BLANDFORD BUS COMPANY
John Cumming wanted to run a bus company - in 1989 he achieved that ambition
With the advent of bus deregulation after the 1985 Transport Act, John Cumming saw opportunities for new routes in the Blandford
area of Dorset. He started Blandford Bus Company with his mother Mary in April 1989. Always a friendly and approachable operator,
there was always a welcome for the enthusiast as John was always an enthusiast himself.
During the comparatively short life of this company, a miscellany of different routes had been tried by John and his mother. Starting
with one bus, bought with the assistance of a government grant, Blandford Bus commenced operations on Monday 10 April 1989
(timetable issue no. 1) over the following innovative routes:
321 Blandford - Poole (Monday to Friday commuter service)
322 Milborne St Andrew - Blandford (school and works journeys Monday to Friday)
323 Stourpaine - Tarrant Gunville - Salisbury (market service Tuesday)
324 Turnworth - Winterborne Kingston - Wimborne (market service Friday)
325 Milborne St Andrew - Blandford - Poole (shopping service Saturday, 2 journeys)
326 Iwerne Minster - Tarrant Valley - Wimborne - Poole (shopping service Saturday)
All the services above interworked and could be operated by one bus.
Changes were to come quickly, however, based on the experience of the first few weeks running. The second issue of the timetable was
dated 10 July 1989 and the changes to the routes were as follows, with the commuter run to Poole discontinued:
321 Withdrawn after Friday 7 July
322 Increased frequency including Tuesday and Friday shoppers journeys to Blandford and 1704 journey extended from Milborne St Andrew to Bere Regis (original 322 withdrawn after 6 October 1989)
323 Unchanged
324 Extended from Wimborne to Poole
325 Increased to 4 journeys (withdrawn after 7 October 1989)
326 Unchanged (withdrawn after 7 October 1989)
327 New service: Bryanston - Blandford (market service Thursday, 6 journeys) (only ran on 13 and 20 July 1989 in practice)
328 New service: Blandford - Wimborne - Ringwood (market service Wednesday)
The services above required the operation of a second bus on certain days. It was nearly twelve months before the third timetable appeared on April 1 1990.
With a year's operating experience now gained, the following adjustments were made resulting in a much reduced (and perhaps more realistic)
level of operation:
322 Withdrawn
323 Now extended back to start at Milton Abbas and double run to Chettle introduced
324 Now extended back to start at Milton Abbas
325 Reintroduced but reduced to 1 journey and extended to Bournemouth
326 Withdrawn
327 Withdrawn
328 Diverted via Corfe Mullen School; now Wednesdays in summer only
113 (from 19 April - formerly Bere Regis & District) Bere Regis - Milton Abbas - Blandford (market service Thursday)
So timetable three permitted operation with just one bus again and was a far less demanding operation. Timetable number four followed quickly on
1 July 1990 and was even more modest with the withdrawal of Saturday services:
321 New service: Melcombe Bingham - Milton Abbas - Blandford (market service Thursday, 2 journeys)
322 Revision of route 113: Bere Regis - Winterborne Whitchurch - Blandford (market service Thursday, diverted via Inside Park instead of Bryanston)
323 Unchanged
324 Unchanged
325 Withdrawn
328 Unchanged
Services continued for nine months and timetable number five was issued on 22 April 1991, which reintroduced Saturday operation:
321 Unchanged
322 Unchanged
323 Unchanged
324 Extended back to start at Melcombe Bingham
325 Ringwood service (ex-328) - Corfe Mullen School omitted again and now diverted via Ameysford Road in Ferndown
326 New service: Melcombe Bingham - Bulbarrow - Milton Abbas - Blandford (shopping and tourist service, Saturday, 4 journeys - connecting with Wilts & Dorset X13 at Blandford from Bournemouth and Poole)
328 Renumbered 325
Timetable six followed on 1 November 1991, with a considerable expansion of service:
111 New service: Blandford - Milton Abbas - Hilton - Dorchester (daily workers and school journeys; shoppers journeys to Dorchester on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; shoppers journeys to Blandford on Thursday and Saturday. Replaces 321 and 326 and the ex-House route from Hilton to Dorchester).
312 New service: Mappowder - Hazlebury Bryan - Woolland - Blandford (market service Thursday; replaces most of ex-House route from Hilton to Blandford)
313 New service: Blandford - Milborne St Andrew - Wareham (shopping journey Tuesday, replaces Oakfield route)
314 New service: Wareham - Ridge (in layover time of 313, Tuesday, ex-Oakfield)
321 Absorbed into 111
322 Unchanged
323 Unchanged
324 Unchanged
325 Unchanged
326 Absorbed into 111
KDL204W comes down the hill in Milton Abbas in 1991 with John Cumming driving.
This Bristol LHS was with the company from 1990 until 1994 and then passed to Brown
of Motcombe (Shaftesbury & District), who in turn sold it in 1997 to Cudlipp of Stur-
minster Newton, Dorset. New in 1981 to Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight.
(photo courtesy of Dorset County Council, passenger transport group)
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Route map from timetable six, November 1991
An amendment leaflet to timetable number six was issued in Spring 1992:
311 Turnworth - Winterborne Whitchurch - Blandford (school journey Monday to Friday, ex-Oakfield)
314 Withdrawn
314 New service: Blandford - Tower Park (leisure journey Friday)
323 Curtailed to start at Blandford (after loss of school contract at Milton Abbas)
Timetable number seven was issued on 1 November 1992 (this was to be the last timetable book issued). The routes were now:
111 Same but extra Saturday journeys
312 Unchanged
313 Unchanged
314 Withdrawn
322 Unchanged
323 Unchanged
324 Unchanged except starts Milton Abbas not Melcombe Bingham on schooldays)
325 Unchanged
Two of the fleet laying over in Blandford, including GCL349N, a 49 seater Bristol RE,
in the Blandford fleet from October 1992 until February 1994. Later with Ray Cuff of
Piddlehinton from 1996 till 2003. ECW bodied. New to Eastern Counties in 1974.
It is now in preservation.
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The last route developments were to sow the seeds of the downfall of the company. From 1 February 1993 a new service 138 was introduced
between Shaftesbury, Blandford and Poole (hourly from Blandford, two journeys starting back at Shaftesbury). This incurred the displeasure
of the local majority operator Wilts & Dorset who - although they did not operate a direct service between Blandford and Poole - saw this as
a major incursion into "their patch". The response was to introduce a new route X38 from 1 March to duplicate Blandford Bus route 138 and
running five minutes in front at greatly reduced fares. As a further retaliatory measure Wilts & Dorset introduced route 11 to duplicate the
'best' shopping journeys of Blandford Bus route 111, and also a Thursday route 22 to duplicate the 322. A small company like Blandford Bus
did not have the economic resource to withstand a competitive attack of this nature and after two months John Cumming had to withdraw
the Poole service and retract to his network of rural services.
This was the beginning of the end and finally the routes (but not the vehicles) of the Blandford Bus Company passed to Damory Coaches of
Blandford in January 1994. By then Damory were themselves a Wilts & Dorset subsidiary and had taken over the Oakfield and Stanbridge
and Crichel businesses as well.
Seddon Pennine 45 seater CSG787S. This had been new to Scottish Omnibuses in 1978
(photo from the Roger Grimley collection)
Blandford Bus had operated an interesting fleet mix in its five years of existence, ranging from Leyland Leopard and Seddon Pennine coaches
to Bristol LHS and RE buses. There was also a Toyota/Caetano 19-seater and even a Leyland National. But best and long remembered will
be that blue and white LHS which was affectionately signwritten as the Dorset Puddle Jumper. Of the original routes introduced at the start
of operations in April 1989 only the 323 Salisbury Tuesday market service and 324 Wimborne Friday market service operated throughout
until the demise of Blandford Bus five years later. John continue to work in the transport industry in the Dorset area.
