It initially operated routes in the Guildford area from a garage in Chilworth using small single-deck buses painted in a maroon livery.

An expansion of operations in the late 1970s and early 1980s, much of it through the award of county council contracted routes, took the company's vehicles into West Sussex and Hampshire as well as Surrey.

These were run separately from the main company as Tillingbourne (Metropolitan) which, in 1983, was sold to its management to form Metrobus, now part of the Go-Ahead Group.

Deregulation of local bus services in 1986 led to further expansion, including the establishment in 1989 of a new brand, Hobbit, for Tillingbourne's minibus operations.

The company was placed in administration in March 2001, following two years of heavy losses, and closed down permanently a month later.

It was initially known as Tillingbourne Valley, and operated a single vehicle in a maroon livery from a garage in Chilworth on a service between Guildford and Gomshall.

Smith left the company in the late 1920s, and a new route from Guildford to Albury Park was introduced around the same time, with four vehicles owned by 1928.

[5] George Trice retired in 1948 and was succeeded by his son Derek, who sold Tillingbourne to Trevor Brown in September 1970.

The company made an operating loss in 1969 and 1970, so one route, a local service in Guildford, was withdrawn in October 1971 due to poor usage, and another was cut in frequency.

In 1974, a small garage in Ewhurst was acquired and maintenance work transferred there, although the majority of the fleet continued to be based in Gomshall.

[8] A number of service changes saw Tillingbourne vehicles operating to Croydon and Chichester one day a week each by 1977, although both were withdrawn after three years.

Further expansion eastwards came in November 1989, when the operation of eleven tendered routes, requiring six buses, was won from the county council.

Operating on Sundays for six months of the year, it provided a circular service linking Guildford, Godalming and Cranleigh with a number of nearby rural locations not served by other routes.

[21] In September 2000, Tillingbourne controversially reduced the number of journeys on contracted route 516, which linked Dorking, Leatherhead and Epsom.

Although this was within the terms of the contract, it was criticised by residents of intermediate villages, who claimed the communities relied in particular on a cancelled morning journey.

The receivers blamed the losses on increasing costs, low subsidies from local councils and falling passenger numbers.

[25] However, by early April 2001, it became clear that this would not take place, as the offers submitted were lower than the value of the vehicles owned by the company.

Rhees died in 1953 and Tillingbourne Valley Coaches passed to his wife, who sold out to established operator Rackliffe of Guildford a year later.

By 1983, however, it became clear that the local area management of Tillingbourne (Metropolitan) wanted to develop the business in a different way from that of the main company.

On 24 September 1983, the Orpington operation's directors, Gary Wood and Peter Larking, bought out the subsidiary to form Metrobus Limited.

[31] The first vehicle to be bought by Tillingbourne was a single-deck Chevrolet with 14 seats, which entered service on the launch of the company's first route in 1924.

[35] The Tillingbourne fleet in the late 1980s and early 1990s also included two rare Dennis Dorchesters bought new, and a Volvo B10M coach with the last Plaxton Derwent body built.

The biggest customer was Shamrock Coaches of Pontypridd which took 27 vehicles, including the Mercedes minibuses and nine Optare Metroriders.

[41] A fall in bus passenger numbers, between 1999 and 2001 in the areas of Hampshire served by Tillingbourne, was in part explained as being a result of the loss of services caused by the company's closure.

[42] The increased vehicle requirements at Arriva's Warnham (Horsham) garage, which took over three of Tillingbourne's former routes, led to criticism from residents in the area and the suggestion that the site should be closed and operations moved to another location.

Permission was granted in February 2002 for the smaller site abandoned shortly before the company closed down to be taken over by a plant and vehicle hire firm.

[45] The larger site used in the final few months of operation was converted for use by a mail order firm, with permission for the change granted by the local council in November 2002.