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April 2025

The village bus

April 2025

The coming of the motor bus in the early 20th century allowed people to travel more easily to school, shops or work, and this was particularly the case in some of the more rural areas not served by the railways, such as in west Dorset.

The village of Broadwindsor lies between the small towns of Bridport and Chard (just into Somerset), the hamlet of Drimpton with a population of about 400 lying 2 miles to the north of Broadwindsor. This photograph from the archive was taken by Dave Habgood in the middle of Broadwindsor in September 1976, and (unlike most towns), almost half a century later the setting is little changed. The White Hart is now a community run public house, and the Broadwindsor post office (on the right) has closed, but the water pump in the lower left corner of the picture remains. Two small items that have disappeared, however, are the green board, with the yellow bus timetable sheet on the wall of the White Hart, and the machine for selling cigarettes by the letter box on the wall of the post office.

Until private car ownership became widespread, villagers either could walk, cycle – or take the bus. A service had been started by the National Omnibus and Transport Company in 1924 from Bridport to Broadwindsor, later extended to Drimpton and in 1933 onwards to Chard. In the post-war era, the service only ran right through from Chard to Bridport during the summer season, otherwise operating from Broadwindsor to Chard, or Drimpton to Bridport. As with many rural bus services, the timetable depended on the day of the week, with more journeys on the local market day (in Bridport this was Wednesday and Saturday).

In 1969, the route was renumbered 487, and the bus is descending Back Lane to the stop (where the yellow van is parked!), with just 5 minutes more until it reaches Drimpton. on Friday 24th September 1976. The bus is 11 year old BDV247C, a Bristol SUL type that was specially designed to operate on such routes, being lightweight (and thus economical) and narrow to suit the country lanes of the West Country.

DHab/SC44-11
Archive Item of the Month, April 2025

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