Blue Belle of South London
Thomas
Boon
was
born
in
1879
in
Hove,
Sussex
and
after
an
apprenticeship
with
a
Brighton
cabinet
maker
and
a
spell
in
the
army,
set
up
in
business
in
the
Brixton
area
of
South
London
as
a
cabinet
maker
and
later
as
a
house
furnisher
and
furniture
dealer.
By
1917
the
business
had
expanded
to
include
the
buying
and
selling
of
motor
vehicles,
and
later
to
the
operation
of
charabanc
tours
and
excursions
which
soon
became
known
as
“Blue
Belle
Coaches”.
Thus
started
a
rapidly
expanding
business
involving
the
supply
of
new
and
secondhand
commercial
vehicles
and
the
operation
of
coaching
services
as
far
as
the
South
Coast.
By
the
mid-1930s
the
business
was
suffering
financially
and
the
coaching
operation
was
purchased
by
the
Red
&
White
company
of
Chepstow.
The
second
world
war
brought
an
end
to
the
operation
but
the
Blue
Belle
name
was
resurrected
after
the
war
and
the
company
sold
to
United
Service
Transport
which
reinstated
some
of
the
prewar
coach
services.
The
end
came
in
1965
when
the
coaching
interests
of
U.S.T
were
sold
to
the
George
Ewer
Group
(Grey-Green)
and
the
Blue
Belle
name
was
dropped.
Please
click
or
tap
on
the
cover
illustration
below
for
a
detailed
history
of
Blue
Belle
including
information not previously published (PDF format).
© Richard Smith 2019-20. All rights reserved.