The beginnings of Tally Ho! can be traced back to William Wellington. In 1926 a notice was posted in the Kingsbridge area stating: -

"W. Wellington begs to announce that he has purchased a ton lorry and is open to do any kind of light hauling . . . 2 Belle Vue Road, Dodbrooke".

The vehicle was a Ford 20hp, which he used with either a lorry body for goods haulage or with a bus body for passenger carrying. The business developed with a mixture of goods and passenger transport. The conveyance of children to and from Kingsbridge schools contracted by Devon County Council was as important then as it is today. On non-schooldays private party outings were undertaken.

In the post war years William Wellington was joined by his son Jim, who took over the running of the business in the 1950's when the title became W. Wellington & Son. The coach business at this time used the fleet name "Kingsbridge Belle", and the firm was also involved in furniture removals and cattle haulage.

In 1923 a farmer called J H (Jim) Clark who lived at the Mounts near Kingsbridge started to run a coach for pleasure tours and he named the vehicle the "Tally Ho! Sunshine coach". This business grew and started to operate school services during the week and day trips at weekends.

In February 1960 Jim Wellington and Desmond Gullett acquired the coach business run by Mr. Jim Clark. Together they formed "Tally Ho! Coaches Ltd." which they operated from The Mounts, East Allington. The goods haulage and "Kingsbridge Belle" operations owned by Jim were run separately from Kingsbridge. In 1964 the "Kingsbridge Belle" coach operations were gradually integrated with Tally Ho! Coaches Ltd. It was then not long before the decision was taken to expand, and the Salcombe Motor Company and Walls of Dartmouth were acquired, the first of many acquisitions over the years.

In 1971 Tally Ho! owned a large purpose built garage constructed on an industrial estate in Kingsbridge (originally the old Great Western Railway terminus for the South Brent to Kingsbridge line), which is still our home today. Jim took up residence next door with his fleet of removal vans. This same year saw the withdrawal of bus services by Western National and so South Hams District Council asked Tally Ho! and South Milton Coaches to fill the gap. In 1972 Tally Ho! acquired South Milton Coaches.

The next area of expansion for Tally Ho! took place in 1975 with the acquisition of J. Hoare and Sons of Ivybridge (Ivy Coaches). For a while this business ran under joint ownership with vehicles remaining in Hoare's livery but carrying the Tally Ho! fleet name. This situation lasted until the end of 1976 by which time the whole undertaking, including the yard and small office building at Ivybridge were taken over completely by Tally Ho!

Then in 1979 Galpin of Plymouth (Sunshine Coaches) were taken over.

After a number of years of ill health, Mr. Gullett sadly felt it was time for him to retire. Jim Wellington struck a deal with him on the back of an old envelope and on the 1st April 1984 Wellington and Partners, trading as Tally Ho! Coaches was formed. At the same time Simon Wellington became General Manager and later in 1989 became a partner in the business.

In 1991 the Ivybridge part of the business moved out of the Ermington Road premises to a new depot on the Lee Mill industrial estate.

The most recent expansion of Tally Ho! was in January 1999 when the vehicles and routes were taken over from Stevens of Modbury. This meant loss of 'The Harrier' another old time fleet name.

To accommodate our large fleet of vehicles, in April 2000 we bought the yard next door to our Kingsbridge depot previously owned by GW Weymouth Agricultural Engineers.

Simon Wellington retired due to ill health in 2008 and the business was sold to Richard Pullan and Don McIntosh who brought in a new livery to bring back the traditional blue and white colours in a modern style. The business was streamlined, the vehicles were refurbished and updated and a new Holiday business was established.

Today Tally Ho! has 44 coaches and buses in its fleet, and over 60 full and part time staff. At the last count we operate some 25 school runs to 5 different schools, 4 Monday to Saturday bus services, plus several one-day only services. The Private hire fleet is busy and increasingly involved in our own holiday business.