Sir John Betjeman (r), the Poet Laureate, with the horse-drawn bus in which he had arrived at Guildhall to inaugurate London Transport's official celebration of the 150th anniversary of the London Bus. Sir John was "launching" a fleet of 13 modern double-decker buses painted in the green and yellow livery of George Shillibeer's original "omnibus", which ran from Paddington to the Bank from July 1829.