COLOURS OF LONDON BUSES 1970s

The 1970s was the first decade in London's history where following the creation of London Transport in 1933 and the removal of independent operators from the streets, buses and coaches were not necessarily painted in the traditional mainly red or green liveries. A Routemaster appeared in 1961 in unpainted aluminium, the so-called Silver Lady, and by 1969, all-over bus advertising dominated for limited periods. Pictured on the front cover is an RML 2280 which advertised Hanimex Projectors 'Bring all the fun back home' in what would today look like graffiti with a blue and yellow background. It is racing an RM643 to Trafalgar Square. The hundreds of pictures in this colour album appear in strict date order, mostly taken in Central London, taken by both the enthusiastic author and also Bob Greenaway, an employee of LT who died tragically young and whose collection now reaches a wider audience, together with photographs credited to Roger Harrison and Charles Firminger. None of the pictures appearing in this book have ever been published before. Sometimes just as fascinating are the shops and offices, such as those designed by Nash and built between 1830 and 1832 on the Strand, and the clothing and activities of the people passing by in images from around August 1969. An RM1611 passes the Portland stone façade of the Park Lane Hotel Piccadilly in May 1970. The bus entered service in June 1963 and was withdrawn in July 1984. It then operated in Scotland for Stagecoach and Magicbus until withdrawn once more and exported to Missouri, USA, in 1996. The bus is pictured taking part in the Festival of London Stores to promote British exports. Here are gleaming red buses galore, photographed mostly in colour and with many advertising examples in a variety of designs with typography and advertising of the time to take us back to the nostalgic 1970s with Dinky Toys, Esso Blue and the gaudy colours of the Chappell's livery on an AEC Merlin MBA606. Marks & Spencer's new first floor now open, the Evening News, Danone, Ladbrokes plus buses on their side submitting to an underside steam clean after being rotated in Aldenham's inverting frame to remove road debris etc, but most are photographed in service, with every model featured, ending with a rare example of a 1925 bus which was discovered in a shed in Essex in 1971 and which was acquired by the London Bus Museum in 1984. 168 landscape pages, 25.4 x 19.7cm. Hundreds of colour photos.