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WHOTT is striving to ensure that the
organisation is properly constituted and endowed
to provide for the very long term preservation
of our Westcountry bus and commercial road
transport heritage. To achieve this help and
advice is obtained from Arts Council England (www.artscouncil.org.uk),
formerly known as Museums, Libraries and
Archives South West (MLASW), the Association of
Independent Museums (www.aim-museums.co.uk)
and the National Association of Road Transport
Museums (www.nartm.org.uk).
At the dawn of each day people rise from their
slumbers to go about their daily routine. This
will inevitably involve travel from place to
place, such as going to work, the children going
to school or college, making sure not to miss
that important dental appointment, or simply
visiting the shops. This practice has been
going on for decades, often requires public
transport which is all taken for granted. At
the shop goods required are on shelves brought
in by transport, often through the night, again
without any clue as to who provided it, or for
from where it came. Each day there is a massive
movement of people and goods using public
transport and commercial haulage and this has
been happening right here, in the Westcountry,
for over 200 years. The type of vehicle used,
who ran it and how long it took is lost in the
midst of time. Just think of how many changes
you recall in your own lifetime and multiply
that by several generations. These historical
milestones are important steps in our social and
economic development and the very substance
WHOTT tries to encompass.
The founding members of WHOTT are already
twenty-four years older than when they started.
To ensure that the good work already made in
building the foundations and infrastructure is
continued, we encourage others to follow in our
footsteps, be enlightened themselves and pass on
to future generations important aspects in the
continuous change we move around. At present
WHOTT has vehicles and archives in rented
accommodation some 17 miles apart. It is
actively seeking a new site which will bring
everything together to a place it can call its
own. We hope you will support our aims and even
become an active member.
EXTENT OF THE COLLECTION
The geography of the south west covers four
counties but the existence of companies
operating within them doesn’t end there. To
properly include them the territory of WHOTT can
be better described as west of a line drawn on
the map from Cheltenham to Bournemouth. Even
then one has to consider the movement of
vehicles in their daily operation so, for
example, to properly include coaches of Royal
Blue, some material will cover places far
outside the immediate area.
The region has been host to over one hundred
independent bus and coach operators, each
having an important contribution to the movement
of people from village to local towns. The same
also applies to road haulage which, like
Suttons of Newlyn, provided a night trunking
service all along the A30 road from west
Cornwall to London’s Covent Garden.
The archive contains material covering the
earliest organised travel by horse-drawn stage
coaches, the last of which in Britain, Lorna
Doone, worked the challenging route between
Minehead and Lynton. The histories of
municipal operators in Plymouth, Exeter,
Bath, Bristol, Swindon, Gloucester and
Bournemouth which all started with trams, plus
private tram companies running in
Camborne, Devonport, Stonehouse, Torquay,
Taunton, Weston super Mare, Cheltenham and Poole
are all covered.
Not least the archive also contains records of
the larger bus and coach operators such as …
Devon General, Western National, Southern
National, Bere Regis & District, Bristol
Omnibus, Grey Cars, Greyhound, Great Western
Railway road services,
their predecessors and successors. In this
context the expansion of the National Omnibus
& Transport Company, Devon Motor Transport
and Hardy Colwills are well represented.
If readers know the existence of material
relating to any of the above, which may become
available, the Trust would be very willing to
accept it either as a recorded donation or
loan. In the same way we also accept bequests.
Everything we hold is carefully recorded in the
accession register
POLICIES
Collections Policy
Child and Vulnerable Adults Protection Policy
GDPR Policy
Health and Safety Policy
Volunteering Agreement
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Running an organisation like this costs money.
The basic members’ subscriptions are not enough,
even when Gift Aid is added. The Trust then
relies on sales of unwanted material surplus to
its core collection, but even then legacies and
generous donations of money is extremely
welcomed. To support the work of WHOTT you too
can help by contributing whatever you can
afford, either as a single amount or by standing
order. As a registered charity Gift Aid
is also possible, adding 25% more to your
donation and if you are able, we can provide a
HMRC
declaration form to do so.
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