ELSEYS OF GOSBERTON
Operating from Quadring Fen to Spalding
Based in the village of Gosberton between Spalding and Donington, the
service shown in the undated but pre-decimalisation (1971) timetable
has a generous level of service seven days a week on their bus route
through the lanes from Quadring Fen, Gosberton Clough and West
Pinchbeck to the market town of Spalding. Elseys had first come
into the bus business in 1958 with the purchase of the one vehicle firm
and routes of H Paling of Gosberton Risegate.
The origins of the
Elseys business were from 1949 when a previous partnership with Leverton
was dissolved with the former concentrating on bus work and the latter
on coaching. Another operator (Nightingale of Pode Hole,
Spalding, trading as Reliance) also ran alongside Elseys on the
Quadring Fen route. Reliance was acquired in 1960 along with two
of their vehicles.
Another recently viewed timetable leaflet from A & W Elsey of Gosberton, dating from 1980, shows timetables for the Spalding - Bourne, Spalding - Quadring Fen, Wigtoft - Spalding routes, as well as a Spalding town service. In later years following express service deregulation Elseys operated a daily coach service between Gosberton, Swineshead, Boston, Spalding and London. It had previously been operated as an excusion to London from Spalding, and is known to have been running as such regularly on Thursdays and Saturdays by 1977. The London express route continued until withdrawal at the end of summer 2007, although the Elsey business had been owned by TransLinc, a major operator in the county, since 2001.
In 1989 Elsey's were are also running route 59
from Spalding to Boston, coupled with two Boston town services (see
below). Part of the London express journeys are incorporated into
the bus service timetable. The 59 was originally a Lincolnshire Road
Car route and is now operated by Brylaine Travel as service 113 Spilsby
- Boston - Spalding (although for a while it was operated as Brylaine's
5 from Lincoln to Boston and on to Spalding). Kimes also cover
the part of the route between Boston and Kirton.
with many thanks to John Brogden for the loan of the timetable,
and incorporating information from articles and publications
by Roy Marshall and David Kaye found in the libraries of Lincolnshire
