GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Leamington Spa Station: gwrpublicity3873

Following the success of bus tours in 1910, including the Shakespeare Country tours (see gwrpublicity3872), the Great Western Railway purchased ten new Dennis 20hp bus chassis for the 1911 touring season. These were fitted with Swindon built bus bodies designed to seat 14 passengers as shown in this photograph. In the Great Western Magazine they were described as; ’A new type, smaller than the existing standard design and more economical in working costs. They will be of higher speed and should prove eminently useful in many country districts where traffic is light.’

These vehicles were allocated to various Road Transport Depots across southern England and the Midlands, but it is not known which were specifically allocated to Leamington Spa for the Shakespeare Country tour. Excursion tours operated daily between July and October with the tour buses being reallocated during the other months (including Ascot Week every June), so individual vehicles may not have always returned to the same Summer allocation in the following year. The table below gives details of the ten Dennis vehicles:

During 1913-14 the Great Western Railway purchased fifteen Maudslay chassis to update their touring and excursion bus fleet, allowing the Dennis vehicles to be withdrawn and converted into Parcel Vans. This coincided with the start of the First World War for the duration of which all tours and excursions were suspended. The Shakespeare Country tour restarted in 1924 – see 'gwrpublicity3875'

Robert Ferris

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