
| Hants & Dorset became famous for
the level of comfort and service on
its coach touring holidays. Everything,
down to a choice of morning paper on
UK holidays, was included. People travelled
from outside the company's operating
area to join them, many for several
years in a row. The tours were aimed
at older passengers with above average
incomes and the standard of hotels used
reflects this. |
|
| Drivers were carefully selected, having
to look after the customers and being
able to deal with anything that happened
during the journey. When not on tour,
they had their own place on the bus
rota, guaranteeing work throughout the
year. Most tours started from Bournemouth
or Southampton. |
|
| In the UK, Hants & Dorset made
use of other nationalised or associated
companies' depots for refuelling and
cleaning where possible. On continental
journeys, drivers were supplied with
a list of approved garages. |
| |
| In 1968, as I well remember, strict
controls applied to the amount of sterling
and foreign currencies a person could
spend abroad on each trip and in any
year. Restrictions also applied to the
amount of fuel in the vehicle on the
outward journey, in this case 15 gallons
(about 68 litres). Passport checks with
customs and currency controls took place
when boarding and leaving channel ferries
as well as at each land border. |
| |
| If you want to follow these routes,
bear in mind that roads, road numbers
and even some place names have changed
since 1968. |
| |
| The instructions are full of typing
errors, spelling mistakes and inconsistencies.
In some cases I have corrected these,
in some cases I've added a note. In
many cases I've left them as they are.
|
