Out & About Magazine Autumn 2020

Out&About feature

“His knowledge of the company and the vehicles it ran is extraordinary and gave us the framework on which to build a wider story around the people and the communities.” Both authors hope that the book will have a place in recording a valuable slice of local social history. David said: “Those of us who benefitted from Reliance’s services should never underestimate the part it played in this area, from moving the workforce in war-time to giving children a proper education and making leisure hours memorable.” Those of us who benefitted from Reliance’s services should never underestimate the part it played in this area The book is packed with detail ranging from the life of a country carrier to the row that precipitated Reliance’s break away from the Newbury & District cooperative in the 1930s and then taking on the infinitely larger regional operators in the years that followed. It explores what happened to the Brightwalton community in the years after Reliance and other businesses left, and includes previously unpublished photos of locals on bus trips from several local villages. It also tracks vehicles that used to run with Reliance to new lives in places such as the Science Museum and the holiday island of Malta. Reliance Motor Services: The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company by David Wilder and Barrie Hedges is published by Pen & Sword.

Top: Reliance’s country bus services from Newbury Wharf travelled to Brightwalton, Wantage and Cold Ash Middle: The Busy Reliance depot at Brightwalton in the early 1960s – it is now a housing estate Above: By the mid 1970s, the Reliance fleet numbers had climbed to 141, 142 and 143 with investment in this trio of Bedford Duple Dominants

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O&A AUTUMN 2020