Thames Valley Traction Company Limited was a major bus company operating services to and from
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
,
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...
,
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...
,
Newbury,
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
and
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and surrounding areas for 52 years in the 20th century. For many years it ran the "Reading A" and "Reading B" limited-stop services between
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
's
Victoria Coach Station
Victoria Coach Station in the City of Westminster is the largest bus station, coach station in London, and a bus terminus, terminus for medium and long distance Coach transport in the United Kingdom, coach services in the United Kingdom. It is ...
and Reading via two differing sets of intermediate stops.
British Automotive Traction
In 1905
British Electric Traction
British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Ren ...
(BET) founded a subsidiary, British Automotive Developments (BAD), to develop and operate motor buses. In 1912 BAD was renamed British Automobile Traction (BAT). In March 1915 BAT established a Reading Branch to operate buses in the area. By January 1920 it had been renamed the Thames Valley Branch, and in July 1920 it was constituted as a subsidiary company, Thames Valley Traction, with BAT holding 86% of the shares. The remaining 14% was initially held by Britain's other large bus operating group,
Thomas Tilling
The Tilling Group was one of two conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948.
Tilling, together with the other conglomerate, British E ...
, as in the 1920s there was close co-operation between the two groups.
In 1928 BAT was reconstituted as Tilling & British Automobile Traction Ltd. Thames Valley expanded significantly in the 1920s and 1930s by buying a number of smaller firms and their routes. Tillings sold out to the
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the s ...
in 1948, thus becoming a nationalised company. Thames Valley's expansion continued in the early 1950s, with other parts of the newly nationalised bus network (
South Midland and Newbury and District from
Red & White, and part of
United Counties
The Province of Ontario has 51 first-level administrative divisions, which collectively cover the whole province. With two exceptions, their areas match the 49 census divisions Statistics Canada has for Ontario.
The Province has four types of ...
) being placed under Thames Valley management.

In 1968 Tillings' major competitor, BET, sold its bus interests to the
Transport Holding Company
The Transport Holding Company (THC) was a British Government–owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transpo ...
(successor to the BTC) and the
Transport Act 1968
The Transport Act 1968 (c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The main provisions made changes to the structure of nationally owned bus companies, created passenger transport authorities and executives to take over public ...
formed the
National Bus Company, which came into existence on 1 January 1969,
amalgamating the interests of The Tilling Group with the recently acquired BET Group.
Premises
BAT Reading Branch's first premises were at 113–117 Caversham Road, Reading, which had been the premises of a local taxi operator. BAT used 115 and 117 as offices and demolished 113 to create bus access to the yard and garage at the rear.
In January 1916 the Reading Branch acquired a second set of premises when BAT bought a large house called The Cedars at 44 Bridge Street, Maidenhead. BAT had most of the house demolished, except for the east wing which was converted into offices. A bus garage was built in the house's grounds.
Vehicles
In 1915 BAT intended that its Reading branch should have a fleet of 20 new buses built on
Thornycroft
Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977.
History
In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its f ...
40 HP J-type chassis. But during the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
the
War Department had commandeered all Thornycroft chassis production to make three-ton military trucks. Therefore the Reading Branch's fleet started with nearly-new
Leyland S8 buses transferred from BAT's
Barnsley and District subsidiary. Each had a 27-seat body built by
Brush
A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during u ...
in Rugby. The S8's had been built in 1913 and reached Reading in June and July 1915. Their bodies were painted in BAT livery of "Saxon" green with the name "BRITISH" in large gold letters on each side.
Between September 1915 and July 1916 BAT expanded its Reading branch fleet with a dozen 26-seat buses on new
Belsize three-ton chassis. Although the chassis were new the first eight were equipped with second-hand Tilling bodies. The final four Belsizes were fitted with Brush bodies. The arrival of the new Belsizes allowed the Reading Branch firstly to expand its route network and then to dispose of the Leylands, all of which returned to Barnsley and District between April and November 1916.
The Belsize buses were not entirely reliable. But after the
Armistice of 11 November 1918
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed in a railroad car, in the Compiègne Forest near the town of Compiègne, that ended fighting on land, at sea, and in the air in World War I between the Entente and their las ...
the War Department stopped buying new lorries for the armed forces, which allowed Thornycroft at last to meet BAT's order for J-type chassis for the Reading Branch. The original order of 20 was delivered new between January and May 1919, mostly with 26-seat bodies. The first batch of eight received Tilling bodies, followed by four with Brush bodies. Next came a batch of six with bodies built by
Birch Brothers of
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath.
Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...
, London. Two Thornycroft chassis delivered in May 1919 were equipped with second-hand
charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early coach (vehicle), motor coach, usually open-topped, common in UK, Britain during the early part of the 20th ...
bodies, one built by Bayley of
Newington Causeway in London and the other built by
Thomas Harrington Ltd of
Hove
Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove.
Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...
, East Sussex. The two charabancs arrived just in time to offer excursions for the 1919 season. The delivery of Thornycroft J-types allowed the Reading Branch to dispose of all of its Belsize buses in January and February 1919.
After the first order of 20 J-type chassis were delivered, BAT bought a further three new chassis from Thornycroft for the Reading Branch. These had military-specification bonnets and may have come from a cancelled WD order. The first two arrived with "lorrybus" bodies — truck bodies adapted with steps at the rear, bench seats and a canvas hood. This austerity specification allowed the pair to be completed quickly and enter service in July and August 1919.
By January 1920 BAT's Reading Branch had been renamed the Thames Valley Branch. The third chassis was delivered that month with a Tilling body. In the same month the Thames Valley Branch received a pair of second-hand Tilling J-types from the
East Kent Road Car Company. They had been built in 1919 for an independent Kent bus operator and fitted with second-hand
London General Omnibus Company
The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer.
Overview
The London General Omnibus Company was f ...
34-seat double-deck bodies dating from 1913. East Kent had taken over the independent operator in September 1919 and disposed of the two Thornycrofts as non-standard to its fleet.
After the Armistice the WD started to sell large numbers of used military vehicles. Many were stored at a depot in
Slough
Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...
, where in April 1920 BAT bought eight Thornycroft J-types for the Thames Valley Branch. BAT bought many other ex-military vehicles for its other branches, and the Thames Valley Branch collected many of them from Slough to distribute to BAT's other operations. They included
AEC and
Daimler vehicles for BAT's
Macclesfield
Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...
Branch and
Northern General subsidiary.
When the Thames Valley Branch became Thames Valley Traction its fleet consisted of 33 Thornycroft J-types: 30 bodied as buses, two as charabancs and one as a lorry. For ancillary purposes it had also a
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...
van, a
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
car and a
BSA motorcycle and
sidecar
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, Scooter (motorcycle), scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. The combination of a motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''rig'', ''outfit' ...
outfit.
In the 1920s Thames Valley's fleet policy changed, and by 1927 it was buying
Tilling-Stevens
Tilling-Stevens was a British manufacturer of buses and other commercial vehicles, based in Maidstone, Kent. Originally established in 1897, it became a specialist in petrol-electric vehicles. It continued as an independent manufacturer until ...
petrol-electric buses. In 1939 its first
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
vehicles were delivered and, in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a number of
Guy
Guy or GUY may refer to:
Personal names
* Guy (given name)
* Guy (surname)
* That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart
Places
* Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet
* Guy, Arkansas, US, a city
* Guy, Indiana, US, an uninc ...
utility buses were acquired. After the war Thames Valley standardised on Bristols, except for a few
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
vehicles. Livery was red and cream, although the shade of red varied over time.
Alder Valley
The company continued to trade as Thames Valley under nationalised ownership until it was merged with another former BET company,
Aldershot and District Traction Company Limited, on 1 January 1972 to form the Thames Valley and Aldershot Omnibus Company which traded under the fleet name of
Alder Valley
Alder Valley was a bus operator in South East England.
National Bus Company era
Alder Valley was formed when National Bus Company (UK), National Bus Company (NBC) subsidiaries Aldershot & District Traction (A&D) and Thames Valley Traction ...
, with Thames Valley's Reading head office becoming that of the new company.
References
Sources and further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
{{Defunct British Bus Companies
1920 establishments in England
1972 disestablishments in England
Former bus operators in Berkshire
Former bus operators in Buckinghamshire
Former bus operators in Oxfordshire
National Bus Company (UK)