When Stroud's buses were green (and even red)
Whatever happened to...
The Country Dual Purpose?
Otherwise known as a "semi-coach", the country dual purpose vehicle was ideal for longer distance bus work, occasional private hires & express work, and popular throughout the British country operating industry at its time. Bristol Omnibus, known for its long haul bus services, had a number of them, from early Bristol Ls to LSs, MWs and REs.
 Though spending much of its life at Bath, RELH 2062 came to Stroud for eight months in 1983. It is now under preservation with the Stroud RE Group. The vehicle would have started life in this green and cream dual purpose livery |
The first Stroud RELH arrival would often see work on express services. The RELHs also doubled as private hires or for tours work. In all, there were over 40 RELHs in the Bristol fleet with either bus or coach shell ECW bodies and of these, 12 were based at Stroud at one time or another. The bus shell versions attracted Bus Grant at the time, because of their door width. Unlike some National Bus Company subsidiaries, the RELH DP fleet was always high floor, enabling the stowage of luggage.
In addition to the REs, for a short spell up to 1980, Stroud under Bristol Omnibus also operated two Leyland Leopards with Plaxton C47F bodywork which, like the REs, were used on stage carriage and the "Pursesaver" branded Xnn limited stop services. There followed a number of Leopards and Tigers under Cheltenham & Gloucester ownership before such vehicles disappeared along with coaching activity in 1993.
 Two RELHs with bus style bodywork wait at Minchinhampton. On the left is 2062 while the use of greyscales for this image disguises the fact that the vehicle on the right is painted red & white and not green & white! |
In the 1970s, Bristol Omnibus operated a minimum of six dual-purpose RELH6Ls in Stroud. Although seeing a variety of duties, one was almost certain to be on the service from Stroud to Bristol (400) with its journey length of two hours. There was also inevitably one from the Bristol (Marlborough Street depot) end operating the second vehicle on this service. The Limited Stop 702 (later 830) to Bristol (Saturdays, via the M5) was similarly a dual-purpose.
 There tended to be three (and at one stage, four) coach-bodies examples similar in looks if not specification to this ex-Southern National ECW-bodied full coach (no. 1468) but in addition with an attractive front dome for larger T-type destination display and number track box . Passengers enjoyed air suspension on these vehicles and the vehicles' suspensions tended to "wheeze" as passengers boarded and settled down in their seats |