Quantock Motor Services
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Quantock Motor Services is a privately owned bus operator in Bishops Lydeard,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, England. The company operates a substantial heritage fleet for private hire and on route 300.


History

Rexquote, a transport engineering business in Bishops Lydeard, operated a fleet of old buses under the name of ''Rexquote Heritage''. As well as private hire, some regular circular tourist routes were advertised. One such was between
Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
, Sand Bay and nearby tourist attractions in the summer of 2000. In 2002 the
Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...
Explorer circular service was started from Minehead. In 2001 Rexquote established a new Quantock Motor Services operation. It was initially based in
Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along t ...
, with three vehicles to operate schools contracts and a service from Combe Martin to Barnstaple. On 6 September 2014, Quantock Motor Services ceased operating its four route services as well as school services. The vintage hire business continues to trade."Quantock Heritage bus operations cease trading" '' Buses'' issue 716 November 2014 p. 8


Routes

Public services ceased in September 2014, at which time four services were being operated: * 10
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
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Wiveliscombe Wiveliscombe (, ) is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The town has a population of 2,893. The Square, fronted by several listed structures, held the former ...
- Langley Marsh * 25A
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
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Norton Fitzwarren Norton Fitzwarren is a village, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 3,046. History The village is on the southern slope ...
- Tithill * 39 Minehead -
Porlock Weir Porlock Weir is a harbour settlement approximately west of the inland village of Porlock, Somerset, England. "Porlock" comes from the Old English ''port'' '' loca'', meaning an enclosure near a harbour. Porlock Weir refers to the salmon stakes ...
* 300 Minehead - Lynmouth


Service 300

Route 300, between Lynmouth and Minehead, was for a time branded 'Exmoor Coastal Link'; it appeared in April 2008 in the '' Daily Telegraph'' list of the 20 best bus routes in England for over 60s to use free their bus passes. In 2010 it featured on a local
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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programme that featured "great South West journeys". The regular vehicle for many years was an East Lancashire bodied
Scania N94UD The Scania 4-series low floor city bus and coach range was introduced by Scania in 1997 as a successor to the 3-series bus range. The 4-series bus range was first presented in September 1996, when the integral low-floor city bus OmniCity was ...
open top bus. After the 2012 season this was sold and replaced with a single-deck open top
Alexander PS The Alexander PS-type was a step-floor single-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders in Falkirk, Scotland and was produced from 1988 to the late 1990s predominantly on the Dennis Lance, Mercedes-Benz O405, Scania N113, Volv ...
bodied
Volvo B10M The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the ...
. The service ceased operating in September 2014, but returned the following summer using heritage (not necessarily open top) buses. File:Minehead - Quantock Motor Services R928XVM.jpg, Minehead sea front File:Woodcombe YN55RDV.jpg, Woodcombe File:Porlock Wier from Quantock Motor Services YN55RDV.jpg, Near the top of Porlock Hill File:Lynmouth Countisbury Hill Quantock Motor Services YN55RDV.jpg, Countisbury Hill, Lynmouth


Service 400

Until 2011 the service 400 'Exmoor Explorer' operated a circular tour from Minehead to
Dunster Dunster is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, within the north-eastern boundary of Exmoor National Park. It lies on the Bristol Channel southeast of Minehead and northwest of Taunton. At the 2011 Unit ...
, Timberscombe, Wheddon Cross, Exford and Porlock. Operated by heritage open top buses, it only ran on selected days during the summer but was withdrawn after Somerset County Council funding was withdrawn. It had been a recommended route in ''Scenic Britain by Bus''.


Depots

During 2010 the depot was relocated from
Norton Fitzwarren Norton Fitzwarren is a village, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 3,046. History The village is on the southern slope ...
, to a facility next door to Bishops Lydeard railway station on the heritage
West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which i ...
. Heritage vehicles undergoing restoration are at an outstation in Langley Marsh,
Wiveliscombe Wiveliscombe (, ) is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The town has a population of 2,893. The Square, fronted by several listed structures, held the former ...
. File:Langford Mead - Western National 1935 and Southern Vectis 501.jpg, Taunton File:Bishops Lydeard Rossendale 45.jpg, Bishops Lydeard File:Langley Marsh workshop Barton 467.jpg, Langley Marsh


Fleet

As at October 2013 Quantock Motor Services operate 15 modern vehicles painted in a red livery. A new
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative bu ...
was purchased in 2010 for new contracts.


Heritage vehicles

A number of older vehicles are operated by Quantock Motor Services, although not all are licensed for paid operations. Norton Fitzwarren - Barton 851 (851FNN).jpg, Northern Counties bodied AEC Regent V Taunton Castle Green - Blackburn 43 (ABV43B).jpg, East Lancashire bodied Leyland PD2 Taunton Castle Green - London Transport D130 (CCX777).jpg, Duple bodied Daimler Taunton station - Ipswich 65 (DPV65D) beside old hotel.jpg, East Lancashire bodied AEC Regent V Norton Fitzwarren - Northampton 258 (GNH258F).jpg,
Charles H. Roe Charles H RoeCompanies House extract company no 188071
Charl ...
bodied Daimler CV Taunton Castle Way - Crosville TA5 (JFM575).jpg, Strachan bodied AEC Regal Minehead Western National 1936.jpg, ECW bodied Bristol LDL6G


References


External links

* {{Bus companies in South West England, state=collapsed Bus operators in Somerset Companies based in Somerset Transport companies established in 2001 Vintage bus operators in the United Kingdom 2001 establishments in England