Description

Summary: postcard, sepia, people in Royal Blue open charabanc 'New Milton Baptist Choir Outing', Weymouth Motors sign on wall behind

Identification note: The Royal Blue business started in 1880 by Thomas Elliott in Bournemouth. The business, at first known as Royal Blue and Branksome Mews, included the hire of every kind of horse-drawn vehicle. Elliott soon started a four-in-hand stagecoach service to connect Bournemouth to the railway at Holmsley which took 1.5 hours with a change of horses at the Cat and Fiddle. That service became redundant when the railway was extended to Bournemouth in 1888, but by then Elliott had started running Royal Blue excursions by charabanc and coach around Bournemouth and the New Forest. In 1913 Royal Blue purchased its first motor charabanc and motors then rapidly replaced the horses. Before World War I motor charabancs were used mainly for day trips as they weren’t comfortable enough for longer journeys.They were largely replaced by motor buses in the 1920s. By 1922 there was a thriving trade for charabancs bringing people into the New Forest and 200-300 could be seen parked in and around Lyndhurst on a fine summer’s day.