15 years of events

15 years that changed Britain

Here's a snap-shot of significant events that took place during Ruby's 15 year service career (March 1968 to July 1983).

Year: Month: Event:
1967 September Bristol Commercial Vehicles completes RELH-4, series 2 chassis No.: 111, with a Leyland O.600 engine.
BBC radio programmes were recast; Radio 1 was launched.
1968 January Eastern Coach Works build coachwork No.: 17053, on RELH-4 chassis 111. It would become OAX 9F.
March OAX 9F delivered to RED & WHITE Services Ltd, Chepstow. Allocated to Aberdare depot.
August British Rail runs its last steam-hauled passenger service. Oliver Cromwell was the loco.
1969 January State-owned National Bus Company was formed. It absorbed Red & White Services Ltd.
March The Queen opened the new Victoria line on the London Underground .
April British Concorde prototype makes its first flight, from Bristol Filton Airport.
July Charles is invested with his title: Prince of Wales in Caernarfon Castle. Swansea was granted City status.
Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
1970 January The first Boeing 747 Jumbo jet landed at London (Heathrow) Airport.
April Paul McCartney announces he has left pop group The Beatles.
September First Glastonbury Festival takes place.
November BBC 1 & ITV start regular colour broadcasts.
1971 February Decimalisation day, when our currency changed to 100pence in the pound.
June UK began negotiations for membership of the European Economic Union (EEC).
OAX 9F transferred to Tredegar depot. She would work from here for most of her career.
December The final English section of the M4 was opened (between Maidenhead & Swindon).
1972 January National Union of Mineworkers began a 7-week strike, leading to nation-wide power cuts.
March Britains last trolleybus system (in Bradford) closed.
September Carrefour opened the first hypermarket in the UK, at Caerphilly.
1973 April Value Added Tax (VAT) is introduced.
September IRA starts a bombing campaign around Britain that would last 10 years.
December Three-day week electricity consumption started, due to coal shortages caused by strikes.
1974 January Government announces a three-day working week to conserve power during miners strikes.
May OAX 9F repainted allover NATIONAL white coach livery.
April Local Government Re-organisation; Newport & Monmouthshire are transferred to Wales.
June In a referendum, 67% of UK voters support continuing EEC membership.
Year: month: event:
1975 August British Leyland Motor Corporation becomes nationalised.
September The National Railway Museum is opened in York.
December The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 & Equal Pay Act 1970, come into force.
1976 February The Queen opens the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham.
June A heatwave begins, by August a serious drought is in place across most of the UK.
October British Rail introduce the InterCity 125 High Speed Train into passenger service.
1977 January A new small hatch-back Ford car, the Fiesta goes on sale.
June The Queens Silver Jubilee celebrations take place across the UK.
September Freddie Laker launches his new budget Skytrain airline service from Gatwick to New York.
1978 April Red & White and Western Welsh were merged into new National Welsh Omnibus Co Ltd.
May Early May Bank Holiday observed for the first time.
June Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita opens at the Prince Edward Theatre.
1979 January Thousands of public workers go on strike, it becomes the so called: Winter of Discontent.
April The last RT-type double deck buses run in London.
May OAX 9F is repainted into NBC dual-purpose livery of poppy red (bottom half) & white.
Conservatives win General Election; Margaret Thatcher is UKs first female Prime Minister.
December Government publishes Housing Bill giving council house tenants the right to buy their homes.
1980 October Deregulation of express coach services. British Coachways competes with National Express.
July OAX 9F tranfered to Monmouth depot.
December Ex-Beatle, John Lennon is shot dead outside his home in New York City.
1981 February National Coal Board announces widespread pit closures.
OAX 9F transferred back to Tredegar depot.
The engagement of Charles, Prince of Wales to Diana Spencer is announced.
March Sinclair Research ZX81 a pioneering British home computer goes on sale.
April Unemployment reaches 2.5million for the first time in over 50 years.
July Race riots take place in Liverpool, London and various other cities.
Over 30-million people watch the Royal wedding live on tv.
September British filling stations start selling fuel by the litre (instead of by the gallon).
Year: month: event:
1982 April Falklands War begins as Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
May/June Pope John Paul II visits the UK, including a tour to the City of Cardiff.
June UK wins Falklands war and regains control of the Islands.
July British Rail train drivers go on 15-day strike. OAX 9F used on National Express routes.
August St David's Hall, Cardiff opens as the National Concert Hall & Conference Centre of Wales.
November The Welsh language television station, S4C, launches in Wales.
1983 January Seatbelt use for drivers and front seat passengers becomes mandatory.
March The Compact Disc (CD) goes on sale in the UK.
May Bristol Commercial Vehicles build the last RE chasssis at their factory in the city.
June Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives win a landslide victory in the General Election.
July OAX 9F is withdrawn from passenger service by National Welsh and put into store.
September OAX 9F is bought by Roger Annetts of Lydney and enters preservation.
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