Coach operator and preservationist John Brenson, best known for his long involvement with Brentwood Coaches, died on 30 October. He was 88.
Mr Brenson purchased the Brentwood Coaches business in 1971 and built it to a peak of 30 vehicles. He was highly active within the operator until the early-2000s and maintained a presence beyond that. It is now run by his sons Brian and Terry, with a seven-strong fleet.
Born Albert John Pratt, in the 1970s Mr Brenson met Carol Brenson and adopted her surname in the mid-1980s. Of his sons Brian, Jonathan, Roger and Terry, only Roger did not join the family business. Mr Brenson also leaves 10 grandchildren; Mrs Brenson died in 2022.
Mr Brenson hailed from Rayleigh. His father Harry Pratt moved to Brentwood and worked for the City Coach Company, which was nationalised in 1953 and became part of Eastern National. From then, Mr Brenson developed a lifelong interest in the City Coach Company and collected relevant pictures and other memorabilia.
After leaving school at 14, Mr Brenson worked at a baker’s before his national service with the Royal Norfolk Regiment. After returning to civilian life and a bread round, a milk round and then a coal business, he started County Coaches jointly with his older brother Arthur Pratt, known as Jim, who had also worked for City Coach Company.
After the 1971 purchase of Brentwood Coaches by Mr Brenson, it and County Coaches – which remained in his brother’s ownership – operated from the same premises in Brentwood. The coal business was sold to a friend. County Coaches was closed in 2017.
An interest in coach preservation accelerated from the late 1980s. Mr Brenson undertook major rebuilds of early post-war coaches and rallied them. In two cases, he took chassis and fitted them with bodies previous used on other vehicles.
Mr Brenson’s son Jonathan notes that at one point, 14 preserved coaches were stored undercover, with more in various conditions outside.
One year, 10 were taken to the Showbus event at Duxford. Some coaches restored by Mr Brenson are still owned by the family, and others have been sold on. Jonathan adds that driving was his father’s life. “He had to surrender his licence in May this year, and he was lost.”
The funeral will be held at 1130hrs on 26 November at Bentley Crematorium, Ongar Road, Pilgrim’s Hatch, Brentwood, CM15 9RZ.
