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London Buses 1970–1980 (Hardback)

A Decade of London Transport and London Country Operations

Colour Books Photographic Books Transport > Buses Transport > London Transport

By John Laker, Matthew Wharmby
Imprint: Pen & Sword Transport
Pages: 160
Illustrations: 160
ISBN: 9781473872943
Published: 8th November 2017

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The 1970s were among London Transport’s most troubled years. Prohibited from designing its own buses for the gruelling conditions of the capital, LT was compelled to embark upon mass orders for the broadly standard products of national manufacturers, which for one reason or another proved to be disastrous failures in the capital and were disposed of prematurely at a great loss. Despite a continuing spares shortage combined with industrial action, the old organisation kept going somehow, with the venerable RT and Routemaster families still at the forefront of operations.

At the same time, the green buses of the Country Area were taken over by the National Bus Company as London Country Bus Services. Little by little, and not without problems of their own, the mostly elderly but standard inherited buses gave way to a variety of diverted orders, some successful others far from so, until by the end of the decade we could see a mostly NBC-standard fleet of one-man-operated buses in corporate leaf green.

As featured in

Omnibus Magazine

A series of illustrations of interest to those mainly focused on London with a strong emphasis on vehicles.

Roads & Road Transport History Association

As featured in

Essence (Surrey), February 2018

Fine record of a period of change in and around London.

Best of British, February 2018 - reviewed by David Brown

If you are an enthusiast for all things London, and especially of the products of the golden age of the UK capital's bespoke buses, then you are likely to lap this up.

Buses, February 2018 – reviewed by Alan Millar

About John Laker

John Laker was born in Ruislip and began to take an interest in Londons buses as in the late 1940s. In 1957 he bought a camera to start colour photography. Initially, he concentrated on photographing the disappearing British trams and trolleybuses, some examples of which have been published. Mid-career he joined London Transport based at Chiswick Works and remained with them, and later London Buses Limited, where he held the position of Contracts Manager, until taking severance in 1995. Today he is known for his involvement with J & K Video DVDs, which feature his work.


About Matthew Wharmby

MATTHEW WHARMBY is an author, photographer and editor who specialises in London bus history. His published books include Routemaster Requiem and Routemaster Retrospective (with Geoff Rixon), London Transport 1970-1984 (with R.C. Riley), The London Titan and The London Metrobus. He has also written many articles for Buses, Bus & Coach Preservation, Classic Bus and London Bus Magazine. This is his twelfth book for Pen and Sword; the others are London Transport’s Last Buses: Leyland Olympians L 1-263, The London Bendy Bus, The London Enviro400, The London DMS, The London LS, Last Years of the London Titan, Last Years of the London Metrobus, The London Volvo B9TL and B5LH, The London Dennis Trident, The London Volvo B7TL and (with John Laker), London Buses 1970-80.

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