 Heritage Bristol LDL6G & Volvo B10M service bus at Bishops Lydeard depot in August 2012 | |
| Parent | Stephen Morris |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Bishops Lydeard |
| Service area | Somerset |
| Service type | Bus & coach services |
| Hubs | Minehead |
| Fleet | 15 (October 2013) |
| Chief executive | Stephen Morris |
| Website | www |
Quantock Motor Services [1] is a privately owned bus operator in Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, England. The company operates a substantial heritage fleet for private hire and on route 300.
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, Sand Bay and nearby tourist attractions in the summer of 2000. [2] In 2002 the Exmoor Explorer circular service was started from Minehead. [3] [4]
In 2001 Rexquote established a new Quantock Motor Services operation. It was initially based in Ilfracombe, with three vehicles to operate schools contracts and a service from Combe Martin to Barnstaple. [5] 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. [6]
Public services ceased in September 2014, at which time four services were being operated: [6] [7]
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. [8] In 2010 it featured on a local BBC programme that featured "great South West journeys". [9]
The regular vehicle for many years was an East Lancashire bodied Scania N94UD open top bus. After the 2012 season this was sold and replaced with a single-deck open top Alexander PS bodied Volvo B10M. [10] The service ceased operating in September 2014, [11] but returned the following summer using heritage (not necessarily open top) buses. [12] [13]
Today, the 300 is now run by The Buses of Somerset as the open top 'Exmoor Coaster' service. [14]
Until 2011 the service 400 'Exmoor Explorer' operated a circular tour from Minehead to Dunster, 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 Operated by heritage open top buses, it only ran on selected days during the summer but was withdrawn after Somerset County Council funding was withdrawn.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. [15]
During 2010 the depot was relocated from Norton Fitzwarren, to a facility next door to Bishops Lydeard railway station on the heritage West Somerset Railway. [16] Heritage vehicles undergoing restoration are at an outstation in Langley Marsh, Wiveliscombe. [17]
As at October 2013 Quantock Motor Services operate 15 modern vehicles painted in a red livery. [18] A new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 was purchased in 2010 for new contracts. [19]
A number of older vehicles are operated by Quantock Motor Services, although not all are licensed for paid operations.
The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a 22.75-mile (36.6 km) 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 ; which is supported and minority-owned by charitable trust the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) and the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust (WSSRT). The WSR plc operates services using both heritage steam and diesel trains.
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. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18,810 acres (7,610 ha) in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km (34 mi) of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2 (267.5 sq mi), of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.
West Somerset was a local government district in the English county of Somerset. The council covered a largely rural area, with a population of 34,900 in an area of 740 square kilometres (290 sq mi); it was the least populous non-unitary district in England. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics in 2009, the population of West Somerset has the oldest average age in the United Kingdom at 52. The largest centres of population are the coastal towns of Minehead and Watchet (4,400).
The A39 is an A road in south west England. It runs south-west from Bath in Somerset through Wells, Glastonbury, Street and Bridgwater. It then follows the north coast of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall through Williton, Minehead, Porlock, Lynmouth, Barnstaple, Bideford, Stratton, Camelford, Wadebridge and St Columb Major. It then joins the route of the A30 road for around 5 miles (8.0 km), re-emerging near Zelah to head for the south Cornish coast via Truro and Falmouth.
Porlock is a coastal village in Somerset, England, 5 miles (8 km) west of Minehead. At the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,440.
Porlock Hill is a road west of Porlock, Somerset. It is part of the A39, connecting Porlock to Lynmouth and Barnstaple in Devon and is the steepest A-road in the United Kingdom, approaching 1 in 4 (13.7%) in places. A parallel toll road is available which travels the same route at an easier gradient.
Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a management buyout. It went on to purchase a number of bus companies in England and Wales. In November 1993, Badgerline Group was listed on the stock exchange and, on 16 June 1995, it merged with the GRT Group to form FirstBus.
Bishops Lydeard railway station is a heritage railway station in the village of Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, England. It is the southern terminus for regular trains on the West Somerset Railway.
Norton Fitzwarren railway station is an untimetabled station on the West Somerset Railway in Somerset, England. It was built in 2009 about 1⁄4 mile (0.4 km) north of the site of the old station that served the village of Norton Fitzwarren from 1873 until 1961. There were fatal railway accidents in the vicinity in 1890, 1940 and 1978.
The Coleridge Way is a 51-mile (82 km) long-distance trail in Somerset and Devon, England.
Open top buses are used in the United Kingdom for sightseeing and seasonal summer services.
Devon General was the principal bus operator in south Devon from 1919. The name was first used by the Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company which was created in 1919. In 1922 it was purchased by the National Electric Construction Company which merged with British Electric Traction in 1931. Nationalisation in 1969 resulted in 1971 with the company being merged into Western National. In 1983 a new Devon General Limited was created which became the first operating subsidiary of the National Bus Company to be privatised in 1986 when it became the first company of Transit Holdings. It was sold to the Stagecoach Group in 1996 and renamed Stagecoach Devon in 2003.
Western Greyhound was a bus operator based in Summercourt, near Newquay, which operated services in Cornwall and Devon from January 1998 until March 2015.
WebberBus was a privately owned company that operated bus services around Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Highbridge, Minehead, Taunton, Street, Glastonbury, and Wells in Somerset and also around Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England.
Lynmouth Lifeboat Station was the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Lynmouth, Devon in England from 1869 until 1944. Its best known action was in 1899 when the lifeboat was taken 15 miles (24 km) across Exmoor before being launched to assist a ship in trouble.
Open top buses in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, were introduced in 1950 and have run along the sea front every summer since. The initial operator was Bristol Tramways and this company's successors continued to provide services until 2013. The route from Weston-super-Mare railway station to Sand Bay is operated by First West of England. From time-to-time open top buses have also provided scenic tours in and around the town.
Devon General first operated open top buses in Torbay in 1919 but reintroduced open top buses on tourist routes in 1955. New buses were introduced in 1961 which were known as 'Sea Dogs' because of the names they were given, but these were later replaced by those of 'Warships'.
The Buses of Somerset is the trading name used by bus operator First South West for services operated in Somerset from depots in the towns of Taunton and Bridgwater since 2014. The services were formerly managed as part of First Somerset & Avon.
The Exmoor Group is a late Devonian to early Carboniferous lithostratigraphic group in southwest England whose outcrop extends from Croyde in north Devon east across Exmoor to Minehead in west Somerset. The group comprises the following formations the:
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