The business of Yellow Bus Services (YBS) of Stoughton

Stoughton, Surrey

Stoughton is a mainly residential suburb north of Guildford town centre in Surrey.It is the location of the former Stoughton Army Barracks...

, Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

 was started in 1920 as a partnership between Mr Frank Hutchins (using a legacy

Will (law)

A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

 from his uncle) and Mr Sydney Hayter (using his gratuity earned from service with the Royal Flying Corps

Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

. The partnership was to dissolve after 3 years, with Hayter remaining as the sole proprietor. Mr Hayter died in 1951 and the company ceased to trade as a bus operator in 1958, with its interests taken over by the Aldershot and District Traction

Aldershot and District Traction

Aldershot & District Traction Company Limited was a major bus company operating services in East Hampshire, West Surrey and parts of adjoining counties for sixty years during the 20th century, from 1912 until 1972 when it became part of Alder Valley....

 Company.

Between the wars

The first service, using a Ford Model T

Ford Model T

The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to May 1927...

 bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 in brown and yellow livery, ran between the Royal Hotel, Stoughton and the Theatre Royal, Guildford, from January 1921. A very personal service, with extra trips run to pick up passengers who could not be accommodated in the small buses on the first run, led to success. Further bus chassis were bought, with YBS building the bodies themselves at their premises in Manor Road, with interior finishing by a local firm, J. Mussell and Son. A second service ran for a while between Guildford Park housing estate and the town centre, in competition with Aldershot and District Traction Company Ltd (A&D), and a Guildford to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 service was run for a short period using a Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 bus in a "Pullman

Pullman (car or coach)

In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars which were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company from 1867 to December 31, 1968....

" livery.

In 1924 the company expanded to four vehicles, a staff of seven, and larger premises in Worplesdon Road, which were further expanded in the 1930s with an impressive frontage added. A key figure in the company by this time was traffic manager Arthur Bowden, who also acted as signwriter, mechanic and handyman. By 1927 A&D were operating a high intesity Stoughton service with a flat fare of just one penny, with the clear intention of putting YBS out of business. The firm was at a low ebb but Hayter, fighting back in a "make or break" move, invested in 2 new Dennis

Dennis Specialist Vehicles

Dennis Specialist Vehicles is a major British coachbuilder and manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles based in Guildford, England...

 'G' buses for a route in 1928 from Guildford to Camberley

Camberley

Camberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 31 miles  southwest of central London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. The town lies close to the borders of both Hampshire and Berkshire; the boundaries intersect on the western edge of the town where all three counties...

, also in competition with A&D. That year a third Dennis bus enabled the start of a service from Guildford to Farnham

Farnham

Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...

 via Compton, Puttenham and Seale

Seale, Surrey

Seale is a village in Surrey, England forming part of the civil parish of Seale and Sands. It is located at on the south side of the Hog's Back between Farnham and Guildford and is part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It also lies on the Pilgrims' Way. The parish covers...

. A third company, Safeguard

Safeguard Coaches

Safeguard Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in the Surrey town of Guildford, England.Established in 1924, Safeguard currently provide a number of bus services around Guildford, some of which are jointly operated with Arriva Guildford and West Surrey, and coach private hire services over a...

 was now competing for passengers in the same areas and, in 1928, the companies agreed a standard fares policy. By 1930 YBS had 5 modern Dennis buses in its fleet, to which two larger (32 seater) Dennis Lancet buses were added in 1933. Yellow Bus Services had weathered the storm. By 1935 the brand name "Yellow Bus Services" had been added to the vehicles and new Dennis Lancets delivered in 1936 carried a revised livery of creamy yellow with brown wings and flash, and bright yellow wheels. The fleet name now appeared in script within a hexagonal motif with the proprietor's name and telephone number, in gold and black.

In 1938 YBS produced an illustrated brochure, "A Yellow Bus Journey", extolling the beauty of the countryside between Guildford and Farnham and suggesting visits to the Watts Gallery

Watts Gallery

Watts Gallery is an art gallery in the village of Compton, near Guildford in Surrey. It is dedicated to the work of Victorian era painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts....

 and Watts Mortuary Chapel

Watts Mortuary Chapel

The Watts Mortuary Chapel is a Gothic Revival chapel and mortuary located in the village of Compton in Surrey.As a follower of the Home Arts and Industries Association, set up by Earl Brownlow in 1885 to encourage handicrafts among the lower classes, when Compton Parish Council created a new...

 en-route, or using the service as a stopping-off point for walks to Frensham Ponds, Crooksbury Hill, Waverley Abbey

Waverley Abbey

Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester. It is situated about one mile south of Farnham, Surrey, in a bend of the River Wey.-History:...

 and other landmarks. This route alone, using 20 seat Dennis Pike buses, carried almost 25,000 passengers in just 3 months of that year.

World War II

YBS shared their premises with the Auxiliary Fire Service

Auxiliary Fire Service

The Auxiliary Fire Service was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of Civil Defence Air raid precautions. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. In this job it was hampered severely by the incompatibility of equipment used by these different brigades - most...

 (AFS) from the beginning of the war, and bus crews provided voluntary support to the full-time fire fighters. Other staff became ARP wardens or members of the Home Guard. Women were employed as conductresses for the first time, and loan of a Dennis Lancet to the Ministry of Supply

Ministry of Supply

The Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...

 (and its subsequent return in unserviceable condition) meant that YBS had to hire vehicles from other operators such as Tillingbourne Valley Services to cover for unserviceable buses, a situation which was eased by purchase of two Bedford

Bedford Vehicles

Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a subsidiary of Vauxhall Motors, itself the British subsidiary of General Motors , established in 1930; and constructing commercial vehicles. Bedford Vehicles was a leading international truck manufacturer, with substantial export sales of...

 vehicles from a company in Dover. YBS was the only operator in Guildford to comply with the government's request to bus operators to run 10% of their fleet on gas, two YBS buses pulling gas-producer trailers for a time. A bus on the Farnham to Guildford route had a "near-miss" when a bomb landed on the road shortly after the bus passed Shoelands, neare Seale. The increased number of passengers resulted in the buses having additional seats fitted and up to 30 standing passengers permitted. The first two of six Bedford "utility

Utility

In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....

" buses were delivered to the company in 1942 and the buses were all repainted into wartime grey livery at this time. The last of the 6 utility vehicles was delivered in 1945 in cream livery and with upholstered seats. Following a renewed period of hostility with A&D, the two companies came to a further operating agreement (including joint operation of the Stoughton route) and also retimed the Farnham service to provide alternate buses via Cutmill.

The post-war period

At the end of the war, the buses were quickly repainted in the cream livery (one having escaped being repainted in grey) and the utility buses upgraded. Loadings were heavy in the immediate post-war period but, in the 1950s, there was a general decline in use of buses, which had its effect on YBS. An increasing number of services were given dispensation for single person operation. Sunday morning services on the Farnham route were withdrawn in 1951. Sydney Hayter died suddenly at the age of 58 in November that year. In 1953 Yellow Bus Services was incorporated as a limited company

Limited company

A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...

, with Hayter's widow as the principal director. The South-east Traffic Commissioners granted an application for Yellow Bus Services Ltd to take over the service of buses previously run in the name of Yellow Bus Services by the late Mr Sydney Hayter. By then, only the Farnham and Camberley services remained, together with excursions from the Stoughton base. A&D were pressing YBS to sell their services to them and, in 1954 YBS surrendered their licence to run the Camberley service, allowing A&D a monopoly on that route. In an attempt to increase revenue by diversification YBS built a petrol station on their premises in 1955; this aspect of business expanded over the following years to include car repairs, tyre, battery and accessory sales, together with a paraffin

Paraffin

In chemistry, paraffin is a term that can be used synonymously with "alkane", indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2. Paraffin wax refers to a mixture of alkanes that falls within the 20 ≤ n ≤ 40 range; they are found in the solid state at room temperature and begin to enter the...

 delivery service. The service station was staffed by off-duty drivers and other staff displaced from bus services by the reduction in route miles.

The end of the Yellow Bus

In 1957 A&D again approached YBS regarding sale of their business. Terms were agreed in which YBS would pass their routes, private hire business and goodwill to A&D, whilst retaining and expanding the garage business under the amended company name of Y.B.S. Ltd. The transfer took place in 1958, the final services under the Yellow Bus brand being on 15 June. The loss of the "friendly little yellow bus" from the Farnham road was subject of letters of regret in the local press, and several poems were written on the subject, now reproduced in "Happy Family - The Story of Yellow Bus Services, Stoughton". Drivers and conductors were offered jobs with Aldershot and District, and the services continued to run to the same timetables. Engineering staff were retained by YBS to work at the garage.

A model employer

Sydney Hayter was a model employer. For example, he had planned to provide his staff with housing but finances had never become adequate for this; however, he would take groups of his staff to Littlehampton

Littlehampton

Littlehampton is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton and east of the county town of Chichester....

 on their day off, take them fishing in his boat, take them for a meal and provide tickets for a variety show. Sometimes a group would accompany Sydney to a football match at Wembley

Wembley

Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...

. All dealings within the company were on first-name terms (unusual at that time) and passengers, too, were on first name terms with the crews. A club room was provided at the bus garage, fitted with a TV and sporting facilities, and regular social events were organised. An annual outing to the coast was organised for staff and families (on two weekends, so that all could attend). The staff were offered the opportunity to join a union but, having such a benevolent emplyer, none chose to do so. This resulted in an incident in 1957 during the national bus strike (through which YBS continued to operate) when a Yellow Bus en-route from Farnham was "held-up" by 20 militant union members from the Aldershot and District company, who prevented the driver from continuing, and deflated his vehicle's tyres.

The Runfold tragedy

The only serious accident to befall the company occurred on 2 September 1952 when the Farnham to Guildford service was involved in a collision with a lorry near the Princess Royal pub at Runfold

Runfold

Runfold is a village in Surrey, U.K., about 2 miles NNE of Farnham.Runfold lies on the ancient trackway known as the Pilgrims' Way and on the former route of the A31 road, which has by-passed the village since the early 1990s...

. Three female passengers were killed and eight other people, including the conductor, were injured. The lorry was found to have defective steering and its driver was subsequently tried for manslaughter. The driver was found "not guilty" but was convicted on a lesser charge of dangerous driving for which he was banned from driving for 3 years and fined £15.

The company's motto

"To provide a service cheerfully.
Every day of the week.
It's difficult but not impossible."

Reference & further reading

• "Happy Family - The Story of Yellow Bus Services, Stoughton" (by N Hamshere and J Sutton) contains a fuller history of the company.