General Transport

The Story of a Winchester Family Business, very numerous b&w photo illustrations, reproductions of period documents, diagrams, maps, list of vehicles in the fleet (with photographs) and pictorial survey of routes, 208 pp, green boards in d/w, slight scratch to front of d/w (see picture), spine of d/w sunned, otherwise in very good condition, Kingfisher Railway Productions (Southampton, Hampshire) 1984

27.1 x 20.7 cm, 1050g, ISBN 0 94618 410 0

Robert Chisnell operated a taxi service in the First War between Winchester and the Army transit camps on the hills around the city.  When the war ended he expanded into charabancs, and eventually ran a fleet of buses and coaches under the name of King Alfred Motor Services.  The business continued until 1973, when it was taken over for a pittance by Hants & Dorset (part of the National Bus Company).

See also (below) the authors’ explanation of how this book came to be written.  I am not surprised that the book took five years to put together – the type used is tiny, and the book could hardly be more comprehensive.

This is a surprisingly heavy book for its size, as the authors specified heavyweight glazed paper to better reproduce the many photos.  This means that the book would cost a good deal to send abroad - if you are outside the U.K. and are thinking about buying it, please email us first on enquiries@monkshillbooks.co.uk and we will quote a price for postage.