The Maidstone & District bus company continued to use its traditional system of route numbering up to the autumn of 1973, but from 7th October of that year a new area-based system was introduced that by the end of 1976 had grouped the routes in each area into blocks. Most routes in the Swale area received numbers in the 3xx series, but it was soon realised that East Kent (who had begun to use a similar system in 1971) were already using 3xx numbers in the Dover and Deal areas, so to avoid confusion a separate series of 6xx numbers was introduced for use (initially) in the Faversham area.
This collection covers routes numbered in the block 660 to 669, the first of which appeared on 30 December 1973.

A selection of views taken in or near Hawkhurst Bus Station since 1981. Opened by Maidstone & District on 7th June 1950, the bus station - to island layout with departure and arrival platforms on opposite sides - replaced earlier premises in Winchester Road, and also provided garage facilities for an allocation that peaked at around 30 vehicles from 1985. This followed a period when it had been reduced to an outstation, managed from Silverhill, Hastings between December 1980 and January 1982, when vehicles carried "Hastings & District" fleetnames. In 1983 Maidstone & District was separated from Hastings & District, and the garage building at the rear of the site passed to Kent Engineering. The Hawkhurst allocation regained M&D fleetnames and was provided instead from Gillingham and Tunbridge Wells parent depots, parking in the bus station area itself. Kent Engineering withdrew from the site in 1985, allowing the garage building to return to M&D. M&D became Arriva Kent & Sussex in 1998, and continued to operate from Hawkhurst until its closure on 16th February 2008.

Hawkhurst Bus Station (owned by Arriva Kent & Sussex and previously Maidstone & District) saw its final departures on Saturday 16th February 2008, before closing down for the last time.
A special running day was organised with former Maidstone & District vehicles (and some from other operators) providing free services between 1000 and 1530hrs. Despite extra buses using the station and often heavy traffic congestion where the A229 and A268 cross each other, Arriva, Stagecoach and Countryliner maintained their normal services from the Bus Station and these photos include a couple of examples.

The original Eastonways business traded from 1960 to 1978, but Eastonways Ltd is more recent having started in 1988 and has steadily expanded since then to operate a substantial network of bus services in and around the Isle of Thanet. This collection covers both incarnations, including some colour shots dating from around 1970 that I acquired a few years ago.

Two associated companies, long-established Renown Coaches of Bexhill and recently-established Cavendish Motor Services both use a livery very similar to that of the former Southdown Motor Services, bringing attractive green and cream buses back to Sussex, both within and east of the area traditionally served by Southdown.

Guildford-based Countryliner and its sister companies have expanded their bus operations across the south east from eastern Hampshire to the Weald of Kent. This collection covers the Sussex operations including routes 304 & 305 into Kent.

Introduced in 1977, route 729 between Tunbridge Wells and Brighton was initially worked jointly by Southdown and Maidstone & District, and for a while the branding "The Regency Route" was used. The 729 was the successor to earlier routes 119 (which ran from 1936 until 1977) and 122 (providing hourly journeys through to Gravesend from 1948 until 1970, before being reduced to run north of Tunbridge Wells only, and then renumbered 322 in 1974).

During the 1970s and early 1980s the 119 and then the 729 used the Green Line terminus in Lime Hill Road, Tunbridge Wells, shared with Green Line 704 (and later 705/706).

Operation of the 729 was later shared by Brighton & Hove (from 1986), Stagecoach (as successor to Southdown) and Arriva (as successor to M&D), and the route was renumbered 29 in April 2004 when doubled to half-hourly. Brighton & Hove took over the Stagecoach workings from 25 September 2005 and the Arriva working from 23 April 2006.

The colourful East Kent fleet in the harbour town of Dover included vehicles in contract liveries for the ferry and hovercraft operators Sealink, Seaspeed (later Hoverspeed) and others, as well as their own services.

One of the last family-owned traditional seaside coach operators, Blue Rambler of Cliftonville near Margate, Kent ran a smart blue and cream liveried fleet until 1990, including petrol-engined Bedfords (SB3's and a rare VAM3) well into the 1980s.

Buses on Coastliner 700 operated by Stagecoach and previously Southdown and Brighton & Hove, between 1986 and 2006

Buses and coaches of East Kent Road Car Company between 1976 and 1993

Independent bus and coach operators in Surrey