Böcker av Malcolm Batten

Sightseeing tour buses are one area of bus operation that has seen significant growth since the 1950s and this book looks at a selection of these operations in popular towns and cities since the 1970s.

Explore London Transport's transformation from monopoly in 1933 to decentralized bus services, reflecting regional changes in Greater London and beyond.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.

A book featuring seaside open-top buses in operation around England and Wales, starting at Southend-on-Sea and then working clockwise around the coast.

Explore some rare and previously unpublished photographs celebrating steam power on Britain's roads.

Malcolm Batten illustrates the story of the Routemaster, instantly recognisable as the typical London bus, as it celebrates its seventy-year anniversary in 2024.

Explore a fascinating photographic record of European coaches visiting Britain from the 1970s onwards.

This book takes the form of an anti-clockwise tour around the perimeter of the London Country area, south of the Thames featuring a number of key towns starting at Slough and Windsor and ending at Gravesend, illustrating some of the many changes to bus companies that have occurred.

The second volume of a series that looks back at 50 years of the famous London to Brighton Historic Commercial Vehicle Run.

Terrific photos documenting this unsung part of the bus scene. Taking a look at some of the Park & Ride buses that have worked in selected English towns and cities since the 1970s.

Rare and previously unpublished images celebrating preserved steam rollers from different makers that can be seen in Britain.

Secret Newham explores the lesser-known history the London borough of Newham through a fascinating selection of stories, unusual facts and attractive photographs.

How it all began - the story behind bus preservation and rallies. The origins of some of our most prominent UK transport museums. Photographs from the rally scene of the 1970s, mostly previously unpublished. Vehicles that have since been lost to the preservation movement. Timeline of key events.

How it all began - the story behind traction engine preservation and rallies. How rallies have developed from their early beginnings. Photographs from the rally scene over seventy years, mostly previously unpublished. Events that have now ceased, those still ongoing, and some one-off' events

Previously unpublished images of this rarely documented part of the bus scene. Looking at a variety of demonstration vehicles, on display, in use, and after being sold off.

Marking 90 years of London Transport, this selection of images celebrates its buses, trams and trolleybuses in preservation.

Rare and previously unpublished photographs recording heritage trains on London's Underground system.

Explore the rich history of the East London borough of Newham in this guided tour through its most fascinating historic and modern buildings.

A varied selection of images documenting the buses used as rail replacement services in London and south-east England.

Telling the story of this unique and popular heritage railway. Explore its story up to the re-opening in 2012 and of the ten years of progress since then.

When London first applied as a contender to stage the 2012 Olympic Games, there was cynical speculation as to whether the transport infrastructure could cope should it win. During the bidding process for 2012, Transport for London, the capital's transport strategy provider, did its bit to promote the application with buses and Stratford station displaying prominent 'Back the Bid' slogans. There was a 'can-do' mentality among transport management on this occasion, and in this book Malcolm Batten looks at the preparation and delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic games by London's transport providers. The transport legacy is also examined here, with previously unpublished photographs celebrating a landmark achievement in the history of London transport.

A lavishly illustrated celebration of the dockland heritage of the Thames from Greenwich to Tilbury and Gravesend.

Thames in Transition -the changing nature of the Docks and the ships that served them in the 1970s-1980sHow and why the Docks adapted to changed cargo handling methodsHistorical scenes of the River from the 1940s-1960sMost photographs previously unpublished and can never be re-captured

There have always been small buses used by bus companies for a variety of reasons, but in the 1970s a number of companies employed van-derived minibuses on experimental services such as Dial-a Ride schemes. These were small-scale operations. From around 1984 the majority of British bus companies started buying minibuses in bulk. They began replacing full-size vehicles and soon whole town local networks were being converted to their use. At first these continued to be on small, van-derived chassis - Ford, Freight-Rover and Mercedes-Benz - seating around sixteen passengers, but soon larger, purpose-built vehicles began to appear from companies sometimes unfamiliar to the British bus market. There were also attempts to produce 'midibuses' - larger than a minibus but smaller than a full-size bus. By the mid-1990s the boom had come to an end. Larger vehicles started to replace many of these minibuses. Although modern accessible minibuses are still produced and still have a role to play, it is a far cry from their heyday. This book looks back at the rise and fall of the minibus in British bus services.

The first of two photographic volumes celebrating the London to Brighton Historic Commercial Vehicle Run's 50th anniversary.

Good Quality Photographs, Interesting Text, Long Informative Captions, Useful To Modellers

What happens to old buses at the end of their career, when they are replaced by newer vehicles? Some inevitably go to scrap, especially if they have been cannibalised for spares. Some see further service with other bus companies. A few lucky ones pass directly into preservation. But many find further employment with so-called 'Non-PSV' users; some of these may continue to carry passengers, perhaps as works transport or for a community group. Some may be used for driver training. However, others will be converted to fulfil a whole variety of roles - catering or hospitality vehicles; advertising promotional vehicles; ambulances; mobile homes; playbuses; horseboxes; vehicle transporters, and more. This book looks at a variety of old buses and coaches and the varied roles they have fulfilled over the last fifty years.

In the days before privatisation, many bus companies adapted old buses for a variety of specialist uses as service vehicles. Using the skills and ingenuity of their workshops, buses might become, among other things, stores vans, tree loppers or uniform stores. Trolleybuses may have been converted to tower wagons to maintain the overhead wires. Some bus operators converted old buses to towing lorries to rescue broken down vehicles. Others preferred ex-military trucks such as the AEC Matador. These came with somewhat austere cabs, but here again the body shop would often come up with a custom-built body using various bus parts. Buses would also be adapted to serve as information offices or publicity buses, promoting such things as holiday tours or special ticket offers. Since privatisation, such practices have died out for a variety of reasons. Expensive, in-house workshops have largely been closed. Construction and Use Regulations have been tightened up. Emissions zone restrictions may limit the use of older less clean engines in city centres. Furthermore the modern low-floor rear-engine buses are probably less suited to such conversions. Companies will use the services of specialist commercial bus and truck rescue services rather than retaining their own towing vehicles. This book looks at a variety of service vehicles from around the country over the last fifty years, including examples that have survived into preservation.

On 11 August 1968 BR bade farewell to standard gauge steam with the famous Fifteen Guinea Special. A steam ban was placed barring all steam trains from running over BR metals. The main line steam ban was soon to come to an end. In October 1971 King class 6000 King George V passed through Kensington Olympia with the Bulmers Cider Pullman coaches as part of an eight-day trial tour. A list of approved routes for steam-hauled excursion trains was drawn up. This was to comprise less busy provincial lines, where any such operations were less likely to disrupt normal traffic. Gradually, the routes available to working steam were extended. On 1 March 1979 King George V hauled a special train from London Paddington to Didcot, but the main breakthrough year was 1985. This was when regular steam excursions began running from Marylebone to Stratford on Avon. There are now steam excursions from London almost every week of the year, and this wonderful collection of images documents the story since that fateful day in August 1968.

The larger bus operators, whether municipal or company owned, have traditionally trained their own new drivers. Normally older vehicles from the fleet were retained and adapted for training, adorned with 'L' plates. In earlier days they would usually just retain fleet livery. Sometimes they might receive a separate livery, to warn other road users. When the National Bus Company introduced corporate liveries of red or green for its fleets, many of their constituent companies used yellow for their training and service vehicles. Then, as recruitment became more difficult from around the 1980s, colourful liveries with invitational recruitment slogans tended to appear and this has continued since. Rather surprisingly, companies often bought in buses for training from other companies rather than converting their own, and these might be types not otherwise represented in their fleet. This book looks at a variety of training vehicles from around the country over the last fifty years, including examples that have survived into preservation.