Notts Derby, part of the Wellglade group that owns Trent Barton, is the direct descendant of one of the more unusual operators from the 40-year era of state ownership. It was originally part of the Balfour Beatty group, formed as the Nottinghamshire Derbyshire Tramways Company in 1903. It began operating trams ten years later between Ripley and Nottingham and in 1916 took over Ilkeston Corporation's route between Cotmanhay and Hallam Fields, south of Ilkeston. Trolleybuses replaced the trams in 1932/33 and the business was renamed Nottinghamshire Derbyshire Traction Company. The Midland General Omnibus Company was formed in 1920 as a subsidiary to operate feeder services into the tram routes and soon grew into a substantially larger business than Notts Derby, one that took over the day-to-day management of its parent. Both used the same blue and cream livery, distinguished only by the different fleetnames, and most of their routes had a prefix letter from A to G, followed by a single number. These features were still apparent when Iain MacGregor visited Nottingham in 1963.
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