With declining passenger numbers since the 1950s, a detailed study of the bus services in the "Blackwater Valley area" was carried out in the mid-1970s, the outcome being a major re-casting of the network, taking effect on 4 September 1977, which saw the 201 altered to run between Basingstoke and Heathrow Airport.

[12][13] Following deregulation in 1986, while continuing to be operated by Alder Valley, the company registered new commercial services to take over the existing routes.

[14] When Stagecoach South took over the Alder Valley operations on 26 October 1992, the route's proximity fell under the Hants & Surrey subsidiary.

[10] The 1 number was reintroduced in January 1997, forming from parts of routes 17, 19 and 20/20A, and ran at a 20 minute frequency to connect Yateley, Camberley, Frimley, Farnborough and Aldershot.

Further bus priority measures were proposed in Aldershot, Blackwater, Camberley, Frimley and Yateley, tackling unreliability.

The route 1 was upgraded to Goldline status on 9 February 2009,[23] which the brand was later renamed as Stagecoach Gold, and received new Alexander Dennis Enviro 300s.

[24] In August 2013, Saturday evening services were temporarily suspended after multiple incidents of stones were being thrown at buses on the route, resulting in a passenger receiving injuries.

At the Farnborough College of Technology, the route 1 travels along a short section of the A325, turning off to stop at the Kingsmead bus station, adjacent to the shopping name of the same name.

Returning to the A325, it follows the road up to the Blackwater Shopping Park (colloquially known as Farnborough Gate), where it avoids the bypass, travels past Frimley railway station and through the High Street.

There are early morning (until 5:30am) and late evening (usually after 8pm) journeys that run via Frimley Park Hospital, which other Stagecoach buses serve in the daytime.