Bartons Plc

The anvil is not afraid of the hammer

So sorry to hear that Sir Neil Cossons has passed away, and condolences to his family and friends. We found him an utterly fantastic man and also great fun, and he was flatteringly supportive of what we were doing 15 or more years ago with the 1908- 2008 Centenary and the Blue Plaque initiative of the Local Civic and History Society, Heritage Open Days etc. Kathy Logan (Coy. Sec) and I lured him into our orbit by sending him a letter to his home address in a genuine 1950s envelope which I think had a Burlingham Seagull on it, and he replied to us almost by return post! Barton Transport gets a mention in his seminal book The BP Book of Industrial Archaeology (well worth a read), as his father, a Beeston Headmaster, had always used Barton Transport vehicles for the History trips he ran. May you rest in peace, Sir Neil, and thank you for your amazing legacy. It is a delight to have known you.

"The Best revenge is to not be like your enemy." - Marcus Aurelius

Anyone else for Skegness?

In the article at the link, local writer Matt Turpin shows us why Beeston in Nottinghamshire isn’t Nottingham’s shadow — it’s its spark ✨ A town that thrives on creativity, history, nature, art, and community pride. #Beeston #Notts. leftlion.co.uk/features/2026/…

And 93 more houses at Chilwell currently under construction as we speak, which should soon make a perhaps unique, knock-out, town centre and brownfield redevelopment!

Barton Bus enthusiasts in old market square #Nottingham date unknown. #ThenAndNow @No1tingham

@Piethagoram Thanks for sharing @kitcant @Piethagoram - the lovely Nottingham event was in 2008, in Comrade Councillor Jon Collins' then newly opened "Square One" and when the expensively created water feature still flourished 😀

Geoffrey Cox: I’d far rather put my life in the hands of 12 ordinary people than a judge telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…

"Let me give a little perspective here, in the private sector I wouldn't expect to be sitting in a room with other people, proposing "targeting" other people's property...(AND then having it in the meeting's minutes🤣)

@MagnaAulae @NicholasOShaug1 Barton's Chilwell is going more Georgian than Calcutta

@NicholasOShaug1 @bartonsplc ran both Nottingham-Warsaw and Nottingham- Aberystwyth. You couldn't get vowels in those days.

We need to revive the bus route to Calcutta, which is more Georgian than London.

@MagnaAulae @NicholasOShaug1 Hmmm...

Well I never...is the dark underbelly of the Nottingham City Council "heritage" strategy finally starting to be covered?? "Ted Cantle, the former chairman of the Nottingham Castle Trust and Nottingham City Council's former chief executive, has now accused the authority of essentially setting the trust up to fail." Nottingham City Council accused of 'knowing' castle trust would fail as £3.5 million written off nottinghampost.com/news/nottingha…

@Piethagoram Absolutely right, the Guv'nor TH Barton OBE built it for his own amusement and that of his family on land he owned beside the river.

For @bartonsplc Interesting mention of Barton's miniature railway for the Barton-In-Fabis Ferry minorrailways.co.uk/history3.php. I presume it was situated on the north bank of the Trent?

Bartons' Dennis Loline III was warming up in the Running Repairs building at The Garage, Chilwell today

@USteve1965 @HannahIsla54610 ha!

From a time in the 20th Century when the Barton service bus was way cooler than any of the cars. Which one would you 'ave rather gone 'om on? Photo credit The Bus Archive

Hmm... The European Union requires that all research involving human subjects must undergo an institutional review process. This process ensures that the research is conducted in accordance with ethical standards and that the rights and welfare of the participants are protected. The review process includes assessing the justification, inclusion criteria, consent procedures, participants' welfare, and the values in research. The EU emphasizes the importance of informed consent, the protection of participants' rights, and the minimization of risks associated with the research.

Apologies for not writing up this amazing tale up until now, but it's too good to have rushed and got wrong! You may remember there was a short video we had put up a couple of months ago, with Barton Transport's 1988 last coach (for now), a 12 metre DAF MB230 no less, being rather dramatically removed on a suspended tow by an equally impressive Crouch Recovery truck (see photo as they pass Barton House, Chilwell) What was not revealed at time, but which we had intended to (until a couple of gremlins crept in), was a most amazing and (no pun intended) moving coincidence. A two man team had been sent out from Grantham with the specialist vehicle because Paul, at Paul Winson Coaches, Loughborough thought that the most appropriate collection and delivery method to get the DAF into his workshop. In turn Paul's business was to renew elements of the DAFs' 1980s air suspension which had perished, was leaking, and so not holding the rear end up in the air to allow it to be driven across for repairs. And so to the point... I was to learn that Mick, the driver of the recovery truck looked at his job sheet that morning with no inkling he was being sent to Nottingham, and Chilwell in particular, which rang a particular bell. I believe he'd got the registration of the casualty, and so looked that up only to discover the identity of the vehicle which had clear and very special Chilwell connections, because it was Barton's last, AND it was at the historic address of The Garage, Chilwell. And here is where the story becomes very special, because Mick is Michael Kell, and he takes up the story in a text that day: "Hi Simon, it's Mick (Michael Kell) Cronin...As spoke about this morning, most of my family worked for Bartons in Melton Mowbray, My dad, Roger Cronin was the Garage Foreman, my grandad was the Depot Manager, Dennis Cronin, my mum Linda Cronin worked in the travel office, and my uncle Simon Cronin was a driver at one point, and two aunties, Ann Billington and Betty Brown, were conductors back in the day. Today was a nice day, a struggle of a job but very worth it due to the job in hand and the family connection and history, it was a great pleasure and honour to carry out the job, although a huge coincidence that this job was given to me without even knowing. And like I said one of my aunts still has one of two of the corner stones to the Melton Garage main entrance. I know it's corny but my dad gave his life to Bartons, and his loyalty was second to none. He added "When the main garage closed, they moved to a small unit on Snow Hill Industrial Estate, to cover some school runs and town service runs, my dad stayed and moved there as well to keep things moving/running right up until the very last day" We had hoped to published this post a few weeks ago with (we'd hoped) news the two DAFs (645 has been out too) had passed their MOTs and were back taxed for the road, but wouldn't you just know it, we had two minor faults that had arisen on the run up to Yardleys at Sutton in Ashfield. And since we've had no time to fix them either! With great thanks to Mick for his part in this astonishing coincidence, and for providing so much information about his loyal family; and hopefully we can deal with the darned DAF issues early in the New Year (anyone mobile mechanic available to free a rear brake off one at Chilwell?) I believe that members of Mick's family who may see this post also have some photos they may be able to share in the future.

Barton Quarter Phase 2 underway 😃! at Chilwell, Beeston, Nottinghamshire

@RobertJenrick This place...

Hi @RobertJenrick, As you and I both said when you kindly visited Barton Quarter, Chilwell when you were Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, "SO, THIS CAN BE DONE!" 😀 Now Phase 2, BQ