Well, what started as a few pictures has certainly gone on to provide some interesting information!
I doubt there was another instance of a severed route causing the logistical problems as encountered by the Petersham Hole compounded by the routes involved being operated by garages only on one side of the problem. How different might things have been if lengthy single deckers formed the vehicle allocation? The way in which the revised scheduling dealt with the situation was probably the least disruptive option but only because RM`s were involved.

I`d not previously seen that footage of the loaned Mortlake RM. How bizarre that a film crew captures a non K or NB vehicle! Maybe, as Jack said, there was a need to give NB an extra bus in order to help them keep up with routine servicing if normal spread-over downtime was much reduced - or compromised - because of the logistics of getting buses back to base. Surprising that the rear number blind is still in situ on RM 1175 and showing part of a 9. The film date is 1980 but that can be narrowed. A lot of work is visibly ongoing so it`s probably long before the end of the project (the road was closed until September) and with trees completely devoid of leaves plus daffodils being visible in the Richmond section of the film, it was probably shot in mid-February to mid-March at a guess.

Paul, I'm sure the Vectis Bus Museum in Ryde would be grateful to receive your archive stuff. I have a couple of friends locally to ashford Kent who go to the Island regularly who I'm sure would take stuff over by car as they are IWSR members.

My bus number (if any): RML2532, BEA MLL721, BEA MLL738, GS67, RT2629

Hi Roy,
As well as living and working on the Isle of Wight for the last 32 years, I am a life member and one of the committee of the Isle of Wight Bus & Coach Museum (don't let some of them hear you call it the Vectis Museum as there are some members who are vigorously anti-Vectis and feel it is too Vectis orientated). I am also a long time member of the London Bus Museum (or Cobham as some of us still prefer to call it) so all the archive that I have collected over many years will eventually end up safely in collections where they should be. My wife and family are well aware of what should happen in the event of my demise. In the meantime I am still in the process of sorting and using the collection for reference purposes myself, but thanks for the offer anyway.

My bus number (if any): RMC1469

For some reason Bermard Cribbins and his song "Hole In the Ground" springs to mind...

My bus number (if any): RML2532, BEA MLL721, BEA MLL738, GS67, RT2629