National Bus Manual

Out now: @modernistmag 44 with a piece on graphic designer Norman Wilson. His pioneering Manchester practice brought striking modernist graphics to industial Britain, famously the once-ubiquitous corporate identity for the National Bus Company. More here: nationalbusmanual.com/2022/09/17/a-m…

Sincere thanks to Ipswich Transport Museum’s Mark Smith for showing me around, and for a close look at their immaculately preserved Lodekka LFS 125, in perfect NBC poppy red. #IpswichTransportMuseum #easterncountiesomnibuscompany #NationalBusCompany #FuturaTypeface

The sun’s turning up the heat today - so here’s a 1973 graphic used to advertise NBC’s holidays abroad by coach (this is from Midland Red’s edition). It demonstrates Norman Wilson’s ‘N-and-shadow’ really well, in the summer sun. #nationalbuscompany #normanwilsondesigner

Saw this example on the back of a Bristol RE at the Bournemouth bus rally.

Leaf green - but which leaf? (Spoiler: none of these is right!) More from my experiments with matching shades of green to both the NBC spec from the Corporate Identity Manual, paint codes, NBC printed diagrams and the shades we know from photographs.

With Welsh language fleetname "Cymru Cenedlaethol" on the offside. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

In NBC poppy red livery. National Welsh, Leyland National 2, NS492 - BUH 240V and Leyland Olympian/ECW, HR8215 - MUH 289X. Barry Festival of Transport on Sunday.

Southern Vectis VRT gets a wash at Newport 📷 me 1979

First Cymru 36212.

1982: #Gateshead Interchange 📸 flic.kr/p/fLNuRY

My ride back from Bakewell to Rowsley yesterday afternoon was on preserved Trent Bristol RE / ECW, 274 - TCH 274L whilst at the Derbyshire Dales Bus & Train Festival held at @peakrail1 Rowsley South Station which was organised by Nottingham Heritage Vehicles Charity.

Happy Easter, from Eastern Counties in 1973. From the Ipswich Transport Museum - many thanks to Mark Smith at the museum for digging their archives. #EasternCountiesBus #ipswichtransportmuseum #wilsonnational

Happy birthday Ray! @creatingdesire

NBC chair Fred Wood meets drivers Ray Faulkner (United Counties) and George Aitken (Yorkshire Traction) at the General Managers’ conference in Leicester, Oct 1972. They’d brought vehicles to display in the new identity. More on the blog -> nationalbusmanual.com/2022/07/19/a-r…

DON’T FORGET! It’s heritage bus running day on Route 19 this Saturday 29 March 2025! Thanks to @LondonBusMuseum Routemasters & older RT-types will run a heritage service alongside the usual Route 19. Heritage rides Finsbury Park-Battersea Bridge will be free, donations only 1/2

As well as being one of NBC’s largest operating subsidiaries, with more than 1500 buses in 1972, Midland Red was a major engineering business, offering maintenance services to other truck & bus operators. This is a detail from one of its promotional brochures of the late 1970s.

Well this is one didn’t know about! Typeface looks legit Wilson National too, unlike some of the later sub-brands. Thanks, @WeavinWeave

It was - though the Traws started out using dual-purpose liveried coaches in National Welsh’s red and Crosville’s green.