Title: The Coachmans Way
Author/Publisher: Philip
ISBN: 978-0-9955879-1-5
Specification: 300mm x 215mm, 140pp, hardback
Price: £29.95
There is a link between this and the GreyGreen book, as in 1967 Philip Thornes, who had left school the previous Christmas aged 18 and was determined to work anywhere other than his parents’ family coach firm in the Yorkshire East Riding, saw an advertisement in Buses Illustrated for a traffic assistant at the London coach company and was invited for an interview with Tom McLachlan, who then was its commercial manager
A week before the interview, his parents had such a huge disagreement that the future of Thornes Motor Service looked shaky. He cancelled the appointment, stayed with the family business in the village of Bubwith, eventually taking charge and developing it. Now retired, his daughters have taken over, leaving time for him to write and publish what he describes as the autobiography of a business now called Thornes Independent.
Like this magazine, it celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, and having been guided by an operator who also is an enthusiast (why else would he have responded to an advertisement in our pages 52 years ago?), the celebrations will incl…
