65
U3A is a movement of retired and semi-retired people who come together to continue their educational, social and creative interests in a friendly and informal environment.
www.u3asite.org.uk/kingsbridgeestuary
by Liz Hext
UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE TALLY-HO COACHES
Our speakers at the May meeting were Don McIntosh and Lisa Pat- terson from Tally-Ho Coaches, who gave us a lively and amusing talk on the history of the firm. The first motor transport in
Kingsbridge was in 1904, when a large crowd gathered in Fore Street to watch it safely descend. The ascent to the station was harder! The villagers turned out to watch as it went through Malborough and on its way to its destination at the Marine Hotel & then the King’s Arms Quay in Salcombe. In 1909, as the railway had termi-
nated at Kingsbridge, a Mr Sturton formed a bus company which ran the first commercial service to Salcombe. Another covered the Salcombe to Hope Cove route. School transport began in 1915, with children being collected from surrounding villages. The age of the leisure coach trip began shortly afterwards, when Edwin Noyce converted a lorry into a bus and started to run pleasure trips – the races at Newton Abbott were a popular destination. He also began a regular Sunday service to Dartmouth and a Thursday one to Plymouth. Other companies swiftly followed. In 1922, Mr Noyce fitted pneumatic
tyres to his coaches and had them re-sprung – the luxury coach had arrived! Coach trips became very popular, offering a variety of days out. In 1928, the firm became ‘E. Noyce & Sons’ and advertised ‘Noyce’s Charabanc Tours.’ By the 1930s, the Bus Station had been developed on Kingsbridge
Quay. Government legislation was introduced to regularise routes and competition and routes were reduced. The Western National Bus Company was set up in 1933 and ran services for many years. It later became ‘First’ and then ‘Stagecoach.’
In 1922, Mr Noyce fitted
pneumatic tyres to his coaches and had them re-sprung – the luxury coach had arrived!
The Tally-Ho Company began in 1919 when Jimmy Clarke, a rabbit farmer from The Mounts, convert- ed his flatbed lorry into a coach at weekends. It is believed that he later bought a coach from Bournemouth which had ‘Tally-Ho’ written on the side, and kept the name, although he traded as J.H Clarke. In 1933 he began a school bus service from the villages to Kingsbridge and a week- end service between East Allington and Goveton. He also ran trips to the Buckfast Point-To Point. During the war he had the contracts for
collecting London evacuees from the station at Plymouth and also for bus- sing inhabitants out of Plymouth at night & back in the morning to avoid the bombing. He was involved in the Slapton evacuation. The company’s first brand new coach was acquired in 1944, sourced by the government. The company continued to grow in the 1950s and ‘60s, with the name becoming ‘Tally-Ho Coaches.’ Howev- er, as the popularity of coach travel declined after that, it relied mainly on school transport. In 2005, its offices burnt down and that same year was acquired by Don McIntosh and his partner – by then it was an ageing fleet renowned for its breakdowns! Re-branded and with new coaches, the business today has five main strands: school buses, local bus services, private hire, mechanical and its current mainstay – high quality, luxury coach holidays – in 2017 it was awarded the coveted ‘National Coach Tour Operator of the Year’ title. Don and Lisa were applauded for their delightful and insightful talk on this popular local company.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116
