A Century of Service

The year by year story of Wilts & Dorset, 1915 - 2015

author: Chris Harris
hardback 215mm x 250mm, 160 pages
ISBN 978 0 9565740 3 9

One hundred years of continuous operation by a bus company is something worth celebrating and recording, and this book, commissioned by Go South Coast, chronicles both major events and interesting asides year by year between the birth of the fledgling company in 1915 through to the major regional transport provider Wilts & Dorset had grown into by 2015. The book also explains in simple language various pieces of legislation that have shaped the provision of services, and sheds extra light on a number of innovative schemes introduced by the company, particularly in the later years.

It's a story of passion and enterprise by dedicated men and women who have given the travelling public of large areas of Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset a century of service in good times and bad, in peacetime and during the war, and through social and political changes that have influenced almost every aspect of people's lives – and certainly their expectations of everyday transport.

Having had access to company records, and through interviews with former and contemporary employees, author Chris Harris has written a book that paints an accurate and fascinating picture of Wilts & Dorset over its first 100 years. With more than 300 photographs, many maps, plus illustrations of artefacts and other ephemera, every page is a loving tribute to this much-loved bus company.