The Aldershot & District Traction Company Ltd

The Aldershot & District Traction Company Ltd started life in 1906 as the "Farnborough and Aldershot Omnibus Company" operating a bus service between Aldershot and Farnborough. In 1912 this company was bought out by British Electric Traction, (BET), and a new company "Aldershot & District Traction Company Ltd" was formed.
After the first world war Aldershot & District expanded rapidly until the late 1950s when it was at the height of its powers, operating a network of comprehensive local bus services in North Hampshire, West Surrey, parts of West Sussex and Berkshire, together with frequent daily express coach services between Farnham, Aldershot and London Victoria Coach Station and a full programme of Coastal Express Services and day excursions to many destinations during the summer months.
During the early and middle parts of the 20th century when car ownership was more limited, many hundreds of thousands of local people, not to mention members of armed forces and national servicemen who were based in the area during and after the second world war, all relied on A&D, or "Tracco" as it was affectionately known, to transport them for business, work, school and pleasure trips, quite often travelling in the same A&D buses that are so carefully preserved by some ADBIG members today.

Alder Valley

On 1st January 1969 A&D became part of the new National Bus Company, but local bus services continued relatively unchanged until 1st January 1972 when Aldershot & District Traction Co Ltd was merged with Thames Valley Traction Co Ltd to form the Thames Valley and Aldershot Omnibus Company, with the fleet name "Alder Valley".
Sadly around this time the distinctive A&D livery of two-tone green with a cream waistband was replaced with the new Alder Valley livery of dark wine-red with a cream waistband and grey wheels and then, in December 1972, by the corporate National Bus livery of poppy-red with a white waistband. For a while Alder Valley buses sporting all three liveries could be observed operating on the same routes at the same time.
Essential Reading about the Aldershot & District Traction Co Ltd
For further information on the old Aldershot & District Traction Co Ltd, two books containing a wealth of photographs and detail about the company are particularly highly recommended.
"The Best of British Buses No. 4 - 75 Years of Aldershot & District" by Alan Townsin, with research by Peter Holmes and Eric Nixon, published in 1981 by The Transport Publishing Company, (ISBN No. 903839 49 0).
"Aldershot' Buses" by Peter Holmes, published in 1992 by Waterfront Publications, (ISBN No. 0 946184 70 4).
Both of these publications are still currently available from Amazon.co.uk