Thanks to the cataloguing grant supplied by the Business Archives Council, Dorset History Centre were able to catalogue the archive collection of Bournemouth Transport Ltd (also known as Yellow Buses).
The company began as Bournemouth Corporation Tramways, originating at the start of the twentieth-century with trams and trolley-bus services until they were modernised in the 1960s into a bus service. The buses were an iconic part of the local landscape, with many residents having ties to the company as staff or passengers.
A huge part of the cataloguing process was sorting site plans and specifications for the new bus depot built in Bournemouth in the early 2000s. This included correspondence with the Department of Transport regarding the listed building status of the bus depot, and plans for the future of the company.
While the photographs are yet to be fully catalogued, they make up a large and vibrant part of the Yellow Buses collection.
Some of the most memorable photographs during the cataloguing process were headshots of staff taken in the 1980s for an Autograph Press Pack and competition. It was great to see photographs of the staff. This collection will be a great source for family history studies in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Further photographs include more Tramways staff in throughout the twentieth century as well as iconic vehicles such as trolleybuses and Yellow Buses adverts.
Also included in the collection was a range of audiovisual materials. The audiocassettes have been sent to Bristol Archives for digitisation as part of the National Lottery Heritage Funded project Sounds of the South West, and we plan to digitise the rest of the audiovisual material soon.
Dorset History Centre volunteers will help to finish cataloguing the collection, working on listing press cuttings and photographs.
You can explore the catalogue for this collection here. If you would like to visit to view any of the records from the collection, please get in touch to arrange an appointment.