Hedingham & Chambers is a bus operator, part of the larger Go East Anglia unit within Go-Ahead, consisting of the Hedingham and

Chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...

brands. The group was formed when Go-Ahead purchased the two firms in June 2012. Since the sale, the two brands have been retained with assets, such as depots, shared along with the launch of a unified website in 2021.

Hedingham

Hedingham is a public bus brand operated by Hedingham & Chambers in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, itself a subsidiary of the

Go-Ahead Group The Go-Ahead Group plc is a passenger transport company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Norway and Germany. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange, in 2022 it was purchased ...

(forming part of the Go East Anglia).

History

In 1921 Aubrey Letch shortly after serving in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with his parents' help, trading under his own name commenced operating a coach hire company, gradually expanding to run bus services to Braintree and Sudbury on their market days of Wednesday and Thursday respectively. In March 1935 Letch purchased the competing business of PW Finch of

Castle Hedingham Castle Hedingham is a village in northern Essex, England, located four miles west of Halstead and 3 miles southeast of Great Yeldham in the Colne Valley on the ancient road from Colchester, Essex, to Cambridge. It developed around Hedingham ...

. This allowed Letch to take over the Monday to Saturday workers' service to Braintree. In the late 1950s, he further expanded the business with routes to

Gestingthorpe Gestingthorpe (pronounced , 'guesstingthorpe') is a village and a civil parish in the Braintree district, in the English county of Essex. It is approximately halfway between the towns of Halstead in Essex and Sudbury in Suffolk. The nearest rail ...

Pebmarsh Pebmarsh is a small village and a civil parish in the Braintree District, in Essex, England. It is situated to the north east of Halstead close to the A131. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Twinstead. Sir Ron ...

and

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011 About Hedingham
Hedingham Omnibus 4 December 2004Happy Anniversary Hedingham Omnibus!
Focus Transport 1 August 2010 In early 1960, Letch retired due to ill health and sold the company to Donald MacGregor, which was renamed Hedingham & District Omnibuses. Since then the company has grown by acquiring other companies, including: * Blackwells of

Earls Colne Earls Colne is a village in Essex, England named after the River Colne, on which it stands, and the Earls of Oxford who held the manor of Earls Colne from before 1086 to 1703. History Manor of Earls Colne In the time of Edward the Confess ...

(1965) * C & R Coach of

Little Tey Little Tey is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Marks Tey, in the Colchester district of Essex, England, located approximately six miles west of Colchester. In 1931 the parish had a population of 78. On 26 March 1949 the par ...

(1982) * Freemans Coaches (1997) * GW Osborne of

Tollesbury Tollesbury is a village in England, located on the Essex coast at the mouth of the River Blackwater, Essex, River Blackwater. It is situated nine miles east of the historic port of Maldon, Essex, Maldon and twelve miles south of Colchester, Engl ...

(1997) * Jennings of Ashen (1984) * Kemps Coaches of

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is a seaside town in the Tendring District in the county of Essex, England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District with a population of 56,874 (2016). The town is situated ...

* CJ Partridge and Sons (Claireaux) of

Hadleigh, Suffolk Hadleigh () is an ancient market town and civil parish in South Suffolk, East Anglia, situated, next to the River Brett, between the larger towns of Sudbury and Ipswich. It had a population of 8,253 at the 2011 census. The headquarters of B ...

* Wents of Boxford (1997) In March 2012 the company was sold to the

, forming part of Go East Anglia. Following this, 'Hedingham' became the widely accepted company name and as such is no longer referred to as 'Hedingham Omnibuses'. 74 bus

Depots

Three depots are located in: * Clacton *

Sible Hedingham Sible Hedingham ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Colne Valley in the Braintree District of Essex, in England. It has a population of 3,994 according to the 2011 census. Sible Hedingham lies in the northern corner of Essex, close to ...

Kelvedon Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, between Chelmsford and Colchester. It had a population of 4,717 in 2001, reducing to 3,587 at the 2011 Census. It is now home to several businesses including ...

Hedingham used to have a depot in

however it closed in 2016 due to cuts.

Livery

Hedingham Omnibuses' livery was cream with red relief, until the 1970s being blue and cream. The livery varied between single deckers/ coaches and double deck buses, with red being the main colours on double deckers with cream relief. The GoAhead Group have, more recently, introduced a livery consisting of a red base, with a maroon front section - identical to that now used by Chambers. Many buses are transferred from other Go-Ahead subsidiaries. These typically retain their former liveries, as they are end of life vehicles nearing scrapping, or the peak vehicle requirement requires all vehicles to be available, rather than being repainted. Recent transfers include buses from

Konectbus Konectbus is a bus operator based in Dereham in Norfolk, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and forms part of Go East Anglia. History Konectbus was formed in 1999 when the Saham Toney depot of Norfolk Green was purchased from wi ...

, Carousel Buses and

Go-Ahead London Go-Ahead London is the trading name used collectively for the London bus operations of the Go-Ahead Group. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently (as of 2021 ...

Operations

Hedingham operates in various areas of Essex, extending from Harwich in the north to Tollesbury in the south. The main centre of operations is Clacton-on-Sea, where the company took over the majority of the town's routes following

First Essex First Essex is a bus company operating services in the county of Essex. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the Eas ...

's withdrawal. Hedingham also operates around Colchester, Halstead, Braintree and Witham, as well as serving villages and the island of

West Mersea West Mersea is a town and electoral ward in Essex, England. It is the larger (in terms of population) of two settlements on Mersea Island, south of Colchester. History Roman buildings and tesselated pavements close to the quayside have led to ...

on council-supported routes. Flagship routes for the company includes: * 88: Halstead-Colchester (operated in a Quality Bus Partnership with First) * 89: Braintree-Halstead * '''The Seasiders ** X76: Jaywick-Clacton-Colchester ** 63: West Mersea-Colchester * '''Clacton Breeze ** An open-top bus service operating between Clacton-on-Sea and

Holland-on-Sea Holland-on-Sea is a seaside town in east Essex in England. Located south of the little village of Great Holland and directly north of Clacton-on-Sea, it has bus links to Walton-on-the-Naze and Clacton-on-Sea. It is a short coastal walk down the ...

during the summer season. Some routes have received buses fitted with free wifi and route branding.

In Popular Culture

Two former Hedingham Omnibuses (Bristol VRTs RUA 461W, HJB 455W) masqueraded as London Buses in the 2009 Doctor Who Easter special,

Planet of the Dead A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

. The original livery can be seen in the accompanying behind-the-scenes special

Doctor Who Confidential ''Doctor Who Confidential'' is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Each episode was broadcast on BBC T ...

: Desert Storm.

Chambers

Chambers is a public bus brand operated by Hedingham & Chambers in Sudbury, Suffolk, itself a subsidiary of the

(forming part of the Go East Anglia). Chambers bus depot in 1970

History

In 1877 H Chambers commenced a horse-drawn bus business in Bures. In 1918 the first bus was purchased to operate a twice weekly service between Sudbury and

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. By the late 1930s routes were operated to

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Haverhill. It also diversified into the haulage business, Chambers exited from this business in the 1960s.HC Chambers & Son Ltd
Bures Online In June 2012 Chambers was sold to the

with 27 buses.Go-Ahead Group Acquires HC Chambers & Son Limited
Go-Ahead Group 6 June 2012 The depot was not included in the sale with operations moving to fellow Go-Ahead company Hedingham in Sudbury although it still trades under the Chambers name.

Services

As of April 2019, Chambers operate 14 services (under review as of Jan 2020). Both urban and rural areas are served, many of the company's routes running into Sudbury, and serving the bus station near Sudbury railway station.

Fleet

As at April 2019 the fleet consisted of 30 buses and 2 coaches. Since the Go-Ahead purchase a new red and maroon fleet livery has been introduced.

References

External links

Archived Hedingham website (2011)

Archived Chambers website (2011)
* * {{Bus companies in East England Bus operators in Essex Companies based in Essex Transport in Essex Transport in Suffolk Transport in the City of Chelmsford Bus operators in Suffolk Transport companies established in 1877 1877 establishments in England British companies established in 1921 Transport companies established in 1921 1921 establishments in England Transport companies established in 2012

Hedingham

History

Depots

Livery

Operations

In Popular Culture

Chambers

History

Services

Fleet

See also

References

External links