- Damory Coaches
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Ex-Southern Vectis Leyland Olympian, 710 (TIL 6710), in the new Damory livery.Damory Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in Blandford Forum in Dorset, England. Officially registered as Hants & Dorset Motor Services Limited, Damory Coaches is a subsidiary of Wilts & Dorset, which is itself part of the much larger Go-Ahead Group. As part of Wilts & Dorset, Damory is in of the Go South Coast division of Go-Ahead.
As well as providing coach hire, Damory provides a number of bus services in Dorset, linking up rural communities and providing an important service to residents.
Damory was notable in being one of the last remaining bus operators to run Bristol VRs in daily service until 2009 when the influx of ex Southern Vectis Olympians finally pushed them out. 3 VR's were retained but used for the GSC Events Fleet (inc. Glastonbury,IOW Festival,Bestival),[1] with a number of vehicles being transferred from Wilts & Dorset a few years ago. Damory also operate a number of other unusual vehicles, as noted below.
Contents
History
Damory was established originally by Vic Kimber in the early 1970s in Blandford, where it is still based. It took over the rural bus routes of the Blandford Bus Company, Oakfield Travel and Stanbridge & Crichel Bus Company. Subsequently it became part of the Go-Ahead Group in 2003 and immediately became an operating subsidiary of Wilts & Dorset. After Go-Ahead bought Southern Vectis and Solent Blue Line in late 2005, Damory (along with Wilts & Dorset), was put in the new Go South Coast division.[2]
Current operations
Coaches
There are two different uses for Damory's coaches. Coaches can be hired privately for a number of uses, with varying members of the fleet available.[3] Damory also offer a number of excursions, with a tour brochure released each year.[4][5]
Bus services
Damory operates a number of rural bus services in Dorset, these being the only services in many areas. It is of note that Damory does not compete against Wilts & Dorset to win tenders.[3] The following services are currently operated:[6]
Fleet
A vehicle illustrating the Damory coach livery. Usually, vehicles have large "Damory" names adjacent to the waves: however, when this vehicle was photographed, they had been removed following transfer to Southern Vectis. This vehicle is a Volvo Palatine Coach
One of Damory's Bristol VRs still in the fleet only used for special events within the GSC region.Damory was well known for its fleet of Bristol VRs: however, they no longer run any of the type, all examples having been replaced by Leyland Olympians transferred from Southern Vectis. Other notable vehicles include DAF SB220/Ikarus Citibus (480), some LDV Convoy and two Volvo B10B/Northern Counties Paladin. A Scania/Darwen Olympus arrived in mid-2008.
Fleet details are as follows:[1]
- 4 DAF SB220/Ikarus Citibus (480) (one on loan from Wilts & Dorset)
- 2 DAF SB3000/Plaxton Premiere
- 2 DAF/Van Hool Alizee
- 3 Bova Futura
- 2 Volvo B10M/Plaxton Premiere
- 2 Volvo B10M/Plaxton Paramount
- 3 Volvo B10M/Plaxton Excalibur
- 2 Volvo B10B/Northern Counties Paladin
- 3 Volvo B10B/Plaxton Verde
- 4 LDV Convoy
- 6 Optare MetroRider
- 3 LDV Pilot
- 5 Optare Solo
- 1 Mercedes-Benz 711D/Autobus Classique
- 1 Scania N270/Darwen Olympus
- 12 Leyland Olympian (In Poole Depot) (Fleet numbers 710 to 727) (Usually operated on school services as these do not have disabled ramps)
- 2 Volvo Olympian (Fleet numbers 744 and 748. Usually operated on school services as these do not have disabled ramps)
- 4 Optare Spectra (Low Floor, Wheelchair Accessible) (2 are branded for Routes 347/387)
- 3 Bristol VRs/ECW (4413 retained for preservation within the company)
See also
- Tourist Group - a series of smaller operators which, although also part of Wilts & Dorset, are too small to stand alone.
- List of bus operators of the United Kingdom
References
- ^ a b Damory Coaches fleetlist
- ^ "About Damory Coaches". Damory Coaches. 2007. Archived from the original on 11-06-2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080611144514/http://www.damorycoaches.co.uk/about.asp. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ a b "Coach Hire". Damory Coaches. 2007. Archived from the original on 20-09-2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080920074648/http://www.damorycoaches.co.uk/coachhire.asp. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ "Excursions". Damory Coaches. 2007. Archived from the original on 4-10-2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20081004001702/http://www.damorycoaches.co.uk/prodtype.asp. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ "UK and European Tours (2008)". Damory Coaches. 2007. Archived from the original on 12-04-2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080412194639/http://www.damorycoaches.co.uk/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=78&strPageHistory=cat. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ Damory routes and timetables Wilts & Dorset. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
External links
Go-Ahead Group United Kingdom
bus companiesBlue Triangle · Brighton & Hove · Damory Coaches · Docklands Buses · Go North East · Konectbus · London Central · London General · Metrobus · Oxford Bus Company · Plymouth Citybus · Solent Blue Line (Bluestar, Uni-link, Marchwood Motorways) · Southern Vectis · Thames Travel · Tourist Group · Wilts & Dorset (services)
United Kingdom
railway companies
(Govia)Defunct UK
operationsCategories:- Bus operators in England
- Go South Coast companies
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