Lanarkshire Independents

A look back at the history of Lanarkshire through the region's independent bus companies.

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David Devoy was first introduced to many of the independent Lanarkshire bus fleets back in the 1960s when he saw many of them on football hires to Glasgow, and on a school trip to visit a railway signal box in Motherwell which produced a street full of Hutchison’s blue AEC service buses. Although the Scottish Bus Group operated the majority of services through their Central SMT and Eastern Scottish subsidiaries, there were various smallscale independent operators such as Hutchison’s of Overtown, Irvine’s of Law, Golden Eagle Coaches of Salsburgh, and Wilson’s of Carnwath who would be joined by others after de-regulation.

In this book bus photographer David Devoy takes a look at the independent bus companies. Many have come and gone over the years, but the area still holds a fascination for independent activity and vehicle types. Long may it continue.