Whippet coaches started in 1919 from a base in Hilton. From the mid sixties until 2009 they had a depot on the A14 at Fenstanton. They now run out of a depot in Swavesey. Services are run over a large area, based on St Ives and Huntingdon, running on the A14 corridor to Cambridge via several routes. Town services are run in St Neots and Cambridge and infrequent services run to Ramsey, Somersham, Gamlingay, Waterbeach and Croydon. Services run to several coastal resorts during the summer months. The fleet livery is cream and two tone blue, although this is applied in various schemes. All vehicles feature a hand painted whippet dog logo.
The fleet is fairly varied, with varied vehicles joining the fleet in recent months. The 90th anniversary this year has seen several new paint schemes emerge.
Whippet have ordered three Volvo B7RLE/Plaxton for their share of the guided busway work.

The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway will be the worlds longest. It is currently being built on the formation of the old St Ives railway line from the northern edge of Cambridge to the outskirts of St Ives. A seperate section is to be built to the south side of Cambridge, on the old Bedford railway line. Completion and opening is due for later in 2009, the latest date is now November. The buses used on the busway will be owned by Stagecoach and Whippet with 20 and 3 respectively. Stagecoach's 20 (10 Scania/AD Enviro 400 deckers and 10 Volvo B7RLE/Wright saloons) are in service on exisiting services whilst Whippets 3 Volvo/Plaxton are in store.

Sun Fun are based in Earith, and were the first UK dealers and distributors of the spanish built Ayats coaches. Because of this several demonstrators have been seen and operated locally, and several vehicles that have been supplied to other operators sometimes come back for maintainance.
In the past year SunFun have started operating a considerable number of schools contracts in the Witchford, Ely and Ramsey areas; so much so that several vehicles have to be outstationed as there is not enough space in the main depot in Earith. SunFun also operate a number of vehicles as band buses, these have ABC Nightliners fleetnames and often feature ABC registrations. Fleet livery, where carried, is White and purple. SunFun have been known to buy and sell vehicles very quickly.Some vehicles come, and then go, within a month!

Stagecoach took over the operations of Cavalier Contracts, which traded as both Huntingdon & District and Cavalier in April 2008. Initially the route network was continued, it was then simplified, creating several new links across the fens. In the last part of 2008 Stagecoach downgraded Long Sutton depot to an outstation and surrendered lots of the fenland services. Most of the acquired vehicles have recently been withdrawn with the entry into service of the 20 guided busway buses. As many of the newer vehicles inherited from Cavalier were leased, these have returned to the lessors when the lease expired.

Stagecoach in Peterborough is the dominant operator in that city. City services (marketed as citi services) are run, along with country services to Thorney, Oundle, Spalding, Huntingdon and Cambridge. The fleet is housed at the depot in Lincoln Road, with a sub depot in March; numerous vehicles are oustationed. Most, if not all, of the fleet are in the swoops livery, with 53001-5 in NatEx for the 448/9 (London-Peterborough-Lincolnshire).

Stagecoach is the dominant operator in Cambridge. City services (marketed as citi) are run in Cambridge, and country services run to St Ives, Littleport, Newmarket, Bury st Edmunds, Royston, Saffron Walden, St Neots and Gamlingay. The services are run by a fleet of MANs, Darts, Tridents, Olympians and Solos, with driver training having 5 Volvo B10M/Plaxtons. The Park & Ride services are operated by 22 Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 Double Deckers. The takeover of Cavalier/Huntingdon & District has seen several Volvo Olympians move down the A14; in return Cambridge has seen the arrival of a number of B10M/Alexander PS single deckers. The open top service is run by a fleet of 6 1997 Volvo Olympians in city sightseeing livery.

Stagecoach is the dominant operator for large parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. However I have only included the two routes here that penetrate Cambridgeshire. These are the X4 (Milton Keynes-Corby-Peterborough) and X5 (Oxford-Bedford-Cambridge). The X4 has recently recieved nearly new Scania Deckers from Manchester whilst the X5 recieved new Volvo coaches at the end of 2008.

Shaws operate a collection of coaches in the area to the north of Peterborough from their base in Maxey. Stage carriage services see buses work into Peteborough on Wednesdays and Saturdays and also into Spalding. Fleet livery is Blue and White.

Robinsons run from Kimbolton, in the west of the county. Fleet livery is cream, brown and red. A lot of the work is for the private Kimbolton School.

Richmonds operate a fleet of modern coaches from a depot at Barley. Cherished and dateless registrations have long been a feature of this fleet. Local services are operated in Royston and the surrounding areas with a fleet of 4 Optare Solos and 4 Varios; and they operate into Cambridge on fridays on route 334 from Standon. Fleet livery is brown and cream.

Peterborough City Council operate several services themselves. These tend to be lower demand than the commercial Stagecoach network. Operations are now run with a fleet of Optare Solos in an eye catching Orange and white livery. A fleet of BMC schoolbuses is also operated, on school services to Glinton Village College.

This collection is for local operators, or regular visitors, whose numbers do not justify a collection to themselves at present.

Norfolk Green run many services in the Kings Lynn and Wisbech areas from a depot in Kings Lynn.

These pictures show some of the vehicles that have been adapted for new lives after being buses. I have identified those that I can with the name of the owner.

Photos will stay here for a week or so, until they are moved to their own collections.

Neneway are based at Eye Green, at the eastern edge of Peterborough, on the A47 to Wisbech. A mix of schools and works contracts are operated in the Spalding, Peterborough and Glinton areas.

Neals started running minibuses from a base in Chippenham. They have now evolved into running full sized buses and coaches from a base on the outskirts of Isleham. Services are run for both Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and they are seen regularly in Ely, Newmarket, Haverhill and Bury. The fleet livery was white with a blue stripe; but the latest arrivals wear a silver and two tone blue stripe.

These pictures are for National Express operators from outside this area. Those from within, like Burtons and Stagecoach in Peterborough are listed under those headings.

Myalls run an interesting and varied fleet from their base in Bassingbourn. These include a Bedford SB/Wright built to Jersey specification, a preserved Bedford VAM and Cambridgeshires first Dennis Condor decker. Fleet livery is lime green and white. Routes run are mainly in the south of the county.

Mil Ken have two depots, at Littleport and Kentford. School contracts and Private Hires form a large part of the companies workload. Formerly they had quite a varied fleet, however they have standardised on Volvo B10M/Plaxtons, many from Ireland, over the past few years. Almost all of the front line fleet are reregistered.

Meridian Line run a collection of vehicles from a yard in Kneesworth . Service 31 is run from Fowlmere to Cambridge, this is normally run by the Enviro 200 single decker. Single Deck Atlantean GEX740F is owned as a preserved vehicle. Ayats OO05MLT was the first ever vehicle to be bought new. This company has recently expanded to operate the East Beds Dart network of services based on Biggleswade, using three Optare Solos supplied by Bedfordshire County Council.

MCV builds buses on an industrial Estate in Sutton. They are the spiritual successor to Marshall. Annoyingly most vehicles are delivered in allover white, and unregistered.

Schools services in the Ely/Soham/Witchford/Bottisham area form a lot of this companies work. They also work under contract to Shropshires vegetable packers. These contracts see Leroys taking large numbers of immigrant workers out into the fenland fields. Also operated are a number of contracts for the large number of language schools in Cambridge, these see vehicles turning up in London, Stratford, Oxford etc at weekends. A limited number of stage carriage services are operated, often market day services. Fleet livery is unknown, as the only vehicles to be repainted recently have been into allover schoolbus yellow. Depots are in Barway village and in a haulage yard in Isleham. Vehicles are often parked in Shropshires factory yard, and at a wide variety of locations in the Ely/Soham/Littleport area. This company is not known for its welcome at the main Barway depot.

Kimes visit Peterborough regularly on route 9 from Oakham and route 11 from Stamford. There is variety in the fleet, although the single deckers predominate on the normal services.

Until a couple of years ago, Kiddles were based at an extremely compact depot in the middle of St Ives. They are now in a spacious corner of a haulage yard in Warboys. The fleet has been updated recently, with Volvo and Scania coaches and a couple of Dennis Darts for the mix of schools and works contracts that are operated.

Kenzies run a varied fleet of coaches from two depots in Shepreth; these are in Angle Lane and next to the Railway Station. The preserved collection is kept on a short leash and will often only attend rallies; the older vehicles are used on schools services and the new coaches are used extensively and widely on holiday contracts the length and width of europe. The vehicles with "CBK" registrations are newer than you would expect.

Like many companies, Jans have several school and works services in the Ely and Soham areas.

Greys operate a modern fleet from a depot in Witchford. There is a wide use of G-ELY registrations on the front line fleet, most other vehicles are also reregistered.
Several school contracts are operated, using a wide variety of interesting vehicles, Hong Kong Condors and Olympians, Optare Vectas, Leyland Tigers and Volvo B10Ms amongst them.

This well established company has been in Peterborough for a long time. Interesting vehicles in recent past have included Bedford OBs, Scania Metropolitans and AEC Reliances. The current fleet is somewhat newer than that, and mainly used on private hires, school and works contracts. Fleet livery is grey and purple.

The Goodman Group have several trading names and liveries. Several operators in the Peterborough area have been taken over as their owners sell up or retire.
A couple of stage carriage services run into Peterborough, but the main focus seems to be on school services in to Glinton, Whittlesey, Peterborough and Ramsey areas. Depots are kept in Whittlesey and in Peterborough.

This relatively new company is based in Ely, but has operations in the Newmarket and Haverhill areas of Suffolk. School and works contracts are also prominent.

Fowlers are based at Holbeach Drove, in south Lincolnshire. A large number of school and works contracts are operated in the Holbeach and Spalding areas, plus a few stage carriage contracts, including one into Wisbech. The depot at Holbeach is a mecca for anyone interested in buses; anyone who has been there will know what I mean!

First Eastern Counties is the main operator in Suffolk and Norfolk. They also operate the X1 service along the A47 corridor to Peterborough. This service mainly uses B9TL double deckers, but coaches often substitute.

This company is based at Queen Adelaide, to the north of Ely. School and works contracts form a large part of the workload. I do not know what the fleet livery is, as nothing has been painted!

Emblings run an eclectic mix of buses from their depot in Guyhirn. There are currently a few stage carriage services, notably the 701 from Coates to Peterborough and the 380 from March to Wisbech, In addition to this there are weekly services to Kings Lynn and Downham Market. School services are important and see the buses in many parts of northern Cambridgeshire and west Norfolk daily. fleet livery is red, white and blue. The company are very friendly at the main depot, but numerous vehicles are outstationed over the fenland area.

As well as their well known heritage trio, Bedford OWB CUT465; Bedford J2 ABC330K and Bedford VAL UFX360L, Dews have a varied fleet of both coaches and buses. The coaches are often seen far and wide and include both Volvo, Scanias and Mercedes Benz Touros; "DEW" registrations are commonplace on these vehicles and are often reused.
Dews returned to local stage carriage work in August 06 when they won service 106 (Cottenham to Ely) from Burtons. To operate this they have an Optare Solo. School contract work has seen the arrival of a fleet of Volvo B10M deckers.

Delaine Buses run a fleet of immaculate vehicles on services from Bourne, Morton and Stamford into Peterborough. They regularly buy new buses for front line services, a selected fleet of second hand vehicles is kept for school services. A heritage fleet of older vehicles is retained.

For our 2006 Trip,we hired the closed top Stagecoach Lodekka, 19953, JAH553D. We went to the Eastern Transport Collection storage depot near Attleborough. From there we had a trip to a local pub for lunch in RS658, KVF658E, newly painted in NBC Red for this year. We went on to Konects depot in Dereham in the Lodekka. From Konects depot we had a trip in Julian Pattersons recently restored VR, LFS303F. On our way home we were treated to the sight of BOTH Stagecoach Lodekkas together at Newmarket.

This company is based at Milton, to the north of Cambridge. They do not do any stage carriage services, instead they rely on social services contracts and private hires. The fleet livery is white and orange.

Carnells are based in Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire. They operate several services into Wisbech; including several relinquished by Stagecoach at the start of 2009. Fleet livery is silver grey with stripes.

C&G run a mixed fleet of vehicles from their depot in Chatteris, in the middle of the fens. School runs are an important part, with runs stretching to Cambridge, March and Huntingdon. Until 2005 vehicles were operated under contract to Harrisons Holidays and were seen countrywide in Harrisons silver and maroon livery, Several coaches still wear this livery, but with C&G fleetnames. Irizar bodied Scanias were the favoured choice for this work. "CNG" registrations were usually put onto most vehicles.

Burtons are part of the Arriva group. Unlike the earlier acquisitions, the latter companies to be taken over have kept their own fleet liveries. Burtons operate from their main depot in Haverhill into Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire; they are also responsible for the Network Colchester operation in that town. Their main operations in the Cambridge area are the NatEx services and the H1 service from Trumpington to Addenbrookes. They also do schools and private hire contracts. Fleet livery is white, blue and yellow.

Miller Brothers of Foxton operated coaches in cambridgeshire for many years, until selling most of their routes and vehicles to Cambus in the early 1990s. Andrew Miller took on the bits that Cambus did not want, and operated them as Andrews Coaches (because the "Millers" name was also sold to Cambus). Recent retrenchment has seen the operation shrink to just 3 vehicles.

Our 2008 trip took place on the 20th of July. We travelled in a 1973 Bedford VAS to Ensign at Purfleet, and called in at Lodge's coaches of High Easter on the way home.