Devon General first operated open top buses in Torbay in 1919 but reintroduced open top buses on tourist routes in 1955. New buses were introduced in 1961 which were known as 'Sea Dogs' because of the names they were given, but these were later replaced by those of 'Warships'.
History
A service of open top trams was introduced by the Torquay Tramways in 1907 on a network around Torquay that included Beacon Quay, St Marychurch and Babbacombe. The following year saw an additional route along Torbay Road which terminated near Torquay railway station, then in 1911 it was extended to Paignton. The Devon General Omnibus and Touring Company started operations in south Devon in 1919 with two bus routes from Exeter to Torquay. These were operated with the usual open top buses of the era. In 1922 Torquay Tramways bought Devon General, although it was operated as a subsidiary and the motor buses already owned by the tramway company were transferred to the omnibus company. The tram network was closed in January 1934.
In the 1930s a few seaside resorts started to see open top buses operated as tourist attractions on their seaside roads. More resorts started such services in the years following World War II. In 1955 five old buses had their roofs removed for services in Torbay and one more was converted for Exmouth, another resort served by Devon General. They entered service on 19 June and a new sea front route was started on 19 July.Folkard, p. 179 These proved a success and so a larger fleet of new buses were delivered for service in 1961. They were launched at a naming ceremony on 11 May 1961. These were 'convertible' buses that could operated as open tops during the summer and with roofs during the remainder of the year, although after the first winter they were usually stored during the winter as putting the roofs on caused some damage. It took half an hour to fit or remove a roof using the mechanism that had worked a bus washing machine which had recently been superseded. When not in use the roofs were stored on three mobile racks made from old bus chassis from which the bodies had been removed.Folkard, pp. 198 –199
Devon General was privatised in 1986 and became a part of Transit Holdings. This company preferred to operate minibuses and the open top fleet was reduced to just one vehicle. This was transferred to a new Bayline operation, which covered services in Torbay and Newton Abbot, in 1992.
Bayline was sold to the Stagecoach Group in 1996, and became part of the new Stagecoach in Devon operation in 2003. Stagecoach brought a revival of large buses instead of minibuses, and a larger fleet of open top buses was established.
Routes
The first route to be introduced in 1955 was the 12A from St Marychurch through Babbacombe, Torquay, Paignton and Goodrington to Broadsands. To reach Paignton's sea front at Preston the bus had to pass under a very low railway bridge. A licence for the route was only granted on condition that buses would come to a stop before passing under the bridge, the conductor would then have to instruct passengers on the top deck to remain in their seats and then stand at the top of the stairs to see that they did.
From 1959 a second route was operated. The 12C followed the same route as the 12A from St Marychurch to Goodrington but then continued to Churston and Kingswear instead of turning down to the sea front at Broadsands.Folkard, p. 191
The larger fleet of "Sea Dogs" available for the 1961 season allowed two further routes to be added. One was the 12B, which was already operating with conventional buses between Brixham and Kingswear. The second was a new 12D which followed the usual route from Babbacombe to Goodrington then continued through Churston to Brixham. Devon General routes were renumbered in 1975 which saw the sea front services numbered from 120, and additional buses allowed a Torquay to Dawlish Warren service to be offered the following year.Folkard, pp. 239–240
Today just two seasonal services are operated by different operators, with a third offering a scenic tour from Torquay. Service Route Operator 122Hoburne Devon Bay holiday park to BabbacombeStagecoach South West Round Robin TourPaignton to TotnesDart Pleasure Craft – Sightseeing tourEnglish Riviera Sightseeing Tours
Seasonal open top services on route 122 operate from Hoburne Devon Bay holiday park to Babbacombe but closed top buses operate all year round from South Devon College through Paignton and St Marychurch to Dawlish Warren along a similar route to the 122.
Vehicles
First buses Devon General's first buses were AEC YC type with roofless double-deck bodies typical at the time. A second-hand AEC B-type was bought from the London General Omnibus Company in 1920 but was rebuilt after a few months. The Torquay Tramways purchased six AEC K-type double deck buses in 1921 which were transferred to the Devon General fleet the following year. Double deck buses delivered from 1929 were fitted with roofs and by 1932 the open top buses had been sold or rebuilt as single deck vehicles.Folkard, pp. 267–272
Fleet Registration Chassis NameIn serviceOperator1 T 6942 AEC YC Sir Francis Drake 1919– ca.1928 Devon General2 T 6944 AEC YC Sir Walter Raleigh 1919– ca.1927 Devon General3 T 6946 AEC YC Sir John Hawkins 1919–1926 Devon General11 LF 8399 AEC B 1920–1921 Devon General13 TA 1004 AEC K 1921–1926 Torquay Tramways14 TA 1005 AEC K 1921–1926 Torquay Tramways15 TA 1006 AEC K 1921–1926 Torquay Tramways16 TA 1168 AEC K 1921–1926 Torquay Tramways17 TA 1169 AEC K 1921–1926 Torquay Tramways18 TA 1170 AEC K 1921–1926 Torquay Tramways71 T 8328 AEC B 1926–1932 Devon General72 T 6946 AEC YC 1926–1932 Devon General
Devon General
The six old buses rebuilt to open top form in 1955 were 21-year-old AEC Regent Is with bodies by Short Brothers.Folkard, pp. 276–277 These were replaced by nine Leyland Atlanteans with convertible Weymann bodies in 1961. These were all given the names of historic sailors and known as "Sea Dogs".Folkard, p. 292 In 1976 two AEC Regent Vs with Willowbrook bodies had their roofs removed and were added to the open top fleet.Folkard, p. 294
The Sea Dogs were replaced in 1978 by nine new Bristol VRTs with 74 seat Eastern Coach Works convertible bodies. Two of the VRTs were allocated to Southern National when Western National's Somerset and Dorset operations were divested in 1983 but five continued to operate at Torbay until the end of the 1990 season. After this a limited open top service was operated with just one bus.
Fleet Registration Chassis NameIn service Comments203 OD 7490 AEC Regent 1955–1961 205 OD 7492 AEC Regent 1955–1961 210 OD 7497 AEC Regent 1955–1961 Operating for Nostalgic Travel in Newton Abbot.218 OD 7505 AEC Regent 1955–1961 Initially based at Exmouth.219 OD 7506 AEC Regent 1955–1961 224 AUO 90 AEC Regent 1955–1961 507 507 RUO AEC Regent V Prince Regent 1976–1978 Operating with Chepstow Classic Buses508 508 RUO AEC Regent V Regency Princess 1976–1978 Preserved925 925 GTA Leyland Atlantean Admiral Blake 1961–1977 To Western National Admiral Hardy in 1977 (see below).926 926 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir Francis Drake 1961–1975 To Western National (see below).927 927 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir Martin Frobisher 1961–1978 To Southern National as Admiral Hardy,Folkard, p. 243 now operating with by Chepstow Classic Buses.928 928 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir Humphrey Gilbert 1961–1983 929 929 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir Richard Grenville 1961–1983 930 930 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir John Hawkins 1961–1983 931 931 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir Thomas Howard 1961–1983 Previously Preserved by Rubicon Classic Travel, Bristol. Preserved by the Barrow Transport Museum Trust Limited since 2022.932 932 GTA Leyland Atlantean Earl Howe 1961–1983 933 933 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir Walter Raleigh 1961–1982 934VDV 134S Bristol VRT Golden Hind1978–1983Became Southern National Thomas Hardy in 1983 now preserved near Bristol by North Somerset Coaches. 935VDV 135S Bristol VRT Triumph 1978–2001 Renamed Exeter in 1987, now used by a catering company in Leicestershire. 936VDV 136S Bristol VRT Revenge1978–1991 Renamed Torbay in 1987, it is now used for cutting trees by East Yorkshire Motor Services. 937VDV 137S Bristol VRT Victory1978–1983 Transferred to Western National, now preserved by West Country Historic Omnibus and Transport Trust. 938VDV 138S Bristol VRT Warspite1978–1992 Renamed Illustrious in 1987, now in service with East Yorkshire Motor Services. 939VDV 139S Bristol VRT Renown1978–1992Renamed Ark Royal in 1987. Sold to East Yorkshire Motor Services but exported to Italy in 2009. 940VDV 140S Bristol VRT Invincible 1978–1992 Sold to East Yorkshire Motor Services but exported to Italy in 2009. 941VDV 141S Bristol VRT Illustrious1978–1983 Transferred to Western National, now preserved by Cornwall Bus Group. 942VDV 142S Bristol VRT Hermes1978–1983 Became Southern National Lawrence of Arabia in 1983, now operating with Chepstow Classic Buses.
Western National
From 1971 Devon General became part of Western National but services around Torbay continued to operate in the old name and buses were sometimes moved between the fleets for short-term loans or on a more permanent basis. Two rare Bristol LDLs in the Western National fleet had their tops removed from 1972/3 for operation at Penzance and one of these was swapped in 1975 for Sir Francis Drake,Folkard, p. 240 and the other in 1977 for Admiral Blake. When the nine "Warship" VRTs were ordered for Devon General, two more were ordered for Western National. Both Atlanteans and VRTs also operated seasonal services at Weymouth. Western National's usual livery for open top buses was white and green, although Sir Francis Drake retained its red and white scheme.
Fleet Registration Chassis NameAt TorquayComments925 925 GTA Leyland Atlantean Admiral Blake Now privately owned and used for leisure purposes around Torbay.926 926 GTA Leyland Atlantean Sir Francis Drake Preserved in Eastleigh.1935VDV 752 Bristol LDL Admiral Boscawen 1975–1978 Now with Quantock Motor Services.1936 VDV 753 Bristol LDL Sir Humphry Davy 1977–1978 Now with Quantock Motor Services. 943VDV 143S Bristol VRT Ark Royal Sold to Badgerline in 1993, exported to Italy in 2010. 944VDV 144S Bristol VRT Vanguard Sold for scrap in 2001.
Stagecoach
By 1996, when Devon General was sold to the Stagecoach Group, the open top fleet at Torbay had been reduced to just one vehicle, but the new owners quickly boosted this by drafting in additional Bristol VRs from other parts of the group. The first two (936 and 937) came from Sussex Coastline in 1996 and three more (932 to 934) arrived in 1998 from Bluebird in Scotland but came without their roofs. A heritage vehicle, in the shape of Leyland Titan PD1 LRV 992 was also sent from Portsmouth to Torbay and was often used on scheduled services alongside the Bristol VRs.
Most of the Bristol VRs were withdrawn after the 1999 season, although 936 and 937 were sold to Dart Pleasure Craft to operate services in connection with their boats on the River Dart. Eight Scania N113s were then transferred from London. Their roofs were removed on arrival but five (numbers 15322 – 15326) were done in such a way as to be convertible back to roofed buses. and they generally operate in this form, open top services being in the main provided by 15327–15329. They are all named and, like the Leyland Atlanteans of 1961, are named after British sailors. The Scania's were withdrawn from use on 3 November 2013 (The closing day of Devon Cliffs holiday park), 15329 being the last in service. They were replaced by an Alexander ALX400-bodied Dennis Trident 2.