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The Bus Crew work hard getting people to school, work, shops and even holidays. Sometimes things go well and 

sometimes they go badly wrong.

The Bus Crew work hard getting people to school, work, shops and even holidays. Sometimes things go well and 

sometimes they go badly wrong.

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The cover of The Bus Crew

About

Meet The Bus Crew - six buses that play a very important part in their local community. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses but they all play their part and are much loved by the people who ride on them. In the dark, cold days of winter they face a big challenge as the weather goes from bad to worse and leaves one poor bus and her shivering passengers stranded in deep snow. There is only one other bus in the crew that can save them from a desperate situation.


A book written for six to ten-year-olds that you can order here.

Illustrator Mike Ilsley and writer Barrie Hedges

Our drivers

Our writer, Barrie Hedges (right), grew up around country buses. His family ran the small company that inspired this book and his Dad was the Chief Engineer. Barrie never actually worked with the buses, though he often wishes that he had. Instead, he grew up to be a newspaper reporter and devoted much of his working life to writing. In 2020, he and his friend, David Wilder, published a book about the bus company and its role in local life.


Illustrator Mike Ilsley (left) is a retired Primary School Headmaster and Adviser who has always drawn in coloured pencil, both for fun, and many years ago for profit. He spends his retirement on his allotment and in his studio, trying to increase his skills in linocutting, and undertaking whatever art project comes his way!

David Wilder - the boy who loved buses

The boy who loved buses

This book isn’t just about six buses. It is also about a boy who loved them. David Wilder adored the buses that ran past his home before he could even walk and they have been a big part of his life ever since. David stood outside the bus depot and watched in awe as they came and went. Soon, the owners of the company invited him in. From those beginnings came a career in the bus industry that stretched 50 years over a wide area of the UK. The stories in the book are each drawn from David’s childhood memories.

Reliance Motor Services

Reliance Motor Services is the bus company on which The Bus Crew is based. It started more than 100 years ago in a little village called Brightwalton in Berkshire with just two horses and a waggon. It grew very quickly and the buses you see in the book were all part of the fleet in the late 1950s. In those days only a few people had cars, so they needed buses to get around. The full story of Reliance and its part in local history is told in a book published by David Wilder and Barrie Hedges in 2020. You can find more information and order a copy here.

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Book cover
The Bus Crew
£7.99 + £2.00pp

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