Aylesbury-based Motts Travel, the established coach operator offering day trips, coach hire and Holidays in the UK and Europe through the Crusader Holiday brand for over 40 years, has announced that its Union Jack liveried Volvo Plaxton Panther is the coach used in the ninth and latest series of Channel 4’s “Coach Trip,” which first aired on Monday, January 27, 2014 and continues on weekdays at 1730hrs.
Motts Travel has supplied the coach and driver for the series since its conception in 2005 spanning eight series to date including celebrity and Christmas specials. The Volvo Plaxton B12B Panther is the third coach supplied by Motts Travel which has featured in series 4 – 8 and has carried the likes of Michael Barrymore, Tony Blackburn, The Chuckle Brothers and of course the host – Brendan Sheerin.
Inside, the coach has been custom fitted with sixteen seats in the front around four tables. There are six internal remote controlled cameras and two external cameras on the roof. At the rear, the coach has an on board production office where the sound engineers and camera operators sit with screens and editing equipment for the series which has previously lasted up to 50 days.
Roger Mott, Director of Motts Travel and Crusader Holidays, commented: “We are delighted to have forged such a strong relationship with 12 Yard Productions, who make the show for channel 4. This is the third coach we have supplied for the show and are happy to have a TV star amongst our fleet. The show is a great platform to promote coach travel nationally, showing the friendships that can be made between passengers and the views from ground level that a short flight wouldn’t allow.
“It is also a great chance for us to showcase one of our coaches and promote the Motts Travel brand nationally. We hope our customers will enjoy the programme and tell others they have used our coaches.”
In the first episode, the 14 Brits took a sobering visit to Flanders Fields in Belgium on the 100th anniversary of when homes and fields were turned into a battlefield during the First World War in 1914. A million soldiers were wounded, missing or killed in action and tens of thousands of citizens became refugees. The monuments and memorials here tell a story of the past.
The contestants then took part in Belgian beer tasting before heading off to Brussels for the second day where there was a messy chocolate making lesson, before scuba diving at the world’s deepest swimming pool.
Flanders Fields is a trip which Crusader Holidays customers can experience for themselves on the centenary year, visiting the Passchendale Museum, Hill 60, Vancouver Corner, Tyne Cot Cemetery and Hell Fire corner.
