All gone

Once utterly unremarkable, the idea of a public bus service has, outside of the major British conurbations, largely disappeared, lost in a welter of privatisation and robber-baron asset-stripping.


I retain a nostalgic affection for the public companies with which I grew up -- Eastern Counties, of course; the anachronistically named Lincolnshire Road Car; Hants & Dorset (before that was regrouped into two new companies: Wilts & Dorset and Hampshire Bus); and, the subject of this post, Provincial.


Operating a fleet of these Leyland Nationals in the rather fetching leaf green livery (public bus companies could choose either leaf green or a daring red), Provincial operated mainly in south-east Hampshire.


It was not, perhaps, the most inspiring brand name, but how little we cared for such things in those far-off days.


Today you'd be lucky to find a bus outside a few trunk routes.