coach trips from blandford forum

Riverside Travel

Whether you’re planning a day trip, wedding transport, an airport transfer or an evening out with friends, do not hesitate to get in touch today for a taxi or up to 16 seater minibus hire with a driver., minibus hire dorset.

Our Clients

Riverside Travel (Dorset) Limited is a family run business based in Blandford Forum, Dorset. Our fleet comprises of a variety of taxis & minibuses for hire with a driver, with seating capacity for up to 16 passengers. Our professional and friendly drivers will ensure that you have a safe and comfortable journey.

Since the company was formed in 1994, it has built a strong relationship with local schools, including Bryanston school , Archbishop Wake and Pimperne Primary as well as the general public. The company works closely with Dorset Council , providing school transport on a daily basis for the special educational needs department and adult social care. As well as the day to day school transport, we operate a regular minibus services for Bryanston School staff transporting them to & from work and provide regular taxis for the students.

In March 2017, we added our first wheelchair accessible vehicle to the fleet. Moving forward, we have added numerous wheelchair accessible vehicles to our fleet and now ensure that a minimum of 25% of our fleet is wheelchair accessible.

In recent years, we have worked with Crossways Travel providing feeder transport for their coach trips.

Today, we have a fleet of over 25 vehicles available for all occasions.

All of our taxis and minibuses are regularly tested and maintained to the highest standard, by MVS Blandford Ltd, to ensure safety and comfort.

Although, we are based in Blandford Forum, we serve surrounding towns and villages in Dorset such as Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Sturminster Newton and many more.

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Highlights of Magical Northern Portugal

Wednesday June 5 2024 to Friday June 14 2024

PRICE INCLUDES

5 night stay at Axis Vermar Conference and Beach Hotel DBB + House Wine

2 night stay at Hospedium Europa Centro hotel DBB

2 night stay on board Pont-Aven DBB (bunk style bed)

Breakfast on the Ferry Each Way

3-course Dinner on the Ferry Each Way

Cruise on the Douro River with lunch

Guided walking tour of Porto

Port wine tasting

Visit to Chaves

Visit to Porto

Single Supplement - £199

Outside 4-birth Cabin Supplement - £50

Outside 4-birth Cabin Single Supplement - £100

Optional Excursion to Guimarães with a guided walking tour- £25

Fully Escorted Day Excursions, Short Breaks & Holidays by Coach

All of our Day Excursions and Short Breaks and Holidays offer exceptional value for money and we take a pride in offering a professional and truly personal service. All the tours have a Tour Manager in addition to a friendly, professional driver to ensure you have an enjoyable day. Most of our tours & excursions also offer an onboard refreshment service with great value hot and cold drinks & snacks, onboard toilet and air conditioning for your added comfort. We only use modern, high quality coaches. All of our coaches are fitted with seatbelts and maintained to a very high standard. Please be aware that child tickets can be issued for anyone under the age of 16 for day excursions and under the age of 14 for holidays.

We Pick up in lots of Dorset villages and towns and are continually expanding our pick up points. Please see our current list below. Pick-up points will be arranged with you when you book. Other pick-up points may be available on request. We also offer HOME PICK UP on all our holidays from just £20 extra (per person)

YOUR HOLIDAY MONEY IS SAFE! We fully adhere to the Package Holiday Regulations 2018. All payments received from our customers are held in a separate trust account, administered independently, until the return of the holiday. This protects all of our passengers booked on tours over 24 hours against financial failure by us or our suppliers, including repatriation, if required. So you can rest assured you're in safe hands. Note:- This should not replace the need for holiday insurance. Terms and Conditions . We work with Towergate Travel Insurance to help you arrange fantastic value Travel Insurance for your chosen holiday, with no upper age limit and no medical declaration for pre-existing conditions for UK Travel. (For Full Details see the bottom of this page)

Sunday Explorer – Lynton and Lynmouth

Sunday May 19 2024

Adults £42 Children £35

Join us for this months Sunday Explorers – today enjoy a lovely scenic drive through Somerset and enjoying free time in beautiful Lynton and Lynmouth. This tour has limited pickups at Bere Regis, Bridport, Crossways, Dorchester South, Weymouth Railway Station…

Morwellham Quay

Saturday May 25 2024

Adults £59.95 Children £37.50

Morwellham forms the Eastern Gateway to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can enjoy a ride through the George and Charlotte copper mine! Discover the conditions the miners worked in, what they were looking…

Totnes on Market Day

Saturday June 8 2024

Adults: £37.95 Children: £10

The Market Square in Totnes has been home to the bustling weekly markets for hundreds of years, today you can still stumble across this gem of a shopping experience. Meet the friendly traders, soak up the colourful sights and discover…

Huge range of Pickup Points, or choose HOME PICK UP from just £30 more

• Portland, Southwell Eight Kings
• Portland, Courtlands Bus Shelter
• Portland, Easton Square
• Fortuneswell, Brittannia Inn
• Portland Victoria Square
• Wyke Regis, Smugglers Inn
• Buxton Road, St Nicholas Church
• Top Of Rodwell Avenue
• Weymouth, Law Courts, Westway Road
• Weymouth Railway Station Forecourt
• Weymouth Park & Ride Car Park
• Overcombe Corner (Preston)
• Chalbury Corner (Preston)
• Littlemoor Shopping Centre Bus Shelter
• Dorchester – Weymouth Avenue Bus Stop
• Dorchester South Railway Station
• Puddletown Main Road opposite the School
• Tolpuddle Martyrs Inn
• Bere Regis, Drax Arms Bus Stop
• Crossways Post Office
• Oaklands Park, Warmwell
• Broadmayne Cross
• Owermoigne *
• Winfrith, Red Lion *
• Wool Railway Station *
• Wareham Outside Co-op *
• Corfe Castle *
• Swanage Bus Station *
• Winterbourne Abbas *
• Bridport Coach Station *
• Spa Hotel, Weymouth *
• Lodmoor Hill, Weymouth *
• Axminster *
• Maiden Newton *
• Beaminster *
• Lyme Regis *
• Blandford *
• Winterborne Whitchurch *
• Milborne St Andrew *
• Wimborne Minster *

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* Crossways Travel take your privacy very seriously. The information sent to us in this enquiry form will only be used to send you a copy of our brochure and occasional emails to let you know about upcoming tours and holidays. Please click here to view our Privacy Policy

Why Choose Crossways Travel ?

We over 4000 satisfied customers and an office full of letters and cards from our customers thanking us for their holiday we are confident that booking your next Coach Holiday with us will be a great choice.

As a small family run business we aim to offer a professional and friendly service for every single customer right from the initial enquiry through to the tour and beyond.  All our staff, whether drivers, tour managers or office staff have been chosen for their skills in the job they do and their customer service skills and are ambassadors for Crossways Travel and we our very proud of them.

All the vehicles used are full executive Luxury Mercedes Coaches, with toilet, air con and at seat refreshments and all less than 5 years old.  We are also the only company in the local area to offer a Tour Manager on ALL our tours including Day Excursions and offer a full refreshments service onboard, even on day excursions.

If you are looking to travel with a friendly, local company who really cares about their customers then look no further.  We promise you will not be disappointed and will soon become one of our many regular travellers !!

How To Book Your Day Excursion

Once you have decided on an excursion you would like to go on, call us to check availability on 01305 851697 . Payment can then be made over the phone by card or by post by way of a cheque or postal order. Please do not forget to enclose your name, address, phone number, tour details, pick-up point and how many tickets you require, if paying by post. You tickets will be posted to you 7 to 10 days before your tour.

Please be aware that on popular tours seats may be released if no payment is received within 2 weeks of booking.

How To Book Your Holiday – Just £50 pp Secures Your Place

Once you have decided on your holiday, call us to check availability. and we can make your booking quickly and securely over the telephone then pay your deposit by card over the phone, alternatively visit your local TIC. We will send a receipt with a booking confirmation and an invoice for the outstanding amount.

Alternatively send us a message via our website and one of our staff will give you a call to make your booking.

Specialists in Group Travel

If you run a local group or society and are looking for a day out for your whole group, why not book your whole group and get a discount. Alternatively we can help you organise your own day great value Day Excursion or Holiday Tour or help you sell the remaining seats to make your day out more affordable.

If you prefer you can choose one of our planned excursions and request a group rate for a set number of seats on our tour. We will sit you all together on the day and also are able to hold a set number of seats until you have your final numbers. For groups of more than 10 we can usually offer a 10% discount and often even a free place for the organiser.

All you need to do is give us a call us on 01305 851697 or drop us an email on [email protected]

Your Money Is Safe With Us

Having been in business for many years we know how important it is to look after our customers money and ensure we provide what is promised to them.  Rest assured all customers money is held in an independent trust account so that in the event of the company suffering financial failure you would always get either your holiday or your money back and if you were away on a tour with us and this happens you would complete your holiday and be returned safely back home.  We comply fully with the Package Travel Regulations 2018.

What Happens If  Crossways Travel Cancels The Tour

In the unlikely event that we have to cancel your tour we would always offer you either a full no quibble refund or the option to choose another similar holiday to the same or higher value at no extra cost.  On occasions it may be appropriate to charge the date of the departure and if this happens it would be your choice to either a full refund or to travel on the new departure date.

What If Something Significant Changes On My Tour

Sadly sometimes thing have to be changed on our tours due to attractions closing, hotels closing etc when this happens if it is deemed as a significant part (as determined by the package travel regulations 2018) of the holiday we would contact you in writing to advise of the change and you would have the right to cancel the tour and receive a full refund if you believed that this change would effect your overall enjoyment of the holiday (unless the change was caused by something we had no control over).  In any case we would always advise you if even a small element of the tour changed and we would always try and replace this element with something of equal or greater value at no cost to our customer.

All content copyright © Crossways Travel unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved.

Crossways Travel Ltd. Registered Office: 6 Empool Close, Crossways, Dorchester, Dorset. DT2 8BX. UK (11328603).

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SCHOOL TRIP COACH HIRE IN Dorset

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Burrows Coaches operator profile: From furlough to lifelong dream

After a tough start in the pandemic, Jamie Burrows’ business is fulfilling a long-held ambition for him

As I drive up to Burrows Coaches ’ headquarters just outside Blandford Forum, it is hard not to notice the presence of one of the area’s largest operators, Excelsior Coaches, who with sister company Damory are located almost directly across the road.

Excelsior’s fleet and Damory’s buses are out in force as I turn down the lane to Jamie Burrows’ HQ, which turned out to be a plot of land on a farm with shared kitchen and toilet facilities.

There’s a contrast in size between Excelsior/Damory and Burrows Coaches, which operated until last month as a one-man band and has just two vehicles. However, having started as a driver at Damory aged 19, Jamie is realising a lifelong ambition in running as his own operator.

The dream had an unlikely start in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking on his first job in December 2020 on the eve of another lockdown was far from the only obstacle.

It was being on furlough as a driver from North Dorset Travel that made Jamie decide to take the plunge. “It was always something that I’d wanted to do, but it was always at the back of my mind and was never going to happen straight away,” he says. “But I went stir-crazy on furlough. I couldn’t sit at home doing nothing, so I went out and bought an old Dennis Dart. I’d almost hit rock bottom. My personal life was going through a very bad time and the business was my way of coping with it.”

He describes getting the Dart roadworthy as his “lockdown project”. However, after securing the vehicle with an £8,000 personal loan, taking it further was fraught with difficulties as he had no capital behind him as banks weren’t giving out loans to tourism prospects in the pandemic climate.

“I was so fed up of everything being ‘no’ and everything being against me. I just kept on trying every possible opportunity,” he says, adding that he eventually secured enough of a credit limit to gain his O-Licence.

Staying afloat

When Jamie was starting up, he witnessed local operators have their vehicles repossessed, so has operated on the basis of owning his vehicles outright and keeping debts to a minimum.

“I’m quite proud to have a couple of motors in the fleet that are all paid for and there’s nothing on finance,” he says.

It was far from the best economic climate in which to start a coach business, but Jamie adds: “It was very uncertain, but I saw it as everyone else had businesses that were already pre-existing, whereas I had the perfect opportunity to craft my business depending on how the market was led.”

He started with rail-replacement services and then started “shopper” trips — so labelled to get around restrictions which were still in place.

Supporting the local community around Blandford Forum is clearly important to Jamie. “I was using traditional ideas of doing the market-day runs,” he explains. “I was thinking I was supporting the market traders by bringing some people into town at the same time and that was an extra selling point for me.”

Childhood dream

Owning his own company wasn’t the first dream Jamie had realised. As a child, he had an “imaginary bus company”, invented timetables and painted toy buses. His secondary school teachers laughed at him when he said he wanted to be a bus driver.

When he left school, he pestered the local bus company Damory for a job. “I used to just go and sit on the buses and the drivers befriended me. They gave me the support and encouragement to go out and get my licence,” he says. “My eventual boss said, ‘go and get your licence then come back and we’ll see what we can do’, possibly to make me go away. Eventually I took my licence myself and went back to him.”

When it came to starting his business, he remembered those who had supported him. He named his first vehicle ‘Lou’ after his school bus driver who encouraged him to obtain his licence. ‘Maxine’, a 35-seat King Long XMQ6900 was named after a driver at Damory who was similarly encouraging, was in for repair as routeone visited. Lou has been replaced by ‘Linda’ — a PSVAR-compliant Dennis Trident/Plaxton President bus.

The story of how Linda came about represents what Jamie calls his biggest achievement so far. One Friday in January at midday he was offered a school contract to start the next Monday. He accepted, even though he didn’t have the double-decker bus that was a requirement. After some frantic calls, thanks to Odyssey Coach Sales , he went to Newcastle on the Sunday to pick up a suitable vehicle. “I’ve got this thing of say ‘yes’ now and panic later,” he smiles.

“What I said to the school is, because I’m small enough, I can make those snap decisions without having to answer to anyone else. I’d done two years of floating around on rail-replacement work, private hires, day trips, etc, but I’d never had any regular work coming in, so it was either all or nothing.

“You would end up with a bank balance looking really good and you’d be really pleased with yourself and then all, of a sudden, it would go quiet and it would drop down again and you’d go out looking for more work. It was always fluctuating.”

Steady growth

The school contract has enabled Jamie to apply for a second O-Licence disc and take on a part-time driver. He has always relied on semi-retirees or drivers from other operators to fill in when needed.

However, he has no need to relocate. Having moved from the centre of Dorset, “half an hour from a main road”, he now rents a yard from Agri-Comm, a commercial and agricultural maintenance company that services his vehicles as well as lends him use of a kettle. His admin is done from home and he relies heavily on accountants, particularly now he has become an employer.

Having realised his dream, Jamie still has ambitions and has just set up as a limited company, but he wants Burrows Coaches to remain small.

“I’ve had a vision of having a traditional travel shop with the old-fashioned chalkboards and hanging baskets outside and a coffee shop inside,” he says. “It’s the ultimate dream one day, but I think we’re a long way from that.”

He says he is trying to grow steadily without risking taking on work he can’t find drivers to cover.

“Now the school contract has come along with the double-decker, all of a sudden with that has come people requesting double-deck hire and that’s something I’ve never had before,” he says. “Word slowly gets around that you’ve got the right vehicles for their jobs. You get the vehicle and the work follows the vehicle that you’ve got.

“It would be nice to build the company up to a point where it’s financially secure, but I would be wary of getting it too big because I wouldn’t want to lose that friendly feel,” he says. “I like being involved with it and I like the fact that it’s personal to me and it’s got my name on the side of the coach.”

Keeping it friendly and for community has remained a theme for Jamie since those early coach trips to support local market stall owners. For example, his business has just sponsored a set of books on children’s internet safety for a local school he attended as a child.

“I’m never going to take over the world,” he says. “I’m happy as long as the business is going in the right direction and making some money, just slowly evolving, and going in a direction that I like it going in and feeling like I’m in control of it.

“It’s been interesting, it’s not been easy. Some days you walk in and jobs fall into your lap, other things you have to fight for. But the good days outweigh the bad days.”

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The market town of Blandford Forum

River stour in blandford.

© Paul Dimarco

The historic market town of Blandford

Blandford forum heritage trail a unique georgian town.

This heritage trail features many historic sites within the market town of Blandford Forum - the most complete small, Georgian town in England.

Records go back over 1000 years to when the area was known as Blane-ford. The majority of the buildings within the town were built during the Georgian era following a devastating fire in 1731 which destroyed most of the town.

Follow the trail to visit 15 locations and find out more about Blandford's heritage and history.

Trail locations

1. Blandford Information Centre - providing a wealth of information about this pretty Georgian town and the surrounding area, the friendly volunteer staff are always happy to help you find what you need.

2. Blandford Bridge - first recorded in 1268, and was reputed to have its own ghost.

3. Unique Georgian architecture - after a devastating fire in 1731 where the majority of the town's buildings were destroyed, an Act of Parliament stated that rebuilding work must be in brick and tile. With assistance from the rest of the country, including £1,000 given by King George II, the town was rebuilt over the next ten years to the designs of local architects John and William Bastard. The redesigned town centre has survived to the present day virtually intact.

4. The Market Place - Saturday has been Market Day since 1214 (by order of King John). There is now also a market every Thursday, a monthly Farmers and Makers Market on the fourth Sunday of each month.

5. Town Hall and Corn Exchange - the buildings, colloquially known as The Corn Exchange, are centrally situated in the Market Place. This complex of buildings comprise the Shambles, the Town Hall room, and Council Chamber, all housed in the original Town Hall building.  The facade of the Town Hall, built in 1734, is a uniquely important and pivotal feature in the centre of the Market Place.

6. St. Peter and St. Paul Church - recent restoration work to the tower and cupola included the rehanging of the Apprentice Bell in the cupola, which was used to alert apprentices to lunchtime and the end of the working day. It is possible to organise tours of the church and part way up the tower.

7. Blandford Town Museum - Blandford Town Museum tells the story of Blandford Forum and its surrounding villages through displays, exhibitions and local artefacts. 

8. Blandford Fashion Museum - the late Mrs. Betty Penny MBE founded the Blandford Fashion Museum, located in Lime Tree House, in 1996. Mrs. Penny’s collection of costumes, known locally as the Cavalcade of Costume, form the nucleus of the present collection. However, since then the collection has almost trebled in size and continues to grow thanks to generous donations from the public.

9. Woodhouse Public Gardens - a quiet area for townspeople to enjoy, was presented to the town by the family of local brewers Hall & Woodhouse and contains a tree mosiac commemorating the Town's Charter and the Queen's Jubilee Tree Sculpture.

10. The North Dorset Trailway - a 14 mile walking, cycling and horse riding route between Sturminster Newton and Spetisbury, via Blandford Forum.

11. The Railway Arches - originally part of the Dorset Central Railway, the line to Blandford Forum opened on 1 November 1860 at a station at Blandford St Mary, to the south of the River Stour. An extension to the railway required a bridge over the River Stour and a newly relocated Blandford Forum station to the north of the Stour. It eventually became part of British Rail Southern Region and was closed with the ‘Beeching’ cuts in 1966. The track and most of the infrastructure were removed and the site abandoned, however part of the railway arches remain at the side of the River Stour.

12. The Meadows - the River Stour winds its way through the town and across two beautiful meadows. The Mortain Bridge and Preetz Bridge connect the main part of the town to Stour Meadows and provides a pleasant and picturesque way to explore the grasslands.

13. Otters on the River Stour - a family of otters can often been seen along the River Stour between Blandford Forum and Blandford St Mary.

14. The Milldown - a hidden gem, on the outskirts of Blandford Forum. Ideal for picnics, exercise, wildlife or simply enjoying the superb views.

15. Royal Signals Museum - telling the story of military communications from semaphore to cyber. The Royal Signals Museum houses the national collection of military communications equipment. It vividly tells the story of military communications and of The Corps via a series of enlightening exhibitions – including interactive exhibitions and displays.

Plan Your Visit

You may also like..., 3 days in wimborne, blandford and shaftesbury.

A 3 day itinerary for exploring east and north Dorset.

Places to stay

Choose a relaxing place to stay in the countryside or in town.

Things to do

Beautiful walks and gardens or selection of interesting attractions to keep you entertained.

Food & drink

Lots of great places to try dine and and enjoy locally brewed Badger Ales or Dorset wines.

Share your Dorset

What does your dorset look like adventures on our epic coastline visiting attractions with family a walk through the beautiful countryside or perhaps a chilled out evening eating and drinking with friends discover a sample of your #visitdorset images below and share your love for dorset using the hashtag on instagram.   .