Essex's Fascination for Bus Enthusiasts

Essex held great fascination for bus enthusiasts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Eastern National operated right across the county, Daimlers and Leylands acquired from Westcliff-on-Sea Motor Services in 1955 and Guy Arabs taken over with the Moore Bros business in 1963 adding variety to its fleet of Bristol-built buses.

North Essex was a hive of independent activity, fleets such as those of Hedingham & District and Osborne's of Tollesbury containing many interesting second-hand buses. Eastern Counties operated from Suffolk into north Essex whilst an eclectic mixture of vehicles provided municipal services at Colchester and at Southend, where services were fully coordinated with Eastern National.

London Transport and Green Line services intermixed with Eastern National services in south Essex, where extraordinary independent Super Coaches also ran some bus routes. Philip Wallis chronicles and illustrates the great variety of operators and buses to be found in Essex in the period before National Bus Company standardisation set in.