In Hants & Dorset: A National Bus Company the author, Michael Hitchen, has produced a pictorial study taking a nostalgic look back on the popular bus company, the Hants & Dorset Motor Service.
In 1972 the National Bus Company merged the Hants & Dorset and Wilts & Dorset fleets and introduced its corporate image, created by retaining the Hants & Dorset name together with the red livery from Wilts & Dorset. It was the one of the most interesting NBC fleets, with vehicles in their former liveries, numerous non-standard coaches, associations with Gosport & Fareham (Provincial) and variety from the former King Alfred Motor Services of Winchester. As part of the National Bus Company, Hants & Dorset Motor Service once served a large area stretching from the remote chalk uplands of North Hampshire, across Salisbury Plain, through rural East Dorset to the coastal resorts of Swanage, Poole and Bournemouth, and the heavily populated areas of Southampton and Winchester. Its Poppy Red buses were a common sight on the roads of central southern England through the 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1983 however, following government direction, the National Bus Company split the Hants & Dorset into four operating units – Hampshire Bus, Wilts & Dorset, Provincial and Shamrock & Rambler – in a move aimed at producing a better service for local areas. Detailed captions accompany the 178 colour photographs. 96 pages.