Grey-Green: Coaches & Buses

Andrew Mead offers a pictorial history of the Grey-Green company, who operated vehicles from the First World War until 2000. The company was formed as a haulage carrier by the Ewer family at the end of the nineteenth century in the East End of London. Coaches were introduced after the First World War, and the company steadily grew in size over the following years. Many smaller coach companies were acquired, including the well-known Orange Luxury Coaches. In 1980, Sunderland motor dealer Cowie acquired the Ewer Group and, during the mid-1980s, bid to run many of London’s bus routes. They won several, including the central London route 24 that passes Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament. The major success of bus operation led the company to purchase some of the country’s major bus firms. A decision was made in the late 1990s to rebrand all companies in the Cowie Group to Arriva and so the Grey-Green name was lost.

Utilising a range of rare colour and monochrome images, as well as period leaflets and timetables, this book illustrates the company’s history and provides an essential guide to one of Britain’s most iconic bus and coach operators.