Book Revives Memories of the Reliance Era

Those who have lived in Brightwalton for more than 35 years will have fond memories of Reliance as the local bus operator that grew to become a substantial coach business running trips all over the UK and abroad.
 
Memories of that era are now being revived with the publication on 30 April of the book ‘Reliance Motor Services – The Story of a Family-Owned Independent Bus Company’ by Barrie Hedges (who grew up here) and his friend David Wilder from Chaddleworth.
 
It was Barrie’s great grandfather, James Hedges, who created the basis for Reliance when in 1917 he bought a horse-drawn carrier’s round from the Thomas family of Leckhampstead. James’ son, George, picked up the round when he came home from war in 1919, and soon invested in the newly available bus versions of the Model T Ford.
 
In the early 1920s, George moved the business from a barn at Brightwalton Common to land which he bought from the Wroughton family in the heart of the village. The name ‘Reliance’ was registered in the early 1930s and a rapid era of growth followed through the Second World War and beyond as the cream and brown buses became a big part of daily life.
 
Meanwhile, the origins of the Sayers haulage business at that time can also be traced back to James whose elder daughter, Ida, married Wilf Sayers. From them and their family came another major employer for what was then a busy village.
 
In the late 1940s, the next generation of the Hedges family took over the Reliance reins from George, with Alan as managing director, Colin doing the logistical planning and Gordon running the engineering. By the early 60s, the Brightwalton site had become too small and the company moved to new premises in Newbury. It did, however, maintain a small depot at Brightwalton until the company itself closed in 1985. Today, the site is occupied by Saxons Acre.
 
The book tells the story not just of the company but of the Brightwalton community in the era before the motor car became widely available. They were days when Reliance made it possible to get to work and to school – but also to expand horizons in leisure hours. Barrie also relates his own personal recollections of Brightwalton in the 1950s and 1960s and returns today to assess the changes.
 
Published by Pen & Sword, the Reliance book is available from its website and also from the Archway Bookshop at Axminster in Devon, which is owned by Barrie’s stepson. The cost is currently reduced from the recommended retail price of £30 to £24. More details here: https://archwaybookshop.co.uk/product/reliance-motor-services-the-story-of-a-family-owned-independent-bus-company.