Thanks to the cataloguing grant supplied by the Business Archives Council, Dorset History Centre have been able to catalogue the archive collection of Bournemouth Transport Ltd (also known as Yellow Buses).
The company began as Bournemouth Corporation Tramways, originating at the start of the twentieth-century with trams and trolley-bus services until they were modernised in the 1960s into a bus service. The buses were an iconic part of the local landscape, with many residents having ties to the company as staff or passengers. Dorset History Centre acquired the collection in 2022 when the company went into administration.
With a grant from the Business Archives Council and money from the Dorset Archives Trust, we funded a 12-week project to catalogue 80 boxes of material. The collection includes photographs, minutes papers, press cuttings, plans for the listed bus depot building, and more, ranging from 1910-2020.
The creation of the online catalogue will mean that the collection is accessible to the public. It will be a great source or family history studies Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, as well as those interested in the history of transport.
Dorset History Centre volunteers have helped to finish cataloguing the remainder of the material.