Genealogists frequently visit Catford, an ancient village outside London, England, that has become a suburb of the major European city. According to South London Guide, the first mentions of Catford in text date back to Saxon England (from 410 to 1066 AD). The village probably earned its adorable name from its ford near which wild cats played. During medieval times, writers and scribes used Catford (1254) and Cateford (1311) interchangeably as spellings for the village’s name. It's no wonder that people tracing their family histories flock to this tiny hamlet outside London via coach hire or minibus hire, so the whole family can experience where their family comes from.
Do you want to tour London and its many surrounding villages and districts? Let iCoach Hire help you find the right companies for you, whether you need a self-driven private coach hire or minibus hire with driver. Use our platform to compare prices and quotes, and then book your bus.
The bus rental firms using the iCoach Hire platform offer two sizes of full-size coaches for travel—35-seat buses and 49-seat buses. These large tour buses offer ideal accommodations for those planning a family reunion, a history field trip, or a corporate event, such as a team-building exercise. Convention and conference planners find these full-sized coaches useful for providing topical excursions or transportation for other special events. Some coach buses feature onboard toilet facilities, WiFi, and USB charging ports.
Don’t have that huge of a group? The many coach rental companies on the iCoach platform also offer minibuses for hire. The term minibus refers to a half-sized or smaller coach bus, seating seven to 19 individuals. School vocal groups, church youth groups, sports teams, and community club groups use minibuses to transport their groups. The companies using our platform offer five minibus sizes:
• 7-seater
• 8-seater
• 14-seater
• 16-seater
• 19-seater.
Make transporting and keeping your party together easier by hiring a minibus. It’s also more cost-effective than renting multiple SUVs. Rent a minibus with an extra seat so you have room for an unexpected guest.
In England, any person aged 21 or older who has had their driver’s license for at least two years can operate a minibus with up to 16 seats for non-commercial purposes. If you need a bus with 19 seats or more, you’ll need to hire a minibus or coach bus with a driver. You can book this through iCoach, too! Your driver doubles as a local guide to Catford and a designated driver.
Every bus rental service using our platform provides safe, well-maintained coach buses and minibuses. When you charter a bus in England, rest assured that the rental company conducts the highest-quality fleet maintenance.
Count on Great Britain’s coach lines for top-of-the-line professional bus drivers. Each company on the iCoach platform employs chauffeurs who have earned their commercial driver’s licenses. These drivers act as tour guides, too, regaling you with tidbits of Catford’s history and top sights.
How should you choose your minibus or coach provider from the many qualified companies on the platform? We suggest considering four important factors:
Vehicle range: Whether a bus uses petrol or electricity, it has a mileage range. How frequently will you need to refuel petrol or stop at a DC charger to top up the battery?
Reputation: What do previous customers say in their reviews of the company?
Pricing: Look at differences in costs between buses of the same size and amenities.
Insurance: Make sure the company you choose purchases liability insurance on each vehicle.
Our platform makes it simple to compare minibus rentals.
ICoach serves all of England, and costs vary locally. Consult this general guide to budget daily rental costs. It offers approximate pricing for minibus rentals in and around Catford for a vehicle only and does not include England’s value-added tax (VAT). Count on our platform for transparent pricing with no hidden fees.
• Minibus with 7 seats, £39 ($50)
• Minibus with 8 seats, £88 ($112)
• Minibus with 14 seats, £135 ($172)
• Minibus with 16 seats, £140 ($178).
Hiring a 19-seat minibus, 35-seat bus, or 49-seat bus with a professional driver costs about £65 ($83) per hour.
Book a minibus or coach with driver online using our comprehensive web form. Complete and submit your form, and we’ll provide you with an accurate quote for all applicable bus rental firms. You review each quote and book the company for you using our platform. It all happens on one website and takes just a few clicks or taps. Depend on iCoach for customer support before and during your bus journey.
Due to Catford’s age, it offers exploration of most of England’s existence. Just six miles southeast of London, this unique town mixes the ancient and modern. According to the UK Genealogy Society, it became an ecclesiastical district in Kent, a civil parish of Lewisham, in 1888, but its origins date back to Saxon times, as mentioned earlier.
Explore Catford’s rich and illustrious history by creating a custom minibus tour. Although the exact year remains unknown, during her reign during the 1500s, Queen Elizabeth visited the town, staying at Place House on Catford Hill. The Tudor monarch likely enjoyed the wooded marsh for which the area was then known. Its life as a quiet hamlet continued through Stuart times, but the Georgian era brought the beginnings of development, including the formal erection of Ravensbourne Park in the 1830s.
The Victorian era saw the hamlet blossom. You can still visit and use the Catford Bridge rail station, established in 1857. The Lewisham Town Hall, built in 1875, no longer stands, though. It had to be demolished in 1968. During the late 1870s and early 1880s, the village erected the streets leading to and from Rushey Green. That, in part, led to the establishment of the Catford Cycling Club in 1886.
Don’t miss the modern fiberglass artwork that has brought art lovers to Catford since 1974, according to Time Out. A giant cat statue sits atop the sign marking the entrance to the Catford Centre. Snap a photo of the famed feline when you stop by to shop.
Here are four events in Catford from September 2024 onwards:
September 28, 2024: Rudolph Walker CBE’s 85th Birthday Extravaganza at the Broadway Theatre, featuring performances by comedians Slim, Curtis Walker, Richard Blackwood, and Kat B, as well as Trinidadian opera singer Anne Fridal and the Ebony Steel Orchestra.
October 12-13, 2024: Catford Arts Trail 2024, showcasing works from 98 artists and makers across 22 venues in SE6.
October 17-20, 2024: Catford Beer Festival at the Catford Bridge Tavern, offering a selection of local and international beers.
December 12, 2024: Broadway Open Mic December at the Broadway Theatre, an opportunity for local talents to perform on stage.
And four events scheduled for 2025:
January 24-25, 2025: Another Catford documentary screenings at The Fellowship Cinema in Bellingham, exploring the history and architecture of SE6, followed by a Q&A session with heritage expert Jon Wright and producer Ben Honeybone.
February 15, 2025: Broadway Open Mic February at the Broadway Theatre, welcoming performers from the community.
February 16, 2025: So Last Century's Vintage Fair at St Dunstan's College, featuring over 40 vintage traders offering mid-20th century furniture, homeware, fashion, and more.
March 8, 2025: Lewisham Writes: A Poetic Life at Catford Library, a free writing workshop facilitated by poet Helen Bowell, focusing on the theme of community.
This vibrant village on London’s outskirts offers plenty of modern entertainment and recreation, too. The Catford social calendar includes its annual beer festival in mid-October and a film club that features hard-to-find flicks. The Broadway Theatre features live performances weekly, and the Catford Arts Trail provides an opportunity for tourists and local residents to meet English artists and explore their artwork.
Explore historic and modern Catford in a minibus or coach hire. Use the iCoach Hire platform to compare coach rentals, get quotes, and book your personalized bus tour.
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