HOLME DELIGHT OF DONINGTON

HOLME DELIGHT

Who used to operate from Spalding to Donington and Boston

Please note this is a site of historical record and does not contain current service information

The delightfully named business (no pun intended!) ran through the flatlands of Holland district from Spalding to Boston by way of Gosberton, Donington, Bicker, Swineshead and Kirton Holme. J W Camplin & Sons were the proprietors and the firm had commenced in business in March 1926. Their operating base was alongside the road from Donington to Bicker. Donington is remembered as the birthplace of the 18th century explorer Matthew Flinders. In 1798 he circumnavigated Tasmania for the first time and proved it to be an island. Illustrated below is the March 1963 timetable for the Holme Delight Bus Service of Donington. A basic two hourly service between the two termini was enhanced with market journeys for Spalding on Tuesdays and Boston on Wednesdays.

Camplin's Bus route passed to Kimes of Folkingham in 1970, who still operate the route today as their service 59. The timetable being run by Kimes in 1978 was not dissimilar to that of 1963, although the end to end running time had been reduced slightly from 75 to 70 minutes. In fact there was perhaps little through traffic between the two termini as there was another route which operated more directly between Spalding and Boston. This was Lincolnshire Road Car route 59 via Gosberton and Sutterton which took only 55 minutes. On the common section of route between Spalding and Gosberton the two operators co-operated to provide a half hour frequency. (As will be noted whilst route 59 is historically associated with the Spalding to Boston road it originally applied to the shorter route via Sutterton and is now applied to the longer ex-Holme Delight route through Donington and Swineshead).

Camplin continued with coaches until 1977 when they were taken over by Elseys of Gosberton.

FDO573 AEC Regent III at the LVVS
Museum (photo by courtesy of LVVS)

During the 1950s the Camplin fleet numbered about ten vehicles and the main bus service was primarily provided by two AEC double deckers. New in 1955 was AEC Regent III HDO661 with a Park Royal body fitted with doors. The other Holme Delight double decker has been preserved at the museum of the Lincolnshire Vintage Vehicle Society. This too is an AEC Regent III but with 60-seater Willowbrook body, FDO573. It was new to Camplins in 1953 (their first double deck vehicle) and is in red livery with platform doors, air brakes and preselect gearbox. In 1964 there were seven in the fleet, the two deckers mentioned, a single deck dual purpose Bedford 44-seater and four coaches.

holme delight timetable

sunday service holme delight

Further information on this operator, quoted from www.doningtonidea.org:

"In the early 1930’s J W Camplin, with his fleet of buses called ‘Holme Delight’, arrived in Donington and built a bus garage on the A52 at the border with Bicker. The ‘Holme Delight’ arrived at the golden age of bus travel with full seats and standing room only on market days and on Saturday evenings to go to the pictures. Cars were still few and far between and the bus was the only way for the ordinary person to go shopping or to get to the cinema. The buses had their share of characters at the wheel, perhaps the most remembered being Archie Lenton, Joe Richardson and ‘Snooks’ Harrison, who always stopped the bus outside his house in Swineshead and went inside for a cup of tea – leaving a bus full of fuming passengers. This service looked after Donington for near forty years until 1970 when it was taken over by Kimes of Folkingham."

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

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