Nottingham City Transport Celebrates a Centenary of South Notts

A special celebratory weekend to mark a centenary of South Notts took place on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July 2026, bringing together preserved buses, former colleagues and owner families, as well as residents with fond memories of the company.

A cavalcade of preserved and associated South Notts vehicles operated along the Nottingham to Loughborough route, passing the former Gotham Garage, on Saturday. Buses visited the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre at Ruddington, where there are former South Notts buses awaiting preservation, before completing the day operating one of South Notts former routes, the 68, into Clifton Estate.

The road event featured:

• A preserved Leyland Lowlander, which arrived at South Notts in September 1963  and ran until the 1980s (SN82)
• A preserved Leyland Royal Tiger coach, which joined the South Notts fleet in 1957 and ran until 1969 (SN64)
• A preserved AEC Regent from 1957, which was part of the Barton Transport fleet, and attended to recognise their involvement and sharing holding in South Notts in the early days 
• Nottingham City Transport’s commemorative liveried bus (641)

During the morning of the event, the vehicles stopped at East Leake for a commemorative photo where members of the founding Dabell family, representatives from the Barton family, current and former South Notts colleagues and representatives from the supporting heritage charities joined NCT’s Managing Director David Astill to mark the occasion. 

The cavalcade provided an opportunity for people to photograph and see former South Notts and associated vehicles along a route that has operated for a century, with hundreds of photographs taken and shared across the length of the route.

A well-attended South Notts Staff reunion took place at The Sun Inn on the Saturday evening, bringing together generations of colleagues to reminisce about their time working for the Gotham-based company. 

Nottingham Heritage Vehicles Charity (NHVC) in Hucknall hosted an Open Day on the Sunday, with former South Notts vehicles on display. The charity is currently undertaking a significant preservation of former South Notts “80” which recently moved to Loughborough, where work on the mechanical side of the vehicle is being completed.

SN82 and NCT 641 attended the Open Day, alongside 55, a unique former Nottingham City Transport Leyland Atlantean that was converted to single deck and entered service with South Notts in March 1994. 

As part of the celebrations, NCT donated an original South Notts sign from the front of Gotham Garage to NHVC, where it’s joined other historic bus signs for future generations to enjoy. 

David Astill, NCT Managing Director said, “The South Notts bus company had an enviable reputation for providing a reliable and friendly service. NCT has worked hard to maintain those standards since taking over the business 35 years ago, and the Nottingham to Loughborough route remains popular today. He added “we felt it right and proper to recognise the centenary of the old South Notts company and I was most pleased to welcome to the event not only many former and existing members of staff, but also members of the Dabell and Barton families who have a proud association with the South Notts name.”

A commemorative booklet celebrating a centenary of South Notts is available to buy for £2, with profits donated to NCT’s Charity of the Year, When You Wish Upon a Star. The booklet is available from the NCT Travel Centre on Lister Gate, Nottingham and at www.nctx.co.uk