Your Local Coach Provider

Lewis Coaches Passenger Travel was started in 1919 by Charles G. Lewis upon his return from the Flying Corps. When returning to work for his father (who owned fruiterer & greengrocer stalls in Tyler Street, East Greenwich) he persuaded his father to buy a karrier lorry, & with benches fitted in the back, started taking passengers hopping in from the Greenwich area.

From this he had the idea of fitting a chalk board on the side of the lorry & running different tours every Sunday to Wrotham, Sevenoaks, Riverhead, & even as far as Brighton & Southend on Sea. In 1920 he obtained his first charabanc & as the South East became more popular he developed a regular service to all the coastal resorts & soon came the only daily service direct to Dym-church and Hythe.

With the evacuation of the school children in 1939/1940 we ran a service every Sunday picking up parents visiting their children & as additional coaches were obtained, more schools took out private hire. Both the Royal Artillery at Woolwich & the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, became regular hirers too culminated in a grand tour of England with the R.A. Band on several occasions.

Typical work in war time included carrying bottles for British Oxygen one way & naval personnel on the return journey, all in the national objective of saving fuel. Half the fleet was commandeered for military service in 1940 & some were seen at the 1944 D-Day Landings. Lewis coaches were also a regular supplier to Charlton Athletic in their early days & in 1947 had the honour of supplying the team coach that paraded the F.A Cup around Charlton.

After 70 years at our established base in Blackwall Lane we moved to newer offices in Denham Street. Back in 1999 we celebrated our 80th birthday, today we are the oldest coach company in London & will be one of only a handful of coach companies operating within the 2012 Olympic area.