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Richards Bros Buses ( cy, Brodyr Richards) is a bus operator based in Cardigan, Wales. It has purchased many smaller bus companies over time, and currently has 65 vehicles running local bus services and school buses in south-west Wales (primarily
Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...
and
Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...
, with some
Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...
services), as well as coach tours. Richards Bros also operates a share of the new demand-responsive Bwcabus service.


History

William Goronwy Richards started carrying passengers in the late 1930s however Richards Brothers was established in May 1943 by William Richards, when his children Idris and Reggie were introduced to the company.History
Richards Brothers
The first buses run by Richards were mostly
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
s, the first being a converted Bedford WS, registered ALP 674 purchased in 1937. A second-hand Bedford WHB followed in July 1941.The first bought new (in 1943) was a Bedford OWB, manufactured with wooden seats to fit the war years, and the first operations base was a small site in
Moylgrove Moylgrove ( cy, Trewyddel), also spelled Moylegrove, is a village and parish in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about from Cardigan, in the community of Nevern. Description The placename "Moylegrove" means "Matilda's Grove"; "Matilda" may have bee ...
. Originally, Richards were contracted by the military to ferry employees of the
Royal Naval Armaments Depot A Royal Naval Armament Depot (RNAD) is an armament depot (or a group of depots) dedicated to supplying the Royal Navy (as well as, at various times, the Royal Air Force, the British Army and foreign and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth for ...
at
RNAD Trecwn RNAD Trecwn is a decommissioned Royal Navy Armaments Depot, south of Fishguard in the village of Trecwn, Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Built in 1938 to store and supply naval mines and munitions ordnance to the Royal Navy, at its height during th ...
and
Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
at
Aberporth Aberporth is a seaside village, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. The population at the 2001 Census, was 2,485, of whom 49 per cent could speak the Welsh language. At the 2011 Census, the population of the community was 2,374 a ...
; these contracts were crucial to the firm up to the 1960s. These decreased rapidly throughout the 1980s and stopped during the 1990s. In 1958 the first of many purchases was made when Owen Williams of Cardigan was acquired. In 1971
Western Welsh Western Welsh was a Welsh bus operating company, based in Cardiff covering South Wales and the northern parts of the West Country. Formed in 1920, it was nationalised when the BET Group sold their bus interests to the Transport Holding Company ...
ceased and Richards took over the
Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...
to
St Davids St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, ,  "David's houseā€) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...
service. In 1972 Blue Glider of
St Dogmaels St Dogmaels ( cy, Llandudoch) is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the estuary of the River Teifi, a mile downstream from the town of Cardigan in neighbouring Ceredigion. A little to the north of the village, fur ...
was purchased from Lewis Williams followed by in 1976 by Pioneer Motors, Newport. In 1982 the
Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...
operation of
Marchwood Motorways Marchwood Motorways was a bus and coach operator based in Totton, Hampshire. Formed as an independent in the 1940s, it was a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group from 2006 until it became dormant in 2010. Its operations were subsumed by those of Bl ...
was purchased. In 1998 TM Daniels of Cardigan was purchased.


Services

As at June 2014 Richards Brothers operate services on 40 routes including TrawsCambria 550 and X50.Bus Services
Richards Brothers
Since 2015 the 550/X50 have been known as the
TrawsCymru TrawsCymru is the brand name for a network of regional bus services in Wales, sponsored by the Welsh Government. It was introduced as a replacement for the TrawsCambria network. History Launch plans In 2010, the Welsh Assembly ran a consultatio ...
T5.


Livery

Richards Bros' coaches carry a white livery with a variety of logos. The current bus livery is silver towards the front with a dark blue skirt which rises at the rear to cover the rear of the bus. This was 'pinched' from the
Optare Switch Mobility (originally called Optare) is an English bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company would be responsible for the EV operations of the group with ...
demonstration livery. This was preceded by a silver upper half with a blue skirt running straight along the bus with a red stripe along the side slightly above the blue. This in turn was preceded by a blue and maroon colour scheme, with more white added in for the coaches. Richards Bros also operate several vehicles which carry special liveries for certain services. These include the Pembrokeshire Coastal buses (e.g. Poppit Rocket), TrawsCambria, TrawsCymru and Bwcabus


Fleet

As the company grew older, Bedford remained the dominating vehicle manufacturer; both second hand and new buses were purchased, with the largely prevailing
bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...
s being Duple and
Plaxton Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manufac ...
. Over 100 Bedfords were used by the Richards family. Since Bedford closed in 1986, new buses have generally been of
Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
, DAF or
Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...
manufacture. There were only ever seven double-deck buses within the fleet, and were two Bristol K6As, an
AEC Regent V The AEC Regent V was a front-engined double-decker bus built by the Associated Equipment Company between 1954 and 1969. It was the last AEC Regent series double-decker model, and was the successor to the AEC Regent III (not to be confused with ...
, three Leyland Titans and an
AEC Bridgemaster The AEC Bridgemaster was a front-engined low-height double-decker bus chassis manufactured by AEC. History The AEC Bridgemaster was introduced by AEC in 1956 to meet the demand of low-height double-deckers from municipal and independent bus o ...
.


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Bus operators in Wales Companies based in Ceredigion Transport in Ceredigion