United Counties Buses

An informative history covering nearly a century of this British bus company, packed with facts and photos. United Counties Buses: A Fleet History begins by taking a brief look at the expansion of the United Counties Omnibus Company since its formation in September 1921 through its demise in October 2014. The company acquired over fifty independent operators between 1922 and 1938, giving it prominence in Northamptonshire and surrounding areas. May 1952 saw the fleet double in size with the acquisition of the Midland area of the Eastern National Omnibus Company, encompassing Bedfordshire, north Buckinghamshire, and north Hertfordshire. The National Bus Company split United Counties into three operating companies in 1986, United Counties, Luton & District and MK Citybus, halving the size of the fleet. After being acquired by the Stagecoach Group in 1987, the company was largely left untouched. The main focus of the book looks at the vehicles operated by the company, covering the numerous types operated by United Counties themselves. The various liveries, both fleet and advertising liveries, are also listed.

A lavishly illustrated look at one of the most iconic regional bus operators, United Counties Omnibus, based primarily in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

The future United Counties Omnibus & Road Transport Omnibus Co - the title was adopted in 1931 and simplified to United Counties 12 years later - was first established as the Wellingborough Motor Omnibus Co in 1913. The company expanded to become the predominant bus operator in much of the rural Bast Midlands and was to be acquired by Thomas Tilling Ltd in 1931 although, unlike many other Tilling group companies, there was no railway involvement. The company's area of operation was expanded considerably in 1952 when it acquired 240 vehicles as a result of the transfer of Eastern National's operations in the region to it. Like most of the Tilling Group companies, over the years United Counties' fleet was largely manufactured by Bristol and BCW, with the result that many of the classic Bristol/ECW models, such as the Lodekka and the RE, featured prominently.In his latest book for Ian Allan Publishing, Kevin Lane, whose previous book in the series on Black & White was well received on publication in 2003, examines the history of united Counties from its origins prior to the outbreak of World War 1, through its development in the 1920s and 1930s, to its position of regional dominance from the 1950s onwards. As with other volumes in the very successful 'Glory Days' series, the book includes a comprehensive selection of both colour and mono photographs recording the company's vehicles and operations from the earliest days through to the early 1970s. The volumes in the 'Glory Days' series on individual bus companies have proved to be popular amongst both historians and enthusiasts. This new addition to the series is certain to add to the success of the series and will be sought after by those in the area that remember the company and, more widely, by enthusiasts interested in the history of one of the more important bus operators of the East Midlands.

This is the story of the United Counties Omnibus Company, once one of Britain's largest and most influential bus companies. From its headquarters in Northampton, its sphere of influence covered most of the south-east Midlands, extending from Stamford and Market Harborough in the north, down to Oxford, Aylesbury and Luton in the south, from Daventry in the west to Bedford and Biggleswade in the east. Now part of Stagecoach East, the United Counties was the amalgamation of many small bus operators in the counties as they combined to serve an ever-increasing area. Robert Cook and Andrew Shouler combine social and transport history as they narrate the memories of people who worked in the local bus industry and detail the vehicles employed by the bus operators of this once great national bus company.

United Counties Buses - A Fleet History begins by taking a brief look at the expansion of the United Counties Omnibus Company since its formation in September 1921 through to its demise in October 2014. The company acquired over fifty independent operators between 1922 and 1938 giving the company prominence in Northamptonshire and surrounding areas. May 1952 saw the fleet double in size with the acquisition of the Midland area of the Eastern National Omnibus Company, encompassing Bedfordshire, north Buckinghamshire and north Hertfordshire. The National Bus Company split United Counties into three operating companies in 1986, United Counties, Luton & District and MK Citybus, halving the size of the fleet. After being acquired by the Stagecoach Group in 1987, the company was largely left untouched.The main focus of the book looks at the vehicles operated by the company, covering the numerous types operated by United Counties themselves. The various liveries, both fleet and advertising liveries are also listed with in the book.

Northampton, the county town of Northamptonshire, is rich in transport history. 1880 saw several tram routes commence operation within the Northampton Borough, being operated by the Northampton Street Tramway Company. After this, public transport in the town began to develop. The tram network being electrified in 1901. The 1910s saw a number of independent bus operators begin to link Northampton with the surrounding villages, introducing motor bus operation into the town. Over the years, Northampton has been home to numerous independent bus and coach operators. Two major operators also served the town, Northampton Corporation Transport (later Northampton Transport and First Northampton) and United Counties / Stagecoach Midlands. Northampton’s Trams and Buses explores the development of the tram network within Northampton, as well as exploring how bus services in the Northampton, Wootton, Hardingstone and Moulton areas of Northamptonshire have developed from the early 1900s to 2021.

London Transport was created in 1933 with monopoly powers. Not only did it have exclusive rights to run bus (and tram and trolleybus) services in the Greater London area, it also ran services in a Country Area all around London. Green Line express services linked the country towns to London and in most cases across to other country towns the other side of the metropolis. This country area extended north as far as Hitchin, east to Brentwood, south to Crawley and west to Windsor. But what of the towns at the edge of the country area? Here the green London Transport buses would meet the bus companies whose operations extended across the rest of the counties of Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire etc. In some cases the town was at a node where more than one company worked in. At Luton there was a municipal fleet. Elsewhere, such as at Aylesbury there were local independent operators who had a share in the town services. It would all change from 1970 when the London Transport Country Area was transferred to the National Bus Company to form a new company named London Country Bus Services. This would later be split into four separate companies. Deregulation in 1985 and privatization in the 1990s led to further changes in the names and ownership of bus companies. Consolidation since then has seen the emergence of national bus groups – Stagecoach, First Group, Arriva and Go-Ahead replacing the old names and liveries. But retrenchment by these companies has given an opportunity for new independent companies to fill the gaps. This book takes the form of an anti-clockwise tour around the perimeter of the London Country area, north of the Thames featuring a number of key towns starting at Tilbury and ending at High Wycombe, illustrating some of the many changes to bus companies that have occurred.