Tuesday 23rd September 2025
I topped off last week’s epic ride on ember’s route E11 by sampling two very contrasting bus routes also numbered 11. One in the glorious Cotswolds and the other in Nottingham
Today’s blog describes the former with Thursday’s featuring the latter.
And this is not just any route 11.
It’s a Heritage Bus Service 11, operated by two vintage vehicles owned by Bourton-on-the-Hill based Troopers Lodge Motor Services.
Troopers Lodge has over 20 heritage vehicles in its collection specialising in the private hire market, particularly weddings.
This summer it launched its first registered local bus service running at weekends between Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Northleach and Minster Lovell.
Four return journeys every two hours between 08:30 and 14:30 (from Moreton) are operated by two buses with a round trip taking just over three hours.
Sections of the route compete with Pulhams’ route 801 but there’s no £3 cap or concessionary fares on route 11 with a day ticket costing a pricey £20 (£14 for juniors and seniors).
However I was pleasantly surprised to see so many passengers alight from the same train as myself on Saturday for the 10:30 departure from Moreton-in-Marsh – I reckon there must have been at least 25 tourists all eager to take a ride on a ‘vintage’ double decker as well as experience the joy of visiting the wonderful Cotswolds towns along the route.
In keeping with the heritage theme tickets were issued from both a Setright machine…
… and a ticket rack alongside a contactless terminal for payments.
As you can see the bus I caught was a former Norwich based Eastern Counties Bristol VR dating from 1980/81 with the second bus out on Saturday being a former Southern Vectis VR dating from as far back as 1968/69 with the flat windscreen design from the early days of production.
Stow-on-the Wold was as busy as ever with Morris Dances adding to the cultural heritage on offer…
… with Bourton-on-the-Water also bustling with tourists.
Most passengers alighted at those popular towns but some boarded and joined those staying on as we continued to Northleach where it was good to meet blog reader Harold who was also out enjoying a ride up and down the route.
There’s a lot of traffic for drivers on route 11 to contend with especially approaching Stow-on-the-Wold but I noticed the allocated running time was generous and made for a relaxing ride as the bus waited for a few minutes in each town we passed through.
The other thing that’s noticeable is how these lovely Cotswolds locations are spoilt by so many cars parked along the road side or in the village squares.
Although the route passes very close to Burford buses don’t go into the village due to narrow streets, and sensibly set down and pick up at the bus stop in a lay-by on the A40 just a short walk away.
One visitor attraction served by the route after Burford is The Farmer’s Dog public house and farm shop famous for its owner being Jeremy Clarkson.
Both Harold and I were astounded at the number of cars parked up in a special car park with a constant stream of visitors coming and going.
I dread to think what the queues inside must be like.
I notice Troopers Lodge has negotiated a number of discounts for route 11 passengers at retailers and cafés along the route but unsurprisingly, bearing in mind the owner’s attitude, not for those arriving by bus at The Farmer’s Dog.
It was certainly impressive to see supplies of the timetable leaflet and A boards promoting the service all along the route…
… as well as bespoke bus stop plates including a pictogram featuring a double deck bus.
The lunch time journey I travelled back to Morton-in-Marsh on was not as busy as the outward one but I bet the two afternoon journeys get busy taking people back after their visits.
Driver Brian drove the bus superbly including encouraging it on the hills and showing inordinate patience with traffic on the busy roads.
An excellent example of how to run a heritage bus route aimed at tourists – and I hope this first season has been a success. I guess it depends whether enough £20/£14 day tickets sold can offset the opportunity cost of not using the bus on a lucrative wedding hire.
Readers wanting to take a ride need to hurry as the service ends its run this coming weekend.
Watch out for another bus route numbered 11 on Thursday’s blog; one which has had its route length significantly increased.
Roger French
Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS
BusAndTrainUser 
“Stow-on-the-Water”? Might this be a ‘mixed metaphor’?
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Many thanks; now corrected.
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Southern Vecits buses are a joy to find second hand on the mainland. I found one doing Central Line replacement work in 2003 owned, then, by the London Borough of Redbridge. “RDL689X” a Leyland Olympian with ECW bodywork. It was in immaculate condition.
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I understand coaches are being discouraged from the Cotswolds. There could be a logic to work with coach companies to offer the 11 service to them for the trip / visits around the area but hopefully too takes some cars off the road. The £20 ticket would mean 11 trips would be needed to save money which is quite difficult on a 2hrly service , a “all stations” vlog might be interesting to do visiting every stop in a day . The running time Moreton Bourton is 30 mins , the reverse direction 40 which is interesting. I think adding in a late 1600 Moreton short to Bourton return at 1630 could be worth doing for a few more passengers who would still get a reasonable time in Bourton for the last run back and a earlier return for folk that might not want to stay so long on the previous trip
I see Easter in 2026 is early April. Hopefully at lot of these Heritage based services can consider running from then through April, I think the Chinese/Japanese visitors to England dont stick to the normal summer weeks only when visiting.
There is also scope to enhance the service to 0930 Departure (1300 return) with one of the Modern Low Floor Heritage vehicles for disabled access too. (This does mess around with drivers swaps and breaks but should be devisable with a further 1530 short end return too )
Effectively at present the service offers about 60 seats for an approx £240 min revenue per day (assumes £2 full length return trip) ( I am probably misreading the from £2 which might be a single stage not having the full faretable – not showing the full single trip fare I think is a bit misleading ?) max average say £15 = £900 which I think is pretty good return on a drivers day (the short journey i suggest I think would add £6*40 passengers , another £240 which must more than cover the fuel and driver time )
JBC Prestatyn
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The fares are on the website Heritage Bus Service 11 – Cotswold Vintage Bus Hire
The £2.00 fare is a single from Minster Lovell to Farmer’s Dog. The fare for the full journey is £12.00 single /£14.00 return
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My experience of driving that road is that at busy times the queue to get into Moreton starts at the edge of the built up area, whereas at Bourton the main road bypasses the centre – hence the variation in running times looks logical.
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That is a very useful service & many thanks to Roger for an excellent blog.
I have to say regularly visiting The Farmers Dog it is quite superb & its bottles of Red Wine are Cheatux Stourbridge from the Halfpenny Vineyards.
Let’s face it you can’t fault Clarkson anyone who can blow up a Routemaster as in his 2008 DVD Thriller is tops in my book as I personally can’t stand them but each to his own.
There is of course another famous Service 11 which I use regularly but that no longer goes round in circles……..
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They were instructed to remove their flags from bus stops by both Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire County Councils. The threat from GCC had a bit more weight to it, which is why all the flags on that side of the border have gone while those in Oxfordshire remain.
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How mean spirited of those LTAs! New public transport attracting visitors to spend their money in the local econom, helping to reduce car traffic, and they have a hissy fit over bus stop flags.
Peter Brown
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Troopers Lodge MS does seem to get through a few classic buses are they a dealer? Do they try and sell on part restorations?
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I wouldn’t give Clarkson a single penny of my money. He’s a blow hard and bully.
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He is a bully – punching a BBC producer! He also bought his farm, as he admitted to the The Times in 2021, in order to avoid inheritance tax. So yeah, not getting cash from me.
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Someone had better tell me who is legally responsible for updating bus stop times etc of registered bus services and who legally can, and pertinently , post bus stop insignia on a bus stop pole- operators i think can have a choice of what they use and are not limited to a local authority design as long as any local authority one is not impeded from view
JBC Prestatyn
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There is no standard responsibility
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There isn’t a legal responsibility on anyone but it varies from area to area depending on what the local authority wants to or is willing to do. Essentially as operators have to attach their property (flags, cases or simple timetable) to someone else’s property (pole, bus stop or road sign, case or bus shelter) they can only do what the owner of the property allows them to do (and as they cannot install their own poles as they don’t own the road or pavement they can’t avoid doing so) so if the council don’t allow you to put your own stuff up you cannot do so.
I have worked in areas where the council do nothing and some where the council insist on doing everything (sometimes charging the operator for the privilege of someone else doing their publicity in a manner they don’t wish to) and some where where we could put up our own timetables at the stops but weren’t allowed to replace or update the flags where services have changed.
Dwarfer
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In my view, Clarkson is a charmless boor with only one redeeming feature – the TV documentary he presented about his then-wife’s father’s wartime VC, which his daughter was unaware of until he died as he never mentioned it. The only Manx holder, apparently.
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From my age of 14 onwards me & my parents regularly made up the audience at BBC PEBBLE MILL as we lived near the studios.
Watching everything from PEBBLE MILL at one to Call My Bluff to Going For A Song to The Ronnie Corbett Show to Pot Black to Telly Addicts.
We also had access to the BBC CLUB behind the studios.
As so many network programmes came out of PEBBLE MILL one was Top Gear & regularly Jeremy Clarkson was in the BBC CLUB.
Personally I have never met such as nicer , kinder , professional man than Jeremy Clarkson.
Out of the blue long after BBC PEBBLE MILL had closed I received an invite to see a recording of the revamped Top Gear at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey & me and my dad went.
I was totally surprised to find James May road testing the New Bus For London on that edition.
It was amazing to catch up with him again & now to support his excellent Gastropub- The Farmers Dog.
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A nice initiative which deserves to succeed. Sadly can’t see it running after next summer, as I doubt the company will wish to destroy the authenticity of its historic vehicles by fitting induction loops and audio-visual passenger information systems. Quite aside from the cost!
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There is a complete trip possible by following the video on YouTube.
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