Well-known coach industry figure Pamela Skew, co-founder with her late husband Albert of Solent Coaches, died on 17 June. She was 94.
The couple established Solent Coaches in 1972 with a Bedford VAL. Later their sons John and Paul joined the company and contributed to what a spokesperson describes as “many happy years in the coach industry as a family-run business.”
Mr and Mrs Skew enjoyed many years of taking their customers on coach holidays around the UK and further afield, with Mr Skew driving and Mrs Skew acting as courier. Mr Skew died in 2020 at the age of 91, having most of all enjoyed trips to the Isle of Man.
Solent Coaches was sold to the Lucketts Group in November 2017 and its name continues proudly under the ownership of National Express Transport Solutions. John and Paul have since focused on the development of Solent Commercials, a vehicle repair and maintenance supplier.
Mrs Skew’s funeral will be held at 1130hrs on 11 July at New Forest Crematorium, Stem Lane, New Milton, BH25 5SZ. Her final journey will be made in a member of the Solent Coaches fleet, for which the Skew family has expressed its thanks. Any donations in Mrs Skew’s memory have been requested to benefit Oakhaven Hospice of Lymington.
