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Our History
It was purely circumstance rather than intention that Thornes Independent entered the bus and coach industry. It was in 1948 that J.H.Thornes  moved to Bubwith to take over 'Derwent Garage' a motor repair garage and filling station. To supplement his income in 1949 Mr Thornes operated two taxis to the local primary school. When numbers rose in 1950 and a bus was needed instead, he bought one. This was a 1936 Bedford WTB with 25 seat coach body built by H V Burlingham of Blackpool. The coach had previously been owned and operated by a neighbouring operator - Waby of Holme On Spalding Moor.
The WTB generated private hire work in a rural area where car ownership was very low. The young Mr Thornes kept an eye open for new business and took on a local bus route between Holme On Spalding Moor and Market Weighton, which had been tried and abandoned by other operators before him. A chance meeting with the late Hartas Foxton, founder of the York Pullman Bus Company resulted in the purchase of the Holme On Spalding Moor to Selby route, inherited by Pullman with the Walls of Home On Spalding Moor business some years earlier. Two local Day Excursion Licences were also transferred to Thornes in the deal. For a time the Holme to Selby and Holme to Mkt Weighton routes were linked to give a ' through' service, but before long history repeated itself and the Holme - Mkt Weighton section was abandoned due to unviability.
The company traded initially as Thornes Motor Services which reflected the diverse activities of garage and bus services. Through the 1950s and early 1960s private hire work was built up and a sizeable number of schools and works contracts wereaccrued. Several routes for the Ministry of Defence to local Ordnance factories were acquired together with the conveyance of day and night shift workers to the long gone Danepak factory in Selby. Construction workers were carried to Eggborough Power Station on behalf of John Laing Construction. In 1964 the motor repair garage and filling station were closed as the busbusiness became the main activity. However things did not go well between 1965 and 1967 when all contracts barring one works contract and three school contracts were lost due to fierce competion. The fleet was down to just five vehicles.
In 1967, Mr Thornes struck back and with his son Philip now in the business, the Ministry of Defence contracts were won back but this time calling for double deckers. The first two deckers owned were ex Southdown Park Royal bodied Guy Arab1Vs which gave sterling service and the corner was positively turned. By 1972 the fleet was up to eleven vehicles and rather modestly after 23 years trading a brand new coach was purchased.  A grant aided Bedford YRQ Plaxton 45 seater. By 1980a further five brand new vehicles had been purchased. Full advantage of the relaxed road service licensing restrictions in the1980 Transport Act enabled Thornes to develop a thriving Holiday Tour and Day Excursion business. The first Executive Coach arrived in 1984. Nowadays due to the changing market, the holiday tour aspect of the business has been redefined with only 'mini-breaks' being offered alongside a 'niche' Classic-Coach Tours' facility. The opportunity presented by the 1986 Transport Act to become involved the de-regulated bus service market has so far not been taken up. However a number of rural-lifeline routes supported by the local authorities have been amassed over the ensuing years. In April 2000 these were re-launched as a single brand  network of routes known as the 'Rural Rambler'. The project was supported by theCountryside Agency and at special ceremony Viv Windsor of Emmerdale fame launched two brand new purpose built buses for the services, re-enacting her famous ' stop the bus protest' as part of the feature.
In 1999 Thornes Motor Services Ltd changed its name to Thornes Independent Ltd to reflect the connection with Independent Coachways Ltd of Horsforth in West Yorkshire, a company purchased by the Thornes family in 1987 and run autonomously. The fleets share a common fleet livery and fleet numbering scheme.
In 2002 Thornes Independent Ltd moved from the site it had occupied for 52 years to spacious new premises approximately 6 miles away in the village of Hemingbrough. The new depot was re-named The Coach Station and benefits from a location convenient for Selby, Goole and York.
Interesting vehicles owned over the years have included:- Two ex Northern General - English Electric bodied NGT SE4s, Three ex Maidstone & District Beadle rebuilds. The two Guy Arabs previously mentioned, an ex Standerwick Gay Hostess Leyland Atlantean, the prototype Bristol LHS fitted with a second hand body removed from as Albion Nimbus and the unique AEC engined Seddon/Harrington VHO 200. The current fleet stands at 24 which includes the Independent Coachways fleet, four operational heritage coaches, touring coaches, service buses and schools dedicated vehicles.
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